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 … 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.
New York Times Bestseller * Publishers Weekly Best Young Adult Book of the Year * Bustle Best Young Adult Book of the Year * YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
And don’t miss the authors’ next fun read, My Plain Jane!
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Fave line: “Armies aren’t very good about carrying libraries with them. I can’t imagine why. We’d fight so much less if everyone would just sit down and read.”
I needed a quick history refresher when I started reading My Lady Jane, but after I skimmed Jane’s wiki page, I was ready to go. This book is a comedic historical fantasy about Jane Grey, the nine-day queen. How could it be funny when King Edward dies, declares his cousin Jane to be queen, and then she is shortly beheaded? Well, this story takes a lot of liberties with history… like a lot. But it’s so much fun!
This book is utterly delightful. It is funny, self-aware, and has so many fun pop culture references (among them: Game of Thrones, Tangled, Ever After, and some definite allusions to the Princess Bride). I found myself laughing my way through this and just enjoying how delightfully silly it was. Also, if you enjoy the book, reading interviews with the 3 authors is fun as well – they have a really fantastic sense of humor.
I received an ARC of this book at RT (signed by the authors!) and finished it over the weekend. MY LADY JANE was simply delightful—a magical, light-hearted reimagining of the events surrounding Lady Jane Grey’s 9-day reign as Queen of England. They say it was written “in the tradition of the Princess Bride,” and that inspiration was obviously apparent throughout the book (almost distractingly so, at times). Also referenced: Shakespeare, repeatedly; Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Disney’s “Tangled”; and I’m sure many others that I missed. This was a fun, clever, sassy fairy tale with a classic happily-ever-after.
I received a SIGNED copy of this book in my first every Uppercase Box and I was NOT disappointed!
Looking at the cover and reading the description, it wasn’t a book I would have picked up from the store, but since I paid for it, and it is part of the experience, I read it. Took me awhile to get into it, but once I got hooked, there was no letting go. The second half of the book took me less then a day to read (and that was a work day so it was between phone calls!) I loved the idea of taking a historical event and using it as a seed and making the story you wish would have happened. Hand, Ashton and Meadows created such a wonderful story, makes me wish that is really what happened. They were also able to weave in a bit of magic. In this case, the Edian people change into animals. I loved that it was just that one piece of magic that happened. It was just a small part of the bigger story.
A bonus of getting this from Uppercase is that they give you additional reading experience. As you reach certain points in the book, you can go online to their website, enter the code for the page you are on and learn more about that part or watch videos from the authors. Just added to the already wonderful story.
If you haven’t heard of Uppercase (which is possible since they are still new and small!) you should check it out at uppercasebox.com. Along with a hardcover signed copy of My Lady Jane, I also got a Deathly hallows magnet, a custom tote bag and a bookmark.
This was a weird book for me – I initially really enjoyed it and then I felt it really bogged down in the middle of the story [and could have easily been a few less pages – like 150 less maybe] and I was totally bored with it and had a hard time wanting to pick it up again. But I carried on, and finally the middle that was bogging it down was done and it got REALLY good again and I really enjoyed it. So even with the sloggy middle, I can give this 4 stars – the writing is good, the characters are awesome and this is about a girl who was Queen for 9 days in real life before being usurped and killed and which history barely remembers; I loved that the authors used Lady Jane Grey’s story and that they “tweaked” history and gave her a much better ending than losing her head.
I adored the fantasy aspect of the story as well and never felt it wasn’t credible [I apparently have no problem with the idea that humans can change into animals – go figure].
Overall, this was an excellent read and I am so glad that I listened to Elyse and did this buddy read.
It has been so long since I’ve found a book worthy of a full-fledged five stars.
Everything about this was hilarious. From the Monty Python references to the overwhelmingly endearing characters, My Lady Jane is probably my favorite feel-good book ever. I don’t even have the words to convey how much I love it and the amount of times I got weirded-out stares after giddily laughing at something for far too long.
Please please PLEASE read it
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand (and others) is an amusing take on history. I have never read anything quite like this book. People turning into animals, attempted murder of a king, arranged marriages, and lost of other things happening. I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very loosely based on King Edward of England. Mary Queen of Scots also has a role in this story along with “good queen Bess”.
The story is well developed and I found it very entertaining. This was a B&N Serial read that new chapters are added each day until the book is completed. This is a wonderful way to meet new authors and different genre. I might classify this as a clean, humorous “shifter” story because one of the main characters turns into a horse every morning and doesn’t change back until the sun goes down.
I highly recommend this book for everyone.
I enjoyed this story
This book is one of my all time favorites! It’s so weird and funny and perfect! The authors take a real person in history with a tragic history, tweak it just a bit, add some magic, and a whole lot of fun! I recommend listening to the audio version because it’s about as good as it gets!
Five Stars of awesomeness!!
5/5 stars for this YA Historical Fantasy reread! This book is so much fun! I love the cover, the characters, and the narrator! Can’t recommend it enough! I guarantee this book will make you laugh!
What. A. Book! What an amazing book!
You’ve probably heard the story of Lady Jane Grey, great-granddaughter of Henry VII and first cousin to Edward VI. Edward nominated Jane and her male heirs as successors to the Crown and she was proclaimed queen after his death. For 9 days. Until Mary took over. And that was the end of sweet Jane.
Well, My Lady Jane has taken some liberties with history (the narrators do tell you this up front) and I, for one, am more the merrier for it. As all good stories go, there are tangled relationships, heart wrenching romance, duels, sword fights, villains, and, of course, lots of heroes – Edward (the king), Jane (his cousin), Gifford (Jane’s . . . well, don’t want to spoil the surprise), and Gracie (surprise again). Keep in mind these are teenagers and not always on their best behavior. But political intrigue (not the good kind), nasty tempers, mishandling of the kingdom, and being put in extreme situations will do that. Not to mention animals popping in and out when you least expect them.
The authors (aka narrators) have loaded the tale with fast-moving narration, skillful dialogue, and vast amounts of humor. When I think of Lord Dudley in particular, well, did I mention the humor? And all the characters stand out with exceptional development and background. Nary a sad one in the bunch.
‘Tis a lengthy tale at 500 pages but, alas, the pages did turn quickly. All too quickly, I daresay. You may wish for a slowing device (I certainly did). Nevertheless, the brilliantly constructed stage for all these players will stay with me for many moons to come.
As I stated at the beginning, such a good book. Such. A. Good. Book.
I devoured this book. It was great and I love plays on historical events and crafting great fiction. I loved all the characters. I will say that I was a bit frustrated with 3 points of view. I wish it tilted a bit more to Jane and Dudley. I thought Edward’s POV could have been a novella.
I kept seeing this book pop up and be recommended by reviewers whose opinions I trust so I knew I needed to take a chance on it. I am so glad I did because this book was hilarious and really well done! I would definitely say this book kept me entertained the whole story through. The three different perspectives were perfect and I love the narrators voice as well. This made me think of The Princess Bride, so if you like that kind of storytelling humor, you’ll really enjoy this book as well. I like the loosely based on history aspects and all the fun magical what ifs. Definitely an entertaining novel that was easy and enjoyable to read.
MY LADY JANE is intentionally ridiculous in many places, thoroughly irreverent, and completely charming. I was able to totally separate my long-held love for the historical Lady Jane, Christian martyr, and fall head over heels for this fictional Jane, her sometimes horse husband–and no, that’s not a typo–and this magically, wildly, triumphantly reimagined history.
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I cannot stress this enough. Listen to the audio, do not read it. The narration is AMAZING! The narrator makes this come to life. I really don’t think I would have enjoyed it half so much with anyone else or in my head voice from reading. Her accents and inflection are spot on to carry out the humor. They were so many parts that I couldn’t stop smiling and/or laughing.
Jane Grey ruled England for 9 days and then was beheaded. Or was she? Add imagination, magic, and a big rewrite of history and you get My Lady Jane. It’s cleverly written and narrated. I will most definitely listen to this again.
Loved pretty much everything about it.
Princess Brides meets Lady Hawk
If you’re familiar with the two movies mentioned above, you’ll either be instantly intrigued or put off—because this book really does remind me of the feeling I had when watching each of these moves. Since I’m a big fan of both, it’s very definitely a compliment.
I admit I began listening to this on Audible with somewhat mixed feelings, mainly because of the cover. It looked a bit too modern to me, perhaps because of the model’s makeup and the contemporary fonts. After the first half hour or so, I nearly stopped listening. Despite my affection for the movies I mentioned, I don’t tend to read fantasy novels, and this introduced a definite fantasy element pretty early on.
However, the humorous writing kept me going—until I was fully engaged with the characters. Comedy in any format is such a challenge, perhaps even more so in writing when the delivery depends on how the reader is reading the words. That’s all you have—words. I had the added advantage of listening to it on Audible with the excellent talent of my favorite narrator, Katherine Kellgren. Taste in humor may be personal, but the humor in My Lady Jane is definitely my kind.
I normally appreciate historical accuracy, too, but the fact that this novel plays with history, using real historical figures in fictional ways, totally worked for me. The authors were so open about their manipulation for entertainment’s sake, it definitely added to the humor.
As for the story, it tells a wonderful tale of how Lady Jane Grey is manipulated into marriage so those around King Edward can steal his crown. I loved that it’s told from multiple points of view, offers a sense of history even with its irreverence, and contains a strong romantic flavor. But the humor is what really won me over.
For all the “buckers of the systems, friends of truth, allies of love, and believers in magic.” This tongue-in-cheek “manipulation of history” is told in two parts. Part One gives a mostly accurate history of The House of Tutor and introduces the characters. Part Two is a completely hysterical fabrication of the truth. The tenuous line of succession is manipulated by the selfish, machinations of evil and conniving men. Told from the lead characters point of view, the readers meet King Edward VI, Jane, and Gifford. If you’ve always wanted to rewrite history, this is the book for you. It reads like a 16th century fairy tale with EÐians and Verities. Most of all it reminded me of the movie Lady Hawk with humans transforming into animals, thus thwarting a lovely romance. “Cowards die many times before their deaths, while the valiant taste of death but once.” I enjoyed this wildly, imaginative and fun romp through history. One of my favorite parts is the asides, where the narrators throw in their two cents. Delightful characters, foreshadowing and imagery, you will fall in love with the untold marriage of Jane Grey and Gifford Dudley.
I didn’t enjoy My Lady Jane (MLJ) as much as My Plain Jane (MPJ), but that’s more to do with personal preference than the quality of the story.
MLJ was well-written but felt much less light-hearted than MPJ. The first half of the book left me concerned that there would be no happy endings, despite what the prologue said. However, the second half of the book more than makes up for it.
Once again, there are an abundance of pop culture references. Kudos for the nods to Shakespeare, Monty Python, and Tangled.
Jane is a delightful character, as are those in her supporting cast. This new version of history is certainly interesting.
I can’t help but wonder what “really” happened with Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. Perhaps something related to their animal forms? (That’s not a spoiler, by the way, the clues are all there from early on.) Anyway, as neither is named Jane, we’re unlikely to get that story.
I certainly recommend MLJ, especially if you don’t mind an abundance of angst.
My Lady Jane is crazy, exciting, intriguing, and had me laughing at this twist on history. I honestly did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I’m really glad I finally gave it a chance. What a way to make history more fun and adding its own tale of events. I loved all the characters. They are flawed and young, but I couldn’t help wanting to laugh at their personalities and the situations they found themselves in. My Lady Jane is a definite winner.