My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies #1)

Lady Jane Grey or Dudley as known throughout history was queen for nine days following her cousins abrupt death. My Lady Jane is a comedic retelling of this very tale in history except theres a few twists and turns. In the novel, there are two types of people; the edians and the verities. Edians have the ability to turn into animals which upsets the verities. This will come into play the majority of the plot.

When Edward finds out hes sick, he gets worse and worse. Lord Dudley told him to make Jane the queen, sounds great right? Wrong. This occurs around the time when he also has Edward marry Jane off to his son Gifford. Gifford is an edian without control of his power and Jane, this is something yall book lovers can relate to, she loves to read! Their relationship slowly builds up as Jane really didnt want marriage. Shed begged Edward not to marry her to Gifford.

This book is a fantastic retelling. The comedic aspects of the novel were amazing. Personally, I love historical fiction so that also played a major part in my love for the novel. I mean, its set in the 1500s! My main concern heading into this novel though was the hype. I dont know what it is about me but generally, I dont like retellings. Retellings are the kind of make it or break it genre in the book community but really I ended up loving this! Honestly though, the comedy is ever so slightly repetitive but personally, I didnt mind.

This novel brought history to life, well more or less, the fact is that this novel did follow the majority of the true tale of Lady Jane Grey. In fact, I never dreamed Id end up reading this novel. The characters grow so much throughout the novel, its a precious thing to be able to watch them grow in relationships. Jane and Gifford have that special love we all are looking for in life.

Finally, I adored this novel and cant wait for the next novel in the series, My Plain Jane! My Lady Jane is now one of my favorite books, if you ever see it, pick it up and you wont be disappointed. Youll find youre on the edge of your seat the entire read! Ill be giving this a 4.2 out of 5 stars! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!

My criteria for my first read of the year usually is as follows: an author I know and love, a book Ive been highly anticipating and something thats easy to read. My Lady Jane easily met all three requirements, so I didnt hesitate to dive right into it on the first of January. And, truth be told, I couldnt have picked a better choice! Jane Grey is known in actual history to be the nine day queen, Edward VIs successor for a little over a week. No one really knows what happened, and in response to the what if hanging in the air, authors Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows worked together to tell the (not so true) (but oh so fun) tale of the Lady Jane Grey.

My Lady Jane is a book that is meant to entertain in a gloriously funny, satisfying way. The narration is excellent, complete with wry observations, witty retorts and a dash of whimsy. I was hooked right from the start! (And no, its not just because I find British royal history fascinating, though that was definitely another reason I enjoyed it.) I loved the tone, which made it feel like I was reading someones journal or hearing a storyteller tell the tale. I loved the switches between characters, because it was all too interesting to discover what was going on with each individual. I loved the humor, because it is so rare for a novel to make me laugh out loud (and I did laugh reading this one, and multiple times). I loved the magic, which was simple but still so entertaining. It was certainly all too easy to get swept up in learning what was to become of Jane, Guildford and Edward, and it was just impossible to do anything but see these three through to the end of their story.

Can you tell I was happily entertained by this tale? Because I was! The combination of magic, history and humor (with just a tiny bit of romance) was utterly irresistible. Whether youre fascinated by actual history or a total newbie to Janes story, this novel is guaranteed to make you crack a smile, if not elicit fully on belly laughs. I know I enjoyed it, and I certainly think that plenty of other readers will too.

Wow. After a month and a bit of being stuck in a reading slump, My Lady Jane has brought me back to the land of the living. I, of course, had been doing my typical stubborn thing of avoiding this – because everyone seems to love it. “It cannot possibly live up the hype” I kept telling myself.

Spoiler – it does.

This is a lighthearted, well written and fantastical re-telling of the tragic story of the nine days queen – Lady Jane Grey. For those who don’t know that much about Tudor England, just know that real life Jane was knocked off the throne after a week and a half by stringently devout Catholic pyromaniac Mary Tudor; otherwise known as the Bloody Queen. Mary torched “heretics” (see here anyone who didn’t believe exactly what she did) by the hundred. So it’s not surprising that when poor cousin Jane sat the throne instead of her, Mary got chop happy and Jane’s head rolled.

I’ve always had a yen for Jane Grey. She is impossibly tragic. If anyone has ever seen that 1986 film “Lady Jane” with Helena Bonham Carter and Carey Elwes, you can almost force yourself to believe that Dudley and Grey cared for one another. In reality this is highly unlikely – they were married for less than a year and it’s apparent that Guildford Dudley’s interest predominantly lay in the crown. However here we have a much more palatable version of events – a love story!

I can’t say how refreshing this was. Jane was sharp and massively enjoyable, and this version of Dudley (named Gifford here – or G) was the right blend of proud, funny and warm, bringing a great foil to her. Side characters include Edward VI and the one day Elizabeth I. The whole thing is magical, hilarious and transporting. The additional of magical shape shifting into animals only elevated things further.

Retellings are common place these days and even the most devout seekers of a re-imagining of history are often coming up dry for new material. The irreverence, and yet at the same time obvious care and love, put into My Lady Jane makes it stand out. This is the curve of a new wave in my mind – a step forward from what Seth Grahame Smith did with Pride and Prejudice et al.

I will be looking out avidly for more from these authors in the future (I hear their next project is Charlotte Bronte and her own Jane, Eyre – YES).

I had a great time reading ‘My Lady Jane’!

This fantastical retelling of the story of Lady Jane Grey – also know as the Nine Days Queen – was so funny and hilarious that it made me laugh out loud quite a few times!

I really enjoyed the style of narration and the fact that it added fantastical elements to the story in re-imagining the conflict between Catholics and Protestants as a conflict between Verities and Eians instead (where Eians are people who can shape-shift into animals and Verities hate them for it).

The story was lighthearted and entertaining but at the same time totally engrossing!

Loved this revision of the story of lady Jane! Couldnt put it down! Very good characters, and a great storyline.

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