My Lady Jane

This was just so WEIRD. I've read a lot of books (#brag) and it's hard for me to feel surprised or confused anymore, but this whole time I was just like WHAT EVEN IS THIS, WHAT IS HAPPENING???

???

It was like Tudor history + Mean Girls + Animorphs + IDK

But I was into it.

So much fun! It was a refreshing change from the emotionally heavy books I usually read! The writing was easy to follow and flowed nicely. I loved the characters and almost everything about this book. It was an easy read despite the length.

A bit long, but surely worth the read, My Lady Jane is a wonderful novel with a most interesting concept; namely, an YA historical retelling with bits of fantasy and a lot of romance. It is a captivating read that brings the reader compelling characters, a fun plot, and a (what I think we could call) “magical system” that both makes sense and is as amusing as, say, Pullman's dæmons—I mean, I guess we all agree that being an Eðian would be almost as good as having a dæmon, don't we?

My favorite character was the main protagonist and title character, Jane, up until I realized Bess is THE Queen Elizabeth I of England, whom I love, so I felt obliged to change that. Jane is my favorite out of the three narrators, though; but rest assured that they're all great in their own ways—Edward has one of the most solid character arcs I've ever seen in YA novels, even though his love story with Gracie is highly extra. If you like History and fun, magical retellings, this is one you won't regret picking up.

3.5 Star book. Not quite sure if I should rate up it down. Urgh I wished Goodreads had half star ratings. Give me a day or so to think before deciding and posting a review.

DNF at 8%. I wanted to stop at 2% but forced myself to keep going until I couldn't stand it. Absolutely not for me.

This book was like sitting down and eating a big bowl of jelly beans. Or maybe gummy bears. Yes, I think gummy bears. Without the calories!



My Lady Jane is a light-hearted, fun-filled, rollicking good time. It's billed as YA...fantasy? Alternate history? To me it feels most like humorous alternate history, complete with shapeshifting. Bwhahahaha. Such a refreshing turn on the whole Protestant/Roman Catholic problem. I loved that they took the very gloomy story of Lady Jane Grey and turned it into something so much fun. Note: no one dies in this version. Except...well. Anyway.

Something that always struck me the hardest about Jane's story is how freaking young all the main players were. Pawns on a chessboard to their scheming, conniving elders. Well, they're most definitely given their voices here! I was laughing before I got to the end of the second chapter, as the young King Edward is lamenting his death sentence:

There was so much he wanted to do with his life. First of, he wanted to kiss a girl, a pretty girl, the right girl, possibly with tongue.

She delighted in the smell of ink, the rough feel of the paper between her fingers, the rustle of sweet pages, the shapes of the letters before her eyes. And most of all, she loved the way that books could transport her from her otherwise mundane and stifling life and offer the experiences of a hundred other lives.

“Who are you calling beef-witted?” she laughed at him. “Your mother was a hamster, and your father stank of elderberries!”

“I might not be able to beat a weapons master, but I can easily best an old, top-heavy, pusillanimous, two-faced, paltry, odious excuse for a man.” He pushed his sword forward until it was against his father's coat. “Drop your sword.”

This was a wonderful book. It was funny, and well written, and terrific. And meta - probably meta describes this, in a tremendously wonderful way.

But best of all, they've given a better fate to Jane, Edward, and Elizabeth of York than they received in real life. Oh, and Gifford/Guilford as well, but I have fewer strong feelings about him.

I want to read more now!