The level of contemporary references was hysterical, for sure one of my favorite things while reading. I love how the authors subtly insert movie quotes, movie titles, random tidbits (Ari's Titanic vision and the Marys' follow-up questions were my favorite!) and perfectly play it off as regular conversation that matches the time. If you don't pay attention, you might miss something quiet and small and hysterical. I found myself laughing out loud at the conversations they were so great and occasionally ridiculous.

I love how this was set back in the same world as My Lady Jane, which was my first Ladies Janies book and got me hooked. Keep in mind that this is a standalone so you can read it without prior knowledge of this series or this fantastical world. But there might have been a cameo of a certain lady in this story which made me super happy.

Overall this was an incredibly fun listen- I have actually listened to all the books in this series and if you are a fan of audiobooks I 100% recommend listening to this book on audio. I loved every minute of this story and I can't wait for more, be it Janes or Marys or any other random female character they want to give a voice and a crazy history to.

A book about Mary, Queen of Scots, a fictional retelling, with shapeshifters?! Sign me up! This books was equal parts entertaining, hilarious, and awesome. I really enjoyed the Jane series from these authors, and this makes a great addition to that series. I wanted to thank the publisher for giving me the chance to review the audiobook for free through NetGalley. Check this out if you want a super entertaining read!

I've listened to audiobooks for the Lady Janes series, and they're fun with new narrators for each character. This narrator was a synthetic/robot that read the whole book.

This is a fun retelling of Mary Queen of Scots (with a happy ending).

Here are some of my favorite quotes. This is spoiler free gives the fun attitude of the book:

-The first ever use of the phrase WTF, which stands for, as we all know, “what the frog.”

- toute suite (which in French means “right freaking now”)

- “It’s BYOC.”
“BYOC?”
“Bring your own candle.”

(I can only publish my review on GoodReads for now since the publication date is so far off)

The best way I can describe this book is the CW's Reign meets My Lady Jane. After reading the synopsis you may think this is a historical fiction, and it is kind of, but it's so much more. You may think you know the story of Mary Stuart and Francis but you've never heard it quite like this. In this historical retelling Mary is an Edian (she can shapeshift into a mouse) which would be really useful if it weren't for the small detail that if that information got out Mary's life would be in danger. After king Henry suddenly dies Mary and Francis are thrust onto the throne, and there is no shortage of people close to them that would use their new position to their advantage.

This story gives me The Princess Bride feels. It has fun, adventure, danger, romance, humor and friendship. The characters are so fun and likable. I love when the authors address the readers directly. This could be very distracting but it's done in a way that makes you as the reader feel more involved in the story. Overall, I enjoyed the story and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun read and few laughs.

I haven't read the other books in this series (?), I own it, just haven't gotten around to it yet. This audiobook was fabulous. Loved the narrator and the animation of their voice. I laughed out loud a lot during this book. The story was good, but the narrator made this great I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it on my own.

3.5 I'll start off with, this book was so funny I really love this writing trio's humor and I've loved almost all of the books they had done with the Jane series, so to be totally transparent I DNF'd My Lady Jane which this book is a sequel of sorts to, there is a small scene that besides the world the characters connect to but I don't understand that importance because well I never finished My Lady Jane. However I might consider giving it a second try after enjoying this one so much. That sentence might sound weird when my rating is more middle of the road, and I actually can pin point the two things or I should say characters that didn't work for me. The first character was Ari (I listened to the audio so I'm not sure how its spelt) She honestly has some of the funniest lines and scenes but was SO annoying and naïve. The other character was Francis unless he was with Mary we just didn't jive. Besides that this was a lot of fun and was the first time I actually did a little research on a character because I realized I didn't know anything about Mary Queen of scots and she was pretty fascinating and a good choice for a fun retelling/alt history. How the authors wrote Mary and her adventure throughout made the book for me and I really loved all the scenes with her and Francis they had such a sweet friendship. Another character I enjoyed was Francis's mom Queen Catherine de' Medici she was funny and scheming, one of the people we are suppose to hate but I couldn't help but like her part in everything. These stories are so much fun and I cant wait to read more and really hope they never stop retelling history or characters.

I reviewed this in its audio form I do not know how the audio will sound in its official release and I'm curious to sample it when it does release I had already pre ordered the book before getting an ARC for review. This was my first audio ARC and I was really worried that it would be like a robot voice. It was a little more mechanical in its reading but it did not take away from the story and everything was said clearly. I found it helped if I speed it up.

I cant wait for this to go out to the readers on its book birthday June 22 2021 I really think people are going to enjoy this especially if you enjoyed the world from the first one or any of the books these authors write together.

I think I need to be done with this series. The first Janie book was amazing, the second one was good and third fell apart. I was excited to get back to this one because it was set int he world of the Lady Jane book. That was going to bee fun. It just didn’t work at all for me. I think maybe these talented writers should try something new. I would be keen on that.

I can’t provide a full review of this because of the narrator being a computer voice. However I love the authors and the stories they tell and this is no exception. Wonderfully imaginative and fun, My Contrary is sure to be a massive hit!

I want to be Cynthia's best friend. Her slightly off balance and at times inappropriate humor just makes her seem like she would be the best person in the world to be friends with. Her writing is so fun and I loved this one just as much as I loved her first one my lady Jane. Not only do I love that she's humorous but I love that she takes actual historical people and historical events and turns them into a fantasy world, but a fantasy world that still makes you ask questions about what it actually was like and you end up reading two books at the same time because you want to learn about the actual Queen Mary of Scotts. Her second book which I believe was called my plain Jane, felt exactly that. Plain. It's possible I just wasn't in a mood to listen to it or read it but just didn't Make the same spark for me. But this one, she got her grove back. Or maybe I do. But I just laughed a lot and I really enjoyed the story. I would highly recommend reading it. And that's saying something because the audiobook version that I listened to was a robot. Not a real person. I imagine I'll be re reading again to hear all of the inflections and delivery I'm the way it's supposed to be done. The book itself is a wonder and it's clean so it's perfect for teens. Just FYI. Thank you so much #netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC copy of #Mycontrarymary, it is truly my honor to read all of the hard work that goes into these books and I'm thankful for #netgalley.

I really liked the Jane series by these authors so when I saw this book on NetGalley I just had to request it. I knew without a doubt it was going to be an enjoyable read and i'm so happy it lived up to my expectations.

I admit i'm not usually a fan of historical fiction, because sometimes the way authors rewrite history just downright irritates me. However I really like the way these books are written ; they're so entertaining and fun that i'm able to enjoy them for what they are without focusing on all the historical inaccuracies.

One of my favorite parts of this book in particular was the references the star wars one for example really cracked me up. I also generally liked the characters ; there was some that annoyed me a bit but not enough to mention.

The story itself did start off a bit slow (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) but when it did start to pick up it was hard to put down. Which is no surprise since it had magic, wit and unique twists and turns and was an overall delightful read that I couldn't recommend enough.

I requested the audio galley without realizing that it didn’t have the full cast narrators that the usual audiobooks in the series have, which was a disappointment.

But otherwise this story of Mary was a lot of fun. The Queen of Scots is a great character, strong and compassionate and with good convictions. She is well supported by her husband Francis who is more of a thinker than a doer, and even if it takes time, he does stand up for what’s right. While Ari and Liv’s romance itself was cute, I can’t say I was always impressed with her decisions.

I was not always able to recognize the historical puns or references, but Ari’s visions of Hollywood movies were absolutely hilarious and I had a good laugh. This turned out to be a good beginning for the series, and I’m very excited to see which other Mary’s story we will get to read about in the sequel.

This historical fantasy fiction was so much fun. I’m not a history buff or anything but stories of Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots have always fascinated me. So a historical fiction novel making Mary Queen of Scots a little bit fantasy character as well....Plus this cover...and the regulation of My Plain Jane...sign me up.
And it was even better than I expected. I actually was laughing out loud at the perfectly dropped pieces of modern pop culture dripping throughout the story...all the way from misunderstood visions of Darth Vader and the Terminator (you just have to read it)...to perfect nods from modern day movies like Princess Bride. It was hilarious and well done.
The story was also great. Of course, I haven’t a clue if any of it is actually based on portions of the true Mary Queen of Scots story, but it was certainly interesting...like couldn’t put it down interesting. And surprisingly clean. No real language. No sex. I mean, that’s surprisingly rare in books these days, regardless of genre or audience. But it was quite refreshing.
The only thing that somewhat bothered me was the way the authors wrote themselves into the story and spoke directly to the reader. I got used to it eventually, but at first it definitely took me out of the story and surprised me. I also think it was unnecessary.
And as for the audio...well it says it’s a voice galley and not a true depiction of the audiobook, so I get what they are doing. And with that consideration it was fine, but something the tone of how the wording was said lost all meaning to the sarcasm or endings of sentences. At some points it was hard to follow because of that or I’d have to really think through what the writers actually meant. Not a huge fan of the voice galley automation.
All in all, this book made me want to go back and read all of the books in the Jane series as well.

One of my most anticipated reads of 2021, My Contrary Mary did not disappoint. I have been counting down the days until I got to give the audio a listen. Because lets face it, these audiobooks are my favorite! The narrators are always on point and make the book so fun!

The only reason this isn't a solid 5-star read is, I haven't experienced the narrator yet! The robotic voice just didn't do this wonderful story justice. And I cannot wait until this book releases so I can experience it in all its glory.

I alway love a Lady Janies book and this one was no exception. I was very excited to return to this particular world because I find the speculative elements so cool. I wanted to be able to turn into an animal as a kid, so it just tickles the imagination the right way. I did enjoy this readin experience a little less than usual because the auto generated voice had a little trouble with the timing of the jokes. I didn't laugh nearly as much as I did with their previous books, but hopefully that won't be an issue with the actual narrator or the physical book.

My Contrary Mary is such good fun! The drama, the humor, the "history" was just... *chef's kiss*.

Synopsis:
Essentially, this book follows Queen Mary of Scotland and Prince Francis of France through a journey to survive and conquer a bunch of political scheming. It turns out that life in the French court can be pretty crazy and dangerous. I know that's a super short little summary, but I feel like I'm going to be tossing around spoilers if I actually start listing specifics and I'm trying to not do that!

My General Thoughts:
The story was really solid and fun, but what stood out for me was the all the little bits of humor, general pop culture references, and some of the small elements I ended up loving thrown into the book. Those are the things that stood out to me and kept me enjoying the story even when I, personally, wanted the story to move along a bit faster.

There were definitely lots of moments in the second half where I was just LIVING for the drama. The plot just kept getting thicker and I was here for it. I won't say that I didn't get a little frustrated with Mary or Francis at times, but those little baby royals were just going through it and I forgave them.

Wrap-Up:
This was my first book by this awesome trio of authors, but it certainly won't be my last. I had lots of fun with My Contrary Mary and I'm definitely making The Lady Janies books a priority very soon.

JUST PLAIN FUN!!!! These authors seem to have hit the sweet spot in their ability to take a lively story and a great heroine and combine it into a fantastically outrageous piece of fiction. I want more!!

I loved this so much! Not quite a 5 star read for me but I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end!

A huge thank you to The Authors, publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy.

This book was the perfect blend of historical fiction, magic and satire! Highly recommend and will be listening to the backlist titles by these authors ( The Lady Janies ).

Cannot wait for the next installment.

This was actually my first ever audiobook I’ve listened to and I rather enjoyed it! Aside from the occasional repetition of a word, or skipping a word, I think the auto-generated voice was fairly okay! This book has a feminine voice with a British accent, which I felt went well with the story of Mary, Queen of Scots. Though most of the story takes place in France, I think a French accent would have been too difficult fir myself, an American, to wade through.

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I am a HUGE medieval fan with my main obsession being Henry VIII and House Tudor...so imagine my absolute delight when the Lady Janies turned their attention to Mary, Queen of Scots!...she’s Tudor-adjacent and, she was sort of challenging Queen Elizabeth I for the England crown (historically).

I really enjoy the writing style of these three women, it’s near impossible to ever be able to tell when the pen has switched hands (a difficult feat, especially with more than 2 authors). Their individual voices come through their characters but somehow none overpowers the other and it all melds well.

I was so happy to see the return of the Edians & Verities. Obviously they’re a metaphor for Catholics and Protestants, which were warring factions back then. I think taking the religious disagreements as a matter of shapershifters vs. non-shifters is a nice touch...and the authors are never “for” one side or “against” the other.

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I received an audio listening copy of this book from Netgalley, via the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book has in no way affected my views or opinions.

This book is about Mary Queen of Scots. She is betrothed to the Crown Prince of France. When they marry, they decide to not try for an heir since it will be a long time until Francis is made King of France. However, the King soon dies and Francis becomes King. Mary can turn into a mouse and must keep it a secret. Something happens to Francis and there are lots of twists and turns.
I loved that they did My Lady Jane and I have read some of My Plain Jane. This book was not as funny as the other two and felt like it was trying too hard. It was long and had a lot of boring parts. I do love that they are now doing Mary’s.

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Earlier this week, I finished A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir and I honestly may never recover from the devastation that book wrought. Thankfully, My Contrary Mary came along at exactly the right time. The Lady Janies series is a go to historical/contemporary fantasy for me as the characters are always likable, the humor is ALWAYS on point, and the plot is always intriguing. In fact, almost every book written by these three has been a one sitting read for me. I can say with complete honesty, that My Contrary Mary is only the third book to make me laugh out loud in 2020. The first was My Calamity Jane (by the Lady Janies, of course). The second was The House in the Cerulean Sea (another must read of the year).

This first book in a new but connected series about historical figures named Mary had everything I was looking for in a book this week. It told a slightly altered version of the events of the life of Mary Queen of Scotts. In this version of events, her fiancé Francis never died, and there may or may not be some shapeshifters on or around the throne. Francis somehow managed to be frustratingly naïve and immensely likable at the same time, and I can honestly say that his character growth was a blast to experience.

The third POV in this book is Ari – whose full name is Aristotle, and is the daughter of Nostradamus. Unfortunately she can’t quite seem to tell the future as well as he can, but she does happen to be a bit of a whiz with potions. She also happens to have her eye on one of Queen Mary’s ladies in waiting. I expected to miss the POVs of Mary and Francis, but found myself looking forward to Ari’s chapters just as much if not more than the two main characters. The appearances from Nostradamus were among my personal favorites, and I loved how her wonderful, sapphic romance developed.

Not shockingly, this book was another complete win for me and I am already absolutely dying to get my hands on the next book these amazing authors put out. Can y’all please just release two books in 2021? After 2020, I think we all deserve it.