As the wood-carver's daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden talismans are so fine that some even call her "witch-blade": a dangerous nickname in a country where witches are hunted and burned in the square. 
 When times are hard, the townspeople begin to look for someone to blame and they've found Kate. Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he'll give Kate the means to escape the angry town, and what's more, he'll grant her heart's wish. But Kate soon realizes she can't live shadowless forever -- and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed. 
 In the end, disappointing. It started out really good, full of promise but I think, for me at least, it got bogged down by too much supernatural elements that didn't really make any sense and just a world that didn't excite me. 
 I will give credit, though, to Kate's characterization. She was portrayed as a strong, young girl who was capable of taking care of herself and fiercely loyal to the people around her. It was interesting to see the interactions she had with the different characters, particularly her pet cat and her friend, Drina. There's a myriad of characters in Plain Kate too, which was interesting but in the end, it just got confusing, the number of names and people I have to keep up with. The world created in Plain Kate was just one that I couldn't invest in either which was a shame because it really had potential. Perhaps others might like Plain Kate better than I did.