I was able to finish this in two settings and it was a great read! Elizabeth of York lived an interesting life. I enjoyed the little twists that the author added to the story. The one where Elizabeth finds out about what happens to her brothers was quite interesting! As with all of Alison Weirs novels it's well written and the one thing I have always enjoyed is that she keeps the facts right but adds where it needs to but still allows it to flow well together and make sense. Really great read!

This is well written. I'm just not sure that this character is the most interesting person in history. This is the eventual wife of Henry VII, mother to Henry VIII, and the sister of the princes in the tower, niece of Richard III. You would think that would make her fairly interesting. I guess it's hard to write something truthful to history but also interesting and exciting. There was just something about this that fell flat for me.

I love Alison Weir's writing and was excited to get my hands on her new Tudor Rose series and book one, The Last White Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York. I was not disappointed. I highly recommend it. Five plus stars.

Historical fiction fans know Alison Weir is as good as it gets in this genre. I was thrilled to see the last York princess finally getting her due - it’s a juicy story, made better by Weir’s telling.

The Last white rose by Alison Weir talks about an interesting historical figure. Henry the eighths mother Elizabeth of York. Wife and Queen Consort to Henry the seventh. Goes over her political life which is quite interest me and whenever it comes up its interesting to see the positions she's put in historical. Being part of the cousins war aka war of the roses. Some of the most fascinating and emotional times you will ever find also being mother to one of the most famous Kings in history. I rarely find a book in her perspective since her voice is so rare. I highly recommend this read. You really get the emotional political tug that this during this time a women faces. Her namesake as we all know Queen Elizabeth the first changes all that. I also love Alison Weir's strong writing I have read her books before and really admire the voice she gives to history.

I was given this Arc in exchange for an honest review. Don't forget to check out this book when it is published May 03 2022

A very good read on Elizabeth of York starting as a very young girl until her death. Alison Weir's take shows a different Elizabeth particularly regarding her relationship with her husband King Henry VII. The author strikes the perfect balance between narrative and description. I agree with some others that it's a bit difficult to digest that Elizabeth was able to eavesdrop so many times when she was younger. In addition, I found it hard to believe that she could have the conversations she had on some subjects at the ages of five and six. I am a diehard Ricardian but do not hold that against the author. A must read for any Tudor lover! Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

"The Last White Rose" is a novel of Elizabeth of York's life.

What's good: It does give you insight into Elizabeth's life. If you wanted to focus on Elizabeth, so often ignored for the sake of the men around her, here's your shot.

What's iffier: It reads at times like a Wikipedia entry, carefully inserting the kind of supporting detail you'd find in a biography. (Example: "X was married on day ABC. Her trousseau included...") Elizabeth's narrative voice is not particularly distinctive and doesn't change much from her childhood narration to her adult point of view. The author does step out at times to show some interpretation of Elizabeth's choices (the famous body & soul letter regarding Richard III), but it doesn't feel like we spend a lot of time actually getting to know Elizabeth--we're more just along for the ride, witnessing as events happen to her.

With appreciation to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I loved the book! Alison Weir does a wonderful job weaving history and fiction to make for an great story! Even though I knew historically how the book would end, I very much enjoyed reading this. It really made me feel for Elizabeth of York and her family.

This was probably my least liked of all of the fictionalized books I've read from Alison Weir. It was so repetitive. The first section was her mother being paranoid. Then the part about her marriage to Henry was about Henry being paranoid. And then she died. While the variety of pretenders did happen, because Weir focused on them, I felt like I was reading the same 6 conversations over and over again.

Alison Weir brings history to life with The Last White Rose: A Novel of Elizabeth of York. Elizabeth, eldest daughter of king Edward IV and his unpopular queen, Elizabeth Woodville, led an interesting life - daughter, wife, sister, niece, mother, and grandmother of English monarchs. I recommend this book for anyone interested in English history, especially around the period of the Wars of the Roses. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel.

Alison Weir has done it again! The Last White Rose is a beautifully written story about Elizabeth of York, the oldest daughter of King Edward IV. Alison Weir brings to life the history of Henry VIII's mother in this well-researched historical fiction. If you love reading historical fiction especially about British Royalty, this book is for you. Outstanding read!

This book was given to me by NetGalley and Penguin Random House- Ballantine Books in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

When I heard this book was coming out, I was really excited, because Elizabeth of York to me is an overlooked Queen, overshadowed by her son Henry VIII. Elizabeth’s life is so much more interesting and her life leading to being Queen is a story of legend.

The book is divided into four parts to better organize the story. The parts include Elizabeth’s childhood to her becoming Queen. The reading sees Elizabeth being beloved by her parents and surrounding herself with people that she loves. This part is unnecessary. We know so much about how Edward IV came to the throne, his parents and how he fell in love with Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth’s relationship with her parents is sweet. She was beloved by her father.

The first part, however, sets up the background for how the Woodville family was targeted by Edward’s brothers, Richard and George.

We see Elizabeth grow into a young woman, a princess that, however was targeted by those who seized power. I would also like to compliment Alison Weir for not pinning the Princes of Tower’s death on Margaret Beaufort, unlike some ignorant historians. Elizabeth is forced into marriage with her uncle until Henry Beaufort asks for her hand in marriage to better stabilize his claim to the throne. Alison refers Henry as the Earl of Richmond and not by his first name, which only made it confusing. I didn’t realize Alison was referring to Henry until much later. Elizabeth’s respect for her new betrothed is immediate. They begin writing letters to each other, sending tokens of love, funding, soldiers. This part is dragged out and Elizabeth’s marriage to Henry doesn’t come until much later in the book.

The beginning was slow for me, so it took me a while to read the first part. The last couple of hundred pages were an easier read.

Elizabeth’s marriage to Henry is largely debated by historians and readers. Some believe they married for love, and some believe Henry wouldn’t have been able to seize the throne until he married her. Alison portrays their marriage as loving, affectionate, and kind. They never once say “I love you” to each other, although the narrative hints strongly that they do. Many other writers who write about Elizabeth’s love story with Henry either portray their marriage as distrusting, sometimes hateful, or either for political reasons. What struck me as odd is that Henry didn’t trust Elizabeth with political and court intrigues. In the fifteenth century, the king’s consort was responsible for raising a family, arranging marriages and setting her own income. Henry-as a historical fact- trusted Elizabeth and asked her for advice, although unusual for the time. He was not raised to be king, but Elizabeth grew up around her father, and knew how the court worked, Henry did not. Henry was raised by Jasper Tudor in exile.

Elizabeth’s relationship with her children is interesting. When she gives birth to Arthur, she feels estranged. This to me was an unusual plot-line because Henry and Elizabeth were quite keen to have their children close. Elizabeth’s favoritism with Harry, Margaret and Mary were uneasy for me to read. Henry’s attitude towards Elizabeth giving birth to two daughters and not another son, was unusual, although he did not wish to endanger his wife’s health for another son.

The plot mainly focuses on Elizabeth and Henry, their concerns about their reign, their trust in each other, their love and their children which I loved reading the most. I think the plot could use a few points to make it much more interesting, however this is just my opinion:

Margaret’s involvement with Henry’s success and the royal family’s suspicion if Margaret was involved.

Perkin Warbeck and Elizabeth’s concern if he’s really her brother

Jasper Tudor’s relationship with Henry. Jasper was the only father Henry knew, I’m surprised he did not show up in the story more.

An epilogue. If the reader is introduced to the Tudors by this book, then an epilogue chronicling what happened to the rest of the characters would be fitting. This however, is just my opinion.

The publisher should know that they are multiple typo errors found throughout the book, and unnecessary sometimes hard to read sentences are found in book. A scene is also placed where it should not be.

I rated this book 4.2/5 based on my thoughts and opinions. I thank Penguin Random House and NetGalley for giving me this book. I really enjoyed reading it, this fulfilled my Tudor appetite!

When I was in school, I thought history was so boring because the textbooks were so horribly dry. I didn’t realize what a passion I have for learning more history until I was in my thirties and realized that instead of it being old and dusty, history was as much in full on color as our own lives and times are. As a historian and very talented writer, Alison Weir is able to bring history to life in such a fantastic way - I loved her voice for Elizabeth, the princess turned queen most known for bringing forth the Tudor dynasty.

When I started this novel, I made sure that I was caught up with my other reading because I knew I’d want to savor it. I’m glad that I did, because this brought Elizabeth’s story alive in an utterly engrossing way, even though I was already rather familiar with the Tudor matriarch. This grabbed my attention from the first chapter, and during my reading of this, I was transfixed and enjoyed each and every page.

Another absolute winner from Ms. Weir, I absolutely loved this book.

Another wonderfully researched novel on the York family and Henry VIII’s mother. I just love the history of Britains royalty! Highly recommended!

Having read several of Alison Weir's novels as well as some of her nonfiction, I think she should stick to the nonfiction. She seems to think that adding a bit of dialogue and opting for a particular historical theory rather than weighing several of them as she would in a historical biography is all that's needed to transform nonfiction into fiction.

There are so many pages in "Elizabeth of York" devoted to things that no doubt happened but that do nothing to move the story forward or add to our understanding of the characters. For instance, at one point Elizabeth is poorly and has to stay in bed for several months. Weir could have used these months in bed to show Elizabeth pondering something or coming to an epiphany (say, about her brothers, the Princes in the Tower, who she seems to think about only when outside events call for it) or to foreshadow upcoming events. Instead we're told she's ill and then told she's now better. Why not omit that from the book altogether.

And oh, the telling! So much telling, so little showing. We're told she's sad, we're told she misses her brothers, we're told she mistrusts Richard but is also attracted to him, but we're shown very little. There's so much intriguing about Elizabeth—the complexity of wanting to marry someone who might have been responsible for murdering her brothers, for starters—but it's never really explored, and we never get a sense of what Elizabeth, as a fictional character or as a royal, might have thought or felt. By the end I was reading this more in anger than anything else: Why didn't she ever visit her cousin in the Tower, especially given what happened to her brothers? Why did she all but forget about her closest sister after the sister's death? What are those signs of hidden sweetness in her mother-in-law that we've repeatedly been told about?

I don't usually like to compare one author unfavorably to another, but I have to say that Philippa Gregory's "The White Princess," also about Elizabeth of York, is a much better novel. Less historically accurate, I'm sure, but a better novel.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was the most interesting book! I didn’t know very much about Elizabeth of York and this book went in dept from her early childhood through her death. I loved the authors way of storytelling and couldn’t put it down!!! There was so much suspense and I loved reading to see what happened next.

I would definitely recommend this book and can’t wait to read more books by this author!!

Alison Weir does a great job in telling the story of Elizabeth of York without the extra dramatic effects. Although the dialog is a bit choppy, it does convey information the reader should know.

I'm a sucker for a good Alison Weir book! This is the story of Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor queen. The story flowed along and held my attention the entire time. The book goes through the tumultuous life of Elizabeth and the trials and uncertainty of her time as a princess, being declared a bastard when her uncle seized power, and then navigating staying alive and in his good graces until Henry Tudor was successful at the Battle of Bosworrth. I would recommend this book to any historical fiction fan.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I've enjoyed some of Alison Weir's other historical fiction books. Elizabeth of York obviously had an incredibly fascinating and tumultuous life, but I think Weir overcomplicated it a bit for a historical fiction. It was unnecessarily wordy and it was hard keeping track of everyone involved, particularly those with the same names. One example that comes to mind is Elizabeth alternately calling her brother Ned and York. Otherwise, I did enjoy this and I'm excited for the next books in the series.

I can never resist Alison Weir or any historical fiction that delves into the Plantagenet and Tudor dynasties. This did not disappoint, skillfully rounding out facts and historical figures well known to me. With her usual immaculate attention to detail, and knowledge of the foibles and triumphs of those who shaped the political aftermath of the “end” of the War of the Roses under the rule of Henry the VII, Ms Weir transported me back in time. Told from the perspective of Elizabeth of York, who married Henry and thus joined two warring houses, we have a compelling snapshot of women’s power (or lack thereof) in the decades before the Age of Elizabeth. Delving into the life of Henry VIII’s mother is fascinating and rewarding. Alison Weir’s skills as both a biographer and novelist merge in The Last White Rose (love the title too), and left me immensely satisfied.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for the much appreciated opportunity to read and review this book!