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A review by eulsie
My Plain Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows
3.0
Let me just start out by saying that Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. That being said, I’m actually really open to fun retellings. But while My Plain Jane was quirky, hilarious, and cute, it kind of missed the mark with me.
This book follows Charlotte Brontë and her best friend Jane Eyre. Jane can see ghosts, Charlotte cannot. Because of this, a young man named Alexander Blackwood tried to recruit only Jane into a ghost relocation club, but the all the characters end up getting involved. This led to a pretty fun book, but the first one was better, in my opinion.
My Plain Jane was just kind of flat. The magic with the first book was that there was a central romance that, while began forced between two people, developed into something real, hilarious, and wonderful. But the romance in this was rather left off till the end of the book. I never really felt that there was not really much romantic chemistry between Charlotte and Alexander. The relationship definitely seemed one-sided until literally the last 5% of the book. That being said, I really did like Charlotte. I enjoyed her more than Jane, because she was more outgoing and had a better sense of humor. There were times I thought I would scream if Jane described herself as “poor, obscure, PLAIN, and little” ONE. MORE. TIME. Also the use of the word “propriety,” was waaaay overused.
But things I DID like: Book 1 throwbacks, all the jokes, Charlotte and her journal, good female friendships, quotes from Jane Eyre, and that one Harry Potter thing.
I don’t really know how to review this book, because I’m not sure what in the story was lacking for this to be a five star novel, like the first one was. I love Jane Eyre, and so I thought that I would enjoy the crazy twists the authors would throw in. There was just something missing. (BTW I listened to it via audio book, and the narration was awesome, as was expected!) Maybe the difference was that My Lady Jane is based on an unfortunate historical event (that could have happened differently), and My Plain Jane is based on an classic novel (that didn’t really need to be changed).
There were many plot points and scenes that felt disjointed and odd. I don’t know. I liked it... but I am a little disappointed. Hopefully book 3 will bounce back :)
(SPOILERY?? question: When Jane saw the ghosts of Jane Grey and Gifford from book one, where did all the animals shape shifters go? Just curious…)
This book follows Charlotte Brontë and her best friend Jane Eyre. Jane can see ghosts, Charlotte cannot. Because of this, a young man named Alexander Blackwood tried to recruit only Jane into a ghost relocation club, but the all the characters end up getting involved. This led to a pretty fun book, but the first one was better, in my opinion.
My Plain Jane was just kind of flat. The magic with the first book was that there was a central romance that, while began forced between two people, developed into something real, hilarious, and wonderful. But the romance in this was rather left off till the end of the book. I never really felt that there was not really much romantic chemistry between Charlotte and Alexander. The relationship definitely seemed one-sided until literally the last 5% of the book. That being said, I really did like Charlotte. I enjoyed her more than Jane, because she was more outgoing and had a better sense of humor. There were times I thought I would scream if Jane described herself as “poor, obscure, PLAIN, and little” ONE. MORE. TIME. Also the use of the word “propriety,” was waaaay overused.
But things I DID like: Book 1 throwbacks, all the jokes, Charlotte and her journal, good female friendships, quotes from Jane Eyre, and that one Harry Potter thing.
I don’t really know how to review this book, because I’m not sure what in the story was lacking for this to be a five star novel, like the first one was. I love Jane Eyre, and so I thought that I would enjoy the crazy twists the authors would throw in. There was just something missing. (BTW I listened to it via audio book, and the narration was awesome, as was expected!) Maybe the difference was that My Lady Jane is based on an unfortunate historical event (that could have happened differently), and My Plain Jane is based on an classic novel (that didn’t really need to be changed).
There were many plot points and scenes that felt disjointed and odd. I don’t know. I liked it... but I am a little disappointed. Hopefully book 3 will bounce back :)
(SPOILERY?? question: When Jane saw the ghosts of Jane Grey and Gifford from book one, where did all the animals shape shifters go? Just curious…)