Early Review – My Contrary Mary (Mary, Book 1) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 512 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 22, 2021
ISBN-13 : 978-0062930040
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Mary series
Source: eGalley through NetGalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
“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 things at the gilded court take a treacherous turn after the king meets a suspicious end. Thrust onto the throne, Mary and Francis face a viper’s nest of conspiracies, traps, and treason. And if Mary’s secret is revealed, heads are bound to roll.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the “Mary” series and takes place in the same world as the “Lady Janies” books. I got a copy of this book through NetGalley to review.
Story (3/5): This was okay. The last book I read by this author trio was “My Plain Jane” which was also okay. I keep thinking I am going to love these books but they are always kind of mediocre. This has the same light-hearted tone as “My Plain Jane” but follows Mary Queen of Scots. One of the Janies is in the story a tiny bit towards the end. Like The Lady Janies books this book is told from three viewpoints; Mary, Prince Louise, Ari (daughter of Nostradamus). Because of this type of layout the story feels a bit disjointed, drawn out, and long.
Characters (3/5): The characters are very over stereo-typed and the story is pretty simple and predictable. I didn’t really enjoy any of the characters all that much. There was too much lying to each other and sneaking around. All the characters are pretty shellfish and fall in kind of a grey morale area. Maybe it’s a good reflection of the times but I just felt kind of “eh, whatever” about them all. The lighthearted tone used throughout doesn’t lend itself to any sort of character depth and, as such, these characters feel very shallow.
Setting (3/5): The setting takes place in Renaissance France. We journey a bit between Scotland, England and France, but the vast majority of the story is in the French court. The history in here isn’t all that accurate, which is fine. Don’t come into this thinking you’re going to learn a lot about the history or the time of the era. A lot of the settings are a bit over-modernized and made cutesy and YA friendly.
Writing Style (3/5): This is a cute, light-hearted, little read and ends well but is longer than it needed to be. Having the three viewpoints fractures the story and draws things out. Of course, of all of the books by this author trio have felt a bit disjointed and drawn out, so I should have expected that coming in. Technically it’s written fine and parts of it are entertaining, there just isn’t a lot of substance here and it’s not the most engaging read.
My Summary (3/5): Overall, aside from the above I don’t have much to say about this, it was completely “eh, okay…moving on” to me. If you enjoyed the format and tone of the The Lady Janies books (which I wasn’t a huge fan of) you will probably enjoy this book because it’s very similar. I don’t plan on reading any more of these types of books from this trio, I just don’t think they are that well done. I knew that going in, but kind of forgot it, and really keep thinking I will love these books…which I know I won’t but whatever, maybe this time I will learn from my mistakes.
