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cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
It was good until it was obvious what was twist. From that point seemed to drag on. I liked Shelley and Jack with Jane.
TW: abduction, sexual assault, self-harm, PTSD, emotional manipulation, suicidal thoughts, Stockholm syndrome, death of animal.
TW: abduction, sexual assault, self-harm, PTSD, emotional manipulation, suicidal thoughts, Stockholm syndrome, death of animal.
anthrac's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
brianne_k's review against another edition
3.0
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. This did not affect my rating.
*3/5*
Jane was taken. She was gone for 7 months. She was kept in a room with only the necessities. We see Jane from before she was taken, to being taken, her captivity, her escape, and the aftermath. The story bounced back and forth in the timelines which worked really well. Jane chooses to write about her experience as her form of therapy which was an interesting way to go.
Jane Anonymous is a very compulsively readable book. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, both in the past and the present. The author does a great job of hooking you in. My issue, and it is my issue – not the books – is that I am not the books target audience. And having read my fair share of psychological thrillers, I called the twist.
I don’t know how to describe how I felt about Jane’s mom, friend, classmates… they all really bugged me throughout the entire book. I didn’t feel they were as compassionate as they could have been/should have been about her needing time and space to heal. To feel like herself and to be free again.
I love the authors message about healing from trauma.
I will be checking out more of this author’s future books.
*3/5*
Jane was taken. She was gone for 7 months. She was kept in a room with only the necessities. We see Jane from before she was taken, to being taken, her captivity, her escape, and the aftermath. The story bounced back and forth in the timelines which worked really well. Jane chooses to write about her experience as her form of therapy which was an interesting way to go.
Jane Anonymous is a very compulsively readable book. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, both in the past and the present. The author does a great job of hooking you in. My issue, and it is my issue – not the books – is that I am not the books target audience. And having read my fair share of psychological thrillers, I called the twist.
I don’t know how to describe how I felt about Jane’s mom, friend, classmates… they all really bugged me throughout the entire book. I didn’t feel they were as compassionate as they could have been/should have been about her needing time and space to heal. To feel like herself and to be free again.
I love the authors message about healing from trauma.
I will be checking out more of this author’s future books.
holdenkillfield's review against another edition
2.0
A powerful and harrowing story of survival and the fortitude of one's mental strength after trauma. The author crafted in great detail the journey of the protagonist after their abduction and their attempts of becoming whole once more, returning to the person Jane was before they were taken.
This was a very dark, deep, and painful story of PTSD, psychological anguish, emotional and physical trauma, panic attacks, and shedding the label of victim.
My gripe about this story is that I could not believe that every person in this girl's life was selfish, self-absorbed, and apathetic. There was no sympathy towards Jane, let alone empathy for what they have and are continuing to go through. The constant demand for the main character's love, affection, attention, even though it is detrimental to their own well-being, was mind-boggling.
The so-called best friend, horrible. Mom and Dad, stereotypical cookie-cutter characters that were just so pushy.
The author made an authentic, three-dimensional protagonist but did not do the same for the supporting characters. Everyone was just flat and straight-up cruel.
Nobody matched the protagonist's memory or description which she would constantly reiterate how they were supportive and loving before she was taken. That was never showcased throughout the story upon her return and that was very frustrating to read.
This was a very dark, deep, and painful story of PTSD, psychological anguish, emotional and physical trauma, panic attacks, and shedding the label of victim.
My gripe about this story is that I could not believe that every person in this girl's life was selfish, self-absorbed, and apathetic. There was no sympathy towards Jane, let alone empathy for what they have and are continuing to go through. The constant demand for the main character's love, affection, attention, even though it is detrimental to their own well-being, was mind-boggling.
The so-called best friend, horrible. Mom and Dad, stereotypical cookie-cutter characters that were just so pushy.
The author made an authentic, three-dimensional protagonist but did not do the same for the supporting characters. Everyone was just flat and straight-up cruel.
Nobody matched the protagonist's memory or description which she would constantly reiterate how they were supportive and loving before she was taken. That was never showcased throughout the story upon her return and that was very frustrating to read.
readerlatte's review against another edition
4.0
This book grabbed me from the very first page!! That prologue was a hit and I could not put this one down at all!! I loved that it was told from Then and Now chapters and these chapters didn't follow a pattern it was a few Then chapters than a few Now chapters. It helped weave this story about a girl who was kidnapped and then broke free from her captor.
So to start off let's unpack some of the issues I had with this one. There are really only three that I had. One was word choices it made me feel that this book was from the 50s but of course we didn't have cell phones then. And the other was that when Jane was kidnapped she talks about having a flashlight app. Which yes those do exist but phones past 2007 all had flashlights in them already. At least as far as I have searched and found. So it made no sense. The last issue I had was that towards the end of the title when Jane is finally coming to terms with what happened to her it felt very rushed. One second she's still having panic attacks then the next chapter she's coming to terms with the twist in this title and moving on with her life. PTSD doesn't work that fast. I would have liked to see this happen gradually throughout the Now chapters and you just don't really see that. The ending of the title felt like a light switched on and off and all of a sudden a wonderful therapist shows up and fixes everything. It felt very convenient.
Other than those three issues this was an amazing story. I think that the only thing that would have made this one even better would have had one page chapters from Mason's POV. It was very interesting in reading about Jane's spiral into madness and insanity. I think that it really very real and showed us how easy it really is to loose yourself. I don't really agree that this was a thriller it was more a psychological stalker story. I felt this way because although Jane was kidnapped she was never in any real danger. . The emotional turmoil that Jane and her family and friends go through felt very real and I really liked that we saw the turmoil that her family and friends went through as well as just Jane.
The twist in the book wasn't so much as obvious but it had that feeling that nothing was what it seemed to be. When the twist was revealed I wasn't so much as shocked that I was right about the twist, but one other twist I didn't see coming.
Overall, this book will not be for everyone. If you have trauma with this topics that this book covers. Then you might want to skip this one. However, if this is a book for you, what you will find is a fabulous story about a girl that never gave up. Even after she got away from her captor her thoughts were on finding help for the other two people that were taken.
Go Into This One Knowing: Kidnapping, Being Held Captive, No Rape, Dual Chapters of Now and Then, Emotional Manipulation, Self Harm (Not Suicide)
So to start off let's unpack some of the issues I had with this one. There are really only three that I had. One was word choices it made me feel that this book was from the 50s but of course we didn't have cell phones then. And the other was that when Jane was kidnapped she talks about having a flashlight app. Which yes those do exist but phones past 2007 all had flashlights in them already. At least as far as I have searched and found. So it made no sense. The last issue I had was that towards the end of the title when Jane is finally coming to terms with what happened to her it felt very rushed. One second she's still having panic attacks then the next chapter she's coming to terms with the twist in this title and moving on with her life. PTSD doesn't work that fast. I would have liked to see this happen gradually throughout the Now chapters and you just don't really see that. The ending of the title felt like a light switched on and off and all of a sudden a wonderful therapist shows up and fixes everything. It felt very convenient.
Other than those three issues this was an amazing story. I think that the only thing that would have made this one even better would have had one page chapters from Mason's POV. It was very interesting in reading about Jane's spiral into madness and insanity. I think that it really very real and showed us how easy it really is to loose yourself. I don't really agree that this was a thriller it was more a psychological stalker story. I felt this way because although Jane was kidnapped she was never in any real danger. . The emotional turmoil that Jane and her family and friends go through felt very real and I really liked that we saw the turmoil that her family and friends went through as well as just Jane.
The twist in the book wasn't so much as obvious but it had that feeling that nothing was what it seemed to be. When the twist was revealed I wasn't so much as shocked that I was right about the twist, but one other twist I didn't see coming.
Overall, this book will not be for everyone. If you have trauma with this topics that this book covers. Then you might want to skip this one. However, if this is a book for you, what you will find is a fabulous story about a girl that never gave up. Even after she got away from her captor her thoughts were on finding help for the other two people that were taken.
Go Into This One Knowing: Kidnapping, Being Held Captive, No Rape, Dual Chapters of Now and Then, Emotional Manipulation, Self Harm (Not Suicide)
flux_6174's review against another edition
1.0
The starting two pages made me plunge into the so-so engrossing thriller. I should've figured : turned out to be a really bad decision.
All of the characters felt shallow and the entire story felt so unrealistic. The "twist" was very obvious to me ( I don't actually know if that was the twist??), maybe except for a very beginner into this genre/ reading itself, as reading is something enriching and so much more. The choice to keep things anonymous and referring to things like "No Name High School" and "New England State" felt awkward and always disappointing. I don't really understand what the point of this entire "story" and don't feel like I got anything from it.
All of the characters felt shallow and the entire story felt so unrealistic
Spoiler
one of them being: making a hole through which a wrist can fit through but not being able to get a glimpse of the otherladytiara's review against another edition
4.0
Jane Anonymous is a gripping, highly readable book about a teen girl who was kidnapped.
Jane (we never learn her real name) was kidnapped, thrown in the trunk of a car, and then locked up in a white room for seven months. Now she's free, but she's having serious trouble readjusting to her old life. Her best friend just wants things to go back to the way they were. Her parents are trying their best, but they're still completely traumatized by her abduction and they don't know what to do to help her.
The story switches back and forth between the present and the time Jane was in captivity. This format works really well for the story, building the suspense. It's definitely a page turner. It's a harrowing story, and I rooted for Jane as she tried to figure out how to move on with her life after this horrifying ordeal.
The nature of the plot deserves a content warning, but it's worth saying that there's very little violence in the book, and the abduction involves mostly psychological torture rather than physical.
I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.
Jane (we never learn her real name) was kidnapped, thrown in the trunk of a car, and then locked up in a white room for seven months. Now she's free, but she's having serious trouble readjusting to her old life. Her best friend just wants things to go back to the way they were. Her parents are trying their best, but they're still completely traumatized by her abduction and they don't know what to do to help her.
The story switches back and forth between the present and the time Jane was in captivity. This format works really well for the story, building the suspense. It's definitely a page turner. It's a harrowing story, and I rooted for Jane as she tried to figure out how to move on with her life after this horrifying ordeal.
The nature of the plot deserves a content warning, but it's worth saying that there's very little violence in the book, and the abduction involves mostly psychological torture rather than physical.
I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.
kalex466's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
magyklyxdelish's review against another edition
4.0
This book had me hooked from the beginning. It was a fast and easy read.
I didn’t feel like the twist needed to be there however I do appreciate how it was incorporated into her trying to heal and making it more difficult.
This book is at its best when it’s talking about grief and loss. It paints a pretty accurate picture of someone struggling to find themselves and their place in the world after going through something so tragic.
I really enjoyed this one.
4/5 ⭐️
I didn’t feel like the twist needed to be there however I do appreciate how it was incorporated into her trying to heal and making it more difficult.
This book is at its best when it’s talking about grief and loss. It paints a pretty accurate picture of someone struggling to find themselves and their place in the world after going through something so tragic.
I really enjoyed this one.
4/5 ⭐️
theshaggyshepherd's review against another edition
3.0
Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz gave me mixed feelings. I found it a very compelling read that had me hooked right from the start. I did not want to put this book down until the very end. I have always been a fan of having two story lines and Stolarz did a great job of it in this book as well.. She made me feel scared, excited, hunted, relieved, and everything else in this story along with her main character. She is a talented writer that knows how to put together a good story.
But. I found the twist rather unsurprising and had a feeling it was coming pretty soon. I also was not a fan of how she portrayed certain people towards the end of the book, such as one of her friends, the police and the therapists. We are in a place where therapy becomes more and more accepted openly, rather than something you should keep a secret at all costs, and I would have liked to see some more support for that in her book. She had a great set up for it but went the opposite way the majority of the time.
But. I found the twist rather unsurprising and had a feeling it was coming pretty soon. I also was not a fan of how she portrayed certain people towards the end of the book, such as one of her friends, the police and the therapists. We are in a place where therapy becomes more and more accepted openly, rather than something you should keep a secret at all costs, and I would have liked to see some more support for that in her book. She had a great set up for it but went the opposite way the majority of the time.