My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, book 1) - Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
Dec 21, 2019 13:48:20 GMT -7
Banana Boat and kareni like this
Post by Mari on Dec 21, 2019 13:48:20 GMT -7
4.0 - 4.5 ⭐
The audio book for My Lady Jane was an Audible Daily Deal. I thought it looked fun so I picked it up on the cheap. Most of my review hinges on Katherine Kellgren's superb narration. Her performance was one of the best I've ever listened to. Each character had a unique voice. She delivered the witty dialog as dry as I'm sure the author's intended. She bounced between characters and accents with aplomb.
I'm sure we all know some of the history. Edward Tudor was the young King of England. His cousin, Lady Jane Grey to forced to marry Dudley's son Gifford. Lady Jane falls prey to the machinations of ambitious couturiers led by Lord Dudley and upon Edward's death becomes queen for 9 days. That's where history takes a turn in this book.
In this funny and ambitious retelling Jane and Edward are not only cousins but best friends. Jane is a prolific reader, meaning she spends the majority of her time reading and when she's forced to interact with people she thinks about reading........and books......and reading more books......and acquiring new books. You get the picture. Edward is ill and knows he's dying, which really is a shame because he hasn't even gotten to kiss a girl yet. He agrees with Dudley that Jane would make a fair queen. Plus, she has all that knowledge from reading books to fall back on.
Some people including the late King Henry VIII are shifters. There is no guessing what animal someone might turn into; birds, lions, dogs, wolves, skunks, mice, ferrets, etc. Some people have the ability and some don't. While Edward and Jane are tolerant there are others like Mary Tudor who want nothing more than to gather up all the shifts and burn them at the stake.
So Jane is forced to marry Dudley's son but no one's told her that while the sun is up he's a horse and at night he has a certain reputation. He's well known for spending his nights in the pubs doing whatever nefarious things young men do in pubs.
After Edward's death (is he really dead because no one's seen a body) Jane becomes queen. Until Mary's army takes the throne and starts making plans to gather all the shifters and have the mother of all stake burning.
The story is what could have happened and revolves around the teenagers Edward, Jane, Gifford and helpful and not so helpful people they meet on their journey to investigate a plot to steal the throne and save the country.
I'm not sure I would have enjoyed reading this book. In fact, I probably wouldn't have finished it. The narrator kept me hooked and engaged in the story. Even though the humor was fun and reminded me a bit of Monty Python I still thought the story was geared more for teen and pre-teen girls. Overall it was light and fun and I'm glad I stuck with it.
The audio book for My Lady Jane was an Audible Daily Deal. I thought it looked fun so I picked it up on the cheap. Most of my review hinges on Katherine Kellgren's superb narration. Her performance was one of the best I've ever listened to. Each character had a unique voice. She delivered the witty dialog as dry as I'm sure the author's intended. She bounced between characters and accents with aplomb.
I'm sure we all know some of the history. Edward Tudor was the young King of England. His cousin, Lady Jane Grey to forced to marry Dudley's son Gifford. Lady Jane falls prey to the machinations of ambitious couturiers led by Lord Dudley and upon Edward's death becomes queen for 9 days. That's where history takes a turn in this book.
In this funny and ambitious retelling Jane and Edward are not only cousins but best friends. Jane is a prolific reader, meaning she spends the majority of her time reading and when she's forced to interact with people she thinks about reading........and books......and reading more books......and acquiring new books. You get the picture. Edward is ill and knows he's dying, which really is a shame because he hasn't even gotten to kiss a girl yet. He agrees with Dudley that Jane would make a fair queen. Plus, she has all that knowledge from reading books to fall back on.
Some people including the late King Henry VIII are shifters. There is no guessing what animal someone might turn into; birds, lions, dogs, wolves, skunks, mice, ferrets, etc. Some people have the ability and some don't. While Edward and Jane are tolerant there are others like Mary Tudor who want nothing more than to gather up all the shifts and burn them at the stake.
So Jane is forced to marry Dudley's son but no one's told her that while the sun is up he's a horse and at night he has a certain reputation. He's well known for spending his nights in the pubs doing whatever nefarious things young men do in pubs.
After Edward's death (is he really dead because no one's seen a body) Jane becomes queen. Until Mary's army takes the throne and starts making plans to gather all the shifters and have the mother of all stake burning.
The story is what could have happened and revolves around the teenagers Edward, Jane, Gifford and helpful and not so helpful people they meet on their journey to investigate a plot to steal the throne and save the country.
I'm not sure I would have enjoyed reading this book. In fact, I probably wouldn't have finished it. The narrator kept me hooked and engaged in the story. Even though the humor was fun and reminded me a bit of Monty Python I still thought the story was geared more for teen and pre-teen girls. Overall it was light and fun and I'm glad I stuck with it.