A review by tuckeralmengor
Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone

4.0


Many thanks to Lake Union for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Okay, I am confused... How did this not win the 2018 Goodreads Choice Award for thriller? It was beat by... Checking... [b:The Outsider|36124936|The Outsider|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524596540l/36124936._SY75_.jpg|57566471]?! Yeah, no. This book is definitely better.

So, what's this book about
Jane Doe follows Jane, a woman who just happens to be a sociopath. Jane is working at a Midwest insurance company. She is extremely talented at blending in and flying under the radar. But she's done with that because she has a plan for revenge.

Throughout the novel, Jane seduces and tricks Stephen Hepsworth, a entitled white guy who is responsible for her best friend's death. Now, with a thirst for revenge, Jane will do anything she can to make Stephen pay. What follows is a thrilling, intriguing, and, at times funny, story of a young woman with a weakness that may actually be superpower.

I don't have much to say on the actual thriller bits because they were just... Average. What I do want to (need to) talk about is Jane. Jane is a sociopath and this character trait made the entire novel to drink a 3 star rating to a 4.5.

Confession time, I don't know much about sociopaths. Scratch thay. Before this novel, I didn't know anything about sociopaths. I assumed (and you probably did too) that sociopaths were cold, unfeeling monsters. But this novel shows that they're not.

Sociopaths have problems with empathy, guilt, and remorse but that doesn't mean that they're all murderers. In fact, as we see in the novel, their detachment from empathy can help them be cunning and stealthy (which is definitely a bit unsettling).

I just loved being inside Jane's mind. Seeing what made her tick, what her thought processes were was so fascinating.

Finally, I wanted to discuss the ending.
SpoilerI loved that, in the end, Jane was able to find love. It was so heartwarming. Especially because Luke was able to see past her mask. He saw that there was something different about her but he didn't care. Aahhhh. So sweet.❤


Bottom Line:
4.5 Stars
Age Rating: [ R ]
Content Screening (Spoilers) - Educational Value (3/5) - [Sociopaths, how to spy on people