Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz is an intense, gripping story about trauma, survival, and reclaiming your identity. Jane’s raw emotions and fractured memories pull you in as she tries to piece her life back together after captivity. Heartbreaking yet hopeful, it’s perfect for fans of psychological, character-driven YA thrillers.

After reading Here Lies Daniel Tate, I've been fascinated by thrillers that tackle kidnapping. If this concept interests you, along with the psychological implications that it presents for the characters, this title might be interest you. It certainly provides a fast-paced, exciting read that will linger long after the last page.

Dark and somewhat disturbing, but such a well written book about trauma and coming of age when something so big happens to you. "Jane" had been take and held by someone who ultimately decieved her not once, but multiple times throughout her captivity. Dealing with kidnapping alone is traumatic enough, but add in manipulation and deceit by your captor and there is another layer of horror to get through, but I am happy with how "Jane" dealt with it later and became stronger for it.

"Jane Anonymous", had it had a better ending, would definitely be higher rated for me. Unfortunately, I found the ending to be a little too predictable which caused it to fall a bit flat. However, the main plot of the story, the characters and the past/present timeline split made it a rather interesting read.

This book was a page turner, had me at the edge of my seat the whole time.

I was very worried when I started reading this book that it was going to be very true crime girly. Being kidnapped by a creep exactly the type of extremely rare crime that people salivate over in a borderline fetishistic way. I was pleasantly surprised as to how the kidnapping is handled. Down to the obvious seeming twist becoming a piece of dramatic irony where you find yourself rooting for the main character to face her demons and figure it out. It's a compelling mystery with an underpinning of exploring trauma.

This book is excellently written. It bounces between the now and then and is wonderfully done. The was no confusion about which timeframe you were reading at any point. The author kept just the right amount of information back to keep you turning the pages, even though you should have been sleeping long ago! It’s a great read for those who enjoy young adult novels.

Jane Anonymous is one of the lucky girls. She was kidnapped, yet managed to escape. Many girls never make it out alive. But Jane doesn’t feel so fortunate because she is tormented by what went on within the white walls where she was held captive for ten months. And even though she made it out with her life, she cannot say the same for the boy she was imprisoned with - Mason. It has been three months since she escaped - why hasn’t anyone been able to find any trace of Mason?

Laurie Faria Stolarz tells the before, during, and after of a teenage girl’s kidnapping in her YA novel Jane Anonymous. This ominous and gripping tale grabs you right from the start when Jane is snatched from her place of employment and transferred to a secret location in the trunk of a car. I listened to an audiobook production of this novel and was absolutely horrified by Jane’s account of what happened to her - literally gasping and screaming out loud as she found herself falling deeper and deeper in danger.

The initial kidnapping and later accounts of Jane’s captivity were the most interesting aspects of this book, which is told in alternating sections - before and after Jane was taken. While Jane’s situation after she returns home is reflective and true-to-life, it also wasn’t terribly interesting, especially since Jane finds herself stuck in a thought loop that she can’t seem to break, of which the truth was incredibly obvious to me. In fact, I deduced what Jane could not almost immediately upon encountering these facts in the book, and the entire time I read, I had my guard up for some other twist because I kept thinking, “this can’t be it?!” Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Regardless of how I feel about Stolarz’s plot devices, Jane Anonymous is still a compulsive read that shows the too-real side of psychological trauma and its aftermath in victims of abuse. A worthy read for anyone who enjoys raw, dark, issue-oriented YA fiction.

This book seemed promising enough and intriguing to boot, but unfortunately I wasn't able to download the early copy in time to give it a solid review. Thank you though for the opportunity!

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Whoa! This is an intense read. You’ll definitely have to be in the right mood/mindset for this kidnapping story. I felt that the author captured the trauma very well. Found out there’s another novel in the same universe. Definitely going to read it.

Possible trigger warnings for its graphic depiction of injuries she suffers.

What would you do if you survived something absolutely terrible, but nobody believed you. That's exactly what has happened to Jane.

Jane is trying to return to her life, but it's not easy. Partly due to the trauma she survived and partly because everyone is starting to question what really happened to her. Was she really the victim of some sick individual or was she hiding somewhere the whole time?

While questions are continually thrown her way Jane starts to question what was reality and what may have been delusion.

A well thought and emotionally charged book.

This book exceeded my expectations ten fold.
This story begins in a suburban New England town introducing us to Jane. One of the most important aspects of the book also happen shortly after. Jane is abducted on her morning run. This story first follows her being captive for about 7-8 months.
The story is told from two different perspectives, the then and now and the perspectives consistently shift until they finally merge once she gets home.
It contains strong themes and I would definitely check trigger warnings before reading because this book was quite a bit to stomach-- which means it was written well!!-- but I would err on the side of caution. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book to review! Love love loved this book!

Wonderful novel (I am not saying YA novel, because while this is YA, the maturity of the take on themes goes well beyond that).

This is a story of Jane, tell in dual lines. Jane THEN is a sweet 17-year-old girl with interests, loving parents, best friend in Shelley and a possible love interest in Jack. Until she gets kidnapped by an unknown guy. This is a story of her entrapment. Of her solitude, fear, scares, illness and hallucinations...and a friendship with a co-victim of kidnapping. Her fights.
Jane NOW is a shell of a former naive girl, back from captivity with severe trauma (possibly PTSD), trust issues and memory loss. Now she is to cope with what life has thrown at her. And it is not easy.

Don't let all of aforementioned things stop you from reading this book! Because while the topics might be heavy, the tone is not dark - more like recognizing the impact of such trauma, giving it understanding, voice and mostly HOPE.

It is precisely the understanding of what Jane is going through that sets this novel apart from another works dealing with stalking/kidnapping cases. She sounds totally believable and in my opinion anyone going through similar issue might find their voices being represented well, respectfully and with that special (warm) feeling of being heard.

And also - it is totally catchy! You simply want to know hw the story went.

I find this novel being a beautiful, catchy, enriching and wholly engrossing; and I immediatelly fell under his charm; line, hook and sinker. I will follow the authoress from now on.

This was an intense and twisty read and I’m not sure how to feel about it. I figured out the big twist pretty early on, which is actually unusual for me-I don’t typically try to solve the mysteries as I prefer to go along for the ride. Despite not being surprised by the big reveal, I still enjoyed the journey of Jane going from captive to recovery. Dark, heartbreaking, but hopeful.

Legit Finished this book in 24 days. In between My daughter doing school, my Other daughter having dance class and being a toddler and Fussing all the time 🙄, cleaning the house making dinner etc. etc. every spare second I had with spent reading this. It was so good! Highly recommend

The premise drew me in, of course. The book managed to hold my attention from beginning to end. At times, it did feel like she was rambling, but that fit considering everything that happened. I would recommend this to anyone interested in YA novels and thrillers.

A YA psychological thriller about a 17-year-old girl who is trying to cope with life after escaping 7 months of captivity

Told in alternating, then and now timelines, we experience Jane's pain, confusion and struggles as she both copes with captivity and then freedom. Enjoyed how this covered both aspects and just how hard both were for the victim. Freedom from captivity doesn't mean a happy ending and this book depicts that well. Everyone wants Jane to go back to being the Jane she was "before" but Jane is struggling and knows she will never be the same. The experience has left her forever changed and she must figure out who she is now, in the "after".

Jane's experiences are heart wrenching and her struggles are so emotional. The author really drives this home with all her experiences and it just broke my heart. Jane Anonymous is a gripping story of a young girl's emotional journey from being broken to becoming whole again. Highly recommended to readers of all ages!

3.5 stars/5 stars. This was intense and interesting read. Thank you netgalley and publisher for this early copy!

The day after I picked up this book, I read the news stories about Sarah Everard, a London woman who was murdered by a police officer on her walk home. Women across the globe bellowed their anger and hurt, because the truth is that it could have been any one of us. We’re constantly on guard around men. We carry pepper spray and hold our keys between our fingers on our walks home. We stay in clusters and have to keep our hands over our drinks, just in case. It’s always just in case, because the reality is that men are capable of and willing to prey on us, hurt us, even kill us, the second we let our guard down.

And that’s exactly what happened to the main character in Jane Anonymous. “Jane” is an innocent 17-year-old who runs to the shop she works at to pick out a gift for her best friend’s birthday when a man approaches and kidnaps her. The story is told in alternating timelines, one during Jane’s abduction and the other after she escapes captivity and tries to gain some control and normalcy of her new life.

This is a heartbreaking story for obvious reasons, but it also amplifies how much guilt and blame Jane carries on herself. Throughout the book Jane speculates if maybe she could have done something differently to prevent her kidnapping. Jane’s friend blames herself for coming home too early; her mother blames herself for not driving Jane to the shop; her father blames himself for sleeping in that morning. The weight of Jane’s abduction obviously severely impacts everyone around her, but Jane still sees her abduction as her own burden.

The man who took her seemed friendly and harmless, and she bought into his facade, which is how he was able to corner her. But it’s not fair to say her naivety caused her kidnapping, because in an ideal world, women should be allowed to trust strangers to some extent. We shouldn’t be worried that every man we pass on the street might harm us. We shouldn’t be afraid to turn someone down. We shouldn’t have to be on guard 24/7 just in case.

Jane was an innocent teenager who was unlucky enough to be chosen and targeted by “the monster,” as Jane refers to him. That was one piece of this book that I wish had been done better. Yes, the man who kidnapped her was a monster for his actions, but more than that, he was a man. I felt that turning him into a monster took away from the reality of the situation. Monsters are something else, something frightening and horrible and capable of evil, but most importantly, mythical. The difference is that men are real and capable of doing terrible things to women.

Aside from the obvious anger at Jane’s captor, I was frustrated with how everyone in Jane’s life expected her to just revert back to her normal self and fall into her old habits. Her relationship with her best friend is tarnished, and her parents are demanding and forceful that she keep up with the routine of her old life. Despite my frustration with those characters, I know that can sometimes be a realistic reaction from the captive’s friends and family, which made the story feel all the more genuine. That’s the biggest reason for giving a high review: I felt that this was truly a realistic story of a girl being held captive and returning to her life after her escape.

Because of the context of this story, I don’t know that young-adult is the right category to put it under, but I also don’t know that it should be classified as mystery/thriller either. This isn’t thrilling and enticing. This is real life, and it’s genuinely terrifying. Maybe horror is a more fitting genre.

Gripping and emotional - I found this moving, and the author is one I will keep an eye out for in the future. A good YA thriller is quite difficult to find so I was really pleased with how exciting and different this book was. Recommend highly!

This book totally sucked me in! I love a kidnapping story and this was a good one. A decent twist, good audio narration, with good respect towards the effects of trauma. Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #netgalley

So, this was a deep and dark look into the psychological trauma that people suffer after being abducted or held hostage. Without giving too much away, this story is about a senior girl in high school, who goes by the name Jane Anonymous, in order to keep her identity hidden (yes, this is fictional) who has survived a seven month long stint of living in captivity against her will and living to tell how she survived and eventually escaped. However, it goes way deeper than that. The story switches back and forth from present day, where she is coping with the trauma she has experienced. She has chosen to write about her experiences as a way of therapy to try to make sense of it all. Meanwhile, the story jumps back to "then" when she was being held captive so that the reader can visualize everything that she went through. Obviously, the reader learns right out of the gate that the main character escapes from this hellish event in her life, but it really opens one's eyes to how people react to trauma and how people deal with various traumas in different ways. People are so quick to judge other people's reactions to trauma, and this book is a great example of how wrong people's perceptions and judgments can truly be.

This chilled me to my bones, but I could not put it down! Laurie Faria Stolarz made Jane so unbelievably real, I truly felt sympathy for her. Like, this could happen to me, my daughter, or anyone else I know...it just gave me chills to think about it. Trigger warnings: topics of self-harm and suicide are discussed in the story.