My Lady Jane
Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Harper Teen
Published June 6, 2016

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About MY LADY JANE

Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…

Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…

Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.

The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?

My Review

It took me several chapters to really get into MY LADY JANE. The comparison to THE PRINCESS BRIDE made me really nervous because I love that book, and while I totally see why MY LADY JANE gets compared to it, I felt like it made some of the spunk and jokes seem like a copy rather than letting them shine on their own.

I wasn’t crazy about Edward’s character at the opening of the book. Maybe because of the dying part, I guess I figured he was an intro character who would turn the story over to other characters in a chapter or two. Jane and “G” pretty much had me at hello, though. I’m kind of a sucker for those stories where characters have to get married even though they don’t like each other and then magically, unexpectedly (to them at least) fall in love. So in that way, it was a perfect read for me.

Also, some of the minor characters were hilarious. Jane and Edward’s grandmother is my favorite. She has that very pragmatic, very frank personality and also, she turns into a skunk when she gets angry.

I’m also kind of a fan of re-imagined historical fiction. MY LADY JANE reminded me a little bit of THE RING AND THE CROWN by Melissa de la Cruz or ROMANOV by Nadine Brandes, though both are in a much more serious tone. But both have magic plus re-imagined history.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading MY LADY JANE partly in spite of its weirdness and partly because of it. If you like really quirky books, this is a great one to put on your summer reading list.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
All the characters are English, Scottish, or French.

Language Content
Mild profanity used twice.

Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some references to the Church of England.

Some characters can transform into animals. Others believe this is a form of witchcraft, and that any who can transform should be burned at the stake.

Violence
At one point, a character is sentenced to be beheaded. (Other references to character who were beheaded, all happened off-scene.) Another character faces being burned at the stake. (Not shown on-scene.)

Some battle sequences with situations of peril.

Drug Content
“G” gets quite drunk the night of his wedding. Later on, his wife embarrasses him by stopping him from overindulging in his wine.

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