I really enjoyed this as an introduction/overview to Mary! Tudor history can get confusing with the titles and similar names and this avoided that while still giving you the broad strokes of her life. It felt aimed at a younger audience, I’m not sure if that was the intention or not, but not in a boring or bad way. More in that it was simplistic.

The art was also beautiful, my only issue with it was that once they were both grown up it was basically impossible to differentiate between Elizabeth and Mary. And Catherine Howard looked like the oldest of the wives despite being the youngest.

Bloody Mary is a graphic biography of Mary Tudor, the first child of Henry VIII. The story begins with one of Mary's first memories, her betrothal to a French prince and continues throughout her life. It shows the transition from being her father's pearl to her and her mother being ousted from the court, forced to live separately and told to give up their religion. The biography follows Mary as she grows up, stubbornly refusing to give up her beliefs, trying to navigate her relationship to her father and his wives, and the changes in the political and religious climate of England. This was a very sympathetic biography, although it does not ignore the violence of Mary's reign, and gives voice to a queen who is often overlooked when talking about this time in England's history.

The artwork was quite nice and I especially liked the use of color to express the emotions of the characters. There was also a little bit of background on Gehrmann's process writing graphic novels at the very end, which I found to be a nice touch. I enjoyed the storytelling and learned some information that I didn't know before. The story does span a large length of time, so it doesn't necessarily have the time or space to get into the details of certain events. I think it would be helpful for the reader to have some background knowledge of the people involved and the events that took place, just so they don't get lost. This will be a great one for people looking to learn more about the Tudors or who are interested in the history of England and the British monarchy.

I received a digital ARC of this from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review.

As someone who is fascinated with King Henry VIII and the people around him I was excited to see an illustrated version of his daughter Mary’s life. The illustrations are lovely and I enjoyed reading this story from a different perspective. I liked seeing a glimpse into the authors drawing process as well which was fun and unique to see. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the history of King Henry VII.

I need more of this kind of graphic biography!
It's a visual retelling of England's first queen, Mary Tudor. Blending a historical narrative in her illustration, Gehrmann crafts a nuanced portrait of a monarch that is famously known as "Bloody Mary".
I really enjoyed how the book explores her personal struggles, political challenges and the religious turmoil that shaped her reign.
I appreciate there's a section at the end that shows what becomes of other historical figures that intertwined with Mary Tudor.
I find this approach of graphic biography adaptation is really engaging. I personally not really a fan of her artwork, but her story telling through the pictures makes the complex historical events more accessible, even to younger readers.

It took me until the 30% mark to realize that I was reading about Mary Tudor and not Marie Antoinette.

The art style reminds me of those renaissance paintings and it was very pleasing to the eye. The text is also very easy to read, and readers are allowed to zoom in. However, I found so many characters with similar facial features, so it can be hard to distinguish who was who from time to time.

Even though it said that this is the Graphic Biography of Mary Tudor, half of it was about her story from birth to death, and the other half was about other historical figures and the political events happened during that time. And also, if you want to enjoy and understand this graphic novel to the fullest, you need to have prior knowledge of English Reformation and political events during the Tudor era.

This is great to quickly learn history through visuals rather than texts.

A graphic novel focusing on the life of Mary Tudor up until her death. I am endlessly fascinated by the Tudors so this was a must-read for me.
I felt like it approached the subject matter in a very accessible way, although sometimes it felt a little simplistic.
It was fascinating seeing the events that I've seen portrayed in so many TV adaptations, books and films, through Mary's eyes, as I feel she is often overlooked in such representations.
It also made me go away and look into historical happenings further as my interest was piqued.
Additionally I enjoyed the watercolour look of the illustrations.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review


Queen Mary is actually one of my favourite Tudor queens . This book captures highlited of her life but also felt like there were quite a few big jumps in the story without a lot of context . The illustrations are mostly good . I think it’s a good introduction to this era and this queen of you aren’t familiar with it

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Andrews McMeel Publishing and Kristina Gehrmann for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

As a lover of Tudor history, I was grateful to be given the chance to read this. It provided a very succinct narrative of the life of Mary I (also known as Bloody Mary). Mary often gets painted in a negative light, so Gehrmann’s perspective was very refreshing. It focused mainly on the factual details, but simultaneously lent an emotional side to Mary’s difficult life, in a World ruled by men. It very much gets across her fierce belief of religion.

The watercolours are beautifully done, as the colours have been used in a way to provide the feeling of the scene (eg, grey for particularly sad moments and bright yellows for expression of war etc).

Easy to read, follow, understand and an enjoyable graphic novel! Perfect for young teens learning about the Tudors.

This graphic novel is based on Bloody Mary aka Mary Tudor, the Queen. The story was fascinating although the illustrations weren't my favorite. I would still recommend this, it was fun, educational, and very quick to get through.

This graphic novel chronologically retells the Story of Mary Tudor, from her early childhood until her death. It starts with her first memories and how she at first was to inherit her father's throne before he chose to annul his marriage to her mother making her an illegitimate child, with no claim to the throne.

The art style is beautiful and fits the story well. I particularly liked the thoughtfulness that went into this work, which became apparent while reading the "Behind Bloody Mary: A Look at the Comics Process." section. The story itself is gripping, which makes this graphic novel hard to put down, and does great in outlining the obstacles Mary had to face before being able to ascend the throne. I also especially liked the "What became of..." section, as it complemented the story.

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with this book to review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

3.5

I liked the illustrations as well as the pacing of the story. It was fast paced, however, Kristina did a good job mentioning the most important events during Mary's lifetime. She was factual as well as humorous at some points. Kristina did an amazing job creating a captivating story through her way of writing, and beautiful and distinctive watercolor illustrations!

I should have know from the title of this book that it would be quite explicit when it came to certain topics and historical events. A lot of violence, blood, death, abuse, and some miscarriages. However, I wasn't upset with Kristina's choice to be so raw with her readers, in fact, it only immersed me more into Mary's world. It made Mary and so many other women in the story seem more relatable and human.

If you love reading about royal families, especially from a female perspective, I think you'll enjoy this book.

A very good graphic history of Queen Mary from childhood to death. While some of Mary's abuses are addressed, so little of it is dealt with it seems slightly off that they went with the title "Bloody Mary." Maybe the assumption is that more people will know her by this title than any other? IT certainly made her seem more human that most material that deals with her story.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a historical graphic novel all about Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary.) We follow Mary as she grows up and all the turmoil that ensues during her father’s rule and then her own.

I enjoyed this graphic novel! I’m not super familiar with this time period and the history but I learned a lot from this graphic novel! It had a lot of good information and was presented in a way that kept me interested in the book.

I also really enjoyed the illustrations throughout.

I would recommend this one!

4.5 stars.

I like to read historical or non-fiction comics. And this one was very interesting.

The story of the Tudors is familiar. But I have mainly read (or seen movies/series) about Henry and his six wives and about Queen Elisabeth. Not about Queen Mary.

The drawings remind me of the Flemish comics that I read in my youth. So this was a bit of nostalgia.

It just doesn't get 5 stars because I didn't get emotionel...

This graphic novel is great! I knew a bit about the history going into it, however I feel like the format of graphic novel helps to understand what happened better. I think this is great for anyone who enjoys history and art, and it would be great for high schoolers learning about the monarchy in England. While Mary is not perfect, I do enjoy that this story focuses on an important woman rather than just focusing on her father.
Thanks NetGalley for providing this awesome book!

Bloody Mary tells the story of Mary Tudor in graphic format from her first memory until her tragic death and the ascension of her sister Elizabeth as queen. What I loved about this story was that it was concise and got to the important points. I did also enjoy how some of the actual speeches were in the graphic, like Anne Boleyns' final address. However, I did find the artwork to be a little lacking, particularly since the subjects being used are so well-known and don't look much like their counterparts. That was a little distracting for me and kept taking me out of the story. This is something that could be used as a supplement moreso than a replacement for a history text because so much information will be left out. Having said that, I would still highly recommend this title.

Bloody Mary is the well explained story of Mary I of England, daughter of Catalina de Aragón and Henry VIII. The artstyle has a clean line and is coloured with watecolours. I think this is a very engaging comic, specially with people interested in History.

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

This book was an easy read and good introduction to Mary I, the first queen of England. There could have been a little more focus on why she earned the title Bloody Mary, but, as someone who has extensively read about the Tudors, this book covers all of the basics of Mary's life with clear, beautiful drawings. I would be very interested in reading an Elizabeth I book by the same author.

This book was easily digestible for all sorts of readers to understand the life of Queen Mary otherwise known as “Bloody Mary”. The book was enjoyable and made the non fiction aspect of the book a non issue for those who would rather enjoy fiction.

I love the history of the Tudors and this graphic novel places Mary front and center. A perspective that felt refreshing to the way we usually read these events — knowing the outcome.
Gehrmann assure we understood and empathized with Mary as she navigated a politically charged live.
The animation was wonderful, and the story was accurate and rich in detail..

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.