Lefty's Lowdown: My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows
(standalone)
Published: June 7, 2016 by HarperTeen
Source: I purchased this book.

Summary from Goodreads: 
The comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey. In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane is about to become the Queen of England.

I was so afraid I'd hyped this book up to much for myself. This book was everywhere and people gushed about how funny it is and how much they loved it SO OF COURSE I WANTED TO READ IT. So i bought it. And I was almost too scared to read it because what if I didn't like it as much as I expected to? Well, I can assure you, friends, that was not the case. I absolutely adored this book! And the claims that everyone else was making were entirely correct: this book is funny, adorable, and downright magical. 

Thanks to the show Reign, I have become incredibly interested in this time period and all the royal shenanigans happening with the Eglish, French, and Scots. What I found really admirable about this story is that while the authors blatantly admit that they are re-writing history (and in the dedication they even apologize to England), it's still so easy to see that these writers know their historical shit. From describing the social etiquette to the little asides in which they explain certain things about the time period. 

Speaking of the asides, the narration of this book is 100% charming. In an almost Lemony Snicket kind of fashion, the narrators make their presence very known. I loved it. And the writing is just wonderful. It has so much voice and personality and it was utterly engrossing. 

Now for the characters: Jane is such a fascinating character. She loves books--like REALLY loves books, so you just know this is girl I can get behind. She is also stubborn and feisty and independent and kind. She was by far my favorite of the three protagonists. I could read about her forever, to be honest. Then we have Gifford (call him G), who is horse by day and man by night. I loved him almost as much as Jane, but not quite. While his family doesn't want anyone to know about his equestrian habits, he's also got a top-secret night time hobby--one so bad, he prefers people think he's dallying with a new woman every night so they don't figure out the truth. I just really fell in love with him, and I think he was a perfect match for Jane. Their relationship was so cute I one billion percent wanted more. And their banter with one another had me laughing out loud! Edward was my least favorite of the three narrators, but I still liked him well enough. I just wasn't as emotionally invested in his story as I was Jane and G. 

If you can't tell--I found this book to be incredible! I devoured it (not literally, because eating books is against Jane's rules). If you're tardy to the party like me and have yet to read this one, you should GET ON IT. It's addicting and humorous and exciting. And if you're worried about the historical aspect of it--fret no longer. You don't need to like or know anything about history to enjoy this book. This is one of my favorite books I've read this year. 

5/5 would recommend