This is the sequel to the best-selling Jane Doe, and you really do need to have read this one to “get” Jane and her deliciously twisted humour. Unfortunately for me this didn’t have the same tension as the original and I found parts of it almost dull, but Jane is still a great character so it’s still definitely worth reading.

A year after the last book ended, Jane is happily settled into her comfortable life in Minneapolis, with a new job in a prestigious law firm, a stylish condo that she shares with her still unnamed cat, and a great sex life with her adorable boyfriend Luke. The only fly in the ointment is a colleague who keeps taking credit for her work, but master manipulatrix Jane knows just how to deal with him.

Then she gets a call from her useless despicable convict brother’s ex to say that her sixteen year old niece has gone missing, and no one in her dreadful family gives a toss. Jane doesn’t want to get involved, until a comment that Kayla is “just like you” sparks her interest: what would it be like to meet a younger version of herself, and could she finally find someone she can relate to? Travelling back to the small Oklahoma town she grew up in, Jane will discover that Kayla May be another sociopath but she’s in over her head, having picked the wrong man for her schemes...

The first part of this was fun as Jane gleefully plots how to take down smug Rob, but once she journeys home it dragged as she reminisces about her terrible childhood, visits a series of restaurants (which made me hungry as well as bored) and meets up with all of her awful family and a range of other losers that she toys with but it’s all rather half-hearted, with none of the menace. Of the first book.

We don’t actually meet Kayla until the last quarter, so don’t get a chance to decide whether to like her or not, and then everything happens rather too easily and we have another saccharine-sweet ending, apart from a clever little hiccup at the end to take us on to the next book. So overall I was a bit disappointed, but it won’t stop me reading the final part of the trilogy to see where Stone is going with her delightfully demonic duo.
3.5 rounded down for the annoying present tense narration.

My thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review. Problem Child is published on March 24th.

Jane was such an interesting, complex character. It was great to read about how a sociopath views the world and the people in it. I enjoyed reading about Jane’s childhood and some of her experiences.

The plot kept me reading and I really needed to know what happened to Kayla. The middle of the book was slow, however, it picked up towards the end.

I’ll look forward to the 3rd book in the series and I’m excited to fall back into Jane’s strange and dark world.

I absolutely loved this book! A review of this book will be up on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books closer to the publication date. Jane has to be one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. She's smart and so so much more human than many of us are. I strongly recommend both this book and the first one in the series.

Jane Doe knows she is a sociopath. She has a high-powered job, a cat, a condo and a boyfriend, but she can't feel emotions like other people feel. She is always wearing a mask and she enjoys playing with people's lives. One day she gets a call from one of her brother's ex-wives. His 16 year old daughter Kayla disappeared over a month ago and no one is looking for her or seems to care. Jane doesn't care either until she says that everyone says Kayla is just like Jane. When she looks at the girl's picture online and sees the same blank look in her eyes that Jane has, Jane knows she needs to step in and find her.
This book was so good. I felt like I was actually inside Jane's creepy mind. It was very Dexter-like, except without all of the murders. This is the perfect book for all of the suspense lovers out there.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

I've not read book 1 in the series but i think I may just to find out what Jane got up to in the first book. This book is so good! I loved Jane's character and found her whitty and bad to the bone in an endearing kind of way. In this book we meet Jane's niece who she's gone to find. The Very last few pages were a spin I didn't see coming and I cant wait for book 3 to find out more on James niece whos creepy and a dangerous!

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this very strange book

what the h*ll have i just read...its amazing...

a psychopath who functions in everyday life..though when she gets bored...watch out...she plays many a game with her work colleagues

jane is a cooperate lawyer high up in the food chain and she is about to uncover robs antics and then take the applause for saving the day until she receives a phone call about her niece...jane has no time for family so ignores the first phone call but then is intrigued when she hears there is another call and is told that this niece is just like her but is also missing....

jane is bored which is dangerous and goes in search of her niece....

have to say i found this a very entertaining book that kept me glued right to the end...its a fascinating world of psychopaths and found this one very easy to read and look forward to the next one in this series

Another excellent deep dive into the mind of a female sociopath. This time attorney Jane is searching for her missing sixteen-year-old niece, Kayla. By all accounts, Kayla is a Problem Child, who acts just like Jane...

I cannot believe how much I enjoy this series. Jane reminds me so much of Hannibal Lector. Chillingly fascinating! However, because Jane was made—not born—a sociopath, it is hard not to admire her survival skills. Plus she gets to do what she wants without guilt or shame.

If you like Dexter or Silence of the Lambs, I am sure you will love Problem Child. Though you can read these books in any order, they are best when my five-star rated Jane Doe is read first.

Problem Child has my highest recommendation and is a favorite for sure! 5 stars!

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing, Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Problem Child was even better than Jane Doe. And I have to say, that even with her sociopathic personality, I just love Jane. She's extremely raw. And she's so honest - because she just worry too much about societal norms. And that's part of why she's so amazing! We should all have a little more Jane in us.

Of course, Jane is very good at pretending so as to not be seen as too 'different'. And she's very intelligent, which totally helps her in all she does. I just love that she's a highly functional person, extremely sharp at reading other people's body language, then making informed decisions as to how to reach her goal.

I received an #ebook copy via #netgalley. I ended up not getting very far in this book due to losing internet for a few days based on weather. I will retry at a different time and give my #honestreview at some point in the future days or months.

i loved the first book and was super excited for this one... This one is much slower, much more 'tell' than 'show' in regards to Jane, which unfortunately made it a tad boring. We are told how messed up Jane is, but we already knew that and maybe more showing would have been better. I just didn't love it as much. Definitely a set up for the third book, which I was meh about until the ending and then I was like whoa. Need it now.

I found this novel to be slow and I had a hard time getting into the plot of the text. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

Thank you Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Victoria Helen Stone.
I read Jane Doe and was super excited when I was approved for the second instalment, Problem Child.
Jane in the perfect sociopath and now her niece Kayla joins her in the adventures.
Fast read which I could not put down.
Crazy meet crazy. Love this series and I hope there are more adventure to come.
Highly recommend.
5 🌟

Excellently Atypical. I like finding books that treat neurological divergences as normal and show how those with different neurologies are the same as neurotypicals, and this is one such book. Here, we see a sociopath - that neurology most commonly thought of as "evil" by neurotypicals - using her abilities to further her own career and figure out what has happened to a niece she barely knew she had. Very humanizing, very demystifying, and very, very good. Those that don't like frankness or "vulgarity"... probably won't like this tale. But for the rest of us non-prudes, this truly was a great - and fast - read. Very much recommended.

I really enjoyed Jane Doe so I was excited to start this second book and get another chance to get into Jane’s head. But, I have to say I wasn’t as impressed with this book as I was with the first. I liked the fact that we got to learn more about Jane including her childhood and her relationship with Luke, however I found it hard to connect with the storyline about Kayla. Most of the middle of the book dragged on a little too long and I felt bored with the details about Kayla’s situation and Jane’s quest to find her. The end of the book (last 10% or so) picked up a little and it definitely seems like the author left the storyline open for a book 3. Even though I wasn’t as impressed with this book as the first, I would definitely be interested in reading more about Jane if there is a third book.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. I enjoyed this book so immensely that now I'll need to go back to read the previous books in this series.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jane Doe, the unforgettable sociopath, is back to her old tricks...

PLOT SUMMARY:
Jane is doing just fine in her life...enjoying her job, her boyfriend, her cat, and her schemes. So when she gets a call from a family member warning her that her niece Kayla is missing, Jane hesitates to step in. Helping isn’t really her style. But the more she learns about Kayla, the more curious she is about her, and she soon finds herself investigating this disappearance. What will she find back home in Oklahoma? And is Oklahoma ready for the new Jane?

PROS and CONS:
Jane is an unusual character - a self professed sociopath with some questionable morals, yet you cannot help but fall slightly in love with her. Not affected by guilt and relying heavily on copying the behaviour of others to fit in, she nevertheless manages to charm the pants off most people she meets...if she wants to that is.

Unfortunately, as with most second novels featuring the same character, there was a lot of filler. We find out a lot more about Jane and how she came to be the way she is, how her environment shaped her, and how her gene pool meant she would never really stand a chance. We also see a softer side of Jane...was it as much fun as the vengeful Jane in Jane Doe? Not a chance...but it was nice to see her develop into a more well rounded character.

This one struggles a bit in the middle, but eventually finds its’ groove at the end, and will leave you wanting more!

YES or NO:
It’s a YES from me - I adore reading about this anti-hero...this imperfect warrior for justice. I really hope there is a Book 3 so we can get to know Jane even better!

4 Stars

This is the second book in the Jane Doe series but it can be read as a stand alone as there weren't any references to the first book and it's nothing you need to read to get more out of this book.

The author does a great job of creating multi layered characters that she slowly allows you glimpses of as the plot progresses. The slow build allows the 'creepy' factors of Jane's personality to really shine; she knows what her limitations are and what she's truly capable of. She knows what she wants and how to get it; something not all of us are able to do. While the plot sometimes felt a little slow, and some of the things Jane did as she was trying to find her niece didn't add a lot to the story, the way the book ended made up for it! Has Jane met her match?!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Jane Doe series - I didn't read the first, so was unfamiliar with the backstory. However, some hints are given, and Jane goes back home to find a lost niece and is confronted with her own past, so I was fairly clear as to what made Jane the woman she is. Some of the story portrayed her as mean and bitter, but on the whole I loved the way Jane was portrayed as forging her own path in life. As others have also mentioned, I found much of the middle of the story forgettable, but really liked the beginning and the end. Now off to read the first book in the series - and the ending set up the next installment, so will look out for that.

Ok, Jane is back! Its hard not to love this psychopath! I was so excited to see another Jane novel. I was completely immersed in Jane and her revenge plot in the first story, so I could not wait to jump back into Jane's life. 

This story follows Jane as she searches for her missing niece- a girl that people say is just like Jane. This journey to find Kayla sends her on a path back to where she grew up. Let me tell you, if you think Jane is crazy...get ready to meet her mother. Whoa.

I really loved this follow up story. It had all the snark and ridiculous behavior Jane brought us in the first book. 

I love a good book that can make me root for the villain. Give me more Jane!

Jane is back! This time she goes in search of her niece. Wait whaaat? Jane, our Jane, the sociopath, who was abused by her family in her childhood, is going in search of her niece????
Meet Kayla, Jane's niece. She hardly looks like she's sixteen but something catches Jane's attention. Kayla's lifeless eyes - it reminds Jane of herself!

There's trouble in paradise for Luke and Jane so Jane goes on a self-exploration journey. Can sociopaths fall in love? Are they capable of truly loving someone? Jane is about to find out.
Jane's "whining" about her troubled childhood gets a bit too much. If you have read the first book, you will know what I am talking about. At times, I was like, argh, move on, Jane. I hear ya, you felt bad. But that's in the past so for god's sake, move on!

The story starts well, loses pace halfway through and finally ends with a bang! Kayla's revelation is mind-blowing! Overall, this was an interesting read.