cs_the_librarian's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
tanandstout13's review
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
It was a weird choose your own adventure kind of book.
katieluvs2read's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
misterintensity's review
Jane promised her late aunt Magnolia that should she ever receive an invite to Tu Reviens she should go. After receiving an invite Jane gets caught up in the strange happenings of the mansion and its inhabitants. Jane, Unlimited takes awhile to get going but once it does readers will find themselves in a wonderful world where everything has more layers than one expects. This book goes in several surprising directions that explains things that you may not notice when you first encounter them. Reading this book requires a lot of patience but patient will be greatly rewarded. Think of this book as a puzzle that becomes more complete as you move along.
solipsismatdawn's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The story keeps expanding with each iteration. Events that take place in previous iterations are alluded to or lightly touched upon, bringing in their implications and consequences while allowing for other development in the current iteration.
jerihurd's review
3.0
More towards a 2 than a 3, actually. "Genre-bending" is being thrown around as a descriptor far too frivolously these days. Just because a book has five chapters, each an homage to a different genre, doesn't make it a breakthrough. At best it reads more like a choose-your-own-adventure (and, yes, I felt rather smug when the author actually referenced those in her acknowledgements), though the plot does actually build on each new twist, as well as just rebooting to the same point. Didn't do a lot for me, but I think kids would enjoy it.
dlberglund's review
3.0
I was very intrigued by this book, and expected to love it. I had high hopes for a book that gives us a crossroads with several different options, then follows through on each of them in turn. Some parts were stronger than others, some required greater and greater suspensions of disbelief, but ultimately I did not feel satisfied.
anjumstar's review
4.0
A hecking. Weird. Book.
That said, I'd totally consider rereading it, so it must have done something right. Really, what it nails in all its many layers of weirdness, is the balance between introducing mysteries and answering them. There are things that are puzzling all the way from early on, like how sentient Jasper appears to be, but once we're introduced to the various roads Jane is going down, there's some satisfaction in being able to put it aside with the assumption that we'll figure it out in one of the other prongs of this story. Never are you so bogged down by all the mysteries that you feel unmoored. We, as well as Jane, are getting new answers all the time, so, in a way, the book is grounded.
The one thing that, for me, made the book the most difficult to read, was whenever we'd get to the end of one section and return back to our splitting point. Because the sections are all so long, by the time you get through the first version of events, it's hard to remember exactly where the story left off. What events you need to remember and what should be forgotten for the sake of the next section. I feel there could have been a creative way to kind of summarize either where we left off or what we just experienced (or both) that could have made those transitions a little easier to anchor ourselves back down with.
Other than that, I just have to applaud the creativity of the book. It's a risk, for sure, and it won't be for everyone. As I was reading it, I was asking how this book could have gotten published, as it's so, so very strange. (I'm sure it's because it wasn't a debut novel, haha.) But at the same time, I was engaged, curious, and rewarded as a reader. And those are all good things. Jane could be a bit of a drag in her youth and the way Aunt Magnolia was so oversized in her life. It's understandable for the character, but all the asides where Jane is kind of talking to herself to Aunt Magnolia were a little immature for me, a little middle-grade-y. But aside from that, as an outsider in every scenario, she's relatable and a great vehicle for us to find out about these worlds through. And we love a bisexual lead! Although, it would have been great if the word bisexual or pansexual could have been used once. Always disappointing when those words are avoided. And for what? But at least it was clear and represented anyway.
On a personal note, this book will now always hold a special place in my heart, because I am half white and half Bangladeshi, and this is the first and only piece of media that I've ever encountered with characters just like me. I really appreciated seeing that.
That said, I'd totally consider rereading it, so it must have done something right. Really, what it nails in all its many layers of weirdness, is the balance between introducing mysteries and answering them. There are things that are puzzling all the way from early on, like how sentient Jasper appears to be, but once we're introduced to the various roads Jane is going down, there's some satisfaction in being able to put it aside with the assumption that we'll figure it out in one of the other prongs of this story. Never are you so bogged down by all the mysteries that you feel unmoored. We, as well as Jane, are getting new answers all the time, so, in a way, the book is grounded.
The one thing that, for me, made the book the most difficult to read, was whenever we'd get to the end of one section and return back to our splitting point. Because the sections are all so long, by the time you get through the first version of events, it's hard to remember exactly where the story left off. What events you need to remember and what should be forgotten for the sake of the next section. I feel there could have been a creative way to kind of summarize either where we left off or what we just experienced (or both) that could have made those transitions a little easier to anchor ourselves back down with.
Other than that, I just have to applaud the creativity of the book. It's a risk, for sure, and it won't be for everyone. As I was reading it, I was asking how this book could have gotten published, as it's so, so very strange. (I'm sure it's because it wasn't a debut novel, haha.) But at the same time, I was engaged, curious, and rewarded as a reader. And those are all good things. Jane could be a bit of a drag in her youth and the way Aunt Magnolia was so oversized in her life. It's understandable for the character, but all the asides where Jane is kind of talking to herself to Aunt Magnolia were a little immature for me, a little middle-grade-y. But aside from that, as an outsider in every scenario, she's relatable and a great vehicle for us to find out about these worlds through. And we love a bisexual lead! Although, it would have been great if the word bisexual or pansexual could have been used once. Always disappointing when those words are avoided. And for what? But at least it was clear and represented anyway.
On a personal note, this book will now always hold a special place in my heart, because I am half white and half Bangladeshi, and this is the first and only piece of media that I've ever encountered with characters just like me. I really appreciated seeing that.