It’s been quite some time since we’ve done a buddy review and it’s great to be back with them for a book like My Contrary Mary. We were both big fans of The Lady Janies trilogy and couldn’t wait for this book to release. It took us a few months to actually pick this one up, but we finally did! So keep on reading to find out more about My Contrary Mary and what we thought of this book!

Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and . . . queens?⠀
⠀
Mary is the queen of Scotland and the jewel of the French court. Except when she’s a mouse. Yes, reader, Mary is an Eðian (shapeshifter) in a kingdom where Verities rule. It’s a secret that could cost her a head—or a tail.⠀
⠀
Luckily, Mary has a confidant in her betrothed, Francis. But after the king meets a suspicious end, things at the gilded court take a treacherous turn. Thrust onto the throne, Mary and Francis are forced to navigate a viper’s nest of conspiracies, traps, and treason. And if Mary’s secret is revealed, heads are bound to roll.⠀

Cover

Candyce I’ve said this many times, but I’m not a fan of people on covers (except when the covers are illustrated). That being said I do think these covers work for the series. I love that the covers have the same style as The Lady Janies trilogy.

Isabelle These covers are just so much fun! Like Candyce I’m not a fan of actual people on covers but I’m totally okay with it here. The little quotes basically tell you all you need to know about the story. And overall I just like the design haha.

Review

Candyce I’m so glad that these authors decided to write another trilogy together. It’s always interesting to see how they take history and give it a (magical) twist. My Contrary Mary follows teenage Mary Queen of Scots. I have to say that this book was definitely more serious than the previous trilogy. There were  still plenty of laugh out loud moments, but not as many as I was used to. That being said there were still many puns, jokes, and references we’ve become used to by these authors.

We get the POV from three different characters: Mary, Frances, and Ari. I loved that we got the story through different POVs, because I feel it did add a lot to the story. My favorite part was Ari’s premonitions that ended up being movie plots. Those definitely had me laughing. I loved seeing all three characters develop and learn from things happening and their mistakes. The romance was interesting, because even though the marriage between Mary and Frances was arranged they were very much friends. Their feelings were there, but it didn’t feel forced and I loved how everything developed.

This was definitely quite the adventure with betrayal, twists, scheming, and characters that weren’t supposed to get a happily ever in fact get one. I loved that we were still in the world of The Lady Janies, because the cameos were really fun! Definitely something I could appreciate. I don’t know too much about this time in history, but it was still a lot of fun to read.

Isabelle I was so happy when the Lady Janies announced that they were going to do a Mary trilogy. The first trilogy was amazing and I was just not ready to let go of these hilarious, magical, history rewrites. In My Contrary Mary we go back to the first ‘world’ we traveled to in My Lady Jane. But this time we follow Mary Queen of Scots. You might remember the Eðian from My Lady Jane. This time around we have some more people turning into animals every now and then!

While I once again really enjoyed the story, the overall feel was a bit more serious compared to the Jane trilogy somehow. I can’t fully explain why that was the case, but it was definitely my feeling. This book was still funny and I laughed out loud multiple times but I wanted to mention that more serious tone as well.

Our main characters are Mary, Frances and Ari and we get POV’s from all three. I really loved following the story through their eyes and read their thoughts. It was really cute seeing Mary and Frances and their growing relationship! Ari wasn’t my favorite character but I did like her storyline and I loved loved loved her premonitions.

I had such a good time reading this book and I’m already excited for the next book. This was such a great adventure with some betrayals, fun twists and a very happy ending. I would highly recommend reading this one but would say it’s more fun after reading My Lady Jane so you can appreciate the fun cameos!

My Contrary Mary was a great start to this new trilogy by this group of authors. My Imaginary Mary is up next and we can’t wait to read it. Have you read My Contrary Mary or The Lady Janies? What did you think? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.

Reviews for The Lady Janies
My Lady Jane
My Plain Jane
My Calamity Jane