Not a very good read. I had read this after reading the first book jane doe and this one just doesnt live up to it. I like Jane's character and how she thinks etc but this storyline was just a dead end. It didnt bring out anymore of her character or have any real crazy drama. Jane's niece goes missing and no one wants to find her. Jane is told she is a lot like her so shes intrigued to find her and see if she is. The story was a flop to be honest

I’m worried that I like Jane so much because she is a sociopath. She’s never killed anyone, but she has no feelings, guilt or empathy. She doesn’t understand other people, even if she knows how to read them so that she can manipulate them. The first book made me cheer as she taught bad people lessons, and now she’s grown, changed and maybe softened a bit. Part of it is thanks to Luke, her boyfriend. She may not love him as normal people love, but she’s fond of him. When Jane finds out that her niece is missing, she doesn’t really care until she hears how similar she is to her. Could her niece be a sociopath too? Jane can’t resist this challenge and goes back home to find her. Kayla does seem to be a strange duck. Everything that Jane finds out about her makes her more and more convinced of this, and the plot just keeps getting better. As an aunt myself, I think my nephew is very similar to me so Jane’s connection with Kayla touched me, even if it’s a little warped. The ending packs such a punch that left me stunned. I also enjoyed the humor. Jane’s views are just funny and I really, really like her. She’s the person we all wish we could be when somebody takes advantage of us.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Lake Union Publishing!

Jane is back!! Well, almost, because the Jane we all loved in "Jane Doe" is not the same one we get for most of this story. I gotta say I prefer her so much more when she's on revenge mode than when she's playing amateur detective. I loved the first and last quarters of the book, but the middle was a miss for me. Although we get to know some more things about her childhood and how she became to be who she is, I found the investigation into her niece's disappearance pretty dissapointing, as it was not as interesting as the story which introduced us to Jane. There were a couple of episodes that I found completely irrelevant to the story (wind turbines, ugggh) and her musings about her relationship with Luke got a bit repetitive.

The ending sets the story for what I hope will be Jane going back to be revenge queen.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you enjoyed Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone, you will love the next chapter in Jane’s life. Jane is back and perfectly content, as much as she can be, with her life. She has her relationship with Luke, her advancing career, a great condo, and a cat who gets her. When one of her brother’s ex-wives calls about Jane’s missing niece, Jane has to decide if it’s worth upending her life to search for a niece she doesn’t remember meeting.
Along with a missing niece, Jane has a lazy and overbearing man at work to take down and Luke wants to move in together. Jane doesn’t do relationships and Luke’s desire to further their commitment instantly puts Jane over the edge. Deciding that searching for her niece Kayla may give her some time to think about Luke’s offer, Jane sets out to see the family that she was more than willing to put behind her.
Victoria Helen Stone gives us another dark and twisting tale of my favorite sociopath. Problem Child gives us a more in-depth look at Jane’s childhood and how that shaped her mentally and emotionally. I loved Jane’s interactions with her parents and how strong and controlled she was-and then felt horrible for feeling that way because Jane’s strength comes from years of mental and physical abuse.
It wouldn’t be a Jane Doe book without her destroying at least one man’s life and Jane gets it done in this book. The way that Jane takes down a crappy coworker is amazing and that man deserved everything that came at him. Do not cross Jane.
Problem Child was amazing and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I really love Jane! I enjoyed the first about her very much. I just liked how she sees the world. I loved to look inside the brain of a sociopath. And we are back again in her head.

Life is getting boring for Jane. She has a boyfriend who likes her just the way she is. In her job everything is under control. So when she gets a call from one of her brothers exes telling her about her niece who is missing and nobody cares, Jane does not care either. But when she looks at a picture of Kayla she sees herself in her. Everybody is telling her that Kayla is like her and Jane sees the sociopath in Kayla’s eyes. And she is bored so she thinks that looking for Kayla may be entertaining and finding her makes her a hero to her boyfriend and her colleagues.

It was again very interesting to be inside Jane’s head. And I still love this character. But this time the author does not get tired to tell us about that Jane is a sociopath, that she is different. This gets a bit repetitive. And strange. Because Jane know what she has to feel but she does not feel it. And she keeps on telling us that she doesn’t. Jane is somehow proud of herself being different. And she makes me almost want to be just like her. Don’t give a damn about other people or morals. But the thing is that Jane is beginning to soften. And I can’t believe that she knows all about the feelings you should have but she does not feel them. This time I could not believe totally that she does not care about anything. And there was too much telling. This “telling” all the time was my main problem with the book and the reason I don’t give it 5 stars. There is so much self-reflection by Jane that it really gets boring. And the story is thin. It is all about finding Kayla and finding out if she is like Jane. So there is a lot of unnecessary fuss about Jane’s background and her family. I just enjoyed the book because I love Jane. And I also just tolerated the permanent explanation that she is different and brilliant because I love her. It seems there will be a third book, maybe more, about Jane and Kayla. Kayla seems to be very interesting, too. But the author should consider not explaining so much next time. And maybe think about a more interesting story to put her heroines into. I am in for the next book.

Jane Doe is one of my favorite players and this sequel was such a pleasant surprise. I loved the mystery of it all. The no nonsense way in which she goes about her life, her decisions and her motives. Rob is such a fun storyline and kept me laughing and entertained. The insight of her family and where she came from was a great addition. I will be on the edge of my seat waiting to see if we get a third book because I will never get enough. How this ended leaves such a great story if their is a third. I read Jane Doe through NetGalley and I'm beyond thankful that I got that an opportunity to read an ARC of Problem Child courtesy of Lake Union Publishing.

Having read Jane Doe 1 on the recommendation of a fellow Bookstagrammer, and absolutely loving it, I was delighted to have been gifted an e-arc of Problem Child, Jane Doe 2.

Jane is back. She's a sociopath, knows it and is proud of it. From a poverty stricken and abusive childhood, she has pulled herself up by her bootstraps and made a success of her life. Only Jane doesn't feel everyday emotions like the rest of us, she doesn't do guilt, pity, empathy, although she does feel pleasure at certain times and this is as close as she gets to feeling happiness. She is working as a lawyer and in a relationship with Luke. She likes her life but gets bored easily with the day to day humdrum of it.

Until she gets word that her 16 year old niece has gone missing. Jane sees something in her niece's eyes in a recent photo that makes her think Kayla is like her, a sociopath, and Kayla probably doesn't even realise it. Jane is curious about this and, in her constant need for stimulation, makes the decision to go and see if she can find Kayla. When she goes back to Oklahoma, she realises not much has changed in the town, with her deadbeat parents and jailbird brother, the local high school or any of the local guys. But in trying to find Kayla, will Jane have bitten off more than she can chew?

I loved this book. I read it in about 36 hours. Jane is a superb character. She is dark, unafraid, totally manipulative and completely brilliant fun to read about. It is darkly funny at times and I loved that. She is all the things you want in a heroine, liberated and absolutely unapologetic for it. There are certain elements of Jane's character that I think a lot of us would wish to be more like.

Really well plotted, it is also well paced and has snappy short chapters. It takes great writing to create a sociopathic character, make them very likeable and have you rooting for them, while all the time knowing that they are insincere, superficially charming and shallow. I really loved the ending and can't wait to see where the next book will take Jane. An excellent five star read for me!

Let me start with saying that I love Jane’s character and her hilarious antics. I enjoy reading her unique thought process and as much as her actions are less than admirable at times, I found her brutally honest and very likable. However, as much as I love Jane, I was a little bored while reading Problem Child. There was almost no action, and I was basically presented with 300 pages of Jane’s thoughts (often repetitive), her childhood memories, and her obsession with food. Yes, food! For being a sociopath and not having feeling about anything or anybody, Jane sure has a lot of “feeling” about her food. I know, I know we all need to eat and most of us enjoys good food, but do I really need to read a detailed description of every meal Jane has? What I really needed was more action and faster pace. So, with great sadness I have to rate the second book in the Jane Doe series with only 3 stars. I am hoping that the next book, yes I am pretty sure there will be next one because of how this book ended, will be more exciting.

Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for gifting me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Being bored with the story from the get go, I decided not to continue. I think that my main problem are the flat characters and unrealistic interactions between them. For example, early on there's a scene in a bar where we have a typical douchebag-guy and insecure woman having a date. Of course, the woman doesn't realize that she can order food if she's hungry until Jane steps in and shooes the bad guy away....

I didn't have an issue with the stereotype and one-dimensional characters in JANE DOE, but mainly because the story was so much fun to follow. PROBLEM CHILD lacks this interesting plot, in my opinion, and that's why I did not finish.

So good to be back with Jane Doe, everyone's favourite sociopath! She's settled down in Minneapolis, has a good job as a lawyer, a cat and a steady boyfriend who sort of gets her. She's working out ways to get back at a lazy colleague who takes credit for her work but apart from that she's bored. When she gets word from her home town in Oklahoma that her sixteen year niece Kayla is missing, she really couldn't care less until she hears that her niece is somewhat like her - cold, smart and calculating - and now Jane has a project to capture her interest.

While I enjoyed the first and last third of this book, the middle section felt a bit lacking in substance and sharpness. Maybe more could have been made of Jane's plotting against her colleague back at work as that was dealt with fairly superficially and it's always a pleasure to watch Jane at work destroying someone. As before, I enjoyed Jane's snarky thoughts and approaches to problems as well as her awareness of her sociopathic nature. Kayla is a new force to be reckoned with and from the ending it sounds like we'll be seeing more of her in the future. Can't wait!

Jane has a new job, she's still in a relationship with Luke, and her life is as close to normal as it can be, but Jane is bored...
So when she learns that Kayla, her 16-year-old niece who is apparently "just like her" is missing and no one seems to care, she jumps at the opportunity for an exciting adventure and decides to look for her on her own, thrilled at the possibility of encountering someone like herself.

I absolutely loved Jane Doe and delved into the sequel with the highest of expectations, but although it was a good entertaining read, I must say that it wasn't half as good as I hoped it would be.
Jane is still witty and sharp but not to the same extent as before, and the story just isn't as interesting and suspenseful as the previous one.
The middle of the book was dragging, and I found myself losing interest.
The story does pick up towards the end, and the ending itself is a great introduction for another installment, but I was rather hoping that's what this book would have been about in the first place.
I found the subplot with her work colleague more interesting than the search for Kayla.
Either way, hopefully, the next installment will be more gripping and will save the series from going downhill.
Overall it was a fairly good read, but it didn't even come close to matching the brilliance of the first book.
I give it 3 stars and hope for a more thrilling ride next time.

Jane's back and unexpectedly in love.

While Jane doe will actually be my favourite, this was pretty good too. Am still wrapping my head round jane and her niece being sociopath though like it runs in the family.

Jane’s deeply troubled sixteen-year-old niece, Kayla, vanished, and no one seems to care. Neither does Jane. Until she sees a picture of Kayla and recognizes herself in the young girl’s eyes. It’s the empty stare of a sociopath. And it seems only Jane cares enough to find her.

Pretty interesting, fast paced and moving.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC copy

I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review

I love Jane so bad and it's interesting to see her dive into more ethically ambiguous waters- hoping to save her possibly sociopathic teen niece as an avenging angel for antisocial girls, exploring monogomy- while still maintaining her Jane shenanigans. I would read a book about Jane at the DMV or Jury Duty (interesting!) so this was a no-brainer. If you like stories about female sociopathic protagonists, you can't go wrong with Jane.

Five antisocial stars.

After snagging a free copy of Jane Doe on Kindle Unlimited and finding myself totally infatuated with Jane, I was thrilled for the chance of an early read of the next book in the series, Problem Child. Jane, a self-diagnosed sociopath and fellow bookworm, is once again out to seek sweet revenge. Jane is estranged from her dysfunctional family until she sees a picture of her missing niece Kayla, and recognizes herself in Kayla's detached sociopathic stare. Jane, knowing that she is the only one that can understand Kayla and willing to help, sets off on a mission to find and save Kayla from not only the dark dangerous crowd she has fallen into, but also herself. Is it possible to find a sociopathic main character completely lovable? It is when Victoria Helen Stone writes it! Problem Child is a quick-read thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Jane is dark, disturbing, and deceptively cunning, and by the end of the book, you’ll want to be her best friend because she is just that cool.

"People are afraid of us. Afraid of the idea of sociopaths, lumping us in with serial killers and mass murderers. But I've never killed anyone. I probably never will.

Still, if they knew the truth, they'd be even more afraid. There are so many of us. We're everywhere. Sure, we're petty criminals and fraudsters, but we are also CEOs and surgeons and military bras. More than that, we are the most successful CEOs and surgeons and military brass. The very people the world admires. Why do we have success? Because we're not scared of anything, and we're willing to accept the kind of risk/reward exchange that pays off in millions. We're eager for it."

Jane Doe is one of the most original voices I've ever come across in fiction. I loved the first book so much that I've been eagerly anticipating this follow up. Problem Child brings us back to Jane and we get to see what she's been up to since the last book ended. We also get to see more of Jane's history - how she grew up, her family and things that shaped her.

In the middle this book got a little slower for me - however I would still listen to Jane's descriptions of just about anything. There were so many moments that I laughed out loud or had to repeat something she said to a friend who already read it. And then THAT ENDING! How soon do we get the next Jane Doe book?? I'm ready right now! Also so excited to see it's been optioned for television. I think it will make a great show.

If you are a fan of Dexter or You - you absolutely need to be picking up the Jane Doe series! This is a character that will stick with you and is like no one else you've read before.

CW: Child abuse referenced - emotional, neglect and sexual

Thank you so much to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Jane Doe is back and she is meaner and fiercer than before. In book 2 of the series, we meet Jane’s niece Kayla. Jane hears that 16-year-old Kayla, who she is told is very much like her, is missing, possibly in a sex trafficking scheme. The news comes at what seems to be the perfect time for Jane. Her long-time boyfriend Luke wants to move to a bigger place TOGETHER with Jane and well, that kind of commitment is pretty scary for her. So off she goes to Oklahoma, where she is from, to investigate what happened to her niece and try to find her.

I enjoyed the book, but I thought the middle part was a bit too long and it didn’t hold my interest like the rest of the book. It was a bit too much Jane and not enough action. However, the beginning and the last third of the book was awesome. Jane’s niece Kayla is intriguing in a creepy way and I can't wait to find out what book 3 has in store about her.

I was very excited when I got this ARC of Problem Child because I loved the first book, Jane Doe. With that being said, I enjoyed this book but not nearly as much as the first one. I loved the beginning of the book and the last 1/3 of the book. I found the middle of the book tedious to read and it finally picked up when Jane finds her niece. What I really did like was the ending of the book and look forward to the next installment. I do not want to give away any spoilers but want to say the way the book ended leaves one wanting for another book revolving around Jane Doe. I want to thank net galley for this ARC I received for an honest review.




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Jane Doe is back and she is as snarky & stabby (snabby?starky?) as ever! Jane is one of my all time favorite characters, and she does not disappoint in this book (the opening scene was *chef's kiss*). She is still deeply in tune with the way society is tilted against those not in power (women, poor people, etc.) and is still exploiting those insights to work situations precisely in her favor. VH Stone does a masterful job of making Jane incredibly competent, but throwing the right curve balls and showing how she still has blind spots to keep the story engaging and suspenseful. The thematic content & character work in this were great-- I particularly love the ongoing exploration of what love actual is (emotion vs. action).
That said, I think the plot engine of this one didn't work as well for me as the first book did. While I enjoyed where we ended up by the end of the story, I wish I'd had more time with Jane stalking her prey and less time on a road trip exploring her past.
All in all, though, still very enjoyable and I think people who loved the first book will be satisfied by this one

I started this with really high expectations but I found it slightly lacking. The best part was the sarcasm of Jane which was truly hilarious. I enjoyed the first part of the book and thought that the amazing sarcastic Jane was back, but the second half felt flat for me but thankfully the ending was interestingly good. Jane and Kayla have an interesting setup for thriller plot.

So its been mostly mixed opinions but I will be looking forward to next installment for sure to see what happens further.

Very much enjoyed this follow up in Jane's story.

Love her humoured sarcastic remarks and her outlook on the world.

Personally the first in the series is more readable for unputdowness but the storyline in this book takes Jane out of the city where she spent so much time in the first and introduces a whole slew of new characters.