Book Description Review “Stolarz ups the psychological ante…the depth of psychological intrigue is absorbing, and the twist on Stockholm syndrome disturbing…this novel is a testament to how the mind can reshape reality in order to survive…Powerfully graphic.” – Kirkus, Starred Review”A story about lingering trauma, loss, and the journey toward healing, this gripping crime novel could be a documentary from the Investigation Discovery channel. A must-read.” – School Library Journal”This engrossing confessional is both heartbreaking and hopeful.” – Booklist “A brave and bold piece of fiction. Jane Anonymous is riveting. It will scare you, intrigue you, and keep you up reading way too late.” – C.C. Hunter, New York Times bestselling author”An engrossingly tense yet tender story that digs deep. Jane Anonymous isn’t your average thriller, it’s full of heart and determination.” – Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Let Me Hear a Rhyme and Monday’s Not Coming“Thrilling, captivating, and compulsively readable.”―Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life”A timely, suspenseful tale of trauma and its aftereffects – of how you can never go home again and how the things you remember are just as important as the things you don’t. Readers will devour each page like a trail of breadcrumbs left by Stolarz all the way up until the book’s twisty end. There is nothing anonymous about Jane – she is all of us.” -Tonya Hurley New York Times bestselling author of the ghostgirl series and The Blessed Trilogy. “It’s no surprise that Laurie Faria Stolarz has delivered another taut, potent page-turner, replete with shivers and plenty of twists. But with Jane Anonymous, she ratchets up the tension and digs deep, offering the reader a nuanced reflection on identity, memory, and intimacy that grabs hold and doesn’t let go.” – Micol Ostow, internationally bestselling author of The Devil and Winnie Flynn and Riverdale: The Day Before”Jane Anonymous is equal parts terrifying and heartbreaking. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m STILL thinking about it.” ―Stacey Kade, author of Finding Felicity and The Ghost and the Goth”Jane Anonymous is a haunting, horrifying tale I won’t soon forget. Jane grabbed me from the first page and still refuses to let go.” – Cyn Balog, Author of Alone and That Night Read more About the Author Laurie Faria Stolarz is the author of several popular young adult novels including the Dark House series, the Touch series, Project 17, Shutter, and Bleed, as well as the bestselling Blue is for Nightmares series. With over a million books sold worldwide, Stolarz’s titles have been translated into thirty languages, been named on numerous award lists, including the Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers list and the Top Ten Teen Pick list, both through the American Library Association, and have been optioned for TV. Read more Customers Review: Fantastic book! This story does not disappoint!
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.I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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.**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
At some point in our lives we all see them.The “Missing Person” posters hanging on telephone posts that flap to an unknown breeze as if to call for your momentary attention. The black and white eyes gaze as you read through your morning paper where one picture shows what the missing person would have looked like today and how they looked like at the time of their disappearance.These are the anonymous faces that gaze upon us with muted expressions that are frozen in time. How often do we pass them with unseeing eyes that, upon closer inspection, could be that of your neighbor, former classmate…or that of ourselves.This is the story of Jane Anonymous.She is the voice of millions unknown to us in the world.Her story unfolds like a slow-building song with a building crescendo that we can’t ignore. At the first page, you can already hear that distant song composed of a million voices. Be ready for the journey ahead.Eyes opened.It is by no means that I lightly write: Laurie Faria Stolarz is an impressive writer. Like Emma Donoghue (the author of Room), Stolarz breaks the glass ceiling of our society and shows that there is a world beyond our safe compounds where others have to hold on with fierce determination to survive in the midst of captivity and despair. Jane Anonymous is a work that reopens your eyes to our world through a staggering journey presented by Jane, a teenage high school girl, who presents a dual narrative of coping with life after her kidnapping in the NOW and overcoming the horrendous situation she was in THEN.More than a story, Jane Anonymous is a profound experience where Stolarz immersed us in the confounds of Jane’s life and how her kidnapping changed her life and those around her. Throughout the work, readers experience Jane’s difficulty to, not only escape her kidnapper, but the ghost of who she used to be before she was abducted.This was a heartfelt book that went through a traumatic experience, took us to dark places, and held an underlying element of healing and hope for the future. Jane Anonymous is a work that brims with realism and changes your perspective on life and makes you face the monsters in the shadows of society with a newfound light. I certainly rate this spectacular read as my first 5 star contemporary fiction of the year! |
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