Collection
Publication
Kathy Dawson Books, Kindle Edition, 464 pages
Description
An instant New York Times bestseller--from the award-winning author of the Graceling Realm series--about adventure, grief, storytelling, and finding yourself in a world of seemingly infinite choices. "A wild gift for readers who like books that take them to unexpected places."--Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Wood Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is lost. So she's easily swept away when a glamorous, capricious, and wealthy acquaintance from years ago asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at the extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens. Jane remembers her aunt telling her: "If anyone ever invites to you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you'll go." What Jane doesn't know is that the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her life. One choice leads Jane into a heist mystery. Another takes her into a spy thriller. She finds herself in a gothic horror story, a space opera, and an extraordinary fantasy realm. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. Every choice comes with a price. But together, all the choices will lead her to the truth. One house. Five choices. Limitless possibilities. Read Jane, Unlimited and remember why The New York Times has raved, "Some authors can tell a good story; some can write well. Cashore is one of the rare novelists who do both."… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member foggidawn
Before her Aunt Magnolia died, she made Jane promise that she would never turn down an invitation to Tu Reviens, an eclectic island mansion owned by the family of one of Jane's acquaintances. Jane is living on her own and barely getting by when Kiran, the aforementioned acquaintance, runs into Jane
Cashore has written five books in one, because each of Jane's possible choices leads her to a different style of story: mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. And yet, each story builds on and intertwines with the ones before, so that the reader can put together the details and solve all of the mysteries by the time Jane reaches the satisfying end of the final story.
This is nothing like Cashore's Graceling trilogy, but don't let that put you off! It owes a debt (as Cashore acknowledges in her author's note) to Rebecca and Jane Eyre. I'd also recommend it to those who enjoyed E. Lockheart's We Were Liars. But really, I think just about anyone will find something to like in this fascinating amalgam of genres.
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and casually invites her to the house for an upcoming gala. On her first evening there, Jane sees and hears many strange things: a girl digging holes in the garden, the odd circumstance of the missing second Mrs. Thrash, some valuable art that might have been misplaced -- or was it stolen? -- a gun in the night, a slightly too-charming young man, an intriguing and quirky girl, a story about an entire family disappearing after a failed bank robbery, and an oddly behaved dog. And then, the story branches...Cashore has written five books in one, because each of Jane's possible choices leads her to a different style of story: mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. And yet, each story builds on and intertwines with the ones before, so that the reader can put together the details and solve all of the mysteries by the time Jane reaches the satisfying end of the final story.
This is nothing like Cashore's Graceling trilogy, but don't let that put you off! It owes a debt (as Cashore acknowledges in her author's note) to Rebecca and Jane Eyre. I'd also recommend it to those who enjoyed E. Lockheart's We Were Liars. But really, I think just about anyone will find something to like in this fascinating amalgam of genres.
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LibraryThing member EvaW
Several versions of the same story - different endings. Challenging to follow, but interesting!
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
Jane is invited by her college friend to visit the family's expansive island home. The house is filled with art, and a quirky collection of people including family, servants, significant others and friends. Halfway through the book, Jane has to decide which of 5 characters she will accompany. Each
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choice leads to a different type of story. Show Less
LibraryThing member acargile
This is a novel with only one conclusion--the possibility of love.
Jane has a simple but lonely life. Her aunt’s death compounds her loneliness, but she accepts an invitation to go to Tu Reviens when her former tutor, Kiran, invites her. Her aunt insisted that if an invitation were ever to be
The novel has six parts. After the first part, each subsequent selection is another way Jane’s life could go if she makes a different decision. Each section, however, ends the same way--with possibility. In each part, the reader learns different things about the people in the house--their secrets--and/or about a news story where some children are missing after their parents tried to rob a bank.
One of my favorite novels is Fire by Kristin Cashore. I was so excited to read this new novel by her, but I was terribly disappointed. The first half of the novel would be mystery, I guess, and the last part science fiction, which really threw me off. I had to make myself pick up the book. I didn’t like having different stories--I want a linear story to go from beginning to end. To me, the novel never ended. It was just the same ending in each part, which isn’t an ending. You think, “Okay, it’s getting interesting. What will happen next?” That’s when we get another version of what could have happened. Where each section ends doesn’t finish, so when the final section ended, I didn’t feel like the novel was complete. I didn’t care for the characters, particularly. No one seemed redeeming. It’s just a house of chaos--characters running about a house and keeping secrets. I honestly don’t know who I would recommend this novel to--it did not appeal to me at all. I won’t be ordering it for the library.
Jane has a simple but lonely life. Her aunt’s death compounds her loneliness, but she accepts an invitation to go to Tu Reviens when her former tutor, Kiran, invites her. Her aunt insisted that if an invitation were ever to be
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offered, Jane must accept it. The staff are preparing for one of the big galas they regularly put on. The reader never experiences the gala because the novel isn’t about a party. The novel is about possibility. The characters’ lives add a variety of dimensions due to their many secrets from which Jane can explore her own life. Some of the people in the house include the staff--Mr. & Mrs. Vanders and Ivy and her brother Patrick, Kiran’s fiancé, Colin, Kiran’s twin, Ravi, the Okadas, and Jasper, the dog.The novel has six parts. After the first part, each subsequent selection is another way Jane’s life could go if she makes a different decision. Each section, however, ends the same way--with possibility. In each part, the reader learns different things about the people in the house--their secrets--and/or about a news story where some children are missing after their parents tried to rob a bank.
One of my favorite novels is Fire by Kristin Cashore. I was so excited to read this new novel by her, but I was terribly disappointed. The first half of the novel would be mystery, I guess, and the last part science fiction, which really threw me off. I had to make myself pick up the book. I didn’t like having different stories--I want a linear story to go from beginning to end. To me, the novel never ended. It was just the same ending in each part, which isn’t an ending. You think, “Okay, it’s getting interesting. What will happen next?” That’s when we get another version of what could have happened. Where each section ends doesn’t finish, so when the final section ended, I didn’t feel like the novel was complete. I didn’t care for the characters, particularly. No one seemed redeeming. It’s just a house of chaos--characters running about a house and keeping secrets. I honestly don’t know who I would recommend this novel to--it did not appeal to me at all. I won’t be ordering it for the library.
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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
Premise: Jane's aunt dies but before passing away she makes Jane promise to accept an invitation to the island of Tu Reviens, if one ever arises. It does and she does.
The island, which is solely owned , and its house and occupants are all a mystery.
The book begins with a general description of
Having made it through 1 1/2 alternatives, I couldn't go on. The book is too long and the premise is a bit shaky, at best. I was hoping for more from Kristen Cashore. Oh well.
The island, which is solely owned , and its house and occupants are all a mystery.
The book begins with a general description of
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events and then segments into several sections, each one a 'what if I chose this path'. Having made it through 1 1/2 alternatives, I couldn't go on. The book is too long and the premise is a bit shaky, at best. I was hoping for more from Kristen Cashore. Oh well.
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LibraryThing member dcoward
I was very disappointed in this book. My complaints may be a bit spoiler-y, so be warned. This reminded me of a Choose Your Own Adventure. Partially this was the book's structure - it splits at one point and each choice a character makes leads to a different, but connected outcome. Unfortunately,
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the writing style also reminded me of a Choose Your Own Adventure. The first part of the book characters are running from room to room in the house, speaking briefly before dashing off to do something else. As the timelines break off, the characters grow increasingly flat and huge leaps in logic occur to lead to improbable endings. Show Less
LibraryThing member cwhisenant11
I wanted to read this because I've heard so many wonderful things about Kristin Cashore's writing. This book was all over the place. I had to make a list of all the characters to keep them straight. There were a couple times that I had to refer back to previous material because I was sure I had
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already read what I was currently reading. According to the synopsis, Jane was apparently given 5 choices but that was not at all how I interpreted what I read. It actually felt more like Jane was living the same day over and over and forgot everything she learned each time the day repeated. The events were always really similar but they didn't always happen exactly the same way so it was confusing as to whether it was actually the same day being repeated or not. Why the series of events happened differently each day is unclear. I know this sounds confusing but that's because the whole book was confusing. I kept reading because I just knew it would all come together and make perfect sense and end with some kind of neat closure but I was wrong. The ending was a big disappointment that left me feeling unsatisfied and confused. Show Less
LibraryThing member ethel55
This book kept losing stars the longer I read. It starts with a solid 5 premise. Jane, who has been raised by an aunt after the death of her parents is orphaned once again after Aunt Magnolia dies in the Antarctic. Jane runs into Kirain, a young college student who tutored her while in high
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school., and is invited to the family home called Tu Reviens. One thing her aunt explicitly told her was to say yes if ever invited to this island mansion. She goes, and boom, down to 4 stars as the characters we continue to meet, supposedly college type ages, are treated and written as much younger. I still really like the idea that there are multiple ways to go in your life, and depending on what Jane chooses, the day turns out differently. I also liked the nods to previous orphan type novels, gothic novels and the art world. In fact, Jane's own craft of making umbrellas is quite unique. Down to 3 now, there doesn't seem to be any true resolution and even though I get that a lot of it also nods to fantasy, the ending felt kind of abrupt and empty. Two stars--I don't like when the flyleaf description (of five choices Jane may have) doesn't play out in a true fashion. At the end of the day, the stand out character for me was Jasper, the basset hound. I want to see a boxed set with a stuffed Jasper and the book out for the holidays. He saved the day in more ways than one. Show Less
LibraryThing member MickyFine
Jane has recently dropped out of college in the wake of the death of her Aunt Magnolia when she bumps into her former tutor Kiran Thrash. When Kiran invites Jane to come to Kiran's family estate, Tu Reviens, for their annual spring gala, Jane accepts to fulfill a promise to her aunt. Once on the
This book was so much fun. Riffing on both the ideas of the multiverse with hints of a choose your own adventure, Cashore creates a novel whose different pathways feed off each other in ways that are sure to delight regular readers of fantasy or sci fi as well as those who just enjoy Cashore's writing. Playing with different genres in different timelines, there's a little bit of everything in this novel, which as noted in the author's final end notes was heavily influence by both [Rebecca] and [Jane Eyre], although familiarity with those texts isn't required to enjoy the novel. A fun exploration of how our decisions make us who we are, this is a delightful novel that I'll be recommending all over the place.
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island where the estate is located it quickly becomes evident that not everything is at it seems at Tu Reviens. And in the course of a single morning, a single decision could lead Jane down a multitude of paths.This book was so much fun. Riffing on both the ideas of the multiverse with hints of a choose your own adventure, Cashore creates a novel whose different pathways feed off each other in ways that are sure to delight regular readers of fantasy or sci fi as well as those who just enjoy Cashore's writing. Playing with different genres in different timelines, there's a little bit of everything in this novel, which as noted in the author's final end notes was heavily influence by both [Rebecca] and [Jane Eyre], although familiarity with those texts isn't required to enjoy the novel. A fun exploration of how our decisions make us who we are, this is a delightful novel that I'll be recommending all over the place.
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LibraryThing member ShellyPYA
Recently orphaned Jane accepts an unexpected invitation from an old acquaintance to an island mansion where she will face five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her newly untethered life.
LibraryThing member Herenya
Jane, Unlimited has a certain number of parallels to Jane Eyre: eighteen year old Jane is an orphan with an artistic streak who has been raised by her aunt; she goes to stay in a mansion and discovers its secrets. But it isn’t really a Jane Eyre retelling, for this is where the parallels end.
Jane, devastated when her Aunt Magnolia, an underwater photographer, dies during a trip to Antarctica, fails biology and drops out of college. An old acquaintance, Kiran Thrash, finds Jane miserable and working in the college bookshop, and invites her to Tu Reviens, the Thrash family’s island mansion. Tu Reviens is preparing for the spring gala and Jane quickly has unanswered questions about the goings-on of the family, the other guests, the servants and even the basset hound. There’s missing artwork, a missing child, a missing stepmother… And why did Aunt Magnolia make Jane promise to never turn down an invitation to Tu Reviens?
There’s a point in the story where Jane has to decide which mystery to pursue first. What follows is a series of possible adventures, in which Jane makes a different choice and uncovers different secrets. Each is stranger than the one before, each a different genre.
I loved them all - with the notable exception of the third one, a horror story involving a creepy library, a warped copy of Winnie-the-Pooh and Beatles songs. I suspect I found it all the more disturbing, because it took things I love and twisted them. Or maybe I would have been disturbed by it no matter what it twisted? Horror is NOT my genre. It was the only point where I regretted listening to the audiobook, because I couldn’t just skim-read through it.
Each of these stories is a different genre, but as the novel continues, it becomes possible for the reader to see how, often unbeknownst to Jane, the other stories are going on in the background. Even if sometimes they unfold very differently if Jane doesn't become involved. (Fortunately the horror-element is pretty much limited to the third story.) And as each unfolds, different sides to the characters are revealed - which can be fascinating and surprising.
Although each story is different, Jane continues to be Jane. She wears Doctor Who pyjamas and quotes Winnie-the-Pooh and makes unusual, handmade umbrellas. She is immediately connects with Ivy, one of the servants, and Jasper, the basset hound. She grieves for her Aunt Magnolia.
This is a highly usual story, full of surprises and characters I cared about. It's compelling and I'm really am glad I read it (in spite of the horror).
Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh set out to sea once in an umbrella, Jane remembers. During a flood, to save Piglet.
Maybe, she thinks to herself, she should take her umbrellas down to the water, turn them upside down like boats, and send them off on the waves, carrying nothing. Maybe if they carried away all the nothing, she’d be left with something.
A note on the audiobook: The only downside is that you don’t get the maps of the house, and this was the sort of story where I really wanted to consult the maps. But I found an online preview of the book which included the maps easily, so that worked out. Floorplans! I love floorplans for fictional buildings!
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Jane, devastated when her Aunt Magnolia, an underwater photographer, dies during a trip to Antarctica, fails biology and drops out of college. An old acquaintance, Kiran Thrash, finds Jane miserable and working in the college bookshop, and invites her to Tu Reviens, the Thrash family’s island mansion. Tu Reviens is preparing for the spring gala and Jane quickly has unanswered questions about the goings-on of the family, the other guests, the servants and even the basset hound. There’s missing artwork, a missing child, a missing stepmother… And why did Aunt Magnolia make Jane promise to never turn down an invitation to Tu Reviens?
There’s a point in the story where Jane has to decide which mystery to pursue first. What follows is a series of possible adventures, in which Jane makes a different choice and uncovers different secrets. Each is stranger than the one before, each a different genre.
I loved them all - with the notable exception of the third one, a horror story involving a creepy library, a warped copy of Winnie-the-Pooh and Beatles songs. I suspect I found it all the more disturbing, because it took things I love and twisted them. Or maybe I would have been disturbed by it no matter what it twisted? Horror is NOT my genre. It was the only point where I regretted listening to the audiobook, because I couldn’t just skim-read through it.
Each of these stories is a different genre, but as the novel continues, it becomes possible for the reader to see how, often unbeknownst to Jane, the other stories are going on in the background. Even if sometimes they unfold very differently if Jane doesn't become involved. (Fortunately the horror-element is pretty much limited to the third story.) And as each unfolds, different sides to the characters are revealed - which can be fascinating and surprising.
Although each story is different, Jane continues to be Jane. She wears Doctor Who pyjamas and quotes Winnie-the-Pooh and makes unusual, handmade umbrellas. She is immediately connects with Ivy, one of the servants, and Jasper, the basset hound. She grieves for her Aunt Magnolia.
This is a highly usual story, full of surprises and characters I cared about. It's compelling and I'm really am glad I read it (in spite of the horror).
Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh set out to sea once in an umbrella, Jane remembers. During a flood, to save Piglet.
Maybe, she thinks to herself, she should take her umbrellas down to the water, turn them upside down like boats, and send them off on the waves, carrying nothing. Maybe if they carried away all the nothing, she’d be left with something.
A note on the audiobook: The only downside is that you don’t get the maps of the house, and this was the sort of story where I really wanted to consult the maps. But I found an online preview of the book which included the maps easily, so that worked out. Floorplans! I love floorplans for fictional buildings!
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LibraryThing member sleahey
This is a mind-bender of a book, and will take some time to digest. Several stories in one, the stage is set with a rather Gothic tone as Jane begins a visit at her friend's family's mansion on a remote island. The place and its inhabitants are mysterious from the beginning, and it feels almost
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like an interactive board game as characters and subplots are introduced. Then quite suddenly the narrative backtracks, Jane makes a different decision at a certain point, and then the story moves in an alternate direction. I was reading an e-book galley, and I think a paper book would have been easier to follow from one narrative thread to another. It seemed that characters behaved differently from one thread to another, but the mysteries and disclosures intertwine to some extent, except for the horror venture. The mansion is a richly drawn character in this novel, and leaves a strong atmospheric and visual impression. Readers should not expect a Graceling-type of book, but the plot and characters will be very appealing to those who enjoy ambiguity and puzzles. Show Less
LibraryThing member never_sam
For those who are not familiar, the novel is set up very uniquely. There is an opening chapter which introduces the reader to the main actors and our narratorial voice, Jane. At the end of this chapter Jane is presented with a choice to choose to follow five different characters. Depending on which
This structure is fascinating to me, creative and a lot could be done with exploring it, but I have a lot of issues with Cashore's execution which led to me rating this novel with only two stars.
First, I don't understand why each choice leads to a different genre. The first two are a mystery and a spy thriller, but the other three are horror, science fiction, and fantasy. So the last three are much, much harder to be believable are happening in the background of the other plots, especially the horror plot which involvesthe house (and the missing stepmother) to be eating guests of the house. In the other plots, there aren't any people mysteriously missing and the way certain characters are effected by the house is not apparent in the other plots .
Second, I don't think Cashore does a good job in representing each genre. Short fiction doesn't seem to be a strong suit of Cashore's, but each of these multiverse stories is, essentially, a short story which does not entirely belong in the genres they represented. For instance, in the first plot, the mystery, one of the generic requirements of the mystery genre is that the reader is left with enough clues in order to solve the mystery on their own, so at the end you have one of those "I should've figured that out!" moments, or the delight of having outsmarted the detective. Jane is not a good detective and she fully admits her conclusion to the mystery basically comes from intuition. There are similar problems in each of the other genres as well. Cashore attaches a large number of the trapping of certain genres to her plots--spaceships in the science fiction plot, magic in the fantasy plot, spies in the spy thriller, stolen valuable goods in the mystery--but does not seem to really understand how these genres fundamentally function.
Third, although the novel's trajectory hinges on Jane's choice she doesn't make a lot of active choices; her choice is ultimately who to follow and which plot to watch unfold. Although she does make some active choices along the way, she is a fairly reactionary character. I found myself much more interested in other characters--especially Kiran--than in Jane. She sort of fades into the background as only a conduit for the reader to observe. Cashore says on her blog that she originally wrote this in second person as more of a choose-your-own-adventure and that presents, to me, even more problematics, of turning a living human being into a tool for her story, not just paper and ink people.
I love Cashore's other books (the Graceling Realm trilogy) and have even written about them in my academic career, so I was disappointed that this new offering from her was not more fleshed out. I think she is an imaginative writer, but I think she needs to still hone her craft more.
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she follows she ends up in a different genre. Now because they all stem from the same set-up, all the same plots are still in the background, they just play out different depending on Jane's involvement. This is kind of hard to explain without specifics, so without trying to give too much away: In choice 1, Jane gets involved in a whodunnit mystery. The item that got stolen is still stolen regardless of which choice Jane makes, the resolution of the whodunnit just doesn't matter to Jane when she is involved in other details. This structure is fascinating to me, creative and a lot could be done with exploring it, but I have a lot of issues with Cashore's execution which led to me rating this novel with only two stars.
First, I don't understand why each choice leads to a different genre. The first two are a mystery and a spy thriller, but the other three are horror, science fiction, and fantasy. So the last three are much, much harder to be believable are happening in the background of the other plots, especially the horror plot which involves
Second, I don't think Cashore does a good job in representing each genre. Short fiction doesn't seem to be a strong suit of Cashore's, but each of these multiverse stories is, essentially, a short story which does not entirely belong in the genres they represented. For instance, in the first plot, the mystery, one of the generic requirements of the mystery genre is that the reader is left with enough clues in order to solve the mystery on their own, so at the end you have one of those "I should've figured that out!" moments, or the delight of having outsmarted the detective. Jane is not a good detective and she fully admits her conclusion to the mystery basically comes from intuition. There are similar problems in each of the other genres as well. Cashore attaches a large number of the trapping of certain genres to her plots--spaceships in the science fiction plot, magic in the fantasy plot, spies in the spy thriller, stolen valuable goods in the mystery--but does not seem to really understand how these genres fundamentally function.
Third, although the novel's trajectory hinges on Jane's choice she doesn't make a lot of active choices; her choice is ultimately who to follow and which plot to watch unfold. Although she does make some active choices along the way, she is a fairly reactionary character. I found myself much more interested in other characters--especially Kiran--than in Jane. She sort of fades into the background as only a conduit for the reader to observe. Cashore says on her blog that she originally wrote this in second person as more of a choose-your-own-adventure and that presents, to me, even more problematics, of turning a living human being into a tool for her story, not just paper and ink people.
I love Cashore's other books (the Graceling Realm trilogy) and have even written about them in my academic career, so I was disappointed that this new offering from her was not more fleshed out. I think she is an imaginative writer, but I think she needs to still hone her craft more.
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LibraryThing member heike6
I am so sad that I finished this book- I really wanted it to keep going! It is a work of art when the author can tell the story of the same couple days 5 times and have it not feel at all redundant. The writing was great, the characters sympathetic. Just go read it!
LibraryThing member Jessika.C
I have never been so torn about a book like this. On one hand, I really enjoyed the first 200 pages or so but on the other hand this took such a turn that I was never able to fully recuperate and enjoy the rest of the story.
Jane has been living knowing her Aunt Magnolia would never come back for a
Cashore had me hooked with the art heist and spy twist but after the third retelling of the same characters and backgrounds, it felt like I was reading some type of fanfiction AUs. Don't get me wrong, I LIVE for fanfiction but only if they're of my already favorite fandoms featuring my favorite characters. Jane was not one of them I'm afraid so I lost interest.
There's a lot of good stuff in this book. Little bits and pieces from each story tell the whole picture so it was fun picking them up along the way. If you want some diversity this one would be perfect for you. The AU with the talking dog was super cute. When it got too much for me to finish I found the audiobook in my local library and it was read by Rebecca Soler and she always delivers. I never got into The Graceling hype so I wasn't expecting much from this book and while I wouldn't recommend this book I still wouldn't tell anyone to steer clear from it.
Jane has been living knowing her Aunt Magnolia would never come back for a
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while now and it's not getting any better. She's officially a college drop out with a dead end job. But when her old friend Kiran comes into her life and invites her to a place called Tu Reviens Jane accepts it right away. Though it's not because she missed Kiran or out of curiosity towards the island but Magnolia made her promise to accept any invitation to the island that came her way. From here we are transported into a art heist story, then a haunted house story, aliens from another dimension?...uh talking dogs?Cashore had me hooked with the art heist and spy twist but after the third retelling of the same characters and backgrounds, it felt like I was reading some type of fanfiction AUs. Don't get me wrong, I LIVE for fanfiction but only if they're of my already favorite fandoms featuring my favorite characters. Jane was not one of them I'm afraid so I lost interest.
There's a lot of good stuff in this book. Little bits and pieces from each story tell the whole picture so it was fun picking them up along the way. If you want some diversity this one would be perfect for you. The AU with the talking dog was super cute. When it got too much for me to finish I found the audiobook in my local library and it was read by Rebecca Soler and she always delivers. I never got into The Graceling hype so I wasn't expecting much from this book and while I wouldn't recommend this book I still wouldn't tell anyone to steer clear from it.
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LibraryThing member cindywho
The word that finally came to me to describe this five pronged story was kooky. It was an enjoyable read and a fun exercise for the author, missing the intensity of her earlier books.
LibraryThing member fromthecomfychair
I guess the author's idea was to give the reader a variety of genres in which to resolve the plot. It took me till the last one, the fantasy genre, to figure out what was going on. And then I wondered why she did this. It seemed unnecessary.
LibraryThing member SamMusher
Storytelling: kind of brilliant. I've never read anything like it. It loses a star for me on characterization. Jane's inner monologue never quite matched her actions for me, especially in the earlier chapters. I didn't get a handle on who she was. The book is akin in form to a Choose Your Own
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Adventure with a "you" protagonist, so maybe the vague characterization was intentional? Either way, the story structure is the star of this show. If you've read too many books and think nothing can surprise you anymore, you need to try this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibliovermis
This book experimented with multiple realities. It was adventurous and a little audacious, not content to stay within the lane of the conventional YA adventure/romance. It took some risks. Some of them paid off more than others, just like some of the potential realities explored were more
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compelling or interesting than others. I think other books will be inspired by it. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheYodamom
Quit at 46%. I struggled to get involved in the story and failed to develop any interest in the characters at almost 1/2 way through the book. The dialog between the characters was odd and felt disjointed. Really it felt so weird to this reader. I was left at this stage in the book still not sure
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what the book was about. When it started with some secret spy group story that just didn't fir for me, I lost all interest. I should have quit sooner but I loved this author's other series, but this is not in that style at all. Show Less
LibraryThing member Menshevixen
Strange, beautiful, and very satisfying.
LibraryThing member fionaanne
Apparently, this book started out as a choose-your-own-adventure and it grieves me that it didn't stay that way, because that could have been awesomely revolutionary. Instead we get something that is neither fish nor fowl, a book that keeps changing its mind about what it wants to be, a kludge-like
I won this advance reading copy through Goodreads so thank you to the publisher and I'm sorry I didn't like it more.
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story full of disparate pieces that never fit together. In short its a clunky, inelegant, headache-inducing experiment that's trying so damned hard to cram everything in, its annoying. I think the mantra, "Less is More" would have served this tale very, very well.I won this advance reading copy through Goodreads so thank you to the publisher and I'm sorry I didn't like it more.
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LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
Absolutely delightful.
LibraryThing member jennybeast
I seem to be in a rut, involving heist books set in mysterious, somewhat sentient houses. Fortunately for me, that appears to be one of my favorite genres, so hooray. This one is somewhat of a choose your own adventure book with Cashore roaring back into the publishing world and proving without a
Jane is endearing and stubbornly funny. Her umbrella artistry is fascinating. Her adventures in Tu Reviens are multiple and vary in their degree of happiness -- I've decided to go with the first or the final possibilities, because they make me happiest, but I also long to know how some of the scenarios might continue to play out after the first choice is made, because surely Jane doesn't forget all the other things altogether? Is she aware as the choices are mapped out? Does she choose? Kiran's experiences seem to indicate maybe yes. And that is why I love Kristin Cashore -- implications and explorations without making all the decisions for the reader, and with a cunning illustration of mirror universes. Nicely done.
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shadow of a doubt that she is a mind-bendingly interesting writer that can spin a story you won't want to put down. Jane is endearing and stubbornly funny. Her umbrella artistry is fascinating. Her adventures in Tu Reviens are multiple and vary in their degree of happiness -- I've decided to go with the first or the final possibilities, because they make me happiest, but I also long to know how some of the scenarios might continue to play out after the first choice is made, because surely Jane doesn't forget all the other things altogether? Is she aware as the choices are mapped out? Does she choose? Kiran's experiences seem to indicate maybe yes. And that is why I love Kristin Cashore -- implications and explorations without making all the decisions for the reader, and with a cunning illustration of mirror universes. Nicely done.
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Awards
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2018)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Teens (Fiction — 2017)
Original publication date
2017
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Pages
464