Lovely, illustrated graphic novel of the life of Mary Tudor. The story was simplified for the medium, but covered her life story. It was difficult to not find the parallels between King Henry VIII and current events.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC of this book in return for an honest, thoughtful review.

I enjoy historical stories, especially from the earlier centuries, and this graphic biography of Mary I was a surprising and fascinating read. The illustrations are striking and really help bring her story to life, even if you're not an art expert. What stood out most was how the book shows Mary’s early life with real sentiment. The book mentions her persecution of Protestants but doesn’t fully show the severity. Still, it helps the reader make connections to her infamous nickname, Bloody Mary. A great read for anyone interested in Tudor history or looking to understand Mary I beyond the “Bloody Mary” label.

I loved the art style! It really reminded me of the history textbooks of my childhood.

I think this would make a great read for children who are interested in history and want to learn more about Mary and her family and it was a nice change to see life from Mary's view with how popular shows like Six! the musical and My Lady Jane are at the moment.

One thing that I was slightly thrown off by is just how sharp and dark the text looks in comparison to the images on some pages as the images come off slightly blurry with how soft the art style is while the text is always perfectly black and sharp.

Thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the early access in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the drawings and the format. I thought it was an entertaining graphic novel that tells the life of Mary I of England very well. I really liked the way the characters were portrayed, mixed with real fragments of letters to tell real events in an entertaining and dynamic way.
Highly recommended to bring this part of English history closer to children.

The art in this graphic novel which tells the story of Mary Tudor’s life was incredibly compelling and beautiful, turning this into a thrilling read. I learned a lot more about Bloody Mary’s life (although that nickname is never directly brought up) than I initially knew and now I want to learn more about this time period. A well rounded book that was thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this graphic novel. I think this one that if you're interested in Mary Tudor and want an easily accessible biography. This graphic novel is for you. This felt like a fictional story with actual facts intermingled in. The art is also beautiful. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This was a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel biography about the life of Mary Tudor, sometimes known as "Bloody Mary" for her persecution and mass executions of Protestants during the early days of the Anglican Church in England. There were a few elements--the depiction of some of the wives of King Henry VIII, in particular--that I think fell more into historical misconception rather than historical fact. (Few people seem to be able to uplift one of the wives, in this case Catherine, without to some extent vilifying the others.) Though I did appreciate that Henry's accidents, which may have led to his worsening recklessness and anger, were included in the story. I also appreciated the focus on Mary, since much of what I've read about Tudor History was more focused on Elizabeth and the rest of the Tudors. I'd say Bloody Mary is a great place to start with learning about Tudor history or if you just want to see it depicted in a new format. I'll definitely have to check out Kristina Gehrmann's other graphic novels now.

Bloody Mary: A Graphic Biography of Mary Tudor is an easy to digest summary of the life of Mary Tudor. Kristina Gehrmann does a good job telling the story of Mary from her point of view while also including relevant information that was occurring away from where Mary was. Overall this is a good summary of the life of Mary Tudor for young readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the free eARC.

An excellent quick overview of the life of Mary Tudor. A fun read if you’re interested in Tudor times. Nice artwork and clear text.

Graphic novels are all the rage with my middle school students; this one is very good! I would love to recommend this book to my students, but the language used would not allow me to do so. The subject matter is probably better suited for high school-age students anyway. My middle schoolers don't really know who Bloody Mary is. The graphics are very well done and are serious-looking, like the subject matter is, and not lighthearted at all. I love the graphic novels that are based on true historical figures, and this one did not disappoint! It held my interest from beginning to end and made me want to read more. I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC of this book, and I do wish my middle school students could read it. With my state's Age Appropriate Materials Act, this title would never be allowed in my school. But, I will definately reccommend ot to my book club members who are teachers of high school age students, because I believe they would love it!

Mary Tudor has never been one of my favorites. However, I really enjoy graphic biographies of historical figures, so I was glad to take the opportunity to revisit my opinion of this daughter of Henry VIII.

And I wasn’t disappointed. The opening chapters retell well-known historical events – but this time from Mary’s perspective. We see the divorce of her parents, her tense encounter with Anne Boleyn, the death of her mother, her reluctant acceptance of her father’s new order, his other wives, the death of her brother, and finally her own rise to the throne.

Although we all know the infamous nickname history gave her, the comic remains calm and respectful throughout. It doesn’t push us to hate her – quite the opposite. Mary is portrayed as a woman with conviction and inner strength. When she falls ill and believes she’s pregnant for the first time, I truly felt sorry for her.

The entire story is accompanied by beautiful illustrations that add to the emotional depth. I also appreciated the attention to detail – like the moment when the Privy Council realizes Jane Grey won’t last as queen and unanimously turns against Dudley. That scene was particularly well done.

And I really liked the ending, where the author gives us a glimpse into her creative process and shows how the comic was made. That insight added another layer to the experience and left me with a very positive impression overall.

I received an ARC though NetGalley for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF @ 25% for me.

I am absolutely not saying this is bad by any means.

It's very informative and were I to be doing a school project on Mary this would make for wonderful reading.

The issue is, I'm an adult with severe ADHD, a rudimentary understanding of Tudor fuckery, and only so much time and spoons to spend on things that don't grip me.

Unfortunately, I found the script to be somewhat dull and lifeless and the artwork to be be little too much on the textbook illustration side for my tastes.

This is a bit of you, bit of me DNF, and certainly not a condemnation.

I found this book very informative, and it is great information for reluctant readers since it is in a graphic novel format.

As a person that love history this was a very delightful way to get informative.
The graphics were so good done and it delivered the feelings of the time period.
The necessary informations of her life were there without getting in depth which I think is suitable for this way of telling the story.

Bloody Mary is an in depth graphic novel about the Life of Mary, Henry the 8th's first child who eventually became queen. The illustrations are amazing and really convey the difficulties and happinesses of the time. It spans her entire life and where the book shines is the historical accuracy. The whole Tudor period is well known to many with all of Henry's wives being mentioned as well as the reign's of Edward, Jane and Mary after his death. It is not the most in depth book about their history but it does a good job for what it is. It only took me a couple of hours to get through and I enjoyed those hours. I'd definitely be interested in future graphic novels by Kristina Gehrmann.

Thank you Netgally and the publisher for giving me an early copy of this book.

History has always fascinated me so receiving this copy was a true joy. I loved how this book focused on Mary but also showed bigger events that led to the decisions others made for her. Since I’m nowhere near a historic expert i can’t vouch on what the accuracy of everything. But i somehow have faith that it’s all correct. The story was fast pasted and used very easy language and put extra info where needed. This resulted in the story being easy to understand for someone with zero knowledge. I also loved seeing what became of some the important side characters and seeing the proces of making the comic.

I would highly recommend this graphic novel for everyone who wants to know more about this misunderstood queen.

As an English major, I think this is a briliant way how to present a story of a perhaps less known monarch in a fun and engaging way. The graphic novel format is far more digestible for all readers - kids, teens, adults looking to learn something new - than if it was a simple non-fiction text. It presents the history clearly with incredible art and it is quite easy to remember details about Mary's life when her story is accompanied by illustrations.

The artwork in this book is simple yet delicate and beautiful. The story is a well known one from 1800's England with it's ruler king Henry. His daughter Mary, the bloody Tudor, has her own opinions and ideas for England. It was surely interesting to read about her story for once and to dive into the messy family that was created. The story is paced really well and discusses important time based events in the history of England. I enjoyed this one! Would recommend it if you are interested in history and the tale of Henry the 8th.

After I finished this, I had to do some confirmatory Googling, because I knew less about this Mary than about either her father (who is depicted as the creep he was) and her half-sister Elizabeth (who gets very little time on-page). While this graphic novel was a simplification, and to me seemed very YA, it manages to cover a lot of ground, and manages to capture some of the nuance of her life and motives. Is it entirely accurate? There are certainly some liberties taken, but I'm not familiar enough with the period to have identified them all on my own.

Also man, this is why we don't have kings anymore. What an absolute cluster of a time to be alive.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. The art in particular was terrific.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for an copy of the ARC.

This is a really cool way to present the history of Queen Mary I "Bloody Mary" and the many traumas in her life that led to her reign. I found this graphic novel both informative and entertaining (and a fast read!)