I had already loved the story of Mary Queen of Scots because of Reign, but I thought this book brought my love for her to a whole new level. The authors' twist of having shapeshifters was insane!!! Mary can turn into a mouse and SPY on people????!!!! Amazing! I also loved how they kept the same historical figures like Francis, Catherine and Nostradamus because they added some fun historical elements to the story. Catherine was my favorite character because of how clever she is and how many schemes she makes. I honestly love this author trio and the cool and wild stories they create.

Step aside Lady Janies, the Marys are coming for ya!

I fell head over heels for this author trio when I listened to "MY LADY JANE" in 2020, recommended by a friend.

I have since devoured the other two books in the "Lady Janies" series (although they totally work as stand-alones) and could not wait to read the first book in the "Mary" series.

MY CONTRARY MARY is the epic, historically accurate...

(er, not so accurate)

...the epic, totally embellished, barely factual tale of Mary, Queen of Scots 😆

Do you need to be a history buff to read this? Absolutely not (although you find yourself down an online rabbit hole trying to remember how the history actually went 🙋🏻‍♀️).

* but sense of humor, lover of cheeky behaviors, tickled by random pop culture references with a dash of fantasy, and desire for happily ever afters is recommended *

I can officially announce that I now use the phrasing, "Oh, droppings" in my every day life 🤦🏻‍♀️ #IYKYK

If you are a fan of audiobooks, LISTEN TO THIS BOOK!!! As much as I want to physically read these books (because they are just so goooood), I always have to listen. The narrator, Fiona Hardingham, was an absolute gem with not only voice inflections but the accents! *chefs kiss*

I love a good historical fiction and this one had me laughing out loud. The commentary by the authors adds another layer to the humor in this book. I know nothing about Mary, Queen of Scots outside of this book but the authors do a good job of filling the reading in on important information, but also turning the story on its head. This trio just knows how to write a fun book.

So excited for another series to follow up the Lady Janies series! The narrator is always fantastic and I love the humor the authors add in.

I love these authors so much! I definitely think this one had less humor than their other works and didn’t like the setting and overall plot as much. Will continue to read anything the lady Janie’s come out with!

I loved this one as much as I expected to! Growing up I had an obsession with the Tudors and I'm a big fantasy fan so this is just the best of both worlds. It was fun and witty and I can't wait to read more in this world. I already own two books in the Jane series but during my pregnancy (my daughter is 6.5 months old) I was having a hard time paying attention to physical books so I loved getting to listen to this one. The narration was awful but this wasn't an actual audiobook it was just like text to talk so I obviously won't be taking any points off for that.

I enjoyed this book! The narrator was great and the story was fun. It is the first of a new series written by the authors but also included characters we have seen in their previous book “My Lady Jane” from a few years ago. I like when authors include things like that it makes me feel like I’m “in the know”. I also liked the modern day references to movies like The Terminator and Princess Bride (though they were a little cheesy).

I am a super fan of altered historical pieces. I love everything and Tudor and Mary is connected to that making her one of my favorite people in history. I thought I'd have a problem with the whole mouse thing but I liked it. It's so easy to put people of history as vampires/monsters but I would have never expected a mouse. Lovely retelling!

4/5⭐ to My Contrary Mary by the Lady Janies (Cynthia Hand, Brodie Ashton, and Jodie Meadows). Thank you very much to Harper Audio/HCCFrenzy for an audio egalley to review! I love this series so much for its combination of historical fiction, fantasy, and contemporary elements! Basically, this story is a whimsical reimagining of the story of Mary, Queen of Scots if she had a less tragic ending. This world, which was also explored in the book [book:My Lady Jane|22840421] which has an overall conflict between Eðians (people who can shapeshift into an animal form) and Verities (non-shapeshifter, normal humans). The story overall is whimsical and enchanting, and I adored all our characters, especially Queen Mary! We even got an adorable romance between her and Francis (the dauphin of France) which brings some angst as court politics turn potentially deadly and they must be separated in order to save Scotland & France. This tension, along with the overall atmosphere, really makes this story something special! This would be absolutely a perfect series to start for someone who is getting into YA Fantasy, especially someone who has an interest in history and loves the feeling of fairy tales. There isn't any foul language or explicit content which makes it a wonderful transition for younger readers (even 12+, though they may find it a little difficult relating to a character who is 4-5 years older than them). Truly a joy, I await the next "Mary" story!

Look, I waited to0 long to read this and if you’re still waiting, I highly recommend you pick it up. Especially for all you Reign fans out there. The first of the Marys kept my attention the WHOLE time and it was as funny and charming as the other books in the series.

Well, that was entertaining! History, but fun... and also not always all that accurate in the best ways! Also loved the Princess Bride references! These authors consistently write entertaining books. And they are great on audio.

Mary Queen of Scots has a secret. She’s secretly an Eðian (a shapeshifter), who can turn into a mouse. Her best friend, and betrothed, Francis knows her secret and is keeping it for her. However, when Francis’s father, the King of France, dies suddenly, Francis is put on the throne. Francis and Mary have to navigate this political world, while also facing supernatural threats.

This book is the first in a trilogy which continues from The Lady Janies books. One thing that I love about these books about historical figures is that they alter history to have the outcome everyone wants. There are some things in Mary’s real life story that I would have liked to be different, and they were written that way in this story.

I love the hilarious narrators with clever references. There were numerous references to the TV show Reign, which was about Mary Queen of Scots. I learned a lot of that history from the show. There were many references to the show that weren’t necessarily historically accurate, such as characters who didn’t really exist, but I loved how that show was tied into the story. There were also jokes about modern day things which were hilarious. One character who could see the future would have visions of movies or inventions from our time. The characters in the story didn’t understand, but it was a hilarious break from history in this story.

I listened to the audiobook edition of this book and I loved it! The jokes were so fun to listen to. I highly recommend this austiobook.

My Contrary Mary is a great historical retelling!

Thank you HarperCollins Audio for providing a copy of this book.

This is a fun YA novel that takes on the life of Mary, queen of Scots. Definitely for fans of the TV show Reign (it even takes a line or two from the show). Teen readers will enjoy this, though I was not a huge fan of some of the historical inaccuracies.

I started reading the book, but was not drawn in & decided not to continue reading. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book, but it unfortunately just didn't work for me to continue with it.

I loved this book! I was so excited to see a new series from these authors. The Jane series was great and this book was a great start to this new My Mary series. Same clever literary Easter eggs and fun humor, so if you're a fan of the My Jane books you should like this one.

Thank you HarperTeen for this eARC via netgalley.

This author trio is at it again! This book follows a young Mary Queen of Scots as she deals with a lot of magic and mayhem. This comedic reimagining of the life of Queen Mary was so entertaining and delightful.

I loved how these authors have creatively incorporated whimsy to these entertaining books. I also appreciated the connection that was made between this book and one of the previous Jane books.

Overall these books are so wonderful to be back in. This book is definitely one of my favorites by them so far!

I knew that I wasn't going to like this book.

If it were just the story on its own, it would've been more palatable. But for some reason, the authors have added an extra "character" of the narrator who has interjections that are supposed to be funny but are frankly embarrassing. And I know, I'm too old for this type of writing but someone could've edited this. They tried to modernize the story by adding pop culture references but the comedy was missing.

If you have been following along with the other books written by these authors and keeping up with the “Lady Janies” but in a new series then you’ll likely want to jump into this one and give it a go. It’s pretty much in the same vein and is quite similar in some ways, though it is telling a different story in many ways as well.
In this tale, it’s Renaissance France where there are a whole lot of strange goings ons including mice, plots, poisons, and one very central queen.

Mary, queen of Scots is also the jewel of the French court but she’s also a bit of a mouse, literally. She is an Eðian or shapeshifter. Now, that’s not exactly a good thing since being a mouse could cause one to lose their head! The only good thing is that Mary has some very trusted friends and companions to fall back on.
Speaking of which there is Francis. Francis is her betrothed and great friend. He’s also the next in line to be king. When a terrible thing happens and the current king meets his maker in a very suspicious way Mary and Francis are thrown into a world of conspiracies, treason, lies, and so much more. All the while Mary must make sure her deepest secret stays safe.

If you liked the first ones you should be good with this one as well. I thought it was decent. It’s well written if not a bit over the top silly. I mean it does rewrite history in a silly way that doesn’t make any sense at all really so it can’t not be silly.

The narrator is absolutely fantastic and one that just gives each and every character their own personal voice and personality so when you are tuned in to that the story comes alive and the strange silliness becomes a lot funnier. I definitely recommend checking out the audio if you can.

Shoutout to Harper Audio for giving me an ARC of this audiobook to review via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While I absolutely enjoyed this book and getting to go back to visit old friends from the debut book in the Lady Janies series I just didn't really connect with Mary like I did some of the other characters in the books I've read by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. I felt like while in past books I loved all of the main and supporting characters I found some of these characters to be kind of blah and just unlikable in general. I also felt like while the plot was intriguing it kind of lost focus a bit at times and was a little sporadic for my tastes.

What I did like was the humor and history that is pulled throughout all the books that these three marvelous authors create together. By reading these books it has caused me to want to learn more about the people and places that are mentioned in them. I do plan to continue on with the series as the rest of the books come out because as I stated I did enjoy the book, I just have a few small issues that I wish would have been changed to make it a five star read just like the Lady Janies books were.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This audiobook is well written and the characters are described well. The narrator's did a good job reading this book. It is a entertaining and enjoyable experience. I would recommend listening to this book to anyone and everyone.