alisoninbookland
Written on Feb 20, 2018
Jane has lived an ordinary life, raised by her aunt Magnolia--an adjunct professor and deep sea photographer. Jane counted on Magnolia to make the world feel expansive and to turn life into an adventure. But Aunt Magnolia was lost a few months ago in Antarctica on one of her expeditions. Now, with no direction, a year out of high school, and obsessed with making umbrellas that look like her own dreams (but mostly just mourning her aunt), she is easily swept away by Kiran Thrash--a glamorous, capricious acquaintance who shows up and asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at her family's island mansion called Tu Reviens.
- ISBN13 9780525493372
- Publish Date 19 September 2017
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Imprint Listening Library
- Edition Bot Exclusive ed.
- Format Audiobook (CD)
- Duration 14 hours and 39 minutes
- Language English
Reviews
Briana @ Pages Unbound
Written on Oct 14, 2017
cornerfolds
Written on Oct 12, 2017
DNF @ 55%
Oh, Jane. I wanted to love you, I really did. I actually started reading this book twice before I got the audiobook. Each time there was just something that stopped me from getting into it. Still, I knew I would LOVE a story about a weird house and the multiverse. Imagine my surprise when I suddenly realized I had absolutely no idea what was going on and finally just gave up.
Obviously, this is Jane's story. Jane has lived with her aunt since her parents died, but now her aunt is gone too. Upon the invitation of her friend Kiran (and remembering a promise she made to her aunt), Jane heads to Tu Reviens, a mansion on an island where a gala is being held. Once there, Jane... makes umbrellas.
Jane is a super weird character and I can't quite decide how I feel about her. I didn't hate her, but I was also mildly annoyed for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. She was almost too quirky to enjoy. She made a LOT of umbrellas and she talked about them non-stop. I DNFd this at 55% and I'm not quite sure where the romance was, but it seems like it could've gone one of two ways. Unfortunately I reached the end (yes, at 55%) and I really wish it had been delved into at least a little.
Something I did enjoy was the atmosphere Kristin Cashore created in Jane, Unlimited. From the first page things felt just a little bit off. There was never any one thing specifically that made me feel a little uneasy, but I definitely felt an overall sense of something being not quite right. Although, maybe that was unintentional?
So what did I hate about Jane, Unlimited? Remember two paragraphs ago when I said I reached the end at 55%? I reached the first of several endings. See, this book was first conceived of as a Choose Your Own Adventure story. For whatever reason, Cashore chose not to do that and instead this is a book with five endings. To read this book, you have to read five endings. I can only speak for the first one, but it did not feel complete at all. In fact, I didn't even realize it was the ending until I realized I was reading the same thing that had already happened earlier in the book. From what I've read in other reviews, the endings get weirder as they go, including aliens and talking dinosaurs? Maybe that last one was an exaggeration.
This really felt like half a book. The complete story was only about 200 pages long and absolutely nothing in this book was fully fleshed out. The characters never had a chance to develop, the story never had a chance to reach a satisfactory conclusion. I cannot imagine that with five more endings crammed in the last 200 pages, anything would have changed. I know that some people have really enjoyed Jane, Unlimited, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it. It definitely would have been better as a Choose Your Own Adventure, and who doesn't want to read one of those as an adult?
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Sep 30, 2017
I'll be the first to admit I had no idea what it was about when I picked it up. I saw Cashore's name on the cover, saw it was signed and utterly gorgeous both outside and inside, and decided to get it on a whim. I wasn't going to get such an opportunity again.
So, maybe it's my fault. But I don't think it is. For those of you who don't know, this story is, in fact, five different stories, tying together loosely, in a similar fashion to choose your own adventure books, only intended to be read in order. Jane, our protagonist, finds herself invited to an elusive mansion island of a rich acquaintance after her aunt dies suddenly and leaves her bereft, lost and alone.
There, she meets many colorful and interesting people. There is Kiran, her rich friend, who seems to be depressed and struggling despite being rich, smart and pretty, with a prestigious degree. There is Kiran's twin brother, Ravi, who is charming and handsome but also madly in love with art and a bit of a womanizer. There are Ivy and Patrick, who work on the premise and grew up with Kiran and Ravi. There is something going on between Patrik and Kiran, and Ivy is beautiful and smart and funny and Jane sees possibilities in her. Then there is Jasper, the demented (adorable) dog, the household personal, Kiran and Ravi's father, their mother and their missing stepmother, an art PI who is Ravi's maybe girlfriend, Kiran's boyfriend who she doesn't seem to stand, a pair of British snobs, missing bank robbers and missing kids and a lot of confusion and mystery.
YES, IT'S A LOT
And then, comes the Choice. It's not even a big choice - just a small one, one choosing who to follow first, and that's the choice that potentially changes Everything. From this point on, we read of five possible timelines, depending on what Jane chooses. Some are good. Some are ludicrous. Some are downright horrifying and, like, why??
This is, where, for me, this book fails massively. It's a book was full of ideas. Interesting ideas, wonderful ideas, but also ultimately half-baked ideas that never got to fully blossom. This was most apparent in the more fantastical directions this book took, although I felt it in the more grounded versions as well.
I feel like each one of the five stories had potential, had it been allowed to grow and stretched past the 80 pages or so limit given to them in order to leave space for the other stories. The fantastical choices left much to be desired, because they gave you the tip of the iceberg and never fleshed out what was going on, even when it was interesting and captivating and very easily could have their own, full books.
This third option, for me, was totally unnecessary to the story, to the book, to anything. it was kind of like Cashore felt like she needed a dreadful outcome to show anything could happen and just went for it. It gave nothing to the overall story, added nothing, aside for some not much-appreciated depression.
The fourth story, while interesting, felt like it should be its own thing.
In fact, the story I would have liked to read would have been a mixture of the first, second, and third stories. Just one, single narrative, without reality jumping in between, that gives you a (mostly) full picture and story, and allows for the fantastical element to be fully explored, as well for the characters to fully come into themselves in an organic way. THIS is what I wanted. What I had maybe come to expect from Cashore.
It is not what this book is.
I will still read more of Cashore's novel. She is a fantastic writer and has a brilliant, imaginative settings. But this book wasn't her best, not from my pov.
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I GOT A SIGNED HARDCOVER OF THIS BOOK FROM FORBIDDEN PLANET AND I AM OFF THE MOON!! I love Kristin Cashore so, so much, and this hardcover is simply beautiful, naked or dressed *wink wink*