Review: My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton

Title: My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2)
Author: Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: June 26th 2018

Rating: 3.75 o 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

My Plain Jane is a funny reimagining of Jane Eyre (which I have not read but I have an idea of the story) with a paranormal twist. When I started reading it, I had an idea of ​​what the story was about and I knew it was a sort of a parody but I didn´t know that there is a narrator whom is constantly "talking" with the reader and clarifying how things were in other times, which I found funny.

The book is told from three points of views, Jane Eyre´s, Charlotte Brontë´s and the ghost hunter Alexander Blackwood.

Jane Eyre is an orphan, poor young woman, she´s a teacher in Lowood school for young ladies and whose greatest aspiration is to be a governess, but she has a secret that no one at her school knows .... she can see ghosts and hopes that no one will discover her ability, but when by accident it is discovered that she is a seer, she immediately accepts the position as a governess in Thornfield Hall. Once there she meets the somber, brooding and temperamental Mr. Rochester and almost immediately falls in love.

Up until there I think it's very similar to the original story, not counting the paranormal aspect, what makes it even more different is that Charlotte Brontë (the writer of Jane Eyre) is a character in the story, she´s a student of Lowood school, a close friend of Jane Eyre and dreams of being a writer and spends her time writing stories where Jane is the main character.

On the other hand we have Alexander Blackwood who belongs to a secret society (that everyone knows about) of ghost hunters and most of the time he spends his time trying to recruit Jane and trying to drive away Charlotte (as the latter is very persistent).

What unites all the characters is the paranormal part, since a lot of the plot revolves around the ghosts. There is a lot of humor and some references to other classics (I didn´t catch all, but those about Jane Austen I did understood everything!, ... I think).

Overall, My Plain Jane is a funny, humorous novel, which does not take itself seriously, but which in turn is the re imagining of a classic, but it isn´t perfect, its slow pace at times. What I got tired after the sixth time is that everybody tells poor Jane how plain she´s, they get out of their way to talk about her plainness, but I did enjoy it!.

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Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Title: The Last Time We Say Goodbye
Author: Cynthia Hand
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release date: February 10th 2015
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye an emotional and sad contemporary book about teen suicide. Lex's younger brother sends her a text message and soon after he commits suicide, so she feels responsible for his death and for most of the book we do not know what the message said, until near the end we get to know what it said; she blames herself and her father, and she´s constantly angry with those around her, so she push away her friends, broke up with her boyfriend and begins to have problems in her classes (she's in advanced classes and her goal is to go to MIT). Through Lexie´s memories we get to see how close she was with his brother and how both got along very well. This book is about the loss of a loved one, how it affects them and and how to cope.

Besides Lex and her mother, a character that we don´t get to see much but is important for Lex, is her ex boyfriend Steven, he goes to the same advanced classes, so he´s a quietly present in Lex´s life.

The beginning of the book is slow and gradually introducing us to Lex´s life, she´s going to therapy, because she isn´t expressing her feelings about the suicide of her brother, which happened seven weeks before, so her therapist gives her a notebook to write in her memories of her brother, but not necessarily sad things, but also the happy moments as Lex needs to let out her feelings, so she gradually begins to write in her notebook about her brother and through these memories we get to know Tyler, we see the love they had for each other, but we also see his dark moments. I loved the time she writes in the book, I felt it very special.

This was a very sad story about how affects to a family the suicide of a brother/son, about how those involved put their life on hold, while the world keeps moving, and how slowly they can get on with their lives. The end is very emotional, in one moment I was reading it, and I was thinking this is really sad but just that and all of the suddent I was crying like a baby, my emotions were all over the place.

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Title: Hallowed (Unearthly #2)
Author: Cynthia Hand
Publisher : Harperteen
Release date: January 17,2012.
Rating: 5/5

Cynthia Hand Website

You can read the first 5 chapters at Harperteen here

For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.
 
Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In this compelling sequel to "Unearthly," Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

Hallowed the second book in the series Unearthly, begins shortly after the events in the first book. Clara did not fulfill her mission and does not know what is next, while Clara is having a recurring dream, which later she becomes aware that it is a vision and in that vision she realizes that someone close to her will die in a few months and Clara will try to prevent it.

The love triangle between Clara - Tucker - Christian gets complicated, because Clara is sure that she loves her boyfriend with her whole being, but also feels a strong connection with Christian.

Samjeeza the black wing still on the prowl trying to harm Clara and her mother. And Jeffrey is increasingly distant and always is with bad temper.


Hallowed is an excellent continuation of the story of Clara Gardner, I liked more than the first book. It surprises me, there were some events that definitely I did not see them coming and that's good, I like it when the unexpected happens. It also has its sad parts and I spill a few tears, very beautiful story, totally recommendable.

If you haven´t read Unearthly, you should read it soon, this is a totally recommendable series.

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