ARC Review: My Contrary Mary (Mary #1) by Cynthia Hand, Brody Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

 

Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and . . . queens?⠀
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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.⠀
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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.

Expected Publication Date: June 22, 2021

Publisher: HarperTeen

My Review:

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I picked up this book because of the authors. I have read books by all three and was excited to jump into something they wrote together. I also love the story of Mary Queen of Scots (I mean, REIGN), so I figured this would be something I would enjoy.

First off I'd like to point out that I have not read any of the Lady Jane books. In my opinion while  most of the story in this book does stand alone, I saw many spots where having read the Lady Jane books would have given me more background and made it easier to understand some things that were happening in the book.

I loved the idea of many points of view. It was fun to the read the story from the three different characters (Mary, Francis, and Ari). Each character was unique in how they viewed the world around them. 

I will say this book comes off to me as much more upper middle grade than YA. The characters, while teenagers, are very simple in their views of the world around them. They do not appear mature as 17 year old teens might. Maybe I've read too much YA where the teens are more mature than they really should be. But having a 17 year old myself, I think I can with confidence say these characters acted more like my 14 year old.

I did find the pace a bit slow at times. The last 25% was fun and certainly picked up but that is kind of long to wait for things to really happen.

The romance in the book was cute. I liked that we got more than just Mary and Francis with the addition of Ari's perspective. And that the book addressed a relationship what wasn't just male/female in nature. 

Overall it was a fun read, though I didn't find myself running to pick it up and read it and it took a bit longer for me to finish than I anticipated. 

I definitely recommend this for middle school to young HS students as a fun read that will take you back to Renaissance France.

Authors:

I write books. I snuggle cats. I drink coffee.

Jodi Meadows wants to be a ferret when she grows up and she has no self-control when it comes to yarn, ink, or outer space. Still, she manages to write books. She is the author of the INCARNATE Trilogy, the ORPHAN QUEEN Duology, and the FALLEN ISLES Trilogy (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen), and a coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers MY LADY JANE and MY PLAIN JANE (HarperTeen). She lives in rural Virginia. Visit her at www.jodimeadows.com

I write Young Adult novels. I eat cinnamon bears. I love me some Diet Coke.

My debut book EVERNEATH (the first in a trilogy) comes out Winter 2012 with Balzer and Bray (Harper Collins).
I'm represented by Michael Bourret at Dystel and Goderich Literary Management.

Because of two parents who were Greek myth geeks, I grew up thinking the latest fashion trends were inspired by Aphrodite, and a good conversational opener was, “So, which mythological character do you most resemble?” Despite these social shortcomings, I found a great husband who’s always my first reader. We live in Utah with our two young boys, who still have no idea why I'm at the computer all the time.

I received a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Cynthia Hand is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for teens, including the UNEARTHLY trilogy, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, MY LADY JANE, MY PLAIN JANE, and MY CALAMITY JANE (with fellow authors Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows), THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE, THE HOW AND THE WHY and the upcoming novels WITH YOU ALL THE WAY and MY CONTRARY MARY (also with Ashton and Meadows). Before turning to writing for young adults, she studied literary fiction and earned both an M.F.A. and a Ph.D. in fiction writing. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho, with her husband, two cats, one crazy dog, two kids, and mountain of books.