What do you think?
Rate this book
Falling for Henry
In this historical novel, Kate Allen, a fifteen-year-old girl, travels back in time to the Tudor court of Henry VII. While there, she is mistaken for an absent Katherine of Aragon, and subsequently takes the place of the young woman positioned to become the first wife of the future king Henry VIII. In her present time, Kate has been dealing with the sudden death of her father, and a move to London, to live with her elder sister. Kate quietly rebels against all these unwonted changes that have come in her young life, so at first her journey into the past is a welcome relief. She blossoms with the attention of a young and gallant Prince Henry. But as she pieces together her knowledge of history - especially her awareness of the man and monarch whom Prince Henry will become - Kate knows this relationship will be unhealthy for her. At the same time, friendship blossoms with William Fitzroy, one of Henry's companions. Through the course of the story, Kate recognizes her own ability to adapt, and develops skills she will later need in order to fit into her new living circumstances once back in London. She also realizes that she has a responsibility to her family over and above her expectations of them. Most of all, Kate learns to stop running from the things she fears, and embrace life, a decision that will make a difference to her in times to come.
281 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2011
1 person is currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Beverley Brenna
19 books23 followersBeverley Brenna calls Saskatoon, Saskatchewan home base, and loves to travel (both for real, and through reading)!
She published her first poem in The Western Producer at age seven. From this point, she was hooked on writing!
Much of what she writes contains autobiographical scenes, such as the "friendship soup" in The Keeper of the Trees, and the care and keeping of a pet tarantula in Spider Summer.
She has worked as a babysitter, home daycare mom, clerk steno, draftsperson, caregiver for orphan lambs, teacher, and university professor as well as a writer and storyteller.
She published her first poem in The Western Producer at age seven. From this point, she was hooked on writing!
Much of what she writes contains autobiographical scenes, such as the "friendship soup" in The Keeper of the Trees, and the care and keeping of a pet tarantula in Spider Summer.
She has worked as a babysitter, home daycare mom, clerk steno, draftsperson, caregiver for orphan lambs, teacher, and university professor as well as a writer and storyteller.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 13, 2017
Summer read, not much to this book, kind of boring
Liked the time travel aspect of it, but story was not long enough
Liked the time travel aspect of it, but story was not long enough
July 23, 2014
I didn't finish this book. The idea was good. I was excited for this, it sounded so amazing, but God, the disappointment! The book starts with Kate visiting a museum or something, I forgot what it was, and she spends the entire time moaning about the weather, the food, the history, her classmates, her sister, her uniform, her life. She's Bella Swan, but even Bella Swan was more interesting.
But if you can get past that fact, then get ready for the most slow paced book of your like, because it takes around 7 chapters for the story to begin. And while that doesn't happen, we have a constant change in POV. The narrator changes from Kate to this random dude called William, who is a "friend" of Henry VIII. I still don't understand what was the point of William. He was just as boring as Kate, but slightly more likable.
And then, when she finally got to early Tudor England in the body of Katherine of Aragon, I thought "sweet, now the story is gonna START" and I was expecting some cultural shock, Kate using slangs people don't understand, she seeming horrified about some practices they did back then, you know, what would actually happen if a modern person found herself in that situation. But no, because when she got Katherine of Aragon's body, she also got some sort of magical filter that changes the stuff she says, so she speaks the English Henry speaks and everything seems so... normal.
That was when I put that book down. I couldn't finish. It was so unrealistic and so poorly executed and it makes me so angry because it had potential! The writing was so dry and it didn't help either. It doesn't make you want to read more. It's tiresome. I found myself skipping pages to see if it got better, but every single page I turned was just as boring as the one before.
So that was a waste of time.
But if you can get past that fact, then get ready for the most slow paced book of your like, because it takes around 7 chapters for the story to begin. And while that doesn't happen, we have a constant change in POV. The narrator changes from Kate to this random dude called William, who is a "friend" of Henry VIII. I still don't understand what was the point of William. He was just as boring as Kate, but slightly more likable.
And then, when she finally got to early Tudor England in the body of Katherine of Aragon, I thought "sweet, now the story is gonna START" and I was expecting some cultural shock, Kate using slangs people don't understand, she seeming horrified about some practices they did back then, you know, what would actually happen if a modern person found herself in that situation. But no, because when she got Katherine of Aragon's body, she also got some sort of magical filter that changes the stuff she says, so she speaks the English Henry speaks and everything seems so... normal.
That was when I put that book down. I couldn't finish. It was so unrealistic and so poorly executed and it makes me so angry because it had potential! The writing was so dry and it didn't help either. It doesn't make you want to read more. It's tiresome. I found myself skipping pages to see if it got better, but every single page I turned was just as boring as the one before.
So that was a waste of time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2014
I'm a fan of Tudor fiction and was really looking forward to this story as the idea of time traveling to the Tudor era sounded fascinating, however I was disappointed with this book. It was poorly constructed. Jumping from one character's point of view to another and then from one era to another. It left me feeling confused. Also the end of the story felt incomplete. I just couldn't get into it.
Read
May 23, 2012REVIEW ORIGINALLY POSTED ON READER VIEWS KIDS
I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but before I even opened “Falling for Henry,” I was drawn in by the smooth and sturdy binding, the beautiful juxtaposition of script and serif with a simple sans serif, and the perfect small, but not tiny and thin size of the book.
“Falling for Henry” by Beverley Brenna did not disappoint. Kate Allen is living with her sister in London, attending a private school. Both her parents are gone – her mother left when she was young and hasn’t been seen since, and her father died less than a year ago. After her father died, she went to live in London with her older sister who is studying acting.
She finds adjusting to the new school and life difficult. Her British schoolmates ignore or tease her, her sister is a terrible cook, and her claustrophobia has been getting worse. Sometimes she wishes she could disappear; she misses her old life and her new life is so unbearable.
On a class field trip, first to a museum, then in a tunnel under the Thames, she decides to skip the tour and go to the tunnel before her class does – sometimes familiarity helps assuage the claustrophobia. Kate forces herself into the dark tunnel, intent on conquering her fear. To her surprise, she finds herself in a forest, where a hunting party dressed in medieval clothes gallops past on horses.
Kate finds herself in the court of Henry VII where Henry VIII is prince. Kate struggles to avoid falling for Henry VIII when she knows how he ends up treating his wives.
Brenna’s character development is excellent. Throughout the book, Kate grew as a character, and although I liked her more at the end of the book, I was able to sympathize with her and understand her progress.
Full of time-travel, a touch of romance, and a well-drawn historical setting, “Falling for Henry” by Beverley Brenna is an excellent historical novel which I would recommend both to purveyors of the genre interested in a time-travel twist and to those who read less historical fiction, as an enjoyable read for anyone.
I know I’m not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but before I even opened “Falling for Henry,” I was drawn in by the smooth and sturdy binding, the beautiful juxtaposition of script and serif with a simple sans serif, and the perfect small, but not tiny and thin size of the book.
“Falling for Henry” by Beverley Brenna did not disappoint. Kate Allen is living with her sister in London, attending a private school. Both her parents are gone – her mother left when she was young and hasn’t been seen since, and her father died less than a year ago. After her father died, she went to live in London with her older sister who is studying acting.
She finds adjusting to the new school and life difficult. Her British schoolmates ignore or tease her, her sister is a terrible cook, and her claustrophobia has been getting worse. Sometimes she wishes she could disappear; she misses her old life and her new life is so unbearable.
On a class field trip, first to a museum, then in a tunnel under the Thames, she decides to skip the tour and go to the tunnel before her class does – sometimes familiarity helps assuage the claustrophobia. Kate forces herself into the dark tunnel, intent on conquering her fear. To her surprise, she finds herself in a forest, where a hunting party dressed in medieval clothes gallops past on horses.
Kate finds herself in the court of Henry VII where Henry VIII is prince. Kate struggles to avoid falling for Henry VIII when she knows how he ends up treating his wives.
Brenna’s character development is excellent. Throughout the book, Kate grew as a character, and although I liked her more at the end of the book, I was able to sympathize with her and understand her progress.
Full of time-travel, a touch of romance, and a well-drawn historical setting, “Falling for Henry” by Beverley Brenna is an excellent historical novel which I would recommend both to purveyors of the genre interested in a time-travel twist and to those who read less historical fiction, as an enjoyable read for anyone.
not-for-me
January 28, 2012I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it and, ultimately, gave it up. Despite not being a fan of time travel and despite this clearly being a book about time travel, I decided to give it a try. The author certainly has an interesting premise - a modern day girl meeting Henry VIII before he became THE Henry VIII - but I could just never get involved with the story. I don't give ratings for books I don't finish in fairness to the rating system, which is why this book gets zero stars from me.
December 1, 2012
I requested this book to review for the Historical Novel Society because of its interesting premise--a girl is transported back in time and ends up falling for Prince Henry, the future Henry VIII.
I thought this book was on the whole an exercise in mediocrity. The story is pretty anticlimactic and very very slow-paced. The characters are reasonably well-done but not anything special, and Brenna had this unfortunate tendency to work her modern mindset into her historical characters.
Perhaps better for younger girls than older ones.
I thought this book was on the whole an exercise in mediocrity. The story is pretty anticlimactic and very very slow-paced. The characters are reasonably well-done but not anything special, and Brenna had this unfortunate tendency to work her modern mindset into her historical characters.
Perhaps better for younger girls than older ones.
November 16, 2012
Ehh ... This book had the potential to be very compelling and beautiful but unfortunately I found er to be a bit on the boring side. Kate was really irritating and I feel like not a whole lot really happened in the book like it was real anticlimactic
March 25, 2012
The description looked interesting, but I only read about 40 pages of it. I just couldn't get into it. The writing was not good, and the main character was whiny and self-loathing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews