My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton

My Lady Jane (Lady Janies, #1)

by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton

Edward is the King of England. He's also dying, which is inconvenient, as he's only sixteen and he'd rather be planning his first kiss than who will inherit his crown. Jane, Edward's cousin, is far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately, Edward has arranged to marry her off to Gifford secure the line of succession. And Gifford is, well, a horse. That is, he an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated) who becomes a chestnut steed every morning, but wakes as a man at dusk, with a mouthful of hay. Very undignified. The plot thickens as the three are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy, and have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it's off with their heads?

Reviewed by Berls on

3 of 5 stars

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3.5 stars

This was not all what I was expecting but it was fun. I have always found this period of history interesting and even butchered to such an extent that it's almost unrecognizable, it was interesting. And despite being quite inaccurate historically, if you know the history from this time period it's actually a pretty comical way of reinterpreting events.

Adding in the Eðian conflict was probably the number one key to taking what was a pretty intense religious conflict and turning it into a ridiculous, hilarious conflict. Rather than the Catholic, Protestant, Church of England divide that occurred under King Henry Tudor and his heirs, this has shifted to an Eðian divide... about people that shapeshift into animals and those that do not. The way it's handled and the dialogue make it so comical that you can't help but laugh.

The authors pause at times to speak directly to you, the reader. This adds to the comedy for me, since they basically assert the truth of their tale. It matches the tone of the whole book, which is just very blatantly humorous and so many awkward encounters, so many caricatures of real actors, and such an obviously farcical reinterpretation of events, that the whole book is just so fun.

The narration did a fantastic job of matching and bringing to life the comedy of the book, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Katherine Kellgren did a great job narrating; this was my first time listening to her but I would not hesitate to listen again.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 August, 2021: Finished reading
  • 7 August, 2021: Reviewed