I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows Series: The Lady Janies #1
Published by HarperTeen on 2016 June 07
Genres: Historical, Romance
Pages: 474
Format: E-Arc
Source: Edelweiss
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA 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.
Like that could go wrong.
My Lady Jane is just laugh out loud funny, cozy, and everything that is heartwarming. I went into My Lady Jane with my hopes only up to a bare minimum because there’s that nagging voice at the back of my mind that told me, “This is probably a Bridgerton-inspired story but hell yeah, just read it.” I’m so glad I did because I enjoyed this more than the Bridgerton series put together. Oh, I’m not saying that the Bridgerton Series is bad because I actually enjoyed the whole series and even watched some of the TV shows. My Lady Jane, however, is a different beast (take that! A beast!!! Hahahaha) with its funny banter, charming characters, cozy setting, and a storytelling that just lifted up my day.
Mind you, if you’re going to give My Lady Jane a try, please do note that the prose is more contemporary than the usual antiquated writing usually reserved for historical novels. You have to accept this book for what it is, a humorous take on the royal family of England during the Tudor Dynasty if my history is correct. And yes, you have to suspend your disbelief. This is a revision wherein Jane lived instead of getting her beautiful head chopped off by Bloody Mary.
The story is told from three POVs: Jane’s, King Edward’s, and Gifford’s. I will tell you right now that even before you get halfway through the book, you will fall in love with these three. I don’t know what kind of food the authors are cooking up, but they definitely know how to make vibrant and oh so charming characters that you are really rooting for them even if they’re behaving like 5-year old kids for half of the time. Like can I just squish them and tell them to be friends forever?
And there is the slow-simmering, toe curling romance that almost robbed me off my sleep because I just want everyone to kiss instead of the infuriating (but still giddying) push-and-pull game our lovely characters are playing. This is the kind of romance development that I liked. Nothing too pushy and nothing too makjang. Yes, this is a romance book but it did not feel like it was imposed on my whole being just like the other romance books do that’s why I am rooting for all the loveteams developed in this book.
Another thing that made me really warm towards this book was that the authors were so creative in twisting the plot from being too religious towards something more fairy taleish. As I have said earlier, the authors took liberty in revising history here so instead of dealing with warring Roman Catholics and Protestants, we deal with Verities (pure humans with no magical powers) and Eoians (humans who can transform into animals). This take made for a wonderful plot driver for the whole story to progress. Now I also want to become a wily kitsune so I can join the crew and fight for the rights of the Eoians.
All in all, I love everything about this book. It’s such a shame that this only fell under my radar 2 weeks ago when I was browsing Edelweiss for some ARCs to read. And despite the numerous revisions made by the authors, however, My Lady Jane never lost its steam from beginning to end. Everything just fell into the right place seamlessly, I could not find any fault. So 5 stars for you, you adorable book. How about I watch the TV show now? 😀