Simplement Kate

by Erin Bow

Simple Kate habite un monde de sorcellerie et de superstitions. Un monde où une mélodie peut guérir les blessures, un monde où les ombres cachent des pouvoirs mystérieux.

Lorsque la misère frappe le village de Kate, les habitants cherchent un bouc émissaire et leurs regards se tournent vers Kate. Mais voilà que Linay entre en scène avec une proposition : en échange de son ombre, Kate pourra fuir et éviter de périr sur le bûcher en plus de voir l'un de ses souhaits exaucés. Kate saisit l'occasion en rêvant d'une vie nouvelle où elle pourra enfin trouver une famille et un lieu où il fait bon vivre. Mais Kate peut-elle vivre éternellement sans son ombre? Les desseins de Linay sont-ils plus noirs que ce que Kate n'aurait oser l'imaginer?

Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. When Kate's village falls on hard times - crops fail, and even Kate's father falls victim to a deadly fever - the townspeople look for someone to blame, and their eyes fall on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: in exchange for her shadow, he'll give Kate the means to escape the town that seems set to burn her, and what's more, he'll grant her heart's wish. It's a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes that she can't live shadowless forever - and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed.

Original title: Plain Kate

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Magic, Middle Grade, Young Adult Fantasy, Adventure

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

TEN THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I'm a physicist turned poet turned YA novelist.
2. I am world-famous in Canada, which is kind of like being world-famous in real life.
3. I write books for young readers and people like me who didn't grow up. All my books will either will make you either cry on the bus or snort milk out your nose. I am dangerous to your dignity and should be stopped.
4. I needed WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS to have a happy ending, so I wrote a middle-grade book called STAND ON THE SKY
5. I needed a book with a Spock-like hero who was also a queer girl, so I wrote THE SCORPION RULES, and its sequel THE SWAN RIDERS.
6. I think cats can actually talk, but don't find us worthy, hence PLAIN KATE.
7. I hate horror, so I wrote a horror: SORROW'S KNOT,
7. I think Hufflepuff is the best house, Xander was the best Scoobie, Five was the best Doctor, and Spock was the best everything.
8. I am married to another novelist, and we can actually pay our bills. Our daughters want to be scientists.
10. My bookshelves will always be full.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, rip my heart out, why don't you? This is such a horrifying and sad book that again makes me ask the question: just what on earth is going on in the UK publishing world??? This book was released in the US as Plain Kate with a cover that features the protagonist walking along a rooftop with her cat. Though it doesn't exactly gear you up for some of the horrors this story contains, at least it doesn't look like a pretty, twinkly version of Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. What is up with that cover? That title? If I had come across this edition first, something along the lines of My Little Pony would have sprung to mind, this book looks like a nice fairytale for eight year old girls... but if I'd read something like this at eight I would have had nightmares for the next five years.

Don't get me wrong, I thought it was very good. The plot was different, fast-paced and interesting, the heroine is strong and likeable. And, as much as it was quite disturbing, I found the witch-burning, ears getting cut off and general gory bits to only glue me to the pages in awe and disgust. But, unlike other authors that employ numerous shock tactics in a desperate bid to hold their reader's attention, Erin Bow is actually a good writer. Plus, there's a few deeper messages about friendship, hope against the odds, and never giving up.

Oh, and there's a cat. A wonderful, lovable talking cat. And I adore cats. No seriously, it's pretty weird. You know those old women who live alone with about ten cats? I envy them. I'm at five so far and all it will take is a trip to one of those rescue centres. Furry companions make me happy. In fact, I've included one of my own... this is Willow, she thinks she's a princess and I'm perfectly happy to let her think that:

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The highest praise I can give a book is to favorably compare it to my all-time favorites - Lips Touch: Three Times and The Queen of Attolia. Erin Bow's writing style is as simple and precise, with not one extra, unnecessary word, as Megan Whalen Turner's and her story is as grounded in folklore while being completely original as Laini Taylor's.

The basic premise of the novel is that Kate, a lonely, orphaned child with no one to take care of her, is tricked by a witch into giving up her shadow in exchange for her heart's wish. When Kate realizes the consequences of losing her shadow, she tries to get it back. But, of course, it's not a simple task.

For a middle-grade novel, Plain Kate is very dark. Prepare yourself for torture, witch burnings, dark magic and blood sacrifices. Kate's life is grim and full of adversity. It doesn't help her case that she is accused of being a witch. The only bright spot in this story is Kate's feline companion Taggle. He must be one of the best written cats in literature.

In spite of the grimness, however, Plain Kate carries a strong message of hope, true friendship, forgiveness and perseverance.

I will definitely read Erin Bow's future novels and might give them 5 stars if, while preserving her excellent writing style, the author creates stories with older characters and some romance (yeah, I am that type of reader).

[Reynje · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Really Short Version:

TAGGLE!

The Short Version:

Basically, any book with an awesome cat in it needs to GET. ON. MY. SHELF. And the cat in Wood Angel [aka Plain Kate] is so awesome, he singlehandedly lead to the creation of a designated shelf for all such noble felines, which I am calling “Rad Catz”.

The Long(er) Version:

The sales assistant at the bookshop I loiter in frequent just about refused to let me leave without this book. Her love for it was palpable, she was holding it out to me like something precious. I wasn’t convinced. I’d seen this book on the shelf countless times, and the cover and title just say “fairy book” to me. Nothing personal against fairy books, they’re just not usually my thing. But I couldn’t refuse this lady, she was absolutely insistent that I had to read Wood Angel.

(If she’d simply said the words “talking cat”, I probably would have wrestled the book right out of her hands and saved her some time. Oh well, she wasn’t to know.)

Wood Angel is a lush and evocative story that reads more like dark folklore than sanitised fairytale. Plain Kate is an orphaned carver’s daughter who trades her shadow for the wish of her heart, not realising how costly the consequences will be. In a time of superstition and fear of witchcraft, the shadowless Kate becomes an outcast, inextricably caught up in the plans of a mysterious stranger.

This is a beautifully written novel that deals with grief, family and sacrifice. It’s an intricately woven story – the plot threads comes together slowly in unexpected ways - and the final result is much deeper and more moving than I anticipated. Apparently unremarkable except for her skill in carving, Plain Kate is an exceptional heroine, strong in a broader sense of the word than the physical. With a keen sense of justice and loyalty, Kate makes a powerful contrast to the prejudice that surrounds her.

A thematically rich story, it’s the motif of belonging that struck me the most, especially where it was demonstrated in the relationship between Kate and her cat, Taggle. More than merely adding an element of a quirk and humour to the story, the interactions between these two characters form the heart of the story. In the end, it was their connection that I felt was the most powerfully rendered, (and the one that made me nearly made me cry.)

Also, it must be noted, Erin Bow clearly understands cats.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

PLAIN KATE is a wonderful first novel set in a world that's a bit medieval Slavic. Plain Kate, who insists on that name, is a wood carver in a world in which excellence at anything is too often regarded as witchcraft. In the wake of her father's death, desperately lonely and knowing the people of her village are starting to suspect her of witchcraft, Plain Kate sells her shadow to a mysterious trader for a wish. That wish gives a voice to her cat, but it also throws Plain Kate into the middle of a horrible plot that brings coma and death to thousands. Plain Kate and her cat find temporary refuge among the Romany (gypsies) (which brings a timely note to the tale as the French prepare to deport their own Romany minority), and find they have gotten caught in a witch's revenge, possible now because Plain Kate sold her shadow.

The story is tense, beautiful, bleak, heart-rending, and unforgettable. Have a box of tissues close by!

[Krystle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am left in a flood of emotions after reading this book that I don't know how I'll be able to articulately express the things I want to say.

Plain Kate had me hooked from chapter one. The whole tone, feel, and plot of this book just screamed a fairy tale vibe. If you've read the original stories and not the Disney movie versions than you'll be able to appreciate the traditional use of song, animal guide/helper, and the forlorn/downtrodden young girl who manages to achieve her happy end.

Erin Bow's prose is simple but it's more than that. I can't describe it as anything else but magic. The emotion that's weaved into her words is so powerful I almost broke out into a flood of tears when I came to a certain part of the story. Only I didn't because I was in a crowded bus and didn't want people to give me strange looks. My heart was shattered and if an author can affect me with only her words, you know she's done something very right and deserves high praise.

For such a whimsical and light cover this story is very dark. If you remember Grimm's fairy tales, then you've got it matched up perfectly to describe this book. None of it, though, the deaths, bloodletting, and what have you were done out of shock factor. They were intrinsic to the plot and really struck home when it happened.

The characters were wonderful. Taggle, who's only a cat, almost stole the show. The way the author is able to show the depths of their relationship is expertly done and you become really attached to them and feel for them when bad things come their way. Kate who has a lot of terrible things happen to her, never gives up and never backs down, she always perseveres even when things look absolutely bleak. Linay isn't your stock villain either. He's got depth and real emotion and reasoning behind his actions that you can't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for him as well. Things aren't just black and white, they are spun in a blurring of colors you can't pick apart.

Plain Kate is beautiful and a heart wrenching story. I cannot gush over it enough.

Oh, and, by the way, I won this book from Goodreads's First Reads contest and I can't thank them enough for giving me the opportunity to read it.

[Poonam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This has been categorized as a Children's book and I was expecting something like Matilda but boy was I up for a mean shock!!

This story is about a little girl known as Kate, who is living in times where there is a witch-hunt and people suspected are burnt alive in the village square! Common people are scared and looking to blame someone for anything unfortunate that happens and being a talented young poor girl in such times can be indeed scary!!

Somehow I expected that Kate will live in a village where she will convince people of their foolhardy of believing in witches or she will be a person with some magical powers and help out people by her kind acts!
The book did not go in any which direction but took a very unexpected path.



So the book is not a happy go lucky read and does not make you feel satisfied or light at the end. It is still a very good read and made me feel sad most of the times. I really really liked Kate.
Every time I thought, it's going to get better, something went wrong for her!

We have Linay- an actual witch who made me feel scared and there were times when I felt like grabbing Kate and running away with her.

The only bright thing in this story is the cat- Taggle who can talk as all the bits with Taggle in it were funny.

I will still recommend this to folks who want to read a book about an innocent girl living and surviving the terrible times of witch-hunt.

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The atmosphere of this book is... unique , in a very good way. Everything has a melancholy undertone to it, and you get sucked into this time period where magic is to be feared, and anyone who so much as looks a little funny is accused of witchcraft.

Our heroine, Plain Kate, is one of these individuals. She has one eye the color of the muddy river bank and the other of the clear blue river, and she also has mad skills with her craving knife. Misfortune hits Kate when her father dies of the "witchfever". He was the only person she had left in the world and Kate the Carver has no one to protect her anymore. In her town of Samilae she receives accusations of being a witch, and for causing their bad luck. Kate is scraping by until Linay comes into town. Linay wants Kate's shadow. Feeling trapped and with no other options she agrees to give up her shadow in exchange for her deepest wish, which turns out to be a talking cat oddly enough. Kate and her cat Taggle must find their own way now, but Kate soon realizes how much of mistake it was to give over her shadow. Your shadow is the anchor to the land and without it, well you aren't really living anymore. She must stop Linay and get her shadow back, and in the process she'll get tangled into a huge mystery that is bigger than she ever imagined.

The book nicely interweaves Kate's struggles and her relationship with characters. My favorite character hands down was Taggle, who is more than just a cat. No love triangles or love interest to be found here, it's just a story of a girl (a remarkable girl) trying to find her place in a world that doesn't seem to want her. It shows how cruel people can be just because someone is different, and how someone (for some unknown reason) has to take the blame for bad luck. On the other side though, there are generous people, even if they are few and far apart, they are there.

Katrina Sveltlana, the carver, will leave a big impression with her story of what one brave heart can do.

[Erin Bow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, obviously, *I* like it.... What did you think I'd say?

[Kogiopsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 re-read as part of my ongoing shelf audit... okay, that was an excuse, I just wanted to reread it. Obviously I'm keeping this one. I'm in my 30s and I knew what was coming and I still cried.

Also, 2010 me didn't know jack about Russian or Eastern European folklore, clearly because the influences are obvious now.


Original 2010 review:
What can I say about Plain Kate that will get you to read it? Because that's what this really comes down to: I want YOU to read this fantastic little book. So, what do you want in your reading material today?
How about...
...an interesting setting reminiscent of (but not identical to) various Eastern European cultures? (Edit: After finding Erin Bow's website, I learned this was inspired by Russian folktales- but nothing about it felt particularly Russian to me, so I stand by this. I may be wrong. *shrug*)
...a Roma-like culture that is neither vilified nor glorified, but presented as people surviving and living life the only way they know?
...a heroine who is strong and confused at the same time, who struggles with her choices and makes mistakes, and whose problems fitting in resonate with pretty much anyone?
...a feline companion who behaves like a cat you might actually meet, and yet whose actions create some of the most poignant moments in the story?
...writing with a Robin McKinley-esque lyricality, but more straightforward?
...a creative, dramatic, beautiful fairytale-like story which doesn't seem to set up for a sequel at all?
...a YA novel without a love triangle- and for that matter, without a love interest at all, where the search for family precludes any possibility of smut?
...an 'antagonist' so honestly sympathetic that you end up genuinely liking him, despite his crimes?
...a page or so at the end that makes you cry?

If you answered 'yes' to any of the above, Plain Kate is for you. Don't be fooled by the fact that it's published by Scholastic, or that it's targeted at ages 12 and up; this is a book for preteens, teenagers, and yes, even for grownups. It reminded me of both Sabriel and The Blue Sword, which is a feat, but was never wholly similar to either book, and always held onto a wonderful uniqueness and freshness.

P.S. If anyone finds a way to get the cover in gigantic poster-form, let me know. This is one of the prettiest books to just look at that I've ever encountered.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

At some point I put this book down and didn’t pick it back up for weeks - and I think the main reason behind it was that the tone of the novel changed significantly half way through. How this is called ‘Wood Angel’ in the UK I will never know, because there’s nothing angelic about it. It’s full of grief and suffering, and talk of death and the dead and the horrible mentality and ignorance of people. In some respects it reminded me of the game The Witcher in that it uses the same tone to expose the prejudices of the population by openly showing you how mean they can be in the face of the unknown. It’s a dark story.

Kate is a wood carver, trained by her father, until he dies and she’s forced from her home. Lonely and afraid, she strikes up a trade with a witch that gives her with the most wonderful gift - a companion, but in return she must give up her shadow for a fate worse than death. In her journey to reclaim it, she joins a band of roamers and learns about their history, and the ultimate price she must pay in order to complete her journey.

The best character throughout this is Taggle, the talking cat. Any story that has a talking cat is a winner for me and Taggle is as narcissistic and preening as any talking cat should be. He’s also the anchor that holds Kate to her mission. In her darkest moments, he’s there to remind her of what she had to loose and what she could do is she took the easy way out. He’s also brave, tackling many a man in order to save Kate, and kind.

Kate is a little more temperamental in character. She’s often comes across as quite abrasive and unlikeable as she shies away from people in fear of rejection (or worse). She is, however, rather stoic too. She’s very set in her ways, and has a resilience for life and a yearning to live and do the right thing that jumps off the page. I enjoyed her relationship with Taggle, but also with Drina, as you could see it’s a relationship she craves in order to feel as though she belongs.

The final third of the book is perhaps the darkest, as were introduced to the rasalka and Linay’s ultimate plan. It takes a rather sudden turn into the deepest and darkest places of witchcraft and what it means to grieve for those we feel have been wronged. It’s a rather intense look at how different people deal with death and what’s right and wrong. It certainly wasn’t how I expected the tone of the story to go, but on reading the afterthoughts from the author and understanding that this book took 6 years to write, and included her sister’s death in the meantime, I can see perhaps her thought process behind it.

An interesting story, but one I wasn’t necessarily expecting.

[Keertana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Plain Kate is, quite honestly, just not the book for me. I know a countless number of my friends and most trusted reviewers have absolutely adored this tale, but despite being an ardent fantasy lover, I somehow could not get into it. Bow's debut follows the tale of Plain Kate, a tale of woe for every time something bad happens to her, something worse is waiting just around the corner. Kate is orphaned at a young age and after her father's age, she struggles to survive in their town where everyone believes she is a witch. When Linay, an evil albino wizard, comes to town, he offers her a wish and whatever provisions she may want in exchange for her shadow. Kate, not knowing the seriousness of this bargain, agrees, only to have her life take a turn for the worse - yet again.

While many readers found this story to be vastly intriguing, I thought it was rather boring. In fact, the first hundred or so pages can probably be skimmed entirely since nothing much happens. Furthermore, the writing that so captivated others rendered me unable to connect with any of the characters. It made me feel aloof and distant from the story itself and while beautiful to be sure, I didn't enjoy it and felt it didn't work well with the novel. Perhaps my biggest qualm, however, is Kate herself. Throughout the novel, Kate only becomes tougher and stronger, but her experiences never truly change her or make her orient herself and her life in different directions. In addition, as I mentioned before, I was unable to connect with her and feel much but sympathy for her life.

Overall, Plain Kate isn't a novel I can recommend, but it is one I advise any fantasy reader to give a chance. I am in the minority when it comes to this piece and can only hope that other readers love it unlike I have. Nevertheless, I will admit that if Erin Bow decides to write a young adult fantasy novel next, one that is a little more sophisticated and with older characters, I'll be itching to get my hands on it for sure. Bow is an author whose works I am bound to love - I can just feel it.

You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.

[oliviasbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read 106 pages when I stopped to admit to myself: "This is not for me". I was getting impatient and started flipping pages to quicken my pace. My thoughts drifted to my pile of unread books to determine which book I would pick up next.

Somehow the book is not what I had expected, both storywise and characterwise:
It is basically a sorcery fantasy set in a fantastic clone of post-medieval Russia - with harsh guilds, no kindness between neighbors, superstitious people, who crave the postive effect of witchcraft but readily and randomly burn someone when fate or the weather turns against them, a young, ill-fated wood carver's orphan and a proud cat, who starts to talk after said orphan made a desperate deal with a dangerous albino wizard - ultimately good or bad? I don't know -, who craftily pushed her towards the edge in order to gain her shadow.
The main note of the book is bitter and sad. Even the nomadic Roma- or Sinti-like travelling folk, who take Kate in when her life is in danger, are intolerant and more to fear than to like. Taggle, the fierce and haughty cat is believably feline, but he lacks the wit and the humor I expected to meet in him. He is definitely no Grimalkin. And Erin Bow is no Tamora Pierce. I know, I know, how could she be. But I so expected to be enchanted, to be roped in, to have to catch my breath and fly through this book in the matter of an afternoon that would have felt like minutes afterwards, that disappointment had to be the only possible outcome. My bad.

So glad that I didn't invest in the hardcover. But ... how do I get rid of the paperback now?

[Janina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written dark fairy tale featuring a strong heroine and an absolutely lovable cat sidekick.

Set in a world reminiscent of medieval Russia, Wood Angel(aka Plain Kate for the US readers), ranks among my favourite reads this year so far. It is not a pleasant comfort read, but more a dark type of fairy tale with wonderfully shaded and round characters. There is no black and white, no good or bad in this novel – every character has decisions to make and does not always choose the right way.

The book is quite short, but the writing is precise and to the point (no unnecessary ramblings here), so there is not a word missing. I loved the style and the atmosphere Erin Bow created – her descriptions transcended the pages and made everything feel so real. The rain, the fog, the mud and wet, the Roamer’s wagons, the colourful market, the deserted fields and villages were wonderfully portrayed and worked really well to convey the underlying sense of dread the novel was marked by.

Then, Taggle. He is such a cat. Arrogant and even a bit narcissistic, hoggish and cuddly, faithful and wise, he is the perfect companion for Kate. I loved him!

A note on the UK cover and title: I really don't quite understand the changes made (compared to the US version), but doesn't this just scream fairy romance at you? It even glitters.

[R.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich, haunting, unforgettable, this story draws on Russian folklore to immerse the reader in a unique and fully realized fantasy world.

Erin Bow is not only an award-winning poet but a masterful and captivating storyteller, with a knack for handling powerful emotions in an understated way that makes the reader feel them twice as strongly. She excels at portraying grief and horror, but she also has a deft way with humor, and though Kate's story leads her down some dark paths there are always glimpses of love and light.

PLAIN KATE has the feel of a classic, and I have every expectation that it will become one.

Read in manuscript (thanks, Erin!).

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5 stars) Plain Kate is the orphaned daughter of a master woodcarver, and a skilled woodcarver herself. She lives in the town of Samilae, whose inhabitants are a superstitious lot; when the crops fail or disease strikes, they cast around for someone to blame. A Roamer (Rom), perhaps. A person with a deformity. Or, maybe, someone with a skill they think is uncanny. An enigmatic stranger arrives in Samilae with a terrible plan, and vulnerable Kate is just the right person to serve as the linchpin in it. He frames her for witchcraft, then offers to help her escape… for a price.

Witch hunts, prejudice, diabolical bargains… Plain Kate is a much darker book than you might expect based on the jaunty cover art. When you do reach the roof-walking scene, you’ll recognize it immediately, but you might be surprised at the dire circumstances that surround it! Yet it’s not without its share of brightness to balance it out: compassion, courage, love, heroic sacrifice, and a smattering of humor.

Plain Kate is written in the style of a fairy tale and draws heavily on Russian folklore. Erin Bow’s prose, especially when describing nature or Kate’s craft, is lovely and lyrical. The plot is epic in a way, since the fate of a country rests on the outcome, but at the same time it’s a very intimate story. Almost all of the major characters turn out to be connected. The two major threads are Kate’s struggle to stop the villain and to find a place to belong, and the villain’s quest for revenge and the deep hurt at its core. The central events pit love against fear and bitterness in a beautiful, moving way.

I say “love,” but I wish to clarify that I don’t mean romantic love. There is, in fact, no romance whatsoever. If you’re sick of romantic YA fantasy, you’ll like Plain Kate. If you prefer books with a prominent romantic element, this may not be the book for you (though I’d recommend trying it anyway, because it’s terrific).

There aren’t a lot of books like this on the market right now, and so it’s hard to make comparisons between Plain Kate and other novels. Precisely because it’s difficult, I’m going to try to make some comparisons, to help you guess whether you’ll like this book, or decide what to read if you’ve finished Plain Kate and liked it: The works of Robin McKinley and Juliet Marillier — especially the latter, given the craftswoman heroine and the persecution theme. Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, for its subtle humor and its engaging heroine with a strong sense of honor. Eileen Kernaghan’s The Snow Queen for the well-drawn female friendship; Gill Arbuthnott’s The Keepers’ Daughter for utter “un-romanciness”; and finally Janni Lee Simner’s Thief Eyes, which is quite different on the surface but similarly features a sympathetic villain and a heartbreaking sacrifice. If you liked these books, you will probably like Plain Kate, and vice versa.

This review originally published at Fantasy Literature.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the main reasons I finished this book is because, happily, I’d won it in a Goodreads giveaway. So, I felt I should finish it so that I could write a full and honest review.

I think the other reason I felt compelled to finish this book was because I hoped that, by the end, I’d learn what the book was about. Unfortunately, I don’t think I did.

I’m not sure what age this book targets, but it certainly is one of the grimmest books I’ve read. Many of the subjects are pretty disturbing, and there really was very little happiness to offset it. There were really only two main characters I enjoyed reading about, and really only three or four characters of any moral fiber. The Plain Kate world certainly was filled with unsavory characters and a vast feeling of hopelessness. Even the family that seems to accept Plain Kate turns out to be not much better than the rest of that world. And that’s really one of the most disturbing things — that it was never made clear what was good and bad. I don’t mind if “good people do bad things” or vice versa, and I don’t need all my characters to be just good or just evil, but I do want explanation, and I want to know why. I want to know why a character befriends another, and if the protagonist understands the other characters’ motivations. I want to know the reasons, the justifications for actions, either brave or selfish. But, unfortunately, I didn’t feel like I knew any of the characters. There was very little reflection or introspection. We never knew the feelings, motivations, rationalizations, thought processes, etc. of the characters. We never understood what drove them from one action to another, or why they made the decisions they did. Even Plain Kate. So it was that I really don’t know what the book was about. What was the arc? Did the characters grow or change? Was the world better or worse than when the story began? I don’t know.

Erin Bow spent a great deal of time describing the world. And while I love a good description, here it wasn’t balanced. It was far too much description, and the descriptions, while prolific, were too vague and too artsy to really make much sense. I could usually understand the effect Bow was going for, but I found myself tripping over sentences. It was like every paragraph was meant to be something profound, but used too much and they start to loose their impact.

I did like the cat! I enjoyed his humor and his zest for life. And, I liked that he and Kate had such a friendship and such a grand connection. Unfortunately though, that was about the only thing I enjoyed.

I wanted to like this book so much more, but I just never felt attached to it.


****
Oh my gosh! I just realized I won a copy of this in a GR giveaway!! I'm so excited! YAY! :D

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to say exactly what I felt for this book without rambling. First of all, let me say, I think this book has one of the most tormented heroines I've ever read about, both in adult and young adult literature! How much crap can one girl go through? As I listened, I kept thinking how morose this story was. But I had to keep listening. Hoping that Plain Kate would find joy and a place to call home.

This is a novel that shows the destructive effects of prejudice in an interesting way. In this book, anyone who is different or odd has to be a 'witch.' Everyone is so busy blaming everything that goes wrong around them on witches (who are more than anything just anyone who sticks out), they don't even have the sense to go after the real cause of the problem. Even those who are outsiders don't show nearly the amount of tolerance that they should. That makes for a very bitter pill to swallow.

What I loved about this story, what kept me reading was Kate. It was not easy to walk alone, and to keep walking after all she had lost. But she does. And I admire her for that. Also her cat, Taggle. Talking about a scene stealer. I loved him. The author knows cat behavior very well. I would laugh at Taggle's antics and what he would say. He's charmed so that he can talk, but he expresses himself in very much the way I can imagine my cats talking. I definitely give the author brownie points for that.

Although it's never stated, the setting is very Russian. Even the folkore gives this story an indisputible Russian stamp. Russian elements always work for me!

The tone of this story was hard to handle at times. It's very grim in a way. There are spots of brightness and joy like a ray of sunlight shining through a cloudbank. But for the most part, this story has a very downcast feel to it. That sadness that permeated this story grabbed at me. I was glad that Taggle was there for needed comic relief. As an optimist, I looked for evidence of hope for Kate, another thing that kept me reading, even when one event had me sobbing out loud. I mean really crying. I was thinking how much can this one person suffer?

Although definitely the most depressing young adult book I've read in a long time, Plain Kate was a very good book. It's not one of those books that you put down with a smile, though. Instead, you feel a sense of moody reflection. If only to convey how ugly prejudice is, this book succeeds on that point. Substitute any class of people for the 'witches' as the persecuted group and you have a powerful story told in an imaginative way, and the lesson will get transmitted to an audience who I hope will take this lesson very seriously. I think that one should think hard about these issues. Thinking clearly might help a person to see that hatred of others because of their differences is just wrong. And a world that condones that kind of injustice makes for a cold, cruel world for all of us. If I have to read a book that's not so sunny and happy to get that message, I guess that's a good thing in the end.

[Nafiza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you come across a book that you weren’t particularly keen to read but it blows you away with the sheer beauty of the story contained within its pages. The synopsis of Plain Kate doesn’t set it apart from the rest of the books in the genre. It doesn’t add anything to it that is wholly unique. There is nothing that prepares you for what’s inside. So you wander in, try a sentence. Or maybe two. Then before you know it, you have read a hundred pages and you simply must finish it because you have to know what happens in the end.

If I were asked to explain what exactly appealed to me about Plain Kate, I would be at a loss about where to begin. Is it the beauty of the prose? Quiet, unassuming brilliance that flows over you and guides you into the world in which Kate exists. Or should I talk about how, even when the world is falling down around her, there are certain moments of beauty, like pockets of calm in the middle of chaos – that makes you hope for humanity even as humanity destroys itself.

I think I will pick my favourite character in the novel. Taggles, the Cat. (Yes, Cat deserves its own capital C.) Animal characters are numerous in fiction and most of them are rendered beautifully (well okay, the ones I have read were) but the friendship between Taggles and Kate was steeped in sincerity. Ms. Bow managed to display their friendship without humanizing Taggles and I am eternally grateful for that. He retains his animal way of thinking, a way of thinking that is distinctly not human but despite that, he manages, in all the ways he is capable, to stay beside Kate and even protect her to a certain extent. Their friendship is one of the most poignant and beautiful things I have had the fortune to read in a very long time.

Kate is composed by losses. She is a very complex character with many layers to her. The loss of her parents, home and eventually town always plays a part in defining her to a certain degree. When she gets tricked out of something she hadn’t even thought was important, she begins a journey and during that journey, she realizes who she really is. This is intentionally cryptic because anything else would be giving it away and it would be such a shame for you not to read this book. The love interest in this book, if you can actually say there is one, is just as enigmatic, just as interesting as Kate is.

The ending of the book is not conventional. It’s not unhappy. But it’s not the same old trite endings other books are known for. The book is not the first in a series, though, to be honest, I would love to continue reading about Kate but when we do leave her in the end, she is on her way to becoming someone more, someone who is much stronger for the choices she has made and the things she has experienced and seen.

Conclusion? Read the book. It is way too good to miss.

[Aly (Fantasy4eva) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And then because hope will break the heart better than any sorrow, she started to cry.”

(i specifically bought this online instead of the UK version (Wood Angel) at my local bookstore. i'm sure now you can see why. that title and cover just seemed all wrong for this book. i just love the title and cover of the US version. it fits perfectly ) :)



i have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. for the most part, i think i just felt like it held back in certain places and then randomly went all out in others. when i started it, it seemed to read a lot like a middle grade novel. it is full of charm and depth at unexpected moments but at the same time (for instance, when her father passed) i felt like her grief wasn't really handled very well. where were the tears, the agony, the anger and frustration. i felt like it was all downplayed a lot. for instance: when she spent those nights alone, and other days among strangers - i wanted her grief to really show and be more hard - hitting. i wanted to be shown the brutal reality that would follow any young child who is left to survive on their own. but the thing is that when i wanted it to be shown it wasn't. instead, i was faced with a girl who seemed to get over everything pretty quickly.

i think my problem with plain kate is that i couldn't figure her out. i could tell you that she's brave, reckless and loyal. but who exactly is plain kate? I don't really know.

and that's probably why i didn't expect the more gory bits. you see, after her fathers death she's left to fend for herself using her skills as a carver. when linay is introduced and offers her a deal she finds hard to refuse, very quickly, things start to go downhill from there on. and it's towards the middle of the book, as she makes this journey with much more lows than highs, that i found myself coming face to face with two/three gory and brutal scenes that completely caught me off guard. it kind of went against everything the tone that the book had going on right up until then. don't get me wrong, i think it was a great touch to the book to show up close and personal just what the hell was happening to these poor people, but at the same time it left me even more confused because i didn't see - if this was to be done - why then other things were held back.

hey, i completely know that i may be the odd one who even feels this way. maybe i've read so many books that deal with loss that i have a very clear picture of what i expect. but this time around, with her father in particular, i didn't really feel any real sadness from her. then again, maybe it is just me?

i know i sound confusing as heck, but i'm trying to put my thoughts into words and trying not to get offensive at the same time. although since i'm struggling to explain , maybe it's just not possible to avoid both.

basically, i felt like her situation was downplayed A LOT. despite the fact that she goes through quite a few horrific things, my main gripe was towards the beginning. mostly because i didn't look at kate and feel like i was seeing a girl who had lost her father, was all alone in the world, and grieving or feeling the way one would in her situation. it's towards the end that she finally shows a hint of what she should have in the beginning when it comes to one particular moment ( i think we all know what i am talking about here).

Linay, on the other hand, i may have just connected to more. although he's our antagonist, i still felt for him. sure, at times i didn't really know how anything he was doing made sense, but i think you might have to try and not dig too deep when it comes to his story arc or you'll probably go mad. (you might also find that a lot of random things happen without much of an explanation. if you find this then get back to me.)

many things are left for you to decipher, such as his and kate's age. i could never tell if he was a man or a boy. either way, the thought of him and a certain someone still unsettled me. although the odd softer moments between the two were still nice to watch. i think the thing is that when you come across a character like kate who never had the opportunity to have a life like other girls her age, in these odd moments when she is caught off guard , it's kind of sweet to see her be a bit girly, confused and show a bit more emotion than she normally does.

taggle? you seriously did not think that i would not mention this little minx, did you? he completely steals the show. i most definitely feel like he's my favourite character. a couple of pages in and i instantly couldn't help but compare him to manchee and think what a strong competitor he is. i may have even adored him a little more. taggle has such a way about him. with quite the ego - he's funny, charismatic and wonderfully sarcastic. plus, he has one heck of a bite. he will save the day, win and melt your heart more than once throughout the book.

i waited a long time to get my hands on this book. you know when you have waited for something for years and beat around the bush for so long that when you finally have it in your hands it's like coming home to something? that's what it felt like when i cracked this book open. just one big sigh of relief.

and although i have confused the shit out of you AND MYSELF! and although for me it lagged at times in the last 60 pages, the ending was definitely worth it. when i came to that second to last page, at that particular moment with the box, man i teared up :)

it was a wobbly four star read for me. and although i battled with how some things were handled at times, ultimately, i think it's a beautiful debut. and it's not a book that you're quick to forget, that's for sure.

if there is a moment which i really clicked with, it's this one. it clicked with me because at this moment i felt one with her. when she walked past, numb , indifferent, it felt true. and when she says the line below, it's SO cold. you know? you can taste the anger and bitterness in those words and i felt like that was one of the first times she really let herself open up enough to speak out loud how she was feeling in that moment.

"my - my heart is dead." she picked up his knife and stood looking at it, the darkness of the mud on the blade.
"of everyone who could have lived, why did it have to be you?" and she pushed past him, into the golden quiet of the vardo.

a parting quote :)

" more than a cat."
" and i do not regret it."

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm still pissed off about this book. i'm trying to hold off on rating it because i have no idea what i'd rate it anyway. i can honestly say that the only thing i liked in this entire book was taggle. and pretty much nothing else.

i did not connect with kate at all. i didn't care about her or really get to know her or her thought processes or anything. and besides carving she wasn't really good at anything. people said she was brave, but what's the point of bravery if you don't even know what you ought to be doing or how to go about doing it? her bravery was useless.

i did not enjoy reading her story, either. things are so dark and depressing and people keep dying and it's not like she cares that much about them and so why should i? i barely knew anything about those people who died, and all i felt was frustration that things were going so badly for kate and she couldn't do anything about it and everyone in her world sucked and i hate reading about worlds where everyone sucks. it just enrages me, even if the author is trying to make a point about the evils of prejudice or witch-hunting or whatever. i don't care, i already know those things are awful, i don't want to read about them. i don't want to read books where all the background characters are horrible stupid people.

and i just felt detached from kate so i barely even sympathized with her, despite all the horrible things that kept happening. maybe it was a defense mechanism because things just kept getting worse and worse and she was so powerless and confused and almost apathetic at times. it's not fun to read about.

i honestly didn't even care what kate did at the end. i didn't care if that whole witch-burning town perished. i didn't care if linay lived or not, or if lenore was saved or not. i didn't even care if kate lived or not. maybe i'm heartless but i just didn't care, not about them, not when everything is seriously messed up and they were all crazy and selfish and impossible for me to engage with.

and taggle. yes, he was the best part of the book. the only good part, in my opinion. and then he died. which was noble of him, and made kate totally useless because she did NOTHING, just held her knife. ugh, whatever. i felt bad that i didn't even cry when he died, though i might've been close. AND THEN HE FREAKIN CAME BACK TO LIFE. WTF??? you'd think i should be happy about this, seeing as how he's my favorite character and all, but no, it just pissed me off. is he freaking jesus, to sacrifice himself to save the town of sinners and then come back to life?? i just... after all the darkness and deaths and then you do a freaking resurrection on a cat. it feels wrong, to revive him after his sacrifice. the way it feels wrong to revive lenore. sigh i'm doing a terrible job of explaining my feelings about this. it just rubbed me the wrong way.

and then the plot didn't even make that much sense. but i may have missed some details because i started skimming more and more because i wanted to see if things would get better and i would finally start caring more about kate or at least to get it over with sooner if it didn't engage me more. things just didn't make much sense, and i was so confused about things that happened in lov and afterwards and why they worked. but i don't really care to figure them out. anyway, the ending was just a huge mess. a bunch of people died so lenore could come back to life, and then she died again for a CAT (ok he's a great cat but STILL A CAT, and see above regarding resurrection) and then kate freakin finds a boatload of money from the crazy mass murdered that's been sacrificing her blood and killing tons of people with his dead sister's ghost. seriously?? seriously?? ugh i'm so annoyed. what kind of ending is that? am i supposed to be happy for her that she has her cat and her money, screw everyone else? and grieve along with her for the mass murderer? i just cannot imagine what i'm expected to feel about this ridiculous ending. what am i saying, the entire story was ridiculous.

sighhhhhh i know a lot of people felt very emotional after reading this book, and i do too, but my emotions are for the most part very negative whereas most other people's seemed less full of rage. i don't know why i'm so contrary and don't see the appeal of this book that everyone loves. it's not a good feeling.

conclusion: this was NOT an enjoyable read for me. at all. (well ok taggle was fun to read about. but everything/one else SUCKED big time.) i guess one star would be a fitting rating of "the talking cat was the only thing i liked about this entire book"

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts a little slow, partly because the narration is somewhat dreamlike, like listening to a story being told out loud. But it's also surprisingly emotionally intense, even if it did take time for those emotions to sneak up on me. There's a lot of death and pain and loss in here, and I got so attached to the main characters that I felt it deeply. I even ended up feeling for the villain of the book, which surprised me.

The story is driven by witchcraft, which takes a lot of cues from medieval ideas of witches. That's most obvious in how ordinary people react to witches or perceived witches. The plot is set in motion when the villain starts working to convince the main character's village that she's a witch, which would, of course, be a death sentence. New to me was the concept that witches were physically incapable of lying, that telling a lie would actually harm or even kill them.

The last twenty pages or so are wrenching. So many characters that I care for, and none of them have an entirely happy ending. Bittersweet definitely fits. And yet I don't think it could have reasonably ended any other way.

[La Coccinelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been sitting in my TBR pile for years. I finally got around to picking it up... and do I ever wish I had done it sooner! I've been torturing myself with bad books when I could have been reading this?

Please, dear author, I want some more...

This book is such a refreshing change from most of the YA I've read recently. The main reason is that it has no romance. I've grown so accustomed to seeing romance in YA novels that every time a male between the ages of 15 and 30 came on the page, I would wonder if he was going to be the love interest! But, no. There's no romance in this book at all... but there is love. Love is a major theme that runs throughout the story. Love between family. Love between friends. Love for art. That theme twines itself around every character and event in the story, making a complex and highly readable tale.

The interesting characters really drive this story along. Katerina (aka Plain Kate) is plain but not ordinary. She is unique in appearance and she's a highly skilled wood carver. She knows she's good, but she neither brags incessantly nor annoys the reader with false modesty. Because of her skill, the people of her town thinks she must be a witch... an impression that isn't helped when she sells her shadow to an actual witch and acquires a talking cat. Now, about that cat... I really love Taggle as a character. Talking animal characters, especially when they're combined with humans (as opposed to a world where all the animals just talk to each other and it's a normal thing), are not my favourite. They can come across as silly if they're not done right. But Taggle is done right. He's very obviously a cat, from his mannerisms to his turns of phrase. He's probably my favourite character in the whole book... and since I'm not a cat person at all, that's saying something.

The Russian-like setting and incorporation of magic remind me a little of Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone... but after reading both, I feel that Plain Kate is by far the better book. The villain is much more nuanced and complex, with understandable motivations, and I found myself not knowing whether to hate him or feel sorry for him.

It's all a matter of taste...

There's really not much I disliked about this book... except for the synopsis. It barely tells us anything about what the book is really about. Had I known it was such a good story with such unforgettable characters, I wouldn't have put it off for so long. I hate to think that people might have passed this book by simply because of the less-than-engaging synopsis.

Let's get technical...

Aside from a few tiny grammatical mistakes (some of which might have been merely typos), this was a very well-written book. I don't have many complaints.

The verdict...

I wish I had read this book back when I purchased it. It's one of the best books I've read so far this year. I highly recommend it!

Quotable moment:

He smiled at her. "Do you know what happens to witches, Plain Kate? Have you seen the fires?"

The sour smell from the smokehouse suddenly seemed stronger. "Over a few fish?" Plain Kate tried a laugh; it came out tight.

"Well," said Linay with a bow, "there might be more."

"Go away. Or I'll set my cat on you."

And he went away. But not very far.

http://theladybugreads.blogspot.com/2...

[Misty · Rating 4 out of 5]

...hope will break the heart better than any sorrow...


Plain Kate is the type of book I wish I could have read when I was younger.  As much as I loved Kate and her world now, I think it would have absolutely worked its way into me when I was a kid.  At the same time, though, there's so much to the story that I appreciate as an adult that maybe would have gone unnoticed as a child.

I love a good outsider story, and this one does it really well.  Kate, of course, is an outsider, barely eking an existence out of her carvings, waiting for the day the world will turn on her.  But she's not the only outsider in the story, by a long shot.  Plain Kate is peopled with those who never quite fit in, or cannot fit in, who live on the edges and deal with their pain and Otherness alone.  As a kid, I would have just seen that Plain Kate found some other outsiders to share her outsiderness with, but as an adult, I have to praise Bow for subtle injections of reality, even when reality isn't so pretty.  I especially appreciated this when it came to Plain Kate's relationship with Linay.

Linay is the villain of the piece, sure.  Or, I suppose Linay is a villain of the piece, because really, there are plenty of people not shown at their best, especially in the cities.  But Linay is the central Big Bad -- he's got possession of Kate's shadow, and he intends to use it to do some very bad things.  But this is where it gets interesting, and where I began to respect Bow as a storyteller.  Where most people would leave it at that -- Linay = villain, 'nuff said -- Bow weaves together this relationship between Linay, who is hurting and alone, and Kate, who is hurting and alone.  As much as they both know that each wants to undo the plots of the other, they worry about each other and care in this weird, sometimes sweet, almost unhealthy, occasionally heart-breaking, utterly human way*.  There's so much gray area in the relationship to connect to and explore on your own, and I absolutely love that.  It's one of the most interesting and subtly complex relationships I've read in a book for this age group in awhile.

But beyond impressing me in that regard, Plain Kate is a just-plain-fun read.  I loved the characters -- Taggle, especially -- and the adventure.  It's essentially a race against time, so there's that fantastic edge-of-your-seatness which makes it fun to read.  There's also great world set up, and I liked exploring it with/through Kate.  Bow took a culture (or, a couple of them, I guess) that are familiar enough to fall into, but distant enough to be intriguing, and she added her own spin.  The only thing that knocked this back from near-perfect was the ending.  Don't get me wrong, and don't let this hold you back from reading it, but I wasn't as happy with the end as I was with the rest of the book.  And it's not necessarily what happens, either (though I was frowny-face at times); it's more that there was a sparkle and power to the rest of the book that I felt was a little lacking at the end.  It was still good, but it -- hmm, there was a slight disconnect, if that makes sense.

But all in all, a definite fun, fast read with characters you'll remember.  I would especially recommend this to teachers for their classrooms, as I think a lot of school kids could get a lot of enjoyment out of this.


*I'm sorry, that was a really long sentence. But I meant all of it.

[Milly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a little perplexed that I didn't enjoy this book as much as everyone else who's read and reviewed it. I must have been in a different state of mind perhaps while reading this book as I didn't get swept away like all the previous readers of the book.

I typically like books of fantastical/magical genre but I must have had high expectations for this book and compared it to my favorites such as Finnikin of the Rock and Graceling and Plain Kate never compared to either one. The characters were all quite interesting but I just didn't connect with Kate, the protagonist of this book. Kate's character felt flat to me and I was not entangled with all the magic that the book offered. I felt a certain feel of detachment and restraint in the characters and with each other and could never relate to either one. The only character I really enjoyed was the talking cat. He kept me entertained and interested. Taggle, the cat, was a ball of emotions and was more animated than any character in the book. He was the life of the book!

I also disliked the writing style and it was the first thing I noticed that I didn't like about the book. My initial disappointment couldn't be swayed from then on and I actually almost didn't finish reading this book. I had to speed read the rest of the book just to find out how the story of Kate ends.

Plain Kate just didn't impress me. It was just plain Kate.

[Hallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three-and-a-half, really. High marks for the writing, which I loved, but lower for some niggles I had with the story. One of those was the fact that the Roamers (still not sure how I feel about the Roma/Roamers bit), who knew that being a witch was not synonymous with being evil at all, still responded as if it were when they were given evidence that Kate might be one. (Even that was a leap I didn't quite see why they made.) All in all, for a book about love, in many forms, it had a very high count of distorted or gone wrong types of love - at least, it seemed to, as those loomed so very large. And there were an extraordinary number of pretty horrible, bigoted people, who were completely lacking in compassion. On audiobook, Kate seemed more than a bit dim about copping on to just who Linay was, but that might be the exaggeratedly drawn-out nature of the audio version. Finally, I felt the ending - while very good in some ways - really rather dropped what would happen for Drina, and Kate's relationship with her -- when so much was made of Kate's feeling that she'd again found family with Drina and the Roamers. It seemed instead that a rather hasty, Russian fairy tale ending (not a totally happy one, mind) was chosen, and I thought that weakened the story quite a bit.

Pluses included the wonderfully ambiguous Linay and the delightful cat Taggle. Will be looking out for Bow's next book.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'M NOT BROKEN, YOU'RE BROKEN.
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Just kidding, it's me, I am broken.


About half way through the book I posted, "I cling to Taggle's humour like a drowning woman to a log: it may yet roll and kill me, but for the moment it's all the hope I have."

Let's just say I have been drowned after all.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samilae is a town of superstitions and suspicion. Though the villagers pay wood-carvers to make objarka, talismans meant to bring good luck or ward off evil, they also fear any skill with the knife. Thus, when a mysterious illness and deadly fog sweep through the land, many fingers start pointing at Plain Kate, a young orphaned wood-carver. Kate knows she cannot stay for fear of being burnt at the stake as a witch. Luckily, it seems, a stranger named Linay offers a proposition: means for Kate’s escape in exchange for her shadow. With no other options, Kate accepts. But even as Kate starts building a new life, she learns the truth of Linay’s evil intentions. Does Plain Kate have the courage to risk her own life if it means saving thousands of others?

Plain Kate is an interesting coming of age story filled with adventure and witchcraft. It’s so common these days that fantasy and paranormal books for young adults are just disguised romances. Thankfully, debut author Bow is here to remind us that romance was never a prerequisite for a good fantasy story. And Bow certainly does present a fascinating tale with Plain Kate. Readers will be swept away with Kate’s hectic journey as she searches for belonging and happiness and instead encounters cruelty and hardship on the way. Kate is realistic and though initially weak, also an ultimately inspiring character. Although I was a little thrown off by the lack of a central romance, I am glad Bow avoided that distraction because it strengthens the rest of the story. Fantastic and sweet, Plain Kate is sure to capture any reader’s heart.

This novel will be enjoyed by readers who also liked Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock and Raider’s Ransom by Emily Diamand. I can’t wait to see what Bow has in store next.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com

[Katie(babs) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plain Kate by Erin Bow was another Amazon Vine pick for me. The main reason I wanted to read this one is because of the fairy tale element that reminded me of Ash by Malinda Low that I really enjoyed reading.
Plain Kate is the name of Katerina Svetlana, the orphan daughter of a woodcarver, who everywhere she turns, is thought to be a witch. Poor Kate can’t even sit near a tree without someone calling her a witch because she’s to blame if some bird poops on the head of an oblivious townsperson. But Kate, for all the name calling and verbal abuse, is a survivor who only wants to be a wood-carver like her father. But then a sneaky albino named Linay comes along, who grants wishes and turns Kate’s life into even more woe.

Plain Kate is filled with so many superstitious people that witch burning is very welcomed, much like happy hour at five o’clock on a Friday evening. There’s no real reason stated why everyone Kate comes in contact with is fearful of the unknown of things that can’t be explained. Kate pays the price tenfold, not because she does stupid things, but she’s just at the wrong place at the wrong time. She’s basically being stalked by Linay, who needs her to defeat his shadow monster of a sister that goes around killing people, or at least impairs their vision from all the fog she transforms into.

Plain Kate was a DNF for me. I just couldn’t connect with the writing or the characters in anyway. I did feel for Kate, and a few times grew angry at what she goes through, but she’s too calm to her surroundings where I found myself detached. Plain Kate is what I call a quiet read even with the action on the page. I needed a bit more fireworks and drama to keep my interest.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg, this book DESTROYED ME. Seriously, I haven't cried because of a book like that sense I was 8 and Leslie had died in Bridge to Terabithia...
I can't overstate how much I love her writing. Erin Bow's writing is simplistic in the best possible way. Her writing brings to mind authors like Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux), Mary Lawson (although she doesn't write YA novels) and Kathi Appelt (The Underneath). To me this makes her writing all the more powerful. And while her writing may be simplistic, her plot and character depth is certainly not. It makes the brutality of the witch hunts all the more realistic. Her writing also allows for her to allude to the dark and sinister without talking about it outright which, in a juvenile novel, I think is quite a feat and in some ways makes the experience all the more terrifying.
I would definitely DEFINITELY recommend this book. There is a touch of romance, although it does end in heartbreak.

[Crowinator · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bittersweet fairy tale follows Plain Kate as she trades her shadow to a trickster witch for her heart's desire (which is to not be alone and, when granted, leads to her cat Taggle learning to talk), and subsequently realizes the dreadful plans she put in motion by doing so. The world is apparently based on Russian folklore, and so the story is much darker and more violent than the cover would lead you to believe, but it's a beautiful book, just beautiful, mournful and uplifting at the same time. Loved it. *Maybe longer review to come.*