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. ( )

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.

( )

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. ( )