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.

As much as I have tried to get into this book, the audiobook version is just not resonating with me. The premise of the book is intriguing, but it's a little slow-paced for my liking. I think that I would try to re-read a physical copy of the book and hope that it might resonate with me a little better.

The Janies have done it again. My Contrary Mary is another hysterical edition to these history retellings. I loved the banter, the animals, and the characters.

I really love the voice of these books and all the little asides of the narrators. It just adds so much depth and humor to the story. I cannot wait to see where these authors go next with the Marys.

I really enjoy this series! I listened to this book on audio and really felt the pacing was great and the storyline was very fun. I highly recommend all of the books in this series. This book did not fall short!

I wasn't really expecting to like this so much but I did very much enjoyed it.
I do recommend this one.

I have just finished this and it was glorious. I didn't know we'd be returning to the same world that their first book was set in! I've missed those Eðians. You can read this without having read My Lady Jane first, but I would reccomend doing it anyway because that book is wonderful. That makes this book an unofficial sequel.

I suppose we should have seen it coming, though! The last time we visited Elizabethan England (or thereabouts), it was full of royals and suchlike shapeshifting into animals and causing political turmoil, all while having lovely teenage angst. Why should the story of Mary, Queen of Scots be any different? I still haven't read My Calamity Jane, but My Lady Jane was by far my preferred outing by these authors in their first series. It was funny and smart and silly, and so is this one. You also learn a lot! I mean, it does require sifting between the historical truth (Francis, the Dauphin of France did in fact die of an ear malady, King Henry did die in a joust, Mary's uncles were royal trouble-causing leeches at court) and the alternate history (the Catholic and Protestant religious wars and conflicts have entirely been replaced by Eðian (shapeshifters) vs. Verity (non-shapeshifters) conflict instead).

I quite liked how these three ladies rewrote history for Mary and her friends and family, just as I liked how Jane Grey's history was rewritten in My Lady Jane. And we get some cameos from characters from that series! Which did not feel gratuitous. The pop culture references were a little much for me this time, but I think that might have been different had I had a normal listening experience (see below). There's also a truly hilarious gag where the daughter of Nostradamus (who is a POV character) keeps making prophecies that no one understands, and that is because she only seems to be able to predict the plots of movies made four hundred years in the future).

I listened to the ARC copy of the audiobook, which I did not realize before I requested it would not be read by a person, but by a synthesized computer voice. It wasn't the best listening experience, although it was surprisingly not bad! The software they're using is pretty good at pacing and inflecting tone, even if it can't understand the plot, and thus, I missed out on a lot of key character performance that true narrator would bring. It mostly flattened the strongest emotions of the characters, and didn't emphasize humor. Lesson learned, audio ARCs are not for me! I'm not sure who they got to do the real audio, but I will forever be sad that it won't be Katherine Kellgren (RIP) whose narration of book one made me fall in love with it. (Also, this little tiny man voice kept inserting at almost inaudible levels at weird moments "harpercollins", for copyright reasons, so that was disconcerting.)

I'll definitely be buying my own copy to sit right beside its sister.

Most depictions of Mary Queen of Scots don't paint her in an especially positive light. Typically she's shown and ruthless, vindictive. I admire that this book shows all of the royalty as essentially political pawns, especially given their relative youth. This book does, of course, take liberties with the timeline. I mean, we have functional magic in the form of shapeshifters and potions both. There are real prophetic visions (though these are largely played for humor - one of my favorite parts). But these elements are integrated with the historical facts relatively well. The villain dynamic is fairly sharp here. Villains are primarily after power, though some personal prejudice certainly comes into play. While the plot is predictable the characters are dynamic enough to keep us engaged and make for compelling reading

I really enjoyed the story like all the other Jane books. My problem was the narrator. They seemed very robotic and didn’t make the book very enjoyable to listen to. I think that next I will re-read it in physical form, maybe I’ll feel better towards the book then.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for the ARC digital audiobook.

I was intrigued by the premise, however wasn't entirely satisfied with the end product.

The writing was really slow paced and the jokes dating itself already. The odd "My dear Reader" bits felt odd. Usually if there's a present narrator like that, I would want them to interact more. Rather they just randomly say "dear reader" and then continue back into 3rd person from Mary or Francis's perspective.

Then with Ari's "visions," they're insider jokes to us but do nothing for the plot.

This is an Alt history of Queen Mary, but everything about Mary that had history's interest was lost here. I really didn't have interest in her as a character. Also the plot took a long time to build. There was a lot of intriguing plot points they started but never really fully utilized.

This was my least favorite of the co-authors books so far. I loved MY PLAIN JANE but have struggled with the others, probably because the whole shape-shifter aspect just doesn't work for me in this context.

What a delight!! The snarky sense of humor and pop culture references present throughout the Lady Janies trilogy reappears here, and I adore the return to the world of 'My Lady Jane'. I truly do not understand how three separate authors can come together into one distinct style but also am not complaining. As an avid reader of the Tudor era I have always thought Mary of Scots received a rather raw deal and this novel really worked to repair that, without compromising the character traits that history documented about her/Francis. They're both just annoying enough to be real but also lovable enough to root for (much like most real life teenagers...). The romances are almost painfully cute and I love the Europe that this creates. I hope these authors return to this realm in future, it is so much fun to live in.

This book is in the hilarious style of the Lady Jane books by the same authors. It had me invested deeply in the young life of Queen Mary. Her adventures as both human and mouse. I highly recommend to anyone who likes history with a bit of laughter.

I tried so hard, but the humour of this book just does not work with the text-to-speech narration. I will likely pick this up once it's published in hardcover.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the audiobook arc of this title!

I adore the way these three writers come together and weave hilarious, heartfelt romps through history. To be back in time and to punctuate the “truth” with magic, and alternative histories and pop culture references sprinkled on top is an absolute dream.

I found the characters to be layered and interesting, I enjoyed the time we spent with side characters just as much as I did with the main Mary, our fearsome queen.

Even though the book is meant to be fun it did send good messages about why good people do bad things, what betrayal can look like, sticking up for yourself, asking for help, accepting others and knowing your own worth. All in all I highly recommend this one!

My Contrary Mary was a phenomenal audiobook and story overall. I had previously read the other Lady Janies books, but have only listened to the audiobook for My Lady Jane. This author trio has great writing chemistry together and even in audio form, it shows how well they develop a story to blend together as one cohesive novel. They write great characters and humor to keep the story interesting. I enjoyed the audiobook very much and can't wait for more readers to read and listen to this book once it releases on June 22nd.

I am a huge fan of audiobooks, in fact most of my reading consumption has been through audiobooks. I thoroughly enjoyed the Lady Janies Jane series and was excited to learn they were turning their pens to historical Marys. My Contrary Mary is the first installment of the Mary series and it did not disappoint. Mary, of the Queen of Scots fame is a young woman in France, preparing to marry Prince Francis but she has a BIG secret, one that could get her killed. Using her special ability, she tries to unravel the intrigue of the French court after the mysterious death of the king. Historical fiction with a fantastical twist is quickly becoming my favorite genre. This was a delightful entry and I look forward to the future Mary novels. If you like alternative historical fiction with a little magic added to the mix, I would definitely recommend.

Notes on the audiobook. Fiona Hardingham had some big shoes to fill when she took over with My Plain Jane, but she was the perfect fit for these books and I was so excited to hear she was back to voice My Contrary Mary. It's like listening to an old friend and I hope that she continues as the voice actor for future installments. When searching for an audiobook, I am more likely to choose it if Fiona's name is attached - she does a fabulous job with making each character's voice distinct and takes the correct pitch and tone, with the right amount of humor when necessary.