Review: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Published by: HarperTeen 

Date of Publication: June 7th 2016

Genres: Young Adult, Comedy

Pages: 491

Format: Physical Book (My Owlcrate subscription)

Rating:★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England. 

My Lady Jane was my 1st Owlcrate box & it was part of their June Royalty theme. I was a bit skeptical on MLJ, it’s not typically the type of book I’d pick up on my own. I was pleasantly surprised to find this book to be such a fun ride filled with tons of laugh out loud moments while I rode the NYC subway to/from work these past couple of days. Coming in at a hefty 491 pages, MLJ doesn’t take itself seriously at all and often times the narrators (The Janies) will interrupt to let you know just that lol. 

The Characters

Lady Jane Grey, Gilford Dudley (G), King Edward,Gracie, Bess, and Pet —->My favorites however, the cast is much larger & filled with colorful characters. I loved the presence of strong female characters & how endearing they were (especially G & Edward). Lady Jane Grey has to be my ALL time favorite simply because she’s a fellow bookworm (she’s just as obsessed as I am lol). She also is very witty & sarcastic & last but NOT least a Femisnist (Loved this!). 

“The worst part about her new chambers was that all these wardrobes and vanities and drapes meant there was no space–none at all–for a bookcase.Who on earth could feel comfortable enough to sleep in a room with no books?”-Lady Jane Grey

Gilford & Edward- I think I laughed the most with these two, it’s rare that I enjoy male characters like I did these two. There was great chemistry between all of the characters & the witty banter was flawless. 

Plot

The story begins with a very sick & dying King Edward (age 16) who is being pushed to choose a successor to the throne since he has no heirs. Jane & Edward are used as pawns and a marriage between the Dukes son and Jane is quickly arranged. There is plenty of plotting & scheming from those who have power to gain, which leads to the placement of Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Lady Jane Grey finds herself married (something she fortuitously avoided in previous engagements) to Gilford Dudley. Both Jane & Gilford are unhappy to have been pushed into marriage but a huge secret overshadows it all. I won’t give more detail than this because of spoilers but I enjoyed all of the plot twists & the magical element. 

I LOVED not knowing which author wrote which parts, it all seemed to come from one person. Maybe this is why the characters have such great chemistry? It must have been tons of fun for these authors writing My Lady Jane because at least I felt like it was a great time from start to finish. I’m going to miss these characters & our furry friends. I hope to see these authors collaborate again, that is something I will definitely be looking out for 😉

Author: LairOfBooks

"I didn't choose the Book Life, the Book Life chose me" View all posts by LairOfBooks