See Jane Run by Hannah Jayne
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc. Release date : 2014-01-07
Genres: Family, Mystery/Thriller, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Source: The Publisher | Format: eARC
Purchase at: Amazon (Affiliate Link) • Audible • The Book Depository
Goodreads
I know who you are. When Riley first gets the postcard tucked into her bag, she thinks it's a joke. Then she finds a birth certificate for a girl named Jane Elizabeth O'Leary hidden inside her baby book. Riley's parents have always been pretty overprotective. What if it wasn't for her safety...but fear of her finding out their secret? What have they been hiding? The more Riley digs for answers, the more questions she has. The only way to know the truth? Find out what happened to Jane O'Leary. Praise for Truly, Madly, Deadly
I received this book for free from The Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I was a huge fan of Truly, Madly Deadly and when I saw that Hannah was coming out with another mystery/thriller, I couldn’t WAIT to get my hands on it. She is an amazing author; creating such creepy, intense and intricate plots that keep you guessing throughout. So I had high expectations going in. Sadly, this book wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. I was so disappointed.
My love for this genre has really grown over the past few months and I find myself constantly finding hidden clues, small details and over analyzing everything. I have gotten really good at figuring things out early on, if I do say so myself. In See Jane Run, I hadn’t the slightest IDEA what the heck was going on. However, this isn’t due to it being a well written mystery, which is what I would expect from Hannah. It is due to the fact that there was so many inconsistencies and so much back and forth, I couldn’t follow anything.
First of all, Riley. I don’t see how a “normal” good girl, would suddenly start to question everything about her life and sneaking around in one swoop. Sure, if you were to find something, like say a birth certificate with another child’s name, then yeah. You are most definitely going to question it. But, in a matter of days, you are going to disobey and run to ANOTHER STATE? I didn’t buy it. She was also a very unreliable main character. How can you be distrust someone so much but then turn around and speak highly of them? She was also made some really, really stupid decisions WITHOUT thinking it through. The best friend, Shelby. She was irritating and one of these worst friends, ever. She was feeding Riley all these far out there scenarios, then would basically tell her she was paranoid and on her own. Um, what? There were just too many conveniences for plot purposes and was annoyed because of this.
The mystery. Okay, this is a HUGE part of the book that pissed me off. When everything started to weave together, everything just kind of took a weird drastic turn. Who ended up being the “stalker” was so out there, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. This person did a complete 180 from when we first met them. I didn’t buy the change and the attempt to have this person look like an ally then to having them be completely psychotic. It was executed poorly. The conclusion too, was a little too far out there for me and I didn’t buy that either. It wasn’t realistic, at all.
At least, I don’t think so.
I actually really liked the little hint of romance. I loved how it didn’t take over the book entirely. It was cute and sweet and a nice distraction from everything else going on. Not to mention, it added a little intensity because you are obviously suspicious from the get-go.
My Peeve- Well, I kind of went there already. I didn’t buy the whole scenario as a whole. There were too many things happening for convenience sake and the change of the “perp” was poorly written. Riley isn’t a strong, levelheaded protagonist that I like to see in this genre. Also, why the hell was she taking pills?? I dont even know.
Overall- As much as I wanted and TRIED to love this book, I just couldn’t. I am thoroughly disappointed, especially since I loved Truly Madly Deadly. I won’t say NOT to read it.. but I am slightly hesitant on recommending. I am still looking forward to what other books Hannah brings us. I am hoping this one was just a bad seed.
Tonyalee is an avid reader, gym junkie, coffee addicted workaholic and blogger. Be sure to follow on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for random shenanigans.
2 Comments
Yeah I’m not a fan of books where girls make dumb decisions over and over again. And also I’m really over the bad friend thing. There are tons of true friends out there, why do YA books have to be full of backstabbers and b*tches? Anyway… I can’t wait to read Truly, Madly, Deedly. I bought it a while back and have been really in the mood for a mystery… but this author sure is a fan of mysterious “notes”.
Michelle (Pink Polka Dot Book Blog) recently posted…Reviewers’ Roundtable- Topics I Want Authors to Write About
We have the same sentiments! I love TMD too so I was very excited to read this. I love that the focal of the story remained from her POV and Jayne went away with the procedural side. But there are things that didn’t quite work for me. I found the secondary characters weak and all that taunting from Shelby and Riley buying it is too convenient.
Braine Talk Supe recently posted…Love It: The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams