Sander and Joan, whose relationship is instantly endearing, are coming of in an Elizabethan London of theater and philosophy. Sander's struggle to settle into manhood and its limitations, is paralleled expertly by Joan's struggle to accept her womanhood and its limitations, and both of them explore who they are beyond who they appear to be as they try to carve out a future for themselves and each other.

Any lover of Shakespeare will immediately feel at home in this setting, though he is not a featured character, the story of love and ambition, and how they collide, is timeless. Galland has written two main characters who are very different from each other but whose love feels so easy and genuine, and wants feel so grounded and justified. The plot is intriguing and exciting.

I would highly recommend this to fans of "A Tip for the Hangman" or any of those familiar with the world of Elizabethan Theater and political intrigue.

DNF at 31%

I absolutely love the Tudor/Elizabethan time period and I especially love picking up books on the period during the summer when I am in rehearsals for the Renaissance Festival that I perform in. Boy, with its focus on the world of Shakespeare, instantly drew my eye and I settled in on a Friday night to savor the book over the course of a suitably rainy weekend.

The book starts off well enough and does a wonderful job of establishing the world and our main duo; however, as the story continued, I found that it was not quite reaching the scope that I had been expecting based on the blurb. I thought that we were going to get a story in which the lives of two lowly people get tied up in the vast tapestry of politics and the arts; we might have gotten there eventually, but I found myself so bored at 31% that I wasn't even interested in getting to that part of the book. Alas, I had to DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!