My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1) in A Little Bit Of This

Jul 12, 2016 Cindy 鉁┾樈鈾� rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-boyfriends, kick-ass-heroines, otps-feels, owlcrate, historical-fiction

This book was just an absolute delight! It was the perfect blend of adventure, fun, romance, humor, and hijinks - all somehow taking place in a lovely Victorian setting. Safe to say, I adore this book.

Now I am usually one for high-stakes, fast-paced action, epic fantasy or dystopian, stories that make me question anything and everything.

But every once in a while you need a break from that sort of thing. And this book was everything I did not know I was looking for. The story itself is very wel ...more

49 likes · Like · see review

May 01, 2017 Suzzie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Five HUGE stars!!! I loved this book so so so much! It was fun and I cannot wait for more collaborations from these three authors. I want to go on a cruise with Hand, Meadows, and Ashton just to be entertained till I wet myself with laughter because they created a hilarious book that made me have so much fun. Usually I am a quick reader but I really wanted to make this one last I loved it so much.

31 likes · Like · see review

May 29, 2018 Celeste rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, young-adult, funny, historical, girl-power

Full review now posted!

I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檝e ever laughed this hard while reading.

Tudor and Elizabethan history have always been incredibly interesting to me. I took all of the classes on the period I could while in college. As someone interested in the era, I鈥檝e always found Jane Grey鈥檚 short reign one of the saddest things ever, and I absolutely love the fact that a trio of authors decided that history is stupid and we have every right to change it to suit us. While obviously this is a dangero Full review now posted!

I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檝e ever laughed this hard while reading.

Tudor and Elizabethan history have always been incredibly interesting to me. I took all of the classes on the period I could while in college. As someone interested in the era, I鈥檝e always found Jane Grey鈥檚 short reign one of the saddest things ever, and I absolutely love the fact that a trio of authors decided that history is stupid and we have every right to change it to suit us. While obviously this is a dangerous stance to take in reality, I think it鈥檚 perfectly acceptable in fiction. And these ladies did a marvelous job of completely destroying history as it stands and restitching it into a pattern that not only pleases them but will have readers rolling in laughter as they consume the tale.

There will be some spoilers from here on out, because there鈥檚 just no other way to review this book. I'll keep them as light and vague as possible, but consider yourself warned.

First of all, I connected with Jane on a spiritual level. Books are the most important thing in the world to her, which I totally get. Most people at court only recognize her by her red hair the the ever present book in her face, and could not recognize her features if their lives depended on it. When King Edward begins to sicken with the Affliction, he is convinced my his advisor to marry his dear cousin off and ensure that she鈥檒l take the throne when he fades away. She does her duty and marries, but nothing else works out as it鈥檚 meant to. For starters, the King isn鈥檛 sick; he鈥檚 being poisoned. But most inconvenient for Jane is the fact that her new husband is only human half the time. During daylight hours, he鈥檚 a horse.

Jane is a treasure. She's snarky and smart and not content to just sit around being a girl during a period when that was all that was expected. And she's joined by a host of other strong, independent female characters who can totally take care of themselves. This was a great girl-power book, and I would immediately shove it onto any teenage girl I happen across.

One of my favorite things about this book is the replacement of religious tension and infighting with that caused by magic dwelling in the kingdom. Instead of Catholics fighting Anglicans, we have Verities (those opposed to magic) fighting Edians (those who have an animal form). I loved this adaptation and how it altered events, while still explaining the tension in the country.

But my very favorite thing about this book was the humor. I鈥檝e read a lot of books in my life, but this is hands down the funniest of them. There were references to Monty Python and a plethora of horse jokes, and it just make me so happy. And the audiobook narrator was absolutely perfect in every way.

If you like history but don鈥檛 mind seeing it desecrated for the sake of a story, and if you want to read something that will make you laugh out loud, I heartily recommend this book. British history has never been so funny.

For more of my reviews, as well as my own fiction and thoughts on life, check out my blog, Celestial Musings. ...more

28 likes · Like · see review

Oct 07, 2018 Nada Alaa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Have you ever fell in love with a book form the very first page?
Well, for me that was the case with MLJ, i fell in love with it from the very beginning ( literally from the dedication page馃槀).
I already had that feeling that i鈥檓 gonna love it, but I didn鈥檛 thought i鈥檒l love it THAT much!.
It was everything i wanted and much more. I think if we mixed up everything i love in books this book will be the outcome馃槀. It was a Hilarious historical fiction with a cast of ADORABLE characters with a hint of ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2016 Madison DeJulio rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mind-blowing, reread-tbr, young-adult, read-in-2016, oc-october, 2017-tbr, fall-2016-wrapup, october-wrapup, top-books-of-fall-2016, monthly-recs-mysteries

4.5 Stars

So this is the first historical fiction book I've read. And I will say I was not disappointed. "My Lady Jane" reads like a fairytale. Which is exactly what it felt like.

Before I go on, I'd like to mention that I know nothing about the actual Lady Jane. I know about King Henry and Queen Elizabeth, but hardly about Jane at all so my views on her are solely based on this book. Okay, moving on...

This was a super character driven story and I loved every character in this book. However, Edw 4.5 Stars

So this is the first historical fiction book I've read. And I will say I was not disappointed. "My Lady Jane" reads like a fairytale. Which is exactly what it felt like.

Before I go on, I'd like to mention that I know nothing about the actual Lady Jane. I know about King Henry and Queen Elizabeth, but hardly about Jane at all so my views on her are solely based on this book. Okay, moving on...

This was a super character driven story and I loved every character in this book. However, Edward actually turned out to be my favorite. I loved all of his chapters and I thought his story and situations were so compelling. He really does have a heart of gold and I can understand his hesitation to want to rule as King. From the beginning, I knew being the ruler of England just wasn't for him since he yearns to have more freedom. His story was more of a subplot but I actually liked it more than the main plot!

It took me a while to warm up to Jane since I found her dull at first. But she ended up being really likable. And I'm sure I'm not the only one here who can relate to her love of books. I like how she's passionate and caring as well as loving to her cousin Edward, I loved their relationship.

And I loved Gifford from the start. Poor thing has to live out his days as a horse though, how miserable. I found him hilarious and thought it was great how he loved writing poetry. (And he's good at it too)

The plot was excellent, full of action, romance, and magical aspects that I enjoyed. The "edian" thing was interesting, and I loved how it contributed to the comedy of this book. Without the people turning into animals thing, this book wouldn't have been what it was. The plot was always solid, taking so many surprising turns that most of the times I didn't expect.

And the romance was fantastic. What I loved was how cheesy it was, kind of making me feel like I was watching a romantic soap opera. But that's what made it adorable! I shipped all the canons in this book, ugh, they were just amazing.

I'd recommend this if you're into historical fiction. It's a great one! ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 03, 2016 Sonu Shaji rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

I must confess. I am partial to historical novels. They have all this grandeur, a portrayal of life that we couldn't possibly imagine, but which actually existed. Though sifted to bring out only the highlights of the past, like magnificent balls and beautiful gowns, they do hold an awesome appeal. And when i see a novel steeped in history but made out to appeal to the teens and relatable to the many things we see normally, the only thing i can say is: wow.
This novel blew my mind with its witty ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 26, 2017 Ambisaurus Rex rated it liked it

This book was ok

I liked this book and honestly tried to love it but couldn't. It had a very nice premise. It even had great characters but it dragged on way too long and was nowhere near as funny as I thought it would be. I feel that if it had been around 400 pages that I would have gotten through it easier and possibly even enjoyed it more but with the plot not really progressing a whole lot there wasn't a lot of story to go on or hook me with. The characters were excellent though, Jane, Edward ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 10, 2016 JoAnna rated it it was amazing

EEek!!! The end is here... I did not want this book to end. I LOVED THIS BOOK! I loved the beginning, the middle, the end, EVERY SINGLE PAGE! I will miss each character, and I will miss they way they made me laugh and smile! I could go on forever about how much I adored this book! If you have not read it.... DO IT NOW! :D Also.... A big thanks to Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, for y'alls amazing work! OH! and I have a cat named Edward.... O_o ...more

2 likes · Like · see review