**I received an ARC from Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way I was compensated for this review.**
The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin
Release Date: January 29, 2019
My Rating: 4.25 stars
Summary: Mean Girls meets The Tudors in Hannah Capin’s The Dead Queens Club, a clever contemporary YA retelling of Henry VIII and his wives (or, in this case, his high school girlfriends). Told from the perspective of Annie Marck (“Cleves”), a 17-year-old aspiring journalist from Cleveland who meets Henry at summer camp, The Dead Queens Club is a fun, snarky read that provides great historical detail in an accessible way for teens while giving the infamous tale of Henry VIII its own unique spin.
What do a future ambassador, an overly ambitious Francophile, a hospital-volunteering Girl Scout, the new girl from Cleveland, the junior cheer captain, and the vice president of the debate club have in common? It sounds like the ridiculously long lead-up to an astoundingly absurd punchline, right? Except it’s not. Well, unless my life is the joke, which is kind of starting to look like a possibility given how beyond soap opera it’s been since I moved to Lancaster. But anyway, here’s your answer: we’ve all had the questionable privilege of going out with Lancaster High School’s de facto king. Otherwise known as my best friend. Otherwise known as the reason I’ve already helped steal a car, a jet ski, and one hundred spray-painted water bottles when it’s not even Christmas break yet. Otherwise known as Henry. Jersey number 8.
Meet Cleves. Girlfriend number four and the narrator of The Dead Queens Club, a young adult retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. Cleves is the only girlfriend to come out of her relationship with Henry unscathed—but most breakups are messy, right? And sometimes tragic accidents happen…twice…
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"What even is his type? Genius lacrosse queen. Ambitious business bitch. Boring hospital chick. Indie best friend. Sweetheart party girl. And now the party-crashing newspaper boss."The Dead Queens Club really snuck up and me; I truly did not expect to like it as much as I did. This book has just the right amount of drama and outrageousness. Hannah Capin wrote the drama of Henry VIII and his six wives so seamlessly into a modern high school setting, you won't even be able to recognize all the references.
"Can't even profile him."
What I loved the most about this book was the writing. Cleves's snarkiness is the best and entirely my sense of humor. Also, Capin writes the characters so incredibly well. You'll find yourself falling in love (just a little) with Henry, and being manipulated by him, just like Cleves. I was genuinely so caught up in the drama that I was almost convinced by his lies; it was great feeling this way. I mean, not being manipulated by an angry liar, but really feeling what the main character is going through is such a good marker of excellent writing.
And you'd think that in a book with so much drama between girls, there would be a lot of slut-shaming and double standards. There's not. Cleves calls out pretty much double standard, things said by Henry and the other girls. She talks often about not liking Anna, but when people act like she was just an overreacting bitch, she rebuts with remarks of not reducing girls to a two-dimensional standard. When people only bring up Katie to talk about her sex life, she shuts them down. This book is definitely a great example of girls supporting girls.
"Everybody thinks I'm this backstabbing bitch," says Parker. "But it's bullshit, just like everything everybody said about Anna. She was so smart and ambitious, and all anybody remembers is that she stole somebody's boyfriend."I'd like to think that I know a decent amount about this whole debacle because we covered it pretty heavily in school (what with the whole, let's break off from Catholicism! thing). However, there are still so many gaps in my knowledge. Only after I went on Wikipedia after finishing the book did I realize some of the references because some of them are so subtle.
"What people said about Katie wasn't fair, either," I tell them. "She's dead and all they want to talk about is who she slept with instead of how she was the sweetest person ever, and the least selfish, and the most fun."
I do think what this book lacked was representation. Cleves and her sister are both adopted (from China and Malawi, respectively), so there's that, but it's brought up twice so it's easy to forget. This book is based on England and set in the Midwest, but we're already reimagining so much of it, so I do think it could have done better in the representation factor.
Because we're the best secret club ever. We're the queens club. And we've got this.Overall, this book was such a fun read; it was dramatic without being overbearing and scornful without crossing into slut-shaming. I definitely recommend it if you're a fan of Trouble is a Friend of Mine or Sarah Rees Brennan's books. The drama was such a trip, the plot so enticing, and the characters great to follow. If you're looking for a hilarious, fun ride of a novel, I totally suggest you pick The Dead Queens Club up, but be warned, you won't be able to put it down.
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About the Author: Hannah Capin lives in Tidewater Virginia. She holds degrees from the Indiana University School of Music and Columbia University. When she isn't writing, you'll find her sailing, singing, or pulling marathon gossip sessions with her girl squad.
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