CW: Suicide

3.5 Stars ( )

My review can be found: https://lispylibrarian.weebly.com/lispy-librarian-vlog-blog/the-history-of-jane-... ( )

There was a whole lot to like about this book. I decided to read this book largely because I was intrigued by the cover. I mean why would a green cow be on the cover of this book? I had to know. Once I started reading the story hooked me right away and I didn't want to set the book aside. There is a so much more to this book than the green cow on the cover. This was an emotional story filled with wonderful characters I wanted to pull into a big hug before I turned the final page. I am so glad that I took a chance and decided to read this wonderful story.

This book is told in alternating chapters of before and after which I think worked really well. From the start, you know things around going to work out the way you would want. But you also get to see everything as it starts and the comparison was very powerful. The book does handle a lot of difficult topics and I think it does a really good job keeping everything realistic.

I liked Ray and his friend Simon from the first page. These characters were just fantastic and you couldn't help but cheer them on. Jane fit in with the pair almost perfectly. There was a bit of mystery around Jane and it was apparent early on that she was hiding a few things but her friendship with Ray and Simon felt very authentic. It was so easy to envision this group of teens trying to navigate life in Burgerville. I think that Simon and his love of milk caused more than a few laughing fits from this reader so expect a dose of humor in the story as well.

I would highly recommend this book to others. This book deals with so many difficult issues in a seemingly expert manner. I fell in love with the characters and wanted to see things work out in their life. I will definitely be reading more from Michael Belanger in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Dial Books via First to Read. ( )

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. ( )

I was really intrigued by the description of this book and happy when I won the chance to read and review it. The History of Jane Doe is an ode to first loves, and a journey through mental illness. It's fun, it's sad, it's heartbreaking while also being heartwarming.

Ray is a high-schooler history-buff in love with Jane. She enters his life and him and his best friend Simon are forever changed. But she hides some deep dark secrets that torment her and Ray has a hard time seeing into her head, as is usually the case when loving someone who is depressed, and he struggles to find his way through her dark past so that they can have a future. This is a history of her life, written by Ray, flipping between the past and present of one devastating day when everything changes.

Michael Belanger writes that he's experienced some painful episodes in his life, and it's evident in how eloquently he decribes feelings of sadness and darkness. I can imagine this book will make quite a few people very sad, as most everyone knows someone who suffers from depression, or anxiety, or other forms of mental illness. But I also think it will probably help just as many. I applaud him for his candor and insights into a rarely talked-about issue.

If you love 13 Reasons Why, or anything by John Green, you will love this story. The witty banter between Ray and Jane, Simon and Mary is refreshing and fun, and it's an interesting look into mental illness, how things in life can trigger it, and change a person, and and exploration of how it affects all those around you, and how even though you may think you are ending your suffering, you are ultimately just passing it on to those who loved you.

What I took away most from this is that even if you feel like you are drowning in darkness and can't see past the shadows, you never know what a light you'll be to someone else. ( )