I was provided a voice galley for an honest review of this title.

I truly enjoyed this story. While the audio was only a voice galley, I am only imagining that the actual audiobook will be beyond incredible. This book reminded me a lot of the TV series, Reign, which I absolutely loved. So, if you were a fan of that show, you will almost certainly enjoy this fun, entertaining take on Mary Queen of Scots.

A new addition to our good old unfortunate historical ladies getting a different (often better) ending.
We met the Janies, and now it’s time to meet the Marys.
The first Mary we meet is Mary Queen of Scots, a controversial character in real-life history. This story brings a new, refreshing twist to the story, with magical plot twists and very original, funny writing. Definitely recommend it if you are a fan of (slightly altered) historical fiction.

Amazing story about different historical Mary's in the 16th century. I was surprised by how much I would enjoy it. If you want a historical fiction/ mystery sequel story then you should give this one a shot.

I loved returning to the world of Eðians in this latest book from the dream team of Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. In their start to the Mary series, we return to France and Mary Queen of Scots but now she's all grown up and preparing to marry her betrothed Francis. Between politics, being a teenage girl, and secretly being an Eðian in a court of Veritas, Mary has plenty to be rather contrary about. Like the previous Janes series, this start to the Mary series brings history to life with hilarious success, albeit with some poetic license. Mary and her Marys (her ladies maids are all also named Mary) and the squad goals of history, especially once Aristotle (you knew he was really a girl right?) makes a potion-making splash with prophecies from the future. While the first My Lady Jane will likely always be my favorite from this dream team, My Contrary Mary might actually steal the crown with its delightful cast of critters.

I am an extremely picky audiobook reader. I don’t do full casts, I listen to sample of different books to decide if I like the narrators voice, and overall just do a lot of planning before listening.

So this book, one without an official narrator and a synthetic voice instead, was a major struggle for me.

But alas. My Lady Jane is one of my favorite books, and I love these three ladies so I powered through the robot voice, and by the time I was about 20% through with it, the robot voice stopped bothering me, which says a lot about how amazing this book is.

My Contrary Mary is a standalone, but its also somewhat of a sequel to the first Jane book, My Lady Jane. We’re back in the world of Eðian, which are people who can shapeshift into animals, and have left the English setting of My Lady Jane. My Contrary Mary heads over to France, and the story of Mary, Queen of Scots.

First, I want to quickly go over the real life events of Mary.

Mary Queen of Scots married the Dauphin of France, Francis in 1588, and the two were married until his death in 1560. Four years later she married her half-cousin (barf) Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. The following year Lord Darnley was murdered, and James Hepburn was the main suspect. He then married Mary, and she was later forced to abdicate in favor of her young son. She later fled to England under the protection of Queen Elizabeth, who kept her confined out of fear of her stealing her throne. She was later found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, and beheaded.

Since the Lady Janies like to re-write history and give happy endings to the damned, none of this happens in the book. Instead we follow the lives of three characters:

Mary: An Eðian who can take the form of a mouse, the rightful Queen of Scotland, betrothed to Francis, oh and someone wants her dead.

Francis: heir to the throne of France, betrothed to Mary, his father (the King) is a player, his mother (the Queen) is a cold ruthless BIATCH.

Aristole: Goes by Ari, skilled in potion making, father has sometimes strange, but useful visions. Ari has visions too, but doesn’t understand the oddities of them – but the reader will.

So I absolutely LOVED this book. Mary is a wonderful and headstrong character, and even though she is a little more adept at modern day feminism than she should’ve been, but it wasn’t an overbearing amount.

There was a good mix of factual history, and hilarious “happier” history added in to make it into a brilliant Lady Janies tale. Queen Mary and her lady Mary’s – despite all sharing a name, all had their own unique voices and personalities, something that I usually find lacking with secondary characters. I could tell the different Mary’s apart easily, and enjoyed how each one contributed to the story.

Francis went quickly from being a dreary, boring love sick boy, to my favorite little froggy, and I absolutely adored his journey and how much he grew as a person, a royal, a friend, and a partner. My beautiful well-rounded boy!

My girl Ari though, was by far the best narrator of the three. Now I love Ari for her bravery, her heart, the fact that she’s a queer girl who likes wearing pants (the audacity!) in a time when that was a huge no-no, and I love how even though she makes quite a few mistakes, she is smart enough to correct them and do the hard thing. But I would have loved Ari even if she was a selfish un-relatable asshole, because of her visions. Ari believes that she’s not adept at visions like her father, because none of them make any sense and have weirdly dressed people, strange devices, and just a whole bunch of nonsense. But the reader will recognize her visions for what they really are – glimpses into the future of blockbuster hits. Watching other characters get confused about Ari’s visions of lightsabers, a lovesick drowning boy who couldn’t fit on the door, or a robot man with incredible catch phrases was HILARIOUS. I loved when they happened during tense or high action moments, and everyone just has to pause and be like HUH?

Overall this was such an amazingly fun story. I loved being back in this world (don’t worry, some past characters do make an appearance) and learning and seeing more about Eðians. I highly recommend this story and cannot wait to see what these ladies do next!

What a fun read! I so enjoyed reading the Lady Janies series, where we first learned of the alternate history of the Verities and the Eðians. So, when I saw that the authors were beginning a series set in the same alternate historical world with Marys on center stage, I couldn’t wait.

And the authors made the tragic story of Mary, Queen of Scots, so much more fun than what really happened to her. (Although they did seem to rely on the TV show Reign for a good deal of their inspiration — so they already had quite a bit of alternate history to start with!) If only that was how it actually had turned out for Mary and Francis. *Sigh*

My favorite part of the story would definitely have to be Ari’s visions. She’s the daughter of the famed seer, Nostradamus, but doesn’t quite live up to his reputation. I outright laughed at what she “saw.” (I promise not to spoil them — they are great!) I also love the snarky asides from the narrators and all the allusions threaded throughout the narrative.

Overall, I would give My Contrary Mary a solid 4 out of 5 stars for a fun read that makes me want to get lost in this alternate historical world again. 🙂 My Contrary Mary releases in June, so put it on your Goodreads shelf!

Many thanks to Harper Audio/HarperTeen and NetGalley for the audio ARC of this novel for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my very own! 🙂

I am a huge fan of this series and reading this book was like slipping into a warm bath. My Contrary Mary is full of laugh-out-loud humor, charming characters, and a welcoming magical world. This story finds us back in the original world of Edians (humans who can shift into animals) and Verities (those who cannot) from the first book of the series, My Lady Jane. Fans of the series will be excited to revisit this magic and those who are new to the series will be able to enjoy it as well. The new characters are instantly likeable and the playful tone of the writing makes this book a pleasure to read. I received an audiobook ARC of this book (thank you so much!) and I plan on buying a physical copy of the book as well when it comes out.

This book is so fun! I had no idea what I was in for when I started it. Once again I picked it for the cover. Good job on the cover to whoever designed it. Also, thank you to @netgalley and @harperaudio for the advanced copy.
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This book is highly entertaining and so clever. It’s YA, historical fiction, and fantasy. It’s loosely (and I mean very loosely) based on Mary Queen of Scots in her late teenage years. It’s a much more magical world than Mary is usually portrayed in. Turns out Mary and her ladies-in-waiting are also shapeshifters. So that’s new. There are all the expected elements of court life, as well. Romance, murder, scheming relatives, fancy clothes, extravagant parties, etc. It’s the first book in a trilogy and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
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Side note....This was the first time I listened to a computer-generated narration. The final version will be a real narrator but I guess it’s not completed. The book will be released 6/22/21. Anyway, it was a little odd. The cadence of the sentences was a awkward at times but overall it was better than I thought it would be.

**I was provided a galley audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows return to the world established in My Lady Jane to bring My Contrary Mary. In this installment, the author trio continues with their fantastical retellings of historical women by taking on the story of Mary, Queen of Scots.

I will start with a disclaimer; the galley audiobook is made utilizing a synthetic voice. Unfortunately, for me, the voice acting imparted by the narrator has a strong impact on whether or not I enjoy an audiobook. A synthetic voice is simply insufficient, even for galley purposes, in my opinion. I have not allowed my utter dislike for this to taint my rating, as this is decidedly not the fault of the authors.

The content of the novel had the same humor and whimsy to the retelling that was present in the Janies books, which I really enjoy. Ultimately, I feel if you have read any of the Jane books, you get the concept of how this book will be. These books are simply fun twists on historical tales that involve shape-shifting type magic. Overall, they are just a good time and, having listened to the Jane books, the voice actors typically contribute well to the delivery of the humor.

I would certainly recommend the series as a breath of fresh air sort of fun and I look forward to future installments.

I received the audiogalley ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Cynthia Hand. I haven't read The Lady Janies series. I loved the aware narrator that talks to the reader with funny facts and banter and "our time period" lingo at times. If The Lady Janies series has a narrative voice like that, I'm super excited to read those.

As far as Mary Queen of Scotts. I don't know a lot about her, everything I know is from the Reign CW show that aired years ago. I'm not sure how much of that show is accurate. But, I was curious to read this because I did like that show and the book complemented my love of the show. It was more lighthearted too which I liked. With some extra magical elements thrown in and a happier ending than in real life. I enjoyed it and could definitely see myself re-reading which is high praise because I don't re-read often.

My love for this series continues with this amazing novel! I have only read this and never listened to them, and it was well worth it. This novels alway have an amazing way with cutting the line between real life events and what they have come up with in their minds. Knowing that I was going to love it already it was easy to get through along with wanting the next one! The voice actor was amazing and really helped me with listening to the story! I got through it very quickly and it was an easy listen. It's sometimes are for me to concentrate on audio books but this one was extremely easy!

I have been fascinated by Mary and Francis since watching Reign years back. So a book about them from the same authors who brought me My Lady Jane... Yes Please!! (PS if you haven’t read My Lady Jane read it too!)
This book tells the story of Mary Queen of Scotland and her soon to be husband Francis (soon to be King of France) with a bunch of twists! Mary is a shapeshifter and that is something that can cost her her head (or tail as the case may be). That is the least of their worries though as they are surrounded by conspiracies, traps and treason!
I enjoyed this book and loved the spins that the authors throw in. Like their other books this gives history a happier spin on what could have been. The author notes had me cracking up! If fantasy and history are your “thing”, this book is for you. It comes out June 22. This was just a digital review copy so I can’t really comment on the audiobook part! Thank you @netgalley and @harperaudio for the review copy.

Thank you HarperCollins Audio & HarperCollins Teen for providing me with an advanced Audi copy of this book! I want to start by saying that I was a huge fan of My Lady Jane so when I found out about My Contrary Mary I was hyped for the book. I was also hesitant and had doubts though because I didn’t enjoy Lady Janies books 2 & 3 as much as I loved My Lady Jane. However, even with a synthetic audio voice (which was surprisingly compelling & enjoyable fake narrator) I fell in love from the start of chapter 1 with the audiobook. As a reader who listens to dozens of audiobooks a year, I don’t usually find myself finishing the entire audiobook since I listen along with reading the physical copy unless I’m hooked. This one had me hooked and I intentionally found time (30min to 4hours a day) every week to listen to it.
I love how the authors incorporated the characters from My Lady Jane as sort of cameos. Same with Arie’s visions of the future and how they were relevant to popular films. The Titanic reference cracked me up.
Also, Aries queer subplot was just so perfect.
Not just that but my heart truly ached for Mary & Francis by about the 85% mark.
I think that un compared to Books 2 & 3 of the Lady Janies the storyline was much more interesting and I feel like, by the end, I came to care about all the characters.
I would definitely recommend this book to friends and other YA bloggers.

This was absolutely wonderful! A great mix of history with a little element of fantasy. I loved the relationships, the clarification on which Mary was which (because that was a lot of Mary's). I loved the secrets, the morphing and the ruling struggles. Such a fun, action-pack, well paced story! Ari was so interesting and I loved hearing her view of the elite as well as her connection to her father.

I can't wait to read more!

Much these authors’ previous books, My Contrary Mary was an absolute delight! I love Mary Queen of Scots and consume any media made about her. This book topped pretty much all of them. I will read anything they write!

Even with the synthesized voice, this was such a great story to listen to! I can’t imagine what it will sound like with someone reading it. Returning to the world of My Lady Jane, but following Mary, Queen of Scots- who can turn into a mouse. Even if you haven’t read the former, this is a fantastic read, with a creative world and plenty of pop culture references for those of us who are nerdy at heart. For those of us who are also history buffs, it is so much fun to pick out the pieces of the story that follow history and see how the magic parallels the real conflict between Catholics and Protestants. Overall, just a fun, great read. Cannot wait for the rest of the Marys!

My Lady Jane is one of my favorite young adult books--seriously. It's in my top 10. So, I was overjoyed to be able to listen to an advanced copy of My Contrary Mary, the newest member of the family.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE SETUP:
This book takes place in the same world as My Lady Jane (close to the same time period). The Edians (pronounced eth-ee-uhn) and Verities are still at odds and being caught as an Edian in France means death (or capture and torture). Did I mention that Edians can change from human form into an animal?

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK: (Spoiler free)
1. Very well-written
2. Takes you on a reality-avoiding adventure
3. Lots of sass and snark
4. Expands the world created in My Lady Jane
5. Complex characters
6. Hilarious pop culture references (and nods to Reign)

WHAT I DID NOT CARE FOR:
I felt like I was being preached at sometimes. We do need more kindness and acceptance in the world today. But I don't like it to feel like there's agenda in my fiction. Some tweaks could make it feel organic.

OVERALL:
This is a fun, escapist romp that will get your mind off the world and enraptured in romance and adventure. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could, but I always round up half stars.

I was shocked when I was able to get an ARC of this book. As most of you know, I really enjoyed My Plain Jane last year and was greatly anticipating My Contrary Mary.
One thing I really appreciated was the humor. It was very similar to My Plain Jane and I had missed it in the second book of the Jane series. (It was also nice to see Jane and G again, even if for a few pages.)
I guess I just wasn't fond of the plot in general. It seemed to be a bit all over and without a clear, concise focus.
Overall, I'm glad I gave this one a try and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Jane series.

3.5/5

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Reveiw will be posted to retail sites upon release and to the blog a month before release. Also shared a review in Instagram Stories

First a thank you to Harper Audio and Netgalley for approving me for an arc. I was so excited to start this audio I fell in love with the characters even though for some I got annoyed with their choices. I really loved hearing the narrators comments throughout the story. My favorite character out of the book though had to be ari with her potions and visions. I listening to this audio had me laughing and squealing so much especially when we get a few character cameos from the Jane series . I can't wait for this book to be published so I can buy myself a copy.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The story was fun and is something that has not been done before. It is clear that the authors thought long and hard about the world they created.

All of the characters were great and can stand on their own. I do wish they had a little more depth though as the novel as a whole felt like it was lacking something and was unable to fully immerse me. Furthermore, I really disliked that the authors/narrators kept addressing the readers. It was very annoying because it would take me out of the story every time, not to mention, most of the time whatever they were saying was lame and not important. I wish this novel could have fully immersed me because the plot and world is so cool.

Overall, this novel is definitely worth reading if you are interested. It is definitely not the best book you will ever read but it is fun and different.