What do you think?
Rate this book
All Hail the Queen: Twenty Women Who Ruled
Great Mother's Day, birthday, or girlfriend gift
Discover twenty true stories of royal intrigue, power, and passion.
Elegant and diverse celebration of women in charge: From Cleopatra to Empress Wu Zetian, Marie Antoinette to Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, discover the true stories of extraordinary female monarchs who led lives full of dramatic events and intrigue. Some by birth and others by marriage, All Hail the Queen tells the stories and illustrates the lives of twenty strong, brave women from across the globe who each defied expectation and made her mark on the culture and people she ruled. Fans of Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World will love this historical and inspiring book, All Hail the Queen: Twenty Women Who Ruled .
Discover twenty true stories of royal intrigue, power and passion.
Discover twenty true stories of royal intrigue, power, and passion.
Elegant and diverse celebration of women in charge: From Cleopatra to Empress Wu Zetian, Marie Antoinette to Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, discover the true stories of extraordinary female monarchs who led lives full of dramatic events and intrigue. Some by birth and others by marriage, All Hail the Queen tells the stories and illustrates the lives of twenty strong, brave women from across the globe who each defied expectation and made her mark on the culture and people she ruled. Fans of Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World will love this historical and inspiring book, All Hail the Queen: Twenty Women Who Ruled .
Discover twenty true stories of royal intrigue, power and passion.
136 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2019
13 people are currently reading
1373 people want to read
About the author
Shweta Jha
20 books6 followersShweta Jha is an Indian journalist, editor, and author of “All Hail the Queen,” published by Chronicle Books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 6, 2019
I love the idea of this book; however, I ended up not loving the book itself. I don't want to seem like I am tearing this book apart, because I really do love the idea of it, but I ended up not liking a larger chunk. Two of the big things that really disappointed me were the artwork and the quality of the history.
In the beginning/introduction to the book, the author/artist stated that they tried to delve completely into the world of each female to do their sketches so that each queen would have a different look and feel that matches their personality/culture. Because of this, I had pretty awesome expectations of the artwork. I thought that each one was going to have a different style or feel, or even be from different mediums. Sadly, no. All of the artwork looked the same, with one queen being indistinguishable from another unless their skin-tones varied. The opportunity to utilize various styles of art was huge, there were so many options! Each queen could have been done in a style classic to their culture/region/time-frame, which would have been so cool! If nothing had been said to create a standard, I don't think I would have been disappointed in the artwork; I wouldn't have thought it was amazing, but I wouldn't have been disappointed.
History-wise, there are some facts in this book that have been discredited or explained away as myths. The blurbs about each queen feel like they are taken from Wikipedia with little understanding or further research into the various humans. It is very obvious that the author favored certain rulers over others, as they are portrayed in a kinder light. Either that, or the author didn't have enough facts to properly represent their accomplishments fully.
I know that this review has a lot of negative, which breaks my heart. I have waited quite a while after finishing this book to write the review with the hope that my feelings would lighten. Sadly, I am still just disappointed in it. I hope that it helps to pave the way for even more books like this though! I hope that some little one picks it up, sees a name that speaks to them, and then goes and does research on that person. I hope it is a jumping board. I love the movement that is creating so many of this style of book; it is so important! I really do appreciate that the author made an attempt to grow the genre.
In the beginning/introduction to the book, the author/artist stated that they tried to delve completely into the world of each female to do their sketches so that each queen would have a different look and feel that matches their personality/culture. Because of this, I had pretty awesome expectations of the artwork. I thought that each one was going to have a different style or feel, or even be from different mediums. Sadly, no. All of the artwork looked the same, with one queen being indistinguishable from another unless their skin-tones varied. The opportunity to utilize various styles of art was huge, there were so many options! Each queen could have been done in a style classic to their culture/region/time-frame, which would have been so cool! If nothing had been said to create a standard, I don't think I would have been disappointed in the artwork; I wouldn't have thought it was amazing, but I wouldn't have been disappointed.
History-wise, there are some facts in this book that have been discredited or explained away as myths. The blurbs about each queen feel like they are taken from Wikipedia with little understanding or further research into the various humans. It is very obvious that the author favored certain rulers over others, as they are portrayed in a kinder light. Either that, or the author didn't have enough facts to properly represent their accomplishments fully.
I know that this review has a lot of negative, which breaks my heart. I have waited quite a while after finishing this book to write the review with the hope that my feelings would lighten. Sadly, I am still just disappointed in it. I hope that it helps to pave the way for even more books like this though! I hope that some little one picks it up, sees a name that speaks to them, and then goes and does research on that person. I hope it is a jumping board. I love the movement that is creating so many of this style of book; it is so important! I really do appreciate that the author made an attempt to grow the genre.
September 5, 2019
Twenty different queens from around the world are celebrated in this volume. A short biography with five pages of illustrations are allotted per queen. There are the usual suspects: Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I and Hatsheput. But there are others that you might not have known from Asia, such as Lakshmi Bai or Wu Zetian.
A good book if a little, well, little. It would have been nice to have more illustrations; it fells like it is an abridged version of a larger work. Maybe there will be a sequel?
A good book if a little, well, little. It would have been nice to have more illustrations; it fells like it is an abridged version of a larger work. Maybe there will be a sequel?
June 26, 2019
Read this book! The illustrations are great. Lot's of herstory. A great read for feminists of all kinds to enjoy.
March 2, 2025
"Though the sex by which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind."- Elizabeth I
Women get things done.
There is always a cause to celebrate strong, fiercely independent women any time of the year. It's ironic that March is Women's History Month, and this is the first book I chose to read. And it's so nice to see so many books celebrating the famous, infamous, diverse, and forgotten women of history as their names should be known. However, in a sea of books regarding this topic, this one isn't one the best, and I think it comes down to two things.
One, I wasn't a fan of the art style. I know this is personal preference among all else, but there was just something about the particular way the artists drew these women that wasn't appealing to the eye. The illustrations were very colorful, which I liked as someone who is trying very hard to avoid the millennial beige stereotype.
The other thing that made this book just okay was the fact that the entries were very short. Now, most books in this subgenre have short entries, and I think that they're designed to make the reader want to do their own independent research. However, these entries completely glossed over so many of these womens' accomplishments that it read like a second-grade biography of them. The entries were way too short which made this book that was supposed to be about celebrating these women seem lukewarm.
It's not that this book is bad. It really isn't, as I will never turn down an opportunity to read about women in history. Their stories need to be told so we can celebrate their legacies and learn from the past. However, in a sea of so many similar books, this entry was just okay. The artwork was a bit off-putting and the entries far too short.
For similar books, I would recommend Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World, Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics, and Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales to Dream Big for books with a more complete biography and appealing art.
Women get things done.
There is always a cause to celebrate strong, fiercely independent women any time of the year. It's ironic that March is Women's History Month, and this is the first book I chose to read. And it's so nice to see so many books celebrating the famous, infamous, diverse, and forgotten women of history as their names should be known. However, in a sea of books regarding this topic, this one isn't one the best, and I think it comes down to two things.
One, I wasn't a fan of the art style. I know this is personal preference among all else, but there was just something about the particular way the artists drew these women that wasn't appealing to the eye. The illustrations were very colorful, which I liked as someone who is trying very hard to avoid the millennial beige stereotype.
The other thing that made this book just okay was the fact that the entries were very short. Now, most books in this subgenre have short entries, and I think that they're designed to make the reader want to do their own independent research. However, these entries completely glossed over so many of these womens' accomplishments that it read like a second-grade biography of them. The entries were way too short which made this book that was supposed to be about celebrating these women seem lukewarm.
It's not that this book is bad. It really isn't, as I will never turn down an opportunity to read about women in history. Their stories need to be told so we can celebrate their legacies and learn from the past. However, in a sea of so many similar books, this entry was just okay. The artwork was a bit off-putting and the entries far too short.
For similar books, I would recommend Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World, Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics, and Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales to Dream Big for books with a more complete biography and appealing art.
September 24, 2019
Colorful illustrations throughout, in fact more illustrations than text. I also was expecting more contemporary than ancient Egypt and Cleopatra for the women. Most were queens who became rulers by female guiles and intrigue. History is full of that however. It's a quick read, not for a serious scholar. Teens might enjoy also.
August 10, 2019
Cute, well illustrated, and I learned a bunch of stuff because it was brief enough to hold my shortening attention span.
May 3, 2019
I've always had an obsession about Queens and Princesses... I think the "Royal Diaries" book series as a tween greatly influenced me in this area. This is a quick read, you get a brief history of each Queen mentioned, and then an illustrated few pages with extra facts about the queen. I love the art style, more like a journaling art and hand writing. Interesting quick read if you dig all things queenly.
June 11, 2019
Not really what I expected, I was thinking the biographies of each woman would be longer. Each one was only a few paragraphs followed by some illustrations. It did inspire me to look up several of the ladies, who I'd never heard of before. I enjoyed All Hail The Queen.
June 4, 2019
Loved the illustrations in this book. A good, quick read.
June 29, 2019
I really enjoyed the variety of people covered in this book. While there were some I was familiar with, I learned a great deal about some Queens I had never heard of.
June 14, 2020
I read in English but this review is in Bahasa Indonesia
Suatu ketika menemukan satu unggahan di Twittter. Di kicauan itu ada empat sampul buku yang langsung menarik perhatianku. Keempatnya merupakan buku-buku yang bisa dikatakan membicarakan perihal perempuan. Selain itu, sepertinya mereka adalah buku dengan ilustrasi. Akhirnya aku memutuskan untuk mencari dan membaca All Hail the Queen.
Awalnya aku kira bukunya tebal. Seperti buku-buku yang membahas tentang pemimpin wanita yang pernah aku baca. Rupanya tidak. Ia malah tidak lebih dari 150 halaman. All Hail the Queen rupanya hanya memasukkan 20 pemimpin wanita dari masa lampau. Di dalamnya ada nama yang sudah familiar seperti Cleopatra, Ratu Victoria, dan Ratu Elizabeth I. Sisanya, adalah nama-nama yang diklaim oleh penulis, dihapus dari sejarah.
Tepat seperti dugaanku, buku ini juga dilengkapi dengan ilustrasi. Masing-masing tokoh diceritakan melalui 1 halaman narasi dan 3 halaman ilustrasi. Sederhana dan ringan. Sebatas mendeskripsikan siapa tokoh tersebut, bagaimana ia bisa mejadi pemimpin, dan apa yang terjadi di akhir hidupnya.
Konsep buku ini mengingatkanku pada buku Lalita--yang membahas 51 tokoh perempuan Indonesia melalui ilustrasi menarik.
Suatu ketika menemukan satu unggahan di Twittter. Di kicauan itu ada empat sampul buku yang langsung menarik perhatianku. Keempatnya merupakan buku-buku yang bisa dikatakan membicarakan perihal perempuan. Selain itu, sepertinya mereka adalah buku dengan ilustrasi. Akhirnya aku memutuskan untuk mencari dan membaca All Hail the Queen.
Awalnya aku kira bukunya tebal. Seperti buku-buku yang membahas tentang pemimpin wanita yang pernah aku baca. Rupanya tidak. Ia malah tidak lebih dari 150 halaman. All Hail the Queen rupanya hanya memasukkan 20 pemimpin wanita dari masa lampau. Di dalamnya ada nama yang sudah familiar seperti Cleopatra, Ratu Victoria, dan Ratu Elizabeth I. Sisanya, adalah nama-nama yang diklaim oleh penulis, dihapus dari sejarah.
Tepat seperti dugaanku, buku ini juga dilengkapi dengan ilustrasi. Masing-masing tokoh diceritakan melalui 1 halaman narasi dan 3 halaman ilustrasi. Sederhana dan ringan. Sebatas mendeskripsikan siapa tokoh tersebut, bagaimana ia bisa mejadi pemimpin, dan apa yang terjadi di akhir hidupnya.
Konsep buku ini mengingatkanku pada buku Lalita--yang membahas 51 tokoh perempuan Indonesia melalui ilustrasi menarik.
Read
January 13, 2020The art was beautiful and I definitely learned about some women I'd never heard of before, but I was definitely hoping for a little more about each women - there was about a page of actual biography (and they're short pages), then a few facts with images. Fortunately, there is a really in-depth bibliography in the back, so I'll definitely be using that to find more books to check out.
June 16, 2021
Gorgeous, lush illustrations
The text is closer to a 3 than a 4 for me. I loved the variety of women but felt that there was not enough detail given ( Something would be hinted but not followed through)
I would recommend this to high school girls who are curious about history as a starting point but then tell them to go do more research on their own.
The text is closer to a 3 than a 4 for me. I loved the variety of women but felt that there was not enough detail given ( Something would be hinted but not followed through)
I would recommend this to high school girls who are curious about history as a starting point but then tell them to go do more research on their own.
February 8, 2025
If you read it as more of an art book and a jumping-off point for further research like I did, this book is a fun jaunt into the history of female rulers throughout history. It was interesting to learn about these women, especially since I didn't know much about them. Simplistic, but a decent starting point for learning about the topic.
January 4, 2020
Concise descriptions of each queen's reign, accomplishments, and if any, troubles, accompanied by beautiful illustrations. I knew and have heard of some of these queens while encountering others for the first time. Great as a gift for children.
March 1, 2022
I bought this because I love the illustrations of Jennifer Orkin Lewis (one of my favorite artists) and it was colorful, beautifully painted and researched. I also learned about some queens that I had never heard about before. I bought this for the artwork but I ended up liking the writing as well.
February 5, 2023
it's literally a children's book for adults; loved the illustrations; she chose quite a few female rulers that were completely unknown to me, which has now led to me looking up their biographies and getting caught up in medieval royal drama.
May 2, 2023
The one good thing about this book is that it included some non-European queens who don't get a lot of attention. Otherwise, each write up is quite short and shallow with some dubious or provably wrong history reported as fact.
June 22, 2024
Es un libro lindo y divertido de leer. Las ilustraciones son magníficas. Ideal para leerlo a niños y niñas pequeños. El texto es corto. Me recordó a los libros álbum
Además, aprendes de historia y cultura 💖👌🏻
Además, aprendes de historia y cultura 💖👌🏻
April 7, 2019
This book review can be found at The Book Review
October 30, 2019
The few paragraphs about each ruler didn't tell much, and the illustrations weren't to my taste.
May 7, 2020
2.75 stars
June 8, 2020
Four stars for the beautiful illustrations, two stars for the info contained. (Of Catherine the Great’s three pages, one was all about her lovers. WHY?!?)
July 14, 2020
It was great to read about some queens id never heard of before but I just found the book lacking. Like maybe less queens but more information.
The watercolour pictures were cute though
The watercolour pictures were cute though
August 9, 2020
An interesting read featuring some Queens I'd never heard of short but interesting.
June 16, 2022
It's empowering. And the illustrations are absolutely beautiful!
July 11, 2023
Read this quick read during a beach day! Very fascinating and beautifully designed!
November 10, 2023
The illustrations are delightful and there were some women included that I hadn't heard of before.
January 30, 2024
Unfortunately, I liked the idea more than the execution. It was a quick read and I did learn about some women rulers who I had never heard of before. While the illustrations were pretty to look at, I felt they could have provided more detail about the women and their place in history. I also felt like more information in general would have been helpful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews