What do readers think of Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine? Write your own review.

This revisionist historical novel reimagines the fate of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn, by altering the well-known beheading narrative. With the help of Catalina of Aragon, the Hellebore Sisterhood, and a bit of witchy magic, Anne survives her execution. United by a desire for vengeance, Catalina and Anne, along with the Sisterhood and a few of Henry's other wives, set out to exact revenge on the king.

Brilliantly written and expertly told, this story combines sharp humor with imaginative storytelling. A united Catalina and Anne challenge the patriarchy in a way history could never have imagined.

I highly recommend this novel to readers of historical fiction with a sense of humor, fantasy fans, and anyone who enjoys stories that take aim at the patriarchy.

Thank you to BookBrowse and Berkley Books for providing an early copy in exchange for a fair review. I loved this book from beginning to end and look forward to reading more from Jillian Lane. Five stars.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but part-way through, I couldn't stop reading! I've read quite a few books about Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII, all of his wives and this book presented a side that I had never thought of. If you like fiction based on the reign of King Henry VIII, I recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC in return for an honest review.


This is a great romp through Tudor history and a wonderful twist on witchy tales. Featuring real historical women shown as competent, adventurous and full of vengeful thoughts and plans.

The story centers around that infamous womanizer Henry the Eighth with his marvelous wives wreaking havoc. It takes the premise what if Anne Boleyn was really a witch and was able to survive the chopping block, join the Hellebore Society along with his previous wives to protect his future wives.

What would the world be like if powerful men were married to witches who steered them towards not conducting wars, funding libraries, schools and expanding the arts to promote cultural activity and medicinal knowledge.

Set in Tudor times the Hellebore Sisterhood was created by Marguerite de Navarre (French: Marguerite d'Angoulême, Marguerite d'Alençon; sister of the French King )
to support witches and promote and acknowledge the intellect of women through education and medicinal knowledge.

She in fact did create women's universities this book takes that real life fact and explores the boundaries of what witch's have to offer.

I had such a fun time reading this book!

If you like the Tudor era, are fascinated by Anne Boleyn or any of Henry VII's wives and their plight, I highly recommend picking this up! This won't give you any additional history that you didn't know, but it will give you some really fun alternate history surrounding Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr (that is a lot of K/Catherine's). Imagine if Henry did not have the power, if a group of fierce, determined women were working behind the scenes to make sure the women Henry tried to rid himself of were saved from their fate!

I loved this book, it was well written, well plotted, and got me right back into my obsession with the Tudor women. I am truly excited to see what this author does next, and I hope we see some more historical fiction from her very soon!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and BookBrowse for the advanced e-copy.

This was a great story, a reimagining of the stories of Henry VIII wives, if some of them had actually survived his wife killing rampage.

I loved that it integrated LGBTQIA folks in a way that proves you can incorporate people throughout history in a completely natural way; I wish more books did this.

I loved the interaction between Lina and Anne, and thought Gisa was an awesome addition to their little group.

Basically if you enjoy stories about women rediscovering their power, this is a great book for you.

I received this book as an advance reader copy and my review is completely my own views and was optional.

Although there were times when the narrative lagged a bit, overall, Henry Tudor Must Die is an immensely entertaining book that reimagines a world in which Katherine of Aragon fakes her death and uses magic to save Anne Boleyn from execution to join a secret society of women who collaborate to save potential victims of over zealous clergy and sanctimonious rulers.

This book was just fun, clever, creative, imaginative and filled with woman power at a time where few women had any agency or rights- completely suborned to the whimsy of their male oppressors- like a shadow government.

Alternative histories can be delightfully funny. Kudos to Jillian Laine.

I've never had so much fun reading historical fiction. It was nice seeing them not as rivals, but as a sisterhood formed from a secret society. I also enjoyed reading from different POVs. I can't wait to purchase this book!

When I saw the title of the book, Henry Must Die, I wasn't too anxious to get started, as I had read so many other great historical fiction tales about the wives and had also studied the history of the Tudor period. I recently saw the Broadway musical Six, which is based on Henry's life from the point of view of his wives. I've read the books of well-respected authors Jean Plaidy, Alison Weir, and Philippa Gregory.

What else could someone tell me?

I was in for a pleasant surprise.

Thankfully, I read the Acknowledgment section first to see what the reader needs to know, which set the stage for my imagination to be released on a wonderful journey ahead, suspended in fact for some playful fantasy and fiction.

The strength of female characters is so important in this book, and I give a lot of credit to Laine for standing up for women's rights. The world she created in her sisterhood allowed women freedom, independence, and justice. They were advocates for the arts and education, and the author used that to make each of the wives a powerful woman in her own right, and even stronger with her fellow sisters of the cause.

Laine didn't lump all the wives together, and each had a specialness to her. They ended up as change agents in a world dominated by men. My favorite was Anne, as she had had quite a time as a Queen, only to be disappointing to Henry in childbirth, except for Elizabeth.

Using a narrator, Maugerite d'Angouleme, a princess herself who prided herself on collecting interesting friends, was a perfect way to move the story forward.

The book's strength was its uniqueness and originality, with enough factual background woven in.

Thank you, Jillian Laine, for such an entertaining book. I will recommend this one to all my book club friends.