Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Blog Tour Book Review and Guest Post: See Jane Run by Hannah Jayne

Title: See Jane Run
Author: Hannah Jayne
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Sourcebooks Fire (January 7, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
My Rating: 4 Stars

Book Description:
I know who you are.

When Riley first gets the postcard tucked into her bag, she thinks it's a joke. Then she finds a birth certificate for a girl named Jane Elizabeth O'Leary hidden inside her baby book.

Riley's parents have always been pretty overprotective. What if it wasn't for her safety...but fear of her finding out their secret? What have they been hiding? The more Riley digs for answers, the more questions she has.

The only way to know the truth? Find out what happened to Jane O'Leary.





About the Author:



Hannah is the author of the UNDERWORLD DETECTION AGENCY CHRONICLES from Kensington books and the upcoming young adult thrillers TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY and SEE JANE RUN available from Sourcebooks, Inc. When she's not battling the demons of the Underworld or tackling a murderer at Hawthorne High, Jayne kicks her feet up in her San Francisco bay area home and attempts to share couch space with two enormous cats.

Now that you're here, kick up your feet and stay awhile...

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What Secrets Did Hannah Keep As A Teenager:


I don’t know what it is about being a teenager but something happens between twelve and say, fifteen. All of the sudden your simple life is thrown into massive confusion, secret missions, and bizarre campaigns. It’s like you’ve been dropped into some James Bond movie and your job is to keep every secret ever.
That being said, I kept a lot of secrets as a teenager. Some were benign: my actual weight, the fact that Sara really did get perms to get her “signature” curls, the knowledge that Kevin and JC made out in the closet at that one party in October. And some that weren’t the kind of secrets I should have kept—like that that Pam kept vodka in the water bottle she sipped from at school, that Jess’s boyfriend thought she was eighteen (because he was twenty-nine), that my boyfriend was so jealous he called me every hour and freaked if I didn’t immediately answer.

The small secrets—weights, perms, crushes, whose kissing who—were silly and fun and a part of high school and being a teenager. Those are the cool spy secrets, the ones you tell late at night and pinkie swear never to repeat—“Omigod! They made out in the car in front of my house?! Those are the ones you’ll remember for twenty years and taunt your old high school friends with later—“Hey, remember when you swore that you and BJ were going to get married?!”

The other ones—the secrets that make you feel weird or anxious or scared—you’ll remember for twenty years, too but not for the same reasons. Those are the ones you’ll keep remembering and keep thinking, “I should have told someone,” or “I could have done something.” Those are the ones that if you did tell, or at least refuse to keep, can take you from super spy to super hero even if it means betraying a trust. 
Sometimes a secret isn’t meant to be kept. Sometimes that plaintive whisper in your ear could be someone screaming for help. Except for the one about my actual weight. That one I’m taking to the grave.


This is one of those mysteries that is a constant back and forth, up and down with the single question, are they innocent or guilty?

One minute you are sure it is the latter, only to read another chapter and sure that you were wrong and the first was the better answer.

What you don't realize as the story progresses isn't are they innocent or guilty but rather the more important questions of, what in the world did they really do? 

Are they as evil as they seem? Can they be trusted and it not them, then who can be trusted? Can anyone be trusted at all?

If there is one think you can say about Ms. Jayne's writing it is that she knows how to write a good mystery. One that will constantly keep you guessing and on your toes.

You start to wonder if the main character isn't crazy and there really isn't a mystery at all or if simply no one can be trusted and no one is innocent.

This is my second book by Jayne and I must say I am loving that she gives us something different and exciting in the YA genre. That it isn't the norm and things can't be explained away easily with the paranormal or fantasy but rather a good old fashioned mystery that keeps you thinking and constantly guessing.

I will continue to pick up her books simply because I know I will get one heck of a bumpy ride that will keep me gripping the seats to stay in and not get lost in all the chaos and madness of the characters and story. 




*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

24 comments:

  1. Wow, five stars! I will have to read this. Thanks! Have you heard of the book,"Chasing A Miracle" by author Eliot Hartford Bailey? http://eliothbailey.com/ This book was recommended to me and I LOVED it! It is the first book in a trilogy. Everyone needs/wants/welcomes a miracle of some form or the other to happen to them. It kept me on the edge of my seat!

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  2. I'm taking my real weight to the grave as well Hannah! No one needs to know that, and if the number on my license is a little forgiving, so be it:) Your boyfriend in high school sounds intense...I'm not sure I what I would have done with someone like that. Glad he's in the past for you now!

    This sounds like page-turner Ali, looking forward to getting my hands on it!

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    1. Yeah, once upon a time my weight on my license was right. ;)

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  3. Great review and guest post. I'm starting this one tonight or tomorrow. My tour stop is soon.

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  4. I haven't tried anything by this author before, but I love books that keep you guessing, especially in the mystery genre. I'm glad to hear that this was unpredictable. You've definitely made me curious now! Lovely review as always. :)

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  5. This sounds really good! I have been enjoying books like this a lot lately.

    I think this guest post is great too. Sometimes sharing those bigger secrets can change someone's life. Like that girl sipping vodka, she could get in a car accident and die, or kill someone else. I had a lot of crazy experiences in high school and I had people betray me a time or two, but I know now that they had my best interest at heart.

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    1. It is always harder to see that at the time isn't it Candace?

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  6. I love mysteries that keep me guessing, and this sounds like one I wouldn't be able to figure out until the very end. This wasn't on my list at all but now I'm really curious to check it out! Lovely review and guest post!

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    1. Thanks Lauren! I hope if you try it you like it. :)

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  7. So true about secrets. As teens we feel incredible pressure to keep the bad ones, when we should tell. Loved the guest post, I think most of us will take our actual weight to our grave. I need to try this author!

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  8. I've had great luck with Sourcebook books and this sounds really good, so I think it's high plausible that I'll read it. :) And yeah, there are secrets from high school that I still think about today. Sometimes their worse to think about when you're older, wiser, and a better perspective.

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    1. I agree Christy, they have some amazing books and authors right now!

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  9. Great guest post, I tend to be a private person, but never keep secrets from my spouse. I love your review Ali, I like when you have an unsure narrator and mystery..this one sounds like a win.

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    1. Same here Kim, I tell him everything, sometimes more stuff than he probably wants to know. :P

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  10. Mysteries that actually keep you guessing the entire time are extremely rare, in my experience.
    I enjoyed the guest post too. Like Kim (and you), I'm an extremely private person, but I share almost everything with my boyfriend and my bestie. Having someone you can be open with is important.

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  11. oh I love that this author knows how to keep you guessing! I feel that it's always the better way to get. I don't like mysteries that are too predictable, leaves you frustrated and bored by the end of the book.

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    1. I agree and sadly there seem to be a lot of those out there.

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  12. So many good replies! My Kindle is acting up! Ahhh....Still warrantied, but what is a person supposed to do with the two day wait for the replacement? I hope you check out "Chasing a Miracle." It's well worth reading.

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  13. Thanks for the recommendation Robyn!

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