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

For fans of The Princess Bride comes the comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey.

Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.

The author line-up for My Lady Jane is dynamic so I knew this was a must read for me. I have to admit, I am AWFUL at history so my knowledge of the real Lady Jane before reading this book was pretty vague. *hides* But the entire concept of taking a historical story that was pretty tragic and turning it into something fun and magical was amazing.

The novel is told from three perspective – King Edward, his cousin Lady Jane, and her betrothed- albeit a stranger- Gifford. It tells the story of a dying king who signs the kingdom over to his cousin Jane and her new husband upon his death to try to keep the peace between Edians (pronounced eth-ee-uhns), those with animal magic, and Verities those who despise it, instead of his sisters. The story is indeed loosely based on real events in part one before taking a completely new and different path in the second. What I absolutely loved was how FUN the story was. There were a few The Princess Bride references (inconceivable!) that really made me smile and perhaps a few other little moments (the horse jokes!) that had me laughing out loud. I usually like my books more on the angsty side (I can’t help it!) so I was slightly worried from early reviews this might be too ‘funny’ for me but I was pleasantly surprised. There was still lots of drama to lose myself in but just the right amount of fun (seriously, the animal magic was the best!) to keep me appeased. It made me want to look up more about the real people it was inspired by, and wish they had a chance for a part two to take them on a different path too.

I love all three of our main characters equally. King Edward who just wanted to have a kiss (with tongue) before he died and his selflessness to do what he thought would be best for his people. Jane and her love of books! And Gifford with his poetry and the way he was with Jane. An extremely well rounded cast to root for from start to finish.

This is definitely not one to miss! It has so many elements and genres wrapped into one epic read. I hope these authors have another collab coming!