Series: The Lady Janies Book #1
Format: ebook
Rating: 4 Stars
How I Got It: Borrowed from Library (Overdrive)
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Publisher: Harper Teen
Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads
Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…
Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…
Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.
The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?
Review
I feel like I've been reading some weird books lately. And this was definitely...odd. Like how do you classify this? The style and tone just felt very different.
Going in, I knew very little about Lady Jane Grey. However, I am moderately knowledgeable about the other players since I took a British monarchs class in college. So, it was interesting to learn about new characters and see what these ladies did with the more well-known ones.
I can't figure out if this is supposed to be funny. Don't get me wrong-it is. But is it supposed to be LOL funny or subversive funny? Perhaps its somewhere in between. My favorite parts were probably the ones between Jane and G. They have great banter that usually brought a smile to my face.
The whole shape-shifter thing was interesting. I assume this is meant to be a play on the Catholic/Protestant struggles of the time. I do wish it had been more explored. I want to know more about the changes and what type of animal means-if at all.
This book breaks the fourth wall. The narrators, especially, talk to the reader. And they do it fairly regularly. I have always liked reading books with this. I like shows that do it, too. I don't know why, but I do. Maybe it makes me feel like I'm more a part of the story.
I will most likely read the other books in this series, but I'm not dying for them. I am a little sad there won't be a book about Bess/Elizabeth. She has so much potential and I would love to see what they would do with her as more of a main character.
Thanks for reading!
Holly
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