The White Princess: Episode 2 'Hearts and Minds' (Starz Originals Mini-Series) - Review

The White Princess (2017 - )

Storyline: Philippa Gregory

Rating (IMDb): 7,8

Genre: Drama; Historical

Synopsis (IMDb): "Based on the Philippa Gregory book of the same name, the story of Elizabeth of York, the White Queen's daughter, and her marriage to the Lancaster victor, Henry VII."

Review:

The White Princess takes place in the second half of the 15th century, marked by The Wars of Roses (1455-1487). These wars took place in England and were fought between two main families, The House of York - known for it's symbol, the white rose - and The House of Lancaster, associated with the red rose. However even after Henry VII, of the House Lancaster, was placed on the throne, and married Elizabeth of York, there were still many other conflicts afterwards, as you will be able to see on this second episode of The White Princess.

'Hearts and Minds', the title of the second episode of the series, begins with Elizabeth (Jodie Comer) acting like a blissful wife towards Henry (Jacob Collins-Levy), especially in front to the court. Elizabeth also seems to be trying to seduce Henry, to later bend him to her will, which exactly what I would do in her place. 

Meanwhile, the Dowager Queen Elizabeth (Essie Davis) is exchanging letters with known York supporters in order to be able to overthrow Henry VII. However, in the York family there is someone who doesn't seem to mind where their family stands, and that someone is Elizabeth of York's younger sister, Princess Elizabeth Lady in Waiting (Katie Powles), who seems to be quite friendly to Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort (Michelle Fairley). Throughout the episode there are a couple of scenes where Princess Elizabeth Lady in Waiting relays her older sister's actions to her, instead of being of any help to her sister. - I definitely don't like her, she seems like a spoiled brat who didn't get what she wanted. 

Henry VII is touring around the country in order to establish order, and also show to people that he is  the King of England and that he is not afraid to rise against those who threaten him. While he is away, Elizabeth's mother asks a York supporter to murder the king. Yet, before the attempt of murder took place she was locked away in a tower without Elizabeth's knowledge. And although Henry is  indeed attacked while he is touring, his attackers are not successful in killing him,

Throughout the time Henry is touring, just before the attack, he discovers that the people of England are going through harsh times, the plague has stricken, and many people are dying, as they don't possess the means to care for themselves. Elizabeth also finds out about the plague, while she's being confined to her rooms, and decides to take measures. She manages to break into the kingdom's safe and donates money to the populace. 

This action, although bold and disagreed by Henry's mother, Henry approves of his wife's decision and even thanks her for her actions, going against his mother's wishes, who wanted to severely punish Elizabeth. 

On this episode you can see that Elizabeth hasn't outgrown her rage towards Henry, but she has come to terms with her situation, and decided to do something about it, but unlike her mother, she doesn't wish Henry to die, which I completely agree with, as he is entirely too handsome to be murdered, but she wishes to send him away. We'll see if her opinion remains, I can't wait to see the next episodes.

Until next time, thanks for reading. 

Black Sails: Season 1 (Starz) - Review

Black Sails (2014 - )

Creators: Robert Levine, John E. Steinberg

Awards: 3 Primetime Emmys, and other 3 wins and 26 nominations.

Rating (IMDb): 8,2

Number of Episodes (so far): 38

Seasons (so far): 4

Ode to Black Sails, by Sofia Alves (owner of the Duchess of Nowhere)

Black Sails, a tv show where you can finally satisfy your craving for more pirate-related stuff besides The Pirates of the Caribbean films. 

Black Sails, a series where you can see lots of blood, boobies and the occasional penis without having to watch porn or Game of Thrones.

Black Sails, here you'll find a daddy, Captain Flint, for he blesses us with his red hair and rugged looks

Black Sails, a show that will make you wonder if it's okay to wear corsets, long skirts or pants, boots and cool hats everyday, for the rest of your life and not be judged. 

Black Sails, forget about One Piece (the anime), this is no parody, but you'll certainly laugh at poor Randall's craziness and flatulence. 


 - Now, now, don't be so quick to judge my lacking writing skills, Black Sails is truly worth watching, don't discard it because of you just read (even if it somehow hurt your brain.)

Review + my thoughts

I had watched the first episode of Black Sails about 3 or 4 years ago, but never got any further because at the time I was occupied with many other shows. Last week I decided to give it another go, I'm on a historical fiction roll, I need as many period dramas or historical fiction series as possible. I also love the idea of pirates, I'm sure if I had lived centuries ago and met an actual pirate I wouldn't have the same opinion, but alas we are on a century where we romanticize about everything - even dirty, stinky, brute and lawless pirates.

But before you start thinking you may watch a romance unfolding between Captain Black Beard and Innocent Maiden 1 forget about it. Here Captain Black Beard's beard is not actually on their face... just watch the show and you'll get what I'm referring to.

- John Silver (Luke Arnold) is a man who wishes to live above anything else, he's also a thief, which takes him to steal a few pages of a very important boat's schedule, this boat's name is the Urca, a boat most believe is a myth, however Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) knows it exists and he wants to find it, for it contains more riches than a man ever could dream of. At first Silver didn't know what was on those pages that a man got himself killed for, but later Silver discovers exactly how important the schedule actually is, and he uses it's value to bargain with Captain Flint, who wants his head on a platter. 

John Silver is certainly crafty and sneaky, and I'm also aware he is positively attractive, however my man candy is Captain Charles Vane  (Zach McGowan) *le sigh*.

- Charles Vane is known for his terrible tempter and his ruthlessness, he is also captain of the pirate ship Ranger. There is no love lost between him and Captain Flint. Vane. He is also connected to Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New), a tavern owner in the anarchic island Nassau, an island that is not under anyone's rule, a stopping passage for pirates and traders. Vane and Eleanor used to be in love, I believe, at least it seemed like Vane loved Eleanor for a while, even when she dropped him for Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy), a prostitute in Nassau. Max is definitely one of my favorite characters, she is beautiful, smart and one of the strongest characters on the show, I look forward to seeing her on the next seasons. 

- Anne Bonny (Clara Paget) and Jack Rackham (Toby Schmitz) are my favorite pseudo-couple of Black Sails, Anne is a badass, and Jack is the brains of the Ranger ship, for he is the Quartermaster.

- Billy Bones (Tom Hopper) is also one of my favorite characters, he is so handsome and has a good head on his shoulders, I literally sigh whenever he shows up on screen, plus he also seems the only one who doesn't have a bad bone on his body, although his dislike for Captain Flint might change things. 

This first season is surely going to turn you into a drooling addict, I'm joking, you're not going to turn into a zombie, just a pirate-loving minion, nothing too serious. This show is guaranteed to entertain you and to make you want to spend endless hours in front of the screen while you ignore your responsibilities, as you have to find out what's Captain Flint's next move, and if John Silver is actually going to get away with his sneaky ways. - Also the main theme of this show is so badass, I'm constantly listening to it, I just can't help it. 

Book Review: Worth Any Price (#3 Bow Street Runners) by Lisa Kleypas

Book Title: Woth Any Price

Series: Bow Street Runners (#3)

Author: Lisa Kleypas

Publication: 2003

Language: read in English (org. version)

Synopsis (Goodreads): "Nick Gentry is reputed to be the most skillful lover in all England. Known for solving delicate situation, he is hired to seek out Miss Charlotte Howard. He believes his mission will be easily accomplished - but that was before he met the lady in question. 

For instead of a willful female, he discores one in desperate circumstances, hiding from a man who could destroy her very soul. So Nick shockingly offers her a very different kind of proposition - one he has never offered before.

He asks her to be his bride.

And he knows that this will be much more than a union in name only. For he senses what Charlote does not yet know - that her appetite for sensuality matches his own. But what Nick learn surprises him. For while London's most notorious lover might claim Charlotte's body, he quickly discovers it will take much more than passion to win her love."

My review + personal thoughts:

Lottie grew up being groomed, prepared and lived much like a caged bird to marry a man much older that her, a man she told was told was her benefactor. In other words, her parents were just fattening the pig for the slaughter, as her husband-to-be was an old lecherous swine. Nonetheless, Lottie managed to escape and become a lady-in-waiting to an old widow.

Nick, as he calls himself, is a street runner, who was in other words part of some kind of elite police force -  despite them being a legal unit, they did not have to answer to the Parliament as the later actual police had. Nick has been hired by Lord Radnor, Lottie's 'benefactor', to find Lottie and return her to him. But when Nick finds Charlotte he can't help but feel an undeniable attraction, and he soon realizes he wants Lottie to himself.

I've become quite the big fan of Lisa Kleypas, her books are remarkably good. I fancy a good historical romance, and these days I've been finding it hard to like just any one. 

Lisa Kleypas, however, just seems to do it for me.
Worth Any Price must be the sexiest book I've read by her, I loved 'Nick' and Lottie, the main characters. I thank the Goddess of historical romances for blessing me with non-annoying characters on this book, which is truly rare, I get easily exasperated with main characters.

Additionally, this book made me want to read the other books of this series, I believe I will give them a try very soon! 

The White Princess: Episode 1 (Starz series) - My thoughts

As soon as I heard Starz Entertainment was going to bring another historical romance series to life, I couldn't contain my excitement, as I'm a huge fan of Outlander, a show you should definitely watch if you aren't already.

However I was a bit put off when I heard The White Princess is about Henry Tudor VII and Elizabeth of York. I'm not a big fan of the Tudors, as I had to study his son for a subject at university, it was one of those dreadful subjects you can't wait to get rid off. 

Nevertheless, I'm glad I didn't have to study Henry VII for any class, as that means I won't know who's dying and who's "living".

At any rate, I'd like to briefly mention the casting for The White Princess, if you are a fan of Games of Thrones you will find yourself recognizing Lady Stark, she's playing Henry's very malevolent mother, must be all those black garments. *snicker* Besides her, I haven't recognized anyone else, but that might be because I have a complete lack of talent at memorizing faces and names, as such you might recognize someone else. I do have to compliment Starz for the main character's casting, because 58 minutes later I found myself searching on IMDb who in the world was that hottie playing Henry VII - Jacob Collins-Levy, and he has no picture on the website, hopefully that will soon be rectified. Also I will be doing some stalking right after I finish writing this, as I want to follow him on all of his social media. What can I say, I don't do things half-assed, those things being fangirling, in case you're wondering.

The actress playing Elizabeth of York is also quite attractive, Starz definitely knows how to attract fans *wink wink*

Now, about the first episode, I really don't have much more to mention besides the wonderful wardrobe, which didn't really surprise me because duh - Outlander!

I do want to mention the "rape scene", which has been vastly remarked upon on social media. Some congratulate it, for Elizabeth "belittled" Henry, while others say it was not rape at all because it was not violent enough (this last statement obviously angered me, rape is non-consensual sex, and Elizabeth did not want to have sex with Henry and he forced her, ergo, it was rape. Don't delude yourselves into thinking otherwise). I applauded however, the way Elizabeth "dared" Henry to do it, one thing rapists enjoy is seeing how powerless the person they're defiling is, and Elizabeth did not allow Henry to feel like he was the one in control of the situation. Indeed, a well done scene, which made me admire Elizabeth.

This first episode also made want to run to my closest bookshop and get the book on which the show is based, The White Princess by Philippa Gregory, an author I've heard much about but whose books I've never read, that will soon change, as I'm planning on getting my copy of the book as soon as today (I want to be ahead of the show!).

And that's it for today friends, thanks for reading and I will see you soon.