I received an advanced review copy from a Goodreads giveaway.

I though this was a well written book; the pacing moves well - I rarely found myself getting bored. To the extent of my knowledge, it is mostly historically accurate (though I'm not much of an expert on Elizabeth's reign, but based on what I know, it keeps to the facts). I really like that it covers Elizabeth's whole reign - it really gives a scope for the complexity of the titular marriage game which she plays.

Elizabeth comes off as a very sympathetic character - I felt her motives were well spelled out (though I think it helped that I read Weir's first novel on Elizabeth "The Lady Elizabeth" before I read this). I felt that she really inspired loyalty in the reader - you just want to root for her to succeed in every endeavor she undertakes, and it's a hard moment at the end when she dies (even though you know it's coming). Robert, on the other hand, comes off a bit flat - his whole personality at times seems to be "wants to marry Elizabeth" (though that may be intentional given the scope of the novel). Towards the end he gets better, as he ages and tries to cling to relevance (and Elizabeth's affections). In spite of this, you can see that Robert and Elizabeth really loved each other, and it's touching.

I have mixed feelings about ending - on one hand, I wished it hadn't skipped those last 15 years (or at the very least covered Essex's fall in more detail - one paragraph was not enough!), but on the other hand, I liked the way it was structured, going from the height of Elizabeth's triumph to her death.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent, well written, detailed novel. I highly recommend it.