A review by pocketclown
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

While I really enjoyed the book for the most part, the last few chapters where the final conflict (Mary Jane’s lies are discovered) is quickly dealt with and we speed towards a rather deflated ending. We spent too long basking in the joy of Mary Jane discovering her “real” self out of the critical gaze of her mother and not enough time with her dealing with the fallout of her lying, the people her father and mother admonish, etc. Blau seemed more interested in Mary Jane being folded into this offbeat family that challenges what she thought was the standard than the actual reality of Mary Jane being 14, a caretaker for a house with a child and 4 adults and dealing with becoming a “new person”. 

The book was too lighthearted with issues that required some grounded commentary and thoughtful discussion. We glossed too quickly over the racism, the antisemitism etc. Mary Jane got so close at many points but Blau seemed to skirt around it. In the end, Mary Jane didn’t really seem to care about any of these things as long as she can go off and be her new self. 

I feel like Blau could have made this story much more impactful, instead there was too much focus on the whimsy and when reality came knocking for the characters, little was disrupted.