Brodi AshtonRecensioni

I was shocked when I was able to get an ARC of this book. As most of you know, I really enjoyed My Plain Jane last year and was greatly anticipating My Contrary Mary.
One thing I really appreciated was the humor. It was very similar to My Plain Jane and I had missed it in the second book of the Jane series. (It was also nice to see Jane and G again, even if for a few pages.)
I guess I just wasn't fond of the plot in general. It seemed to be a bit all over and without a clear, concise focus.
Overall, I'm glad I gave this one a try and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Jane series.

3.5/5

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Full review: https://wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/review-my-lady-jane-by-cyn...

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed this book! It was a great break from the suspenseful, “oh sh*t” provoking reads I normally pick up. Having said that, it’s probably not for everyone. Nor is it one you should pick up if you aren’t in the mood for a lighthearted, silly, historical-fiction comedy. This book is filled with witty quips, puns, Monty Python-esque jokes, and genuinely hilarious one-liners. Which proved to keep me giggling and snorting out loud throughout. Thankfully for me, I “read” this one via audiobook so it was mostly while I was in my car, alone; no one heard the embarrassing snort-giggles that erupted from me.

The story is a Tudor retelling from the time of Kind Edward VI’s reign, in which The Narrators tell the “real story” of Lady Jane Grey and I enjoyed it way more than I would have expected to. The three main characters are so lovable and full of depth. Sure the characters have flaws and elements that would disgust or irritate some readers, but what kind of story can be had from perfect characters??

I also really enjoyed the inter-character relationships of Jane and Gillford as well as Edward and Gracie, they were just delightful. I felt like the inter-character relationship between Jane and Edward could have been stronger, but I wasn’t altogether disappointed with it either. I also feel like Edward’s character could have used some more…something… I found myself less interested in his perspective than in Jane or G’s.

I love the premise of adding a magic system to a historical retelling. It makes for a really interesting and exciting view of history. The plot of the story was good and flowed easily with the exception of one part – which I’m not going to specify so that I don’t spoil if for anyone else. The humorous, puny spin added a fun layer to the plot that remained consistent throughout the story. There are, unfortunately, a few cliches and tropes but I think that’s to be expected in a story like this. If you’re in the right mind-frame at the time of reading this book, you will likely be okay with it and gloss over them if those types of things normally bug the stuffing out of you. The writing was good, though with a few inaccuracies in the plot, but nothing that’ll make you want to gouge your eyes out…or at least I didn’t think so.

I think that going with the audiobook might have been the best bet as well. The actual narrator – not the ones “telling you the story” as mentioned in the book – Kellgren, did a really good job and made the story a lot of fun. She managed to give the characters the right accents for their perspective origins and with lots of inflection. She also did a superb job of delivering those sarcastic one-liners and puns that would have been less likely to make me giggle if I had read them in the conventional way. Her only shortcoming? She has a tendency to yell when the characters squabble or when the action scenes are building. Sure, some of that is really useful in making a story come to life in an audio file, but she could have dialed it down a notch or two and still accomplished the same thing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and will be picking up the next book in the The Lady Janies series soon. If you’re looking for a true historical fiction book; this isn’t the book for you. If you will have an issue with blatant changes made to history; this isn’t the book for you. If you aren’t into this type of comedy; this isn’t the book for you. If you’re not in the right mood for this kinda humor; wait until you are.

I really enjoyed the first book but this one just disappointed me. I honestly don't get why the authors would write about Jane Eyre when it just comes across that they dislike both Jane and Rochester as characters.

Really enjoyed this one. I am often leery of books that are described as funny because humor is so subjective, but this worked for me. I am going to have to go back at a later date and re-read to make sure I caught all the movie references etc. Pretty sure I caught all the Shakespeare. Looking forward to My Plain Jane - their take on Jane Eyre.

Entirely fun and entertaining. The movie with Cary Elwes made it hard to picture the characters in any other way, but I can hardly complain about that. Plenty of monty python references and general irreverence. I think I have wanted a non-tragic ending of this story since the 1986 movie.

I skimmed a lot of this, but overall I thought it was pretty fun. I read it to take my mind off the presidential election of doom and it served its purpose. There were a few things that kept me from really getting into it:

1. I was surprised to find so many of the tropes of the mass market romance genre. Things that struck me as super cliche. Like, "He was going to explode if he didn't kiss her" stuff (and then he doesn't get to kiss her, of course, because the gratification must delayed until the last possible moment).

2. The title is MY LADY JANE and there's a picture of her on the cover, but it felt like Edward was actually the main protagonist.

3. I listened to the audiobook and was devastated by how bad Katherine Kellgren's Scottish brogue was. Katherine Kellgren is my favorite audiobook narrator, so I was crushed. Poor Gracie had to say everything in the exact same sing-song cadence because I guess that was the only way KK could do it.

To sum up: This is funny and has clever bits, but I wasn't in the mood to give in to its silliness and enjoy the trope-y romance stuff. Oh, well. It was worth a try. Now I'll go back to being angry and depressed and obsessively reading articles about how to fight the incoming administration.

These are such fun reads,

i enjoyed this book way more than i should have. it was funny, spirited, and had plenty of good twists.
i’m a sucker for a retelling, and especially one of Jane Eyre

I'm not sure it's possible for a book to fail the Bechdel test when there are no actual conversations in the first 50 pages, but this one seems to fail the intent, anyway. This re-imagining of the Persephone myth has an interesting premise and (what I read of it) is well-written. But our main character is wholly defined by (and obsesses over) her relationships to people with penises, aside from a token "best friend" with whom she exchanges three sentences, outside of hellos and goodbyes.

I just am not the target audience for this kind of book. DNF at page 50.

Hardcover, signed by the author, who seemed like a very engaging person at her book tour.

I was reading this for the Booklikes-opoly 2020 game, for the lot Stay-cation 8: Read a book that was published during the months of May, June or July, or that contains an item that would be used as a school supply or an article of clothing or an accessory pictured on the cover. This book has a girl in a dress on the cover. With half her head cut off, in true YA cover fashion. Since I DNF'd early, I don't earn any $$ for it.

I really loved this read. I really was so invested in all the characters. I also adored the narrators in the read and loved how this story was structured. I also loved how the book was connected to the my lady Jane book. I also really loved Francis as main character. I also loved how the magic system in this read has been in the same in all their reads. I also really enjoyed how the twisted the story!! This read is about 400 pages but i flew through it!! Such a enjoyable read!!

*4.5 stars*

I actually really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed this retelling and all the POV that we got. I really enjoyed Charlotte story overall and just loved both the dynamics and humor between all the characters. I love also the subtle nods to other stories and just little connections that we saw. I thought his book was so atmospheric and just love how the world was built. I really found this story to be such a fun read. The pacing was slow at points but it only effected my towards the middle of the novel.

I really loved this read. I really was so invested in all the characters. I also adored the narrators in the read and loved how this story was structured. I also loved how the book was connected to the my lady Jane book. I also really loved Francis as main character. I also loved how the magic system in this read has been in the same in all their reads. I also really enjoyed how the twisted the story!! This read is about 400 pages but i flew through it!! Such a enjoyable read!!

*4.5 stars*

I actually really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed this retelling and all the POV that we got. I really enjoyed Charlotte story overall and just loved both the dynamics and humor between all the characters. I love also the subtle nods to other stories and just little connections that we saw. I thought his book was so atmospheric and just love how the world was built. I really found this story to be such a fun read. The pacing was slow at points but it only effected my towards the middle of the novel.

A very quick read... and “engaging” for that. But 2-dimensional and rather teenage’y. My personal disappointment in all the ways this book repeatedly failed to deliver can fairly be summed up in 1 word: Donkey.
Ah well. 2 stars.

My Contrary Mary (Lady Janies), HarperTeen (June 22, 2021). Imprint of HarperCollins, First edition. 512 pages
Hardcover ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062930044 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062930040
PZ7.H1917 M 2021 AURA

AURA IB Box 2 - 61
Hardcover ISBN 10: 0062930079 ISBN-13 :‎ 978-0062930071
PZ7 .H1917 2022 AURA

The beginning was great.
Worst ending ever.

The beginning was great.
Worst ending ever.

Deception, Intrigue, and romance, this book has them all. As always, I loved Max, he was great with his sarcasm. The ending was a bit of a surprise, I'm not sure if I'm happy or not about it. I 100% loved it! I am thrilled to read the next book soon.

this is a fun read. I had some trouble with the audio though. At times her voice was too loud and piercing. Her accents were great, but I was frequently adjusting the volume down and then back up when her voice became very soft.

Having read a previous book of these authors with their retelling of Jane Eyre, which I enjoyed quite a bit, I was excited to have a chance to read/listen to another book by them. This was their retelling about Mary Queen of Scots and I know some about her, but not a lot, but still liked their spin on the story.
This was intriguing, unique, and different with their adding in that Mary Queen of Scots was a shapeshifter and how her marriage was announced when it was discovered that someone was going to assassinate her. There was a great camaraderie between Mary and her friends that were her ladies-in-waiting that I loved hearing about and they drew a good picture of Queen Catherine being a villain along with her sneaky uncles who were trying to control her to obtain wealth, power, and fame.
I liked how Mary and Francis were adorable together with their relationship and friendship as it developed and they figured things out for themselves. It was great when they both realized they were in love with each other and their relationship was definitely swoon-worthy. There was a lot of the story that was well-written from a historical point of view from what I could tell. I did also really like the different spin where Francis didn't die and Mary got another chance to be with him longer and have children with him and have a happier life while being in love.
This did have some tongue-in-cheek humor like their other stories do, but this was not quite as funny as the others I've read, but I still was rather entertained by it and would recommend it.
Thanks so much to Harper Audio and NetGalley for letting me listen to and review this voice galley. All opinions are my own.

It was a very different and unique version of a Jane Eyre story. It was a humorous and light hearted, quick witted easy fun read.

I would recommend checking it out for a good, fun read 🙂.

3.75/5½

Cute. I don't think I loved it. I didn't hate it.

I was told the book was funny, but I would say it's FUN & LIGHTHEARTED-- definitely wouldn't say funny.

It was rather lessony, and all 3 narrators sounded like the same people to me. It kept my attention though, so that's good. There are like 999 glowing reviews for this book, so maybe I'm just weird.

I have to say, I liked this version of Mary Shelley way better than what I know about the real Mary. And I quite enjoyed seeing Lord Byron and Percy Shelley portrayed as foolish men, even if they weren't in real life (although the historical record kind of suggests they weren't all that awesome). And I loved the idea of Mary and Ada being friends - two strong and talented women joining forces makes for a great story.