Book Review: My Plain Jane

[Katelin Ross]

Title: My Plain Jane
Authors: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction, Paranormal Fiction, Fiction
Series: Yes, The Lady Janies Book #2 (You can read this book without having read the first book, it is a stand alone book)

My Plain Jane follows three main characters (Jane, Alexander, and Charlotte) as they live their lives in 1800s England. Jane attends Lockwood School and hopes to find a job as Governess (modern day Nanny). She can also see ghosts/spirits, which makes her highly important to the society. Alexander works for the society. He is the one who finds Jane at the school and realizes she can see ghosts. Charlotte is Jane's friend who also plays a major role in the plot without giving too much away.

This novel is set in 1800s England, so much of what goes on in the 1800s is well thought out in this novel. Also, this novel hints to many other book not just of the era. Can you find the Harry Potter reference?

There are many pros to this novel. One of the pros for this novel, that is not always a pro in a lot of the book that I read, is that you get many different viewpoints from chapter to chapter. Each chapter is set in the point of one of our main characters. I am not the type of person who usually enjoys book that skip around like that, but the authors do a good job of keeping our attention without confusing the reader. This is also a family friendly novel. Yes there were a couple of bad events that the villain of the novel decided to do, but overall, I found it to be a novel that would be HOL Book Club appropriate in my opinion. I also enjoyed the supernatural component of this novel. I enjoy reading and learning about the supernatural, so when I read that there were ghosts and ghost hunters in this novel, I was excited!

There was nothing really that I did not enjoy about this book. Yes, I did not enjoy what the villain did, but it still brought a good badness to the novel without being over the top.

I would recommend this book to all ages (those who can read and understand a 447 page book). It was enjoyable and fun to read! Can you find the Harry Potter reference?