Reviews

My Contrary Mary, by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows

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rachelpom00's review

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

daisey's review against another edition

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3.0

Set in the same fantasy version of our world as [b:My Lady Jane|22840421|My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)|Cynthia Hand|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1444923765l/22840421._SY75_.jpg|42397220], Mary Queen of Scots has the secret ability to change into a mouse. This leads to an incredibly entertaining alternate history YA take on a real period of history. It made me want to learn more about the real Mary Queen of Scots while also laughing at random Titanic and Princess Bride movie references. Additionally, the authors give Mary a happier ending than the true story.

libraryofdreaming's review

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4.0

After feeling meh about the Lady Janies' two previous books, I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this one. It's not as amazing as My Lady Jane (but, dear reader, who could be??) but it's still good fun. I feel like the humor was a little off kilter though, there were a fair number of jokes that were just... bad.

sgp05's review against another edition

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4.75

I expected nothing less from the Janies: it's funny and witty balanced with drama and heartache. It's written in an easily digestible way. I like that since it's in the same time period as the book My Lady Jane, it has the same magic system of sorts, the Edians (I still don't get why it has that weird-shaped d in the book that's different from the other d's, though).

Spoiler

Ari's pop culture reference visions seemed a bit forced/just for laughs though it wasn't all that funny, but I can't be be all that mad when they included the Darth Vader "join the dark side" vision. I feel bad for Greer, who was metaphorically and literally her guinea pig.

During Mary's and Francis's arguments, I wanted to scream at them because of the blasted misunderstandings! I could understand both sides but Francis was just being mean. He didn't deserve to be betrayed by his mother, though. I did love the drama of Mary thinking Francis was dead, though.

As soon as I heard Nostradamus say that France would be ruled by a frog, I was like, wait, is Francis going to be turned into a frog? In the end, I was right, though I never expected the reason of why he was turned into a frog. But, like, why would Francis stay in the hovel? He could have escaped at any time? So, does Ari's potion just make people who aren't Edians into them, or can it only affect people who are Edians but didn't know it? And why would he just randomly change from human to frog or vice versa without doing anything? The drama of him turning into a human while Edward was carrying him felt a bit manufactured, and it was obvious he would survive. Also, I felt like Jane, G, and Edward were shoehorned in for a nostalgia blast, and to be honest I couldn't really remember them.

Mary's a girlboss who saved herself from Darnley or whatever he was called, and I'm glad he's in prison along with her uncles (finally!!). Yay, Francis and Mary kissed and made up, and got a happily ever after after reclaiming the throne. The final confrontation with Catherine and the kid king felt a bit short.