We both loved My Lady Jane and were upset that we waited so long to pick it up. That’s why when My Plain Jane came out, we knew we needed to grab it right away. Our expectations were pretty high! If you want to know if this book met our expectations, check out our review.

 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.

Cover

Candyce This cover matches the cover of My Lady Jane very well. I love that there are little notes written about the Jane again. It really made me curious!

Isabelle I love this cover! It’s in the style of My Lady Jane and I’m super happy about that. I usually hate people on covers but it doesn’t seem to bother me with this series. The little quotes are so funny and get you in the right mood for the book.

Plot

Candyce My Plain Jane is based on Jane Eyre. I have to be honest and say that I’ve never read that classic, so I had nothing to compare this book to. There are some review where people compare the stories and have some issues, but I am completely clueless, haha. Once again these authors managed to write a book together and make it seem like only one author started it all. I can’te tell three authors wrote this and that is a big compliment. The dedication and start of this story are back in the style we know from My Lady Jane.

So the first thing I loved about this book is that the authors brought the author and character together in a book. Charlotte is the author and is friends with her own character. This was really clever! Once again, there was some humor, but I thought there were less funny moments in My Plain Jane. This is more of a gothic retelling, so maybe that’s why it felt less funny? Or maybe I just didn’t know enough about Jane Eyre? I loved the authors’  comments about different aspects in the history and their information. The cameo from My Lady Jane was my favorite part of the book, haha.

“Faster!” Mr. Blackwood said.
“We’re going as fast as we can,” Charlotte said back. “Have you seen the shoes we’re expected to wear?”

My Plain Jane also seemed a bit slower than My Lady Jane. A lot happened, but it felt less eventful at the same time. It was interesting that the characters could see ghosts and hunted them. An old fashioned ghostbusters. It really makes me wonder about this society. It was a lot of fun to read about. Once again, the authors’ did a great job writing from different POVs. I loved how proper the characters were (of course that’s how it was in those days). There was definitely a lot of romance in this book, but I loved how it wasn’t the center of the whole story. It was cute!

My Plain Jane is a fast and fun read and I’m upset we have to wait so long for the third book!

Isabelle Like Candyce I haven’t read Jane Eyre so I can’t really comment on the retelling part. Some reviewers said they weren’t surprised by the twists or that it didn’t do the original justice. But I can’t comment on that part of the book. It’s incredible how these three authors manage to write a book together and make it feel like one story, where you can’t pinpoint who wrote which part.

It was so much fun seeing Charlotte and Jane together in the story, I really loved that part of the story. Charlotte is writing things down all the time and you can already tell she’ll become an author. I laughed a lot during this story, mostly with the ghost parts. Another fun little twist on the original story. It was so much funny reading about these characters as ghost hunters and uncovering plot twist after plot twist.

I have been craving some historical fiction lately and My Plain Jane was perfect for that craving. The book is been written really atmospheric and you get a real feel for the time period. I think the characters behaved like they would’ve in that time period without the women being super dull and ‘mindless’ characters. There is a bit of a romance going on, it’s definitely a slow burn one and those are one of my favorite kind of romances. Especially when that’s a minor part of the story as it was here. So many twists and turns in this book and I really enjoyed that! I must admit it wasn’t as great as My Lady Jane but maybe my expectations were just a tiny bit to high.

Almost forgetting: I listened to the audiobook! And I loved it! The narrator did such a good job, I really enjoyed her voice and listened to it non-stop. Candyce was shocked when I told her I already finished the book haha.

Characters

Candyce Jane hasn’t had an easy life. She is an orphan and now lives in a school where they aren’t treated well. Others describe Jane as plain. Almost every character that sees her makes a remark about that. There is something special about Jane though, she sees ghosts. I didn’t really feel a connection with this character, but I did like her. She really grows in this book and experiences love for the first time. In the end she is tired of being told what to do and just wants to find her own way.

Charlotte is my favorite character. She is interested in everything happening around her. Anything can be used as a story and she is always writing. From the start, Charlotte is a character who doesn’t take no for an answer and forces herself into situations she wants to know more about. Charlotte has a big imagination and this gets her in trouble at times. This is another character that developed throughout the book. She finds love without realizing it and finishes her book.

Alexander is a member of the society and takes this very seriously. Even if his goal is to find out what really happened to his father. He is a determined person and hardworking. Alexander is protective of the people he cares about! I loved how dedicated he was to his job. Even Charlotte started growing on him without him realizing it! Alexander also fights for what’s right, even if it will make his life more difficult.

There were a lot of other characters in this book that I loved: Helen, Branwell, the Rochesters. They all fit together in the story (well of course, haha).

Helen shivered next to Jane. “Perhaps we should return to Charlotte. She probably misses us.”
“Us? Charlotte doesn’t know you exist.”
“Well, if she did, she would surely miss me.”

Isabelle Jane is our title character and should be our main main character, or at least I thought so after reading My Lady Jane. However I felt like this Jane wasn’t really our main character and I didn’t connect with her until the end of the story. I think I liked her best in the last couple of chapters. While I did enjoy reading about her throughout the story I never really cared about her part in the story. Her best friend Helen was amazing though, she was probably what I liked best about Jane haha.

Like Candyce, Charlotte is my absolute favorite in this book, I felt like she was our main character and I simple adored her. She’s a very curious person and I loved that she wrote everything down. While staying true to her time period she didn’t let the men boss her around and she ended up getting what she wanted most of the time. I enjoyed her development and wouldn’t mind reading more about her!

“You’re definitely not coming with us,” Alexander said. “Not a chance.”
Reader, Miss Brontë definitely went with them.

Alexander was a character who grew on my along the way. I wasn’t sure what to think of him at first but started to enjoy his chapters more and more. Especially the parts were he thought about or interacted with the Brontës. His relationship with Branwell was so funny and I loved his interactions with Charlotte.

 

My Plain Jane was a fun read! Have you read My Plain Jane yet? What did you think?