Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz’s thrilling novel Jane Anonymous is a revelatory confessional of a seventeen-year-old girl’s fight to escape a kidnapper–and her struggles to connect with loved ones and a life that no longer exists. Seven months. That’s how long I was kept captive. Locked in a room with a bed, refrigerator, and adjoining bathroom, I was instructed to eat, bathe, and … bathroom, I was instructed to eat, bathe, and behave. I received meals, laundered clothes, and toiletries through a cat door, never knowing if it was day or night. The last time I saw the face of my abductor was when he dragged me fighting from the trunk of his car. My only solace was Mason–one of the other kidnapped teens–and our pact to one day escape together. But when that day finally came, I had to leave him behind.
Now that I’m home, my parents and friends want everything to be like it was before I left. But they don’t understand that dining out and shopping trips can’t heal what’s broken inside me. I barely leave my bedroom. Therapists are clueless and condescending. So I start my own form of therapy–but writing about my experience awakens uncomfortable memories, ones that should’ve stayed buried.
When I ask the detectives assigned to my case about Mason, I get an answer I don’t believe–that there were no traces of any other kidnapped kids. But I distinctly remember the screams, holding hands with Mason through a hole in my wall, and sharing a chocolate bar. I don’t believe he wasn’t really there and I’m determined to find him. How far will I have to go to uncover the truth of what happened–and will it break me forever?
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Fantastic! I loved it!
Jane Anonymous is abducted after stopping at the boutique where she works to pick up her best friends birthday gift that she had forgotten to bring home. The store is closed but the guy looks nice, he is handsome and seems genuine about it being his 1 year anniversary with his girlfriend, so she lets him in. He gets her with chloroform after she turns around to wrap up his gift.
The story is told from the ten months after the day she was abducted when she is back at home. She was held for over seven months and she is trying to come to terms with what happened. She came back in pieces as she describes it (PTSD in psychological terms), but she refuses to talk to the psychologists she tried because of different issues, one used candles that smelled like the ones her captor “the monster” used, another treated her like she was crazy.
So Jane decides to write about her experience as a form of therapy, both her time in captivity and since she got home. So the book goes back and forth, then (from her kidnapping forward) to now (present). As Jane tries to understand everything that happened to her and work through her trauma, we as readers are finding out what happened in the order it happened and also finding out how it is affecting her now that she is at home.
As you would expect, Jane is having trouble adjusting at home. She went through various types of physical and mental torture while in captivity, though I won’t give any spoilers as to what those were but to say it wasn’t a standard kidnapping. The book had my emotions going all over the place, I was feeling for Jane so much.
I felt so bad for her when she was free but trying to recreate her own room to be more like the room in captivity. She knew it is better being free, but almost feels safer in that room where nobody can get her or talk to her. I cried throughout half of the book because it was heart wrenching.
I run.
Because I can’t sleep.
Because Memory can’t catch me if I keep a fast pace.
Because my parents’ door is closed, but Night can’t shut me out.
Because I’m not supposed to be out at this hour, especially after everything, especially all alone—and so it feels a little like power.
As Jane gets further in her story and continues to struggle with being at home, her Mother tries to get her back to normal by forcing her to go out or to see her friends. Her Mom can’t heal until Jane heals, which puts more pressure on Jane. Jane struggles with her feelings for Mason who was one of the other people held captive and was able to cut a small hole in the wall so they could hold hands. Her struggles with the reasons for why “the monster” took her were hardest of all.
“What do you feel most nervous about?”
“Facing the truth, I guess.”
“The truth about . . .”
“What happened when I was taken.” I study her face, trying to figure out if she knows my story, if she saw it on the news or read it in the papers.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story of a girl who was abducted and her quest to discover what ‘normal’ is once she returns home. This YA thriller is poignant, creepy and heart-breakingly full of hope.
I was intrigued when I read the blurb for Jane Anonymous. I have read plenty of books about kidnapping and the effects on the victims, so I thought I was ready for the book. Well, I was wrong. Jane Anonymous was one of the rawest, more emotional books that I have read to date.
The plotlines for Jane Anonymous are split into two sections. There is “Then” and “Now.” The pacing for each plotline is fast and well written. There is no lag, which was great and complimented the fast pace of the plotline. There were also no dropped characters.
I wanted to reach through my Kindle, grab Jane, and hug her. The author did a fantastic job of showing the difference in her. She was an outgoing girl with a fantastic view of life before her kidnapping. After her abduction, though, she was the opposite. The author didn’t make her magically healed and had her forget what happened to her. Instead, she had Jane struggle with being home. She also showed how Jane was affected by PTSD and anxiety. Again, there were tears on my end.
The “Then” part of the storyline was amazingly written. I liked reading how Jane kept her sanity during her captivity. The author did a fantastic job of showing how Jane was broken down by her kidnapper and then built back up. It was a perfect example of Stockholm Syndrome. But, my favorite part of this book was when she escaped. It was amazing!!
The “Now” part of the storyline broke my heart. Jane was so broken. She tries to recreate her room from when she was kidnapped. Jane kept to the award system that her kidnapper used. She refused to talk to someone because of how they treated her. She had to deal with people alternately praising her and talking about her behind her back. But, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
The end of Jane Anonymous was terrific. I can’t get into it, but I was a blubbery, sobbing mess. It made me have hope for her too. I am for sure going to be looking out for more books by this author!!
4.5 stars.
This book was really intense. I could barely put it down. We got what happened through Jane’s eyes, but in flashbacks mixed with “Now” entries into her diary or journal that she felt would help her with the therapy everyone said she needed. I wondered if she had a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, if that was what the story was going to be about. But instead it seems that she falls in love or finds a connection with a fellow prisoner named Mason. Honestly, I had a feeling about the whole situation from really early on, and my hunch was correct. However the way the story went kept me guessing and thinking I must be wrong. Seeing how it all went for Jane after she got home and how hard it was just to even get back to normal in any little way was very interesting. How her friends and those around her dealt with it was also intriguing and made me wonder how it would be in real life. I did get that she had trouble working with different psychologists and therapists, until she finally found one that she was able to connect with. I know that for my own depression and anxiety I didn’t click with the first person I was sent to, so I think it is a very important bit for people to realize that getting help isn’t as simple as just talking to any person.
I only docked a half a star because some things were left unexplained or unanswered for me that I wanted to know. But it makes me feel like one of the people that Jane hated talking to if I ask those questions.
WOW! If ever there was a book that should be summed up by that one word it is Jane Anonymous. From the first word of the prologue to the last letter in the book, I was fully engrossed and utterly captivated. Not once did I look up, stop for a break; I’m not sure I even breathed until I finished. It.Is.That.Good. Need more? Fine.
The prologue is an open to letter to us, the readers, from “Jane” who has just returned from being held captive for seven months by a monster. Jane was taken one early morning by a man who vaguely looked familiar, put into a room and given a scoresheet from which she would be rewarded for simple things like eating, bathing, putting her trash out the pet door. That sounds far more simple than it was for the prisoner Jane who rebelled against her captivity by not eating, not bathing, not cleaning. But she is not alone. There is someone else on the other side of the wall. Someone who shares her darkness, her fears, someone she comes to love. But what if that someone goes away…. what if he isn’t real or worse.
Jane’s story is written in a then/now perspective as though Jane is writing her story for you as part of her therapy. We are able to read first hand her innermost thoughts, fears, hopes and crushing anxiety as she navigates back through the world of the free and living. This is a heart-pounding, gut-wrenching tale that dives into our deepest emotions and will leave you breathlessly ragged when you have finished but it so worth it! Yes, this book is written for young adults but don’t let that fool you. It is, by far, one of the best books I have read in a very long time. Just as SE Hinton wrote for this age group in the 70s with words that resonated across the age spectrum, Jane Anonymous will translate well for readers of all ages.
Jane Anonymous is a story of a 17-year-old girl who got abducted and was held captive for seven months before finally escaping. The book is told in alternating timelines between THEN (during captivity) and NOW (after escape). It is a girl’s journey through healing and recovery.
I confess to putting off reading this book because I didn’t think I was ready to face something stressful. I’m not even sure why I requested this, knowing full well that it contained sensitive topics. But sometimes, I like to go out of my comfort zone so here I am.
Let me begin by saying that I did not enjoy this and at times, it made me uncomfortable. But books like this are not meant for enjoyment. They were meant to make you see things from a different perspective. They exist to help you understand what others have gone through, in hopes that you never experience them. But don’t get me wrong. This book wasn’t graphic and it glazed over some details. The parts detailing injuries were sometimes too much for my heart, but that’s just me.
This book was gripping and it definitely kept me on the edge. The transition between THEN and NOW was just enough to keep me guessing and wanting more. I also liked how even after everything, this book ended on a hopeful note. Because as much as I want books to be realistic, I also want to feel hope: that although things are never going to be the same, maybe someday, they will get better.
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4 Stars
Poor Jane! This book was both sad and creepy. It was also really good. I liked the back and forth between now and then although toward the end it got more confusing because they were such similar pov. I really wish it would have shown her adopting Lemon or Brave but in my ending she got both!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was just so unique and like nothing I’ve read before. It was informative as well as scary and beautiful. It wasn’t just about a girl who had been kidnapped, but also her road to recovery and how others were affected. I couldn’t recommend this book more if you want to read something different than the usual YA books.
Jane Anonymous is told in alternating timelines, from then, when Jane was kidnapped and held for 7 months, and now, as she tries to pick up the pieces of her life. Jane’s friends Shelly and Jack are trying really hard to let her know that they’re available whenever she needs.
It’s clear Jane is suffering from PTSD and as she starts this story, she’s doing her best to stay out of therapy, which is a really bad idea because the sooner sufferers get help, the more likely that they can turn it all around and not be a lifelong sufferer. I would say something along the lines of “I don’t know why her mother didn’t force her to keep trying new therapists until she found one that clicked” but…her mother was useless. She’s pushy and overbearing and she’s not really supportive of Jane’s wants. She herself should have marched into therapy after her daughter was taken, to deal with her issues. At the very least, she should have gotten herself in therapy much sooner than she does because she’s horrible at knowing to give Jane what she needs, and I’m thankful for her father for helping as much as he’s able in that regard.
As you can tell, I really hated her mother, and I think that tainted how much I could have liked this book. I figured out what others are calling the twist fairly early on in the book, but I don’t think knowing that makes you want to read it less. Jane Anonymous is a well-written, solid story with good characters, it was moving and heartbreaking, but there’s light, humor, and hope as well.