Review - The History of Jane Doe

The History of Jane Doe
by Michael Belanger
release date 6/5/2018
304 pages
Chapter length:  short
3 out of 5 stars

I received a copy of this eBook from Penguin Random House's First to Read program in exchange for a review.  The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

According to the publisher, "History buff Ray knows everything about the peculiar legends and lore of his rural Connecticut hometown. Burgerville's past is riddled with green cow sightings and human groundhogs, but the most interesting thing about the present is the new girl--we'll call her Jane Doe.

Inscrutable, cool, and above all mysterious, Jane seems as determined to hide her past as Ray is to uncover it. As fascination turns to friendship and then to something more, Ray is certain he knows Jane's darkest, most painful secrets and Jane herself--from past to present. But when the unthinkable happens, Ray is forced to acknowledge that perhaps history can only tell us so much.

Mixing humor with heartache, this is an unmissable coming-of-age story from an exciting new voice in YA."

In my usual fashion, I did not read a summary of this book before I started reading, so I had no idea what I was in for.  Unbeknownst to me, this was the second book I'd read in a pretty short span of time with main characters dealing with mental illness.  If only this were high school English class, I could write a pretty sweet compare/contrast paper on The History of Jane Doe and The Woman in The Window.  As I am, unfortunately, an adult,  I won't bore you with an MLA formatted essay, but I bring it up as it gave me an interesting perspective on this book as a reader.

I will give the same compliment that I gave to A.J. Finn to Michael Belanger:  in The History of Jane Doe, mental illness is never used in a distorted fashion.  The characters are written skillfully so that they are multi-faceted creatures; their mental illness is not their defining characteristic, nor are they caricatures meant to be mocked. In The Woman in The Window we see an adult dealing with mental illness and its fallout;  The History of Jane Doe deals with teenagers, which is an entirely different animal.  I commend Finn not only for creating believable, sympathetic characters, but for creating believable and sympathetic teen characters. 

I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars for two reasons:  First, I don't love Young Adult.  We all have our preferences, and YA just does not rank that high on my list.  Second, I felt at times that the author tried to have the characters be overly quirky.  I think that it's possible to write a lovable outsider character without trying too hard to show how "different" they are from the popular kids.  In this aspect, Belanger could have used a slightly less heavy hand.

If you are a fan of YA, I think you would enjoy this book very much!

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