What’s Up Everyone?
If you follow me on Goodreads, you will probably have noticed that I have been reading My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows for what seems like months. I had to put MLJ down to read Wintergirls and Never-Ending Birds for my creative writing class at the end of last semester. MLJ is also a very pretty hardcover book that is around five hundred pages, so I wasn’t about to take it to read at the beach when I went at the end of May. Therefore, it sat on my shelf, partially read, for a little bit too long. However, I can say with full confidence that this is my favorite book that I have read this year. I have also added it to my list of all time favorite books. Here is why:
The Narration. Before reading MLJ, I had never read a book by Hand, Ashton or Meadows. I didn’t know if I was going to like their writing styles, and I especially wasn’t sure if I was going to be sold on a book that was written by three different authors. I have read books in the past written by multiple authors and I have never been wowed. I am not sure how they broke the book up writing wise (I am thinking that it may have been by character, since G, Jane and Edward all get their own chapters, but I’m not sure), but the novel flowed as if one person was writing it. I wouldn’t have known that it was written by more than one person if the narrators were not such a predominant part of the story. Beyond the introduction given at the beginning of the novel to set the historical side of the stage for the reader, the narrators interject their thoughts into the story and make side comments about what is happening to the characters several times throughout the story. They are like your snarky, witty, and sometimes informative subconscious, bugging you throughout your reading journey. Sometimes they provide genuinely helpful, intriguing historical information and other times they appear to mess with the reader or provide levity to a particularly gnarly battle.
I absolutely loved these side comments! Sometimes, I will admit, it seemed like the narrators were there to justify a plot hole that the authors were choosing not to fix (I am looking at you Jane, pulling a rope out of nowhere -_-). However, having such a present and witty narrator reminded me a lot of all the witty narrators in musical theatre, which made me like the choice to include an ever present narrator even more. I also haven’t read many books (there aren’t any books that are coming to mind, but I feel like I have read at least one book that was written in a similar narration style) with this narration style. I appreciated the choice, as well as how well it worked with the first person narration from G, Edward and Jane.
The plot. I have been a huge fan of historical fiction for most of my life, ever since I read The Royal Diaries series, the Magic Tree House series and Katherine Called Birdie when I was around middle grade age. This book had the same satirical feel that Katherine Called Birdie had while providing me with history in a way that was similar to The Royal Diaries series. I knew a lot about Henry the 8th, Elizabeth I and Queen Mary, but I wasn’t as familiar with King Edward and Jane. Not only was it interesting to learn a little more about history, but it was interesting to see that history be turned on its head. Secondly, (and I am not going to give too much away), but the plot was not what I thought it was going to be. However, one of the main plot points, which I wasn’t expecting and didn’t know about going into the book, actually really worked for me. It lead to some super funny and awkward moments between our characters which made laugh.
The characters. I loved all of the characters. A lot of bookish people will understand when I say that multiple POV novels can get sketchy because sometimes all of the characters start to sound the same. This was not the case in MLJ. Jane was one book loving, knitting hating, compassionate but bad-ass woman who went on one of the largest character arcs that I have seen a protagonist, let alone a female protagonist, go one in any book that I have read recently. I fell in love with Jane because I feel like I would be her if I was in this era of history. I would much rather read a book than be courted. I also loved Edward and G. Both characters went on pretty large character arcs of their own throughout the course of this book. Edward went from being a boy king, manipulated by his advisors and out of touch with his people, to a king who was so in touch with his people that he understood that he was not the right fit for them. This ultimately lead him to abdicate the throne to Bess (which was a great scene I might add). Seeing him understand what it was like to live outside of the castle and realize the turmoil that the land was under, with Gracie’s help, was very nice.
I also love G. He was hysterical. I loved how he convinced people that he was having escapades with women at night when, really, he was just composing poetry. I loved seeing him and Jane grow together. Their relationship seemed totally natural, which was refreshing with as many instalove couples as there are in YA Lit at the moment. They grew both as individuals and as a couple over the course of the novel and I found their arc adorable. The side characters were also awesome. Gran and Gracie were hysterically feisty. Peter and Pet were loyal. Mary and Bess were strong women in their own right. All of the side characters had enough personality that we cared about them, but there weren’t so many that you had to keep up with a ridiculous amount of characters at once.
The references. This isn’t as big of a point, but there were a lot of references to various other works spread throughout My Lady Jane. Specifically, this book was loaded with references to Shakespeare. As a Shakespeare nerd, this made my heart happy.
Overall, this book was just so much fun. I don’t think that I can recommend it enough. If I could give it more than 100%, I might actually do that, because I enjoyed this book that much. If you are in the market for a book that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, while serving you up a heaping load of history, bad assary, fighting and feels, this is the book for you.
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
100% out of 100%
-Jaime