CW: Death of loved ones in explosion, death of mother, slut-shaming, intoxication, violence.

Well Henry VIII gets a high school makeover in this fun, 'scorned lovers', high school murder mystery.

Whilst the dialogue was witty, the telling of the story felt a bit disjointed. There were some flashbacks designed to give clarity to current relationships that were a bit clumsy and in some instances, unnecessary. This meant it got a bit confusing at times as there was a massive cast, each with their own backstory and role to play in driving the plot forward. Some Readers will enjoy spotting the clever references throughout, but don't expect too many surprises as it stays fairly true to its source of inspiration. Entertaining but in my opinion, needed a good edit.

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Hilarious and quirky. Hannah Capin has a fun, snarky writing voice and this play off Henry the 8th and his wives gets fresh life in the form of Henry, high school guy, and his drama with all his girlfriends. Told from the perspective of “Cleves” or Annie, the fourth girlfriend, current BFF of Henry and ex, when she discovers two of his other exes have suffered mysterious demises, she and the rest of the girlfriend gang band together to figure out what’s going on. Awesome girl power. Great themes about toxic masculinity and the voice is SO. MUCH. FUN.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. ( )

An interesting and amusing retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. This retelling is set in an American High School with Henry being the star athlete and the one all the girls want. His girlfriends who are the Prom Queens to his Prom King come and go and hidden secrets are slowly revealed. I found it quite entertaining. A fun way to introduce history to teens. ( )

This is good feminist nerdy fun. It's the story of the six wives of Henry VIII, but it's set in a modern high school. The narrator (4th wife Anne of Cleves) is delightfully snarky. The book is funny, and ultimately a heartwarming vindication of the power of female friendships.

It's tricky to tell a story that people already know and keep it interesting, but Capin pulls it off masterfully. You know what's going to happen to each of Henry's girlfriends (divorced beheaded died divorced beheaded survived) but you keep wondering how it's all going to pan out, and how the historical events will be translated to the new setting. Capin is also really clever about peppering in all sorts of Tudor references without ever feeling contrived. ( )

I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher (Inkyard Press) in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was super excited to read this book. The Tudors meets Mean Girls? Yes please! However, this book ended up being pretty messy.

My main issue is that the book is way too long. The book is about 450 pages and could have easily been just over 300. The whole first half is is slow and confusing. The book starts off at girlfriend number 5 and then kind of goes back and forth into the backstory. And there was so much backstory. It could have been summarized significantly and in a more chronological manner. Part of the issue was that the backstory jumped around a lot so it was sometimes hard to get a bearing as to what point in time it was.

Once the book got to girlfriend number 6 (about halfway through), it picked up. It was so much more exciting and The Dead Queens Club finally came into fruition. The book was enjoyable from the halfway point onwards.

There were some things I did like. The premise was genius. Taking Henry and his 6 wives and setting it in a high school was so appropriate. I liked how Henry and the wives were all translated. I also liked the themes the book handled like slut shaming for example.

Overall, this book could have been really amazing had it been edited more for clarity and length. ( )