Reviewed by Dale
Once again snooping around the Barnes and Noble top 100 for teens and kids I found this little book. I wasn't in the mood for anything too long and at a light 12,000 words it looked just right. Its a wee bit off what I usually read, i think its targeted towards the 8-10 year old girls market. Plenty of girl driven action and a writing style that i think Enid Blyton would use if she was still alive and writing today. To be honest i found it a bit slow to start which is risky in a short story and i did have to re-read a few sections more than once as i lost the flow. That said i see a great imagination at work here and definitely a writer who has a good grasp of the age group for whom she is writing for.
The Jane Blonde character is a very un-typical school girl who leads the double life of all heroes in disguise. As well as a side kick (a spy cat no less) she has an array of fiendishly clever and very stylish spy gadgets.
The writing is good, very polished and professional. The voice is well done and as stated above clearly targeted at the tween girl. Boys might be more interested in Marshall's other books the Dogface series.
I wasn't aware as I set out to read this that it was just a short story to get readers interested in her other books in the series. I most likely wouldn't have read it if i had known that as i prefer to read fully fleshed out novels and novellas. The story in this book is much shorter than the advertised 12,000 words, as it also contains a teaser to another book half way through. So if you have looked at the Jane Blonde series and weren't sure as to whether to spend the money, or you want an introduction to a great new author in 7000 words or less. Go grab this free copy and see what you think.
Age 8+ (Advanced vocab)
Format: eBook
Available from Smashwords
Link to Download: Here
Price: $0.00c (at time of review)
Wordcount: 12,000 (appx)
Author:Jill Marshall
