This is about some of the beginning of Scottish history which not much is written about not like English history!You will enjoy where this story takes you and helps you understand why and when history is in the making happened! It moves to me a little slow,a little boring at times but then all of a sudden it gets better! Didn't get confused on the change of events as they happen so if I didn't you wont! Enjoy!! Thank you Met Galley for this go to read first!

This mercifully short novel tells the story of the early part of the life of Christina Bruce, sister of Robert. She's feisty, independent and given to breathing deeply, taking long walks and galloping off when upset. And perhaps noblewomen in late 13th-century Scotland could get away with being feisty, independent etc; it's not my period, so I can't tell whether this behaviour is anachronistic or not.

But there are several anachronisms which do stand, screaming, on a heathery Scottish hillside. Mary gets 'antsy' (p35). Christina 'snuck' out of the castle (p36) and can 'figure this out' (p37) - just three examples in three pages. Worse is 'crosshairs' (p66). Cross hairs were first called this is 1755, to describe a view-finding aid developed in the later 17th century. Mistakes like this drag a reader straight out of the story and make me doubt the author's research. And we need to be able to trust the author.

Maybe an editor could have tidied things up? An editor might have spotted that a scapular (p113) was never used to cover a nun's hair, not even a feisty nun's hair. It's like a tabard, it's worn on the body. Hint: look up 'wimple'.

An editor might have pointed out that Christina's widowed sister was not the 'queen mother' of Norway, because she had no heir to be a mother of. The same busy editor would have noticed that there is no such place as 'the Orkneys'. And what's a 'stennachie'? Is it like a seannachie?

But the editor was probably punch-drunk from being slapped around by dangling participles. Even the first sentence starts with one. 'Palm pressed against cold earth, winter's lingering cold numbed Christina's fingers.' I've heard of winter having you in its grasp, but I didn't think it actually had a palm.

But read on, let' see if it gets any better. 'Short in stature, his grey hair curled as it came to rest against his shoulders. In service to her father and her grandfather before him, his stooped frame was as familiar as the ground she crouched on.' Nope. It gets worse after all.

Here's a real cracker. ''Still on her horse, she dismounted.' Er... no. And I'm not sure what's going on here: 'Oblivious to her presence, her sisters stared back at her in surprise.'

The reason I noticed all these horrors was that none of the characters is particularly engaging and, frankly, I didn't care what happened to them. Maybe that wasn't helped by the fact that the characters spend a lot of time smirking. Not just when they are being sarky or threatening. But again and again, even during a tender moment with a lover.

OK, that's enough. You'll get the point. TL:DR? It's just not very well written. The bits and bobs of history are interesting enough, but I'd rather read plain old history than this sadly wasted opportunity to bring Catriona Bruce to life.

So all in all, I can't recommend it. But if you do read this book, I hope you get more out of it than I did.

Set during Scotland's war for independence, we follow Christina Bruce. She fights to find her own place in the world and tries to help her country be the country she thinks it can be.

This biographic piece had a lot of history in it that often at times felt clunky and thick. My knowledge of the Scottish war for independence doesn't exist, but even with the history laid on throughout the novel, I don't feel like it's any better. It slowed down the pace and didn't make it an easy read for me.

It wasn't only the thick history that slowed the novel down for me, but the writing in general. It was all clunky and didn't flow well. At times, the writing felt like it was aimed for younger readers. The blend between fiction and non-fiction didn't feel cohesive. There was a divide there which left me feeling like I was reading a non-fiction story more than a fiction story based on history.

Due to the writing, I had a hard time getting to know Christina. The story spanned for around ten years, so I should have gotten to know her and see how much she changed over the years, but I didn't get any of that. She came across as rather plain to me when I'm sure she was anything but.

I was eager to dive into this novel, but due to the writing and the ending, this book really missed the mark for me.

I have to start out by writing that my "go to" genre is historical fiction though mostly in the 20th century. I know nothing about Scottish history nor of the heroes/heroines of those times. No, I did not see Mel Gibson's movie. I enjoy books with strong women and Christina lives up to this attribute. Maybe because of my lack of knowledge, I found there were too many characters to keep track of especially with the swapping the use of first and/or last names. Maybe a character diagram would have been helpful. For the most part, I found the pace consistent throughout the book. My rating is 3.5 but rounded up to 4. I am sure a reader with interest in this part of history would enjoy To Crown a King.

I missed it when selecting Raedene Jeannette Melin’s To Crown a King so I’m gonna start by noting the book is a biographic piece based on the life of Christina Bruce, sister of that other Bruce, the one carefully omitted from the jacket description in favor of a Mel Gibson reference.

All joking aside, I admit I liked this piece. Melin’s To Crown a King is smaller in scope than J.M. Harvey’s Sisters of the Bruce 1292-1314, but I think the modest frame of this narrative allowed a nice degree of thematic depth. Melin doesn’t forget the history, I felt it layered a bit thick in places if I’m completely honest, but there is enough of a character arc to balance the fact.

My only quib with this piece is the pacing. I was slow on the uptake, but once I got my head on straight, I remembered enough to recognize where this story was going and consequently found it hard to rouse my enthusiasm for the twists and challenges the rebellion was meant to create for Christina.