3.5

The brilliant authors of [book:My Lady Jane|22840421] now turn their talents towards various Marys of history beginning here with Mary Queen of Scots.

Mary has been living in France pretty much her entire life. Waiting for the day she can claim her throne while betrothed to the Dauphine, Francis. But Mary has a secret. She's a mouse. Yep a mouse. Meaning she's an Ethian (shapeshifter) living in a Verity (non-shapeshifter) court where her very existence is means for execution. But keeping her true self a secret isolates her from other Ethians within her kingdom who think Mary is a Verity like all the other rulers. Soon Mary and Francis find themselves embroiled in court intrigue and conspiracies after Francis is forced to take the throne upon his father's untimely death. Luckily Mary has a confidant in Francis as well as Aristotle, the daughter of Nostradamus.

If you haven't read the previous series by these authors, I note here that these are historical retellings and quite frequently do not play out with how actual history played out. They take a more tongue-in-cheek approach and I find them a fun read. I love how the authors do incorporate true events into the more fantastical and I like the creative license they take in changing a few events to suite the needs of a more Happily Ever After-type ending.

This time around I especially like Ari's premonitions particularly regarding certain pop culture phenoms and loved how the authors fit them into the story.

But this time around, I just couldn't get into the story as much as I did with previous books. I think it's because there's this certain level of disconnect between Mary and Francis. They're supposed to be best friends and confidants. But they're rarely on the same page and it take almost the whole book of missed connections and mixed messages until they finally get to the point where they are equally together. It was slightly frustrating. But I think this kind of speaks to the weight that was on both of their shoulders and at such a young age too when you think about it. Adding to that all the scheming going on around them, and I completely understand how things get muddled. I just wish it was one area the authors had chosen to make that one of the creative changes of the story.

Also, Ari was a wonderful character, but I almost wish she had gotten her own story separate from Mary and Francis. I guess maybe there was someone needed to break up the sections between Francis and Mary and offer a perspective of someone who was not of royal blood, but past a certain point in the book I felt like Ari was completely underutilized as a character. I wanted a bit more from her when all was said and done and I feel like she fulfilled that in the first half of the book moreso than in the latter half.

Overall, while this one was a bit more difficult for me to get through, I enjoyed many parts and pieces of it. As even referenced in the book there are A LOT of Marys in history. So I'm looking forward to who will be the next featured Mary. I do like that this book kind of brought things back to the very beginning in terms of chronological timeframe and setting even going so far as to feature characters from that very first Lady Janies book. If you've enjoyed other books in the series, you will love getting back into the same fictionalized history again.

I absolutely LOVED listening to My Lady Jane - so I was especially excited to start listening to this one, since Mary Queen of Scots made a cameo appearance in that book, so I was hopeful that Jane would make a reciprocal appearance here (and yes, eventually). Set in the same alternate history/fantasy setting where people are divided not my religion, but their views on the humanity of those humans who can take the shape of another animal, this one shows an older Mary as the unrest in France increases. Mary has a secret that only few know - she, too, can shift shape - into a mouse! As she prepares for upcoming nuptials, the politics of the pace begin to spin out of control with so many vying for power.

Ari and her visions add a good bit of humor and there's plenty of romance all around - along with excitement, magic and fun. Most disappointing for me is that the narrator, while talented, isn't nearly as terrific as Katherine Kellgren who narrated My Lady Jane. There just isn't the same warmth or enthusiasm or comedic timing here. But, perhaps if that one hadn't been so fresh in my mind, I wouldn't have minded as much. Either way, I am curious to see which Mary will feature next from this fun series from these three talented authors!

Love this audiobook, its was funny in ways i did not expect. Love how they put a twist on the history. , -it was keep to the original timeline with something added that you were never thought would happen. For a great summer listen I recommend this audiobook.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

My Contrary Mary is an excellent return to the hilariously magical world of My Plain Jane. I was unimpressed by recent books from these authors, but this captured the hijinks, romance, and teen angst. I loved about My Plain Jane. And as the start to a new series, this is a great place to jump back on the bandwagon. Lovers of period pieces and rom-coms will be delighted.

I’d say my final rating is more a 3.5 it was originally a 4 while reading but then the story got unnecessarily lengthy. I love consuming stories about Mary so I was beyond excited and happy well reading this. It’s always fun to be back in this world. I highly recommend the audio narration.

I’m going to be honest. I feel so badly but this audio is really hard for me to get into without an actual narrator. I never tried to listen to something with the robot voice so I thought I’d give it a go. But this isn’t working for me. Nothing against the book itself I’d be glad to read it or try the actual audio but I can’t follow this one.

I have to admit, like My Lady Jane, this story was enjoyable, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was reading it with my eyes and not listening to it with my ears. I listened to My Lady Jane and didn't enjoy it as much as My Plain Jane and My Calamity Jane which I physically read. With that said, I loved this. I loved Mary, Queen of Scots and King Francis. I loved the story and Ari and Liz. I just loved everyone and can't wait to physically own this one.

I was hoping for all the things.. and I got them! I love this new set as much as the first one (so far).. can’t wait to read more!

As this is not the official audiobook and just a version made with a synthetic voice, it’s hard to review this. The story so far was good, but I wish I could have heard an actual narrator’s voice. I will be reading whatever comes next for Mary though!

Perfect for YA fans of historical fantasy with a funny and modern twist. This title stands alone, or can be read with the others in the series. It doesn't bring anything new that the Jane books lacked. But if you have readers who liked those, they will be delighted with this one.

This was a fun, lighthearted read! Mary is an amazing character and it's easy to fall in love with her. The book reminded me somewhat of the show Reign which I also really enjoyed, so that is definitely a compliment.

I gratefully received this audio from #netgalley. I loved it! As you may have guessed this story is about Mary, Queen of Scots. The author has taken an already interesting historical account and gave it some awesome twists. She has vibrantly brought the characters to life and given personalities to side characters in Mary's story that were sadly neglected in historical facts. Then she added some supernatural just to make things more interesting.
An excellent story that is so much better than real life!!

This book was amazing - but I expected nothing less from these amazing women. We're back in the same world as My Lady Jane, in fact you will find some returning character's pop up. Do you need to read My Lady Jane before starting this? It wouldn't hurt since My Lady Jane explains the world and magic system, but in theory you could jump in and not spoil much from My Lady Jane. Much in a way that you could read a book about Mary, Queen of Scotts before reading a book about Queen Jane.

Once again, I love the changes The Janies made to this time in history. They've also maintained the humour they have in all the previous books by this trio. I also loved that we got to see more of the world in this one. From what I remember from My Lady Jane, we stayed relatively within England, possibly London. In this one, we travel to France, England and Scotland. How they've weaved the magic they dreamed up in My Lady Jane and expanded it was amazing. I love seeing just how it affects these countries and its people (we see more than royals too!).

I was constantly smiling and laughing throughout this book, plus there were emotional portions that had me stopping from the impact. Although I've already read this (and by this point a few months back) but I'm looking forward to rereading this once it's officially out. My plan is to reread My Lady Jane and My Contrary Mary to get the full experience of this world all together.

I can't wait to see the other Marys this trio rewrites, and I hope they continue this trend and possibly rewrite Elizabeths? I can hope!

If you loved any of the Jane books then you'll continue to love this new series. This was a solid, fun, hilarious read and everyone needs to read this!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the synthesized audioARC of this in exchange for my honest review.

This continued with the same humor as the previous books, which could be counted on to be a lovely change of pace between more series books, I especially liked Ari's "visions". However, I felt like this one went a little overboard, it was so long and there were a million and one "but [item] hadn't been invented yet" (to give an example, though this may not be in the finished product, a character is described as being on auto-pilot, although auto-pilot, pilots, and autos had not been invented yet) it might've been funnier if they were just sprinkled throughout but they felt so numerous in this one.

The synthesized audio voice was really rough, and while I understand the finished product will be narrated by humans with emotion and pacing, I found it really hard to listen to the robot voice, with it's odd tone, delivery and cadence, and that may have taken away from my enjoyment level as well, and I might give this another try once it is released in it's finished format.

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into the story. I thought at first it might have been that I was listening to the audio galley so I switched to the ebook but it just wasn't drawing me into the story. I was enjoying the premise but the writing style just wasn't pulling me in, it could have been that there are multiple authors.

3.5 stars rounded up. I’m kind of disappointed because I LOVED My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane. I never finished My Calamity Jane due to having a baby and it being significantly harder to read a physical book as opposed to an ebook or audiobook while holding her, but I’ll get there... and I was really enjoying it. This one, though... this one wasn’t doing it for me as much. It was funny, but I feel like I was bored because the plot twists, like, weren’t? I’ve also seen a lot of the show Reign, so I knew more of the historical context going in? I’m not sure, I just wasn’t quite as compelled.

My Contrary Mary was a fun and fast-paced read. I loved the show Reign and this book reminded me of so much of it!

The characters were really well written, especially Mary! She was strong but still somewhat too trusting, which led to some betrayals.

Frances had the most development throughout the book. He was very passive, both Mary and his mom would make decisions for him, but by the end, he started standing up for himself.

Ari's sections were delightful. She was the most dimensional character and did things she knew were bad, but most of the time she had good reasons. Her visions and the references in them were hilarious.

It’s rare for a book to make me laugh, but My Contrary Mary had me laughing throughout the book.

What a fun treat to be back in the world of Verities and Eðians (shapeshifters)that readers were introduced to in My Lady Jane!

In this re-telling of the story of Mary Queen of Scots, we are shown her life at court in France where she awaits to be married to her betrothed, the France Dauphin, Francis. Both Mary and Francy are nearly pawns in their elders plans, but they yearn for a time when they will be able to rule together and make a difference to their respective kingdoms.

Like the other Janite books before this, magic and comedy play a big role and make this story a lot of fun. The comedic references to modern movies were such a hoot to spot and decipher what movie they were from!

This book went at a relatively quick pace and followed our teenage royalty as they attempt to find a way to rule in a divided world. The Verities and Eðians seem like a good representation of the Catholic and Protestant divide at the time, but this representative divide holds true now where countries still suffer from different divides.

This was a good tale and would hold up well for new readers for this trio and returning fans. I toughly enjoyed returning to this magical land!

The voice galley I was provided did not represent the actual audiobook that will be produced. The narration of this book was created by computer generation.

My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows is scheduled to release June 22, 2021.

I received a complimentary copy of this voice galley from Harper Audio, via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#MyContraryMary #CynthiaHand #BrodiAshton #JodiMeadows #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

These authors just continue to amaze me with the stories they construct together. All of these books have been so witty and hilarious. I recommend not reading these books in public because they WILL make you laugh out loud and then people will stare at you with weird looks (seriously, it happened to me).

I was so ecstatic when there was the announcement of the series of books continuing with Mary's after the Jane's and I hope they will find another name they can continue with as well. It is best to go into all of these books without knowing anything. Just be ready for a lot of banter, witty and sarcastic humour, and the authors breaking that 4th wall to add their own commentary on the story.

Can I say how much I love Mary??!! This was such an awesome historical fantasy. I loved seeing characters from the other series. The story was so fun and hilarious. Francis grew so much in this book. They both did really. I highly recommend this one. Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Teen for this ARC audio in exchange for an honest review.