Jane, Unlimited

By: Kristin Cashore

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler

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."

Like, not love

I liked this book but didn’t love it. I’d describe it as unique, interesting, quirky, experimental—not moving, heartbreaking, fascinating, or immersive, which are all words I’d use for Cashore’s Fire and Bitterblue. To be honest I would never have guessed the author of this book had also written the Graceling trilogy, if her name wasn’t on the book; it has SUCH a different voice and structure.

I assume Cashore is trying something new here, and I liked it okay. It won’t be joining Fire and Bitterblue on my list of perennial re-reads, because it did have some glaring issues (a couple times it dragged pretty badly, and more than a couple times it fell into kitsch or cliche). But I’m still giving it 4 stars overall because even with those issues, there’s something about it that I can’t quite get out of my mind. I finished it days ago and I’m still thinking about Jane’s umbrellas, and frog rain, and Jasper the Bassett hound, and the rest. From a writing perspective, it’s an imperfect but impressive feat, wildly creative and intricately knit together. I doubt I’ll re-read it for pleasure, but I will still be thinking about Jane, Unlimited for a long time to come.

I wish there were more!

I love Kristin Cashore. I follow her blog. I love her journeys she goes on while writing these stories for us to enjoy, and I know these are her babies. She and I are around the same age and think very similarly in a lot of ways, and I’m sad that I can’t respond to her blog posts.

That being said... this felt incomplete. Each story left me wanting more, and wondering what would happen next. The only one with a solid ending was the horror story, which was truly horrific and actually kind of gave me nightmares. Girlfriend can write some horror. The last story was the most fulfilling of them all, but I was genuinely bothered that she didn’t stop the art thieves, or find out if Octavian Thrash ever joined Charlotte, etc. it seems like the spy story fulfilled itself in the fantasy story as well, which was mildly gratifying. I also really want a pet velociraptor now. But I wanted more. It felt like tapas—a taste of each journey she could experience based on her choice and no real resolution, which left me feeling a little dissatisfied.

The audiobook was initially confusing as well because it didn’t really format itself like a choose your own adventure book, so when it cycled back to the second choice I was literally rewinding and saying, “What on earth!?” Then Kristin came out with her blog about the story and it all made sense. If I had the hardback it perhaps wouldn’t have been as confusing.

Needless to say, it was an intriguing format, with a character who was complex and a cast of characters that I liked a lot. Except for Charlotte. I didn’t like her.

Don't waste your time!

Book started off great. I noticed several grammatical errors, but thought they were just mistakes; as most books have some. However, the author kept changing tense and utilizing the same words over and over AND over again! Poor description.

That is just the beginning of the terribleness related to this book. The story line is hard to follow with the many plots. The idea of the book was great, but all the twists and turns could have really been better utilized in a book series rather then edited poorly in one book.

never captivated me

I loved cashore's previous trilogy but I found this a little hard to get into. the five different narratives were a bit repetitive and, although interesting and unique on their own, my attention wasn't focused on the book enough. I struggle to finish this book when I normally would want to devour it. I will still buy any book that Kristin cashore writes in the future however. Maybe you would like this more than me. ivy, jasper and Ravi were the best. and umbrellas are something new for sure.

Not what I was hoping for

The story was slow and then exceedingly strange with a disjointed and off-putting narrative line, not at all the Calibre of Cashore's Graceling trilogy. On top of that, I found the narrator's voice to be grating. The way she swallowed her R's every single time kept pulling me out of the flow, and she is not very facike with different voices for different characters.