Review: Jane, Unlimited

Jane, Unlimited, by Kristin Cashore, narrated by Rebecca Soler (Kathy Dawson Books 2017)

First line: “The house on the cliff looks like a ship disappearing into fog.”

I’ve had this book on my shelf for yeeears, because I was mildly obsessed with her Graceling Realm books after reading them for my YA lit class in grad school. This book is a big departure from those, which are pretty firmly in the romantsy genre, but I knew I still wanted to read it. I finally got around to it by downloading the audio, and what I found was more than I could have ever imagined.

Jane was raised by her Aunt Magnolia after her parents died when she was young. Although Aunt Magnolia’s life was full of adventure as an underwater photographer, Jane’s lived a pretty ordinary existence. Until Aunt Magnolia dies on one of her work trips and Jane is invited to a friend’s family’s gala at their mansion on an island called Tu Reviens — a place that Aunt Magnolia made Jane promise she would go if ever invited. Yes, a bit of a weird start, but friends, it only gets weirder.

What follows is broken into 5 sections, each following a different decision Jane could have made at a pivotal point in the story. Each of the 5 sections, which track what would happen depending on Jane’s choice (like if you were to just read the entirety of a choose-your-own-adventure book from front to back), is told from a completely different genre. We have a classic mystery in one, a spy thriller in another, followed by a paranormal gothic horror, a sci-fi, and a portal fantasy tale. It’s WILD. And so unique and creative! I’ve never read anything like it! I loved teasing out where the versions of the stories would overlap and where they would differ. In each version we got to know the large cast of characters a little better (admittedly, it did take me about 200 pages in before I really knew who was who), and they became more interesting each time (although not always likeable). I thought a couple of the stories were more entertaining than the others, but I was intrigued and happy to go along for the ride throughout it all.