BLOG TOUR: Jane Anonymous

By Denise @ Life With No Plot on January 8, 2020 • ( 2 )

Hi everyone! I am very excited to be a part of the blog tour for Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz, hosted by the Fantastic Flying Book Club! This was an awesome read, so let’s get into it!

About the Book

Title: Jane Anonymous

Author: Laurie Faria Stolarz

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: January 7, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Find It: GoodReads, Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Books

Blurb: Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz returns with Jane Anonymous, a gripping tale of a seventeen-year-old girl’s kidnapping and her struggle to fit back into her life after she escapes.

Then, “Jane” was just your typical 17-year-old in a typical New England suburb getting ready to start her senior year. She had a part-time job she enjoyed, an awesome best friend, overbearing but loving parents, and a crush on a boy who was taking her to see her favorite band. She never would’ve imagined that in her town where nothing ever happens, a series of small coincidences would lead to a devastating turn of events that would forever change her life.

Now, it’s been three months since “Jane” escaped captivity and returned home. Three months of being that girl who was kidnapped, the girl who was held by a “monster.” Three months of writing down everything she remembered from those seven months locked up in that stark white room. But, what if everything you thought you knew―everything you thought you experienced―turned out to be a lie?

Review: This book! You guys! Aahhhhhh!

Okay, let me try to speak coherently. This was one of the last books that I read for 2019, and it was probably one of the best books I’ve read all year. I had been trying to branch out a bit more, to break out of my comfortable fantasy genre and read new things. This book was super suspenseful and had a few twists that I genuinely did not see coming.

I really enjoyed the way this book was set up. From the blurb, you know that it is about a girl who was kidnapped, but the author chose to alternate the narrative, switching between her time in captivity and the current day, after she had gotten out. So you know right away that she survived, but you also know just how much she hasn’t healed from the trauma. Plus, there are still a lot of questions about exactly what happened – did she get rescued or did she escape? What happened to the other voices of captives she heard down the hallway? Who is Mason, other than another captive and a voice on the other side of the wall? The captivity part of the story was completely riveting, with all the little details included, like how she used a part from the toilet as a makeshift weapon or how the kidnapper had stocked her room with all her favorite snacks and the toiletries she regularly used. That last bit made my skin crawl just a little, but in a good way. It’s supposed to be creepy!

It’s a suspenseful story, but it’s also a story about learning how to heal from a traumatic event on your own terms. Jane, who was a fascinating character study, has great difficulty relating to anyone once she is back home, from her parents to her best friend. Everyone has their own expectations about how she she be, which is especially hard since Jane doesn’t know herself. I love how part of her own self-prescribed therapy was going back to the animal shelter she used to volunteer at and help a particularly difficult dog learn how to trust humans. I’m a sucker for animals in stories, but having the two of them help each other was truly beautiful.

Also beautiful was Jane’s friendship with Jake, her sort-of boyfriend. He was perfectly willing to give her space and let her know that he was there for her no matter what and no matter how. We all need someone like that in our lives.

Final thoughts: everything about this book was awesome. GoodReads rating: 5 stars

About the Author

Laurie Faria Stolarz grew up in Salem, MA, attended Merrimack College, and received an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston.

Laurie Faria Stolarz is an American author of young adult fiction novels, best known for her Blue is for Nightmares series. Her works, which feature teenage protagonists, blend elements found in mystery and romance novels.

Stolarz found sales success with her first novel, Blue is for Nightmares, and followed it up with three more titles in the series, White is for Magic, Silver is for Secrets, and Red is for Remembrance, as well as a companion graphic novel, Black is for Beginnings. Stolarz is also the author of the Touch series (Deadly Little Secret, Deadly Little Lies, Deadly Little Games, Deadly Little Voices, and Deadly Little Lessons), as well as Bleed and Project 17. With more than two million books sold worldwide, Stolarz’s titles have been named on various awards list.

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Giveaway Time!

This tour has a giveaway – there are two copies of Jane Anonymous up for grabs! You can enter via this Rafflecopter link. This giveaway is open to US and Canada only and you must enter by January 21st. Good luck!

Follow the Tour!

Please check out the other stops on the tour for more reviews, quotes, playlists and more! Thanks again to the Fantastic Flying Book Club for hosting this tour and for letting me tag along! You guys rock!