Review: See Jane Run by Hannah Jayne


See Jane Run
Hannah Jayne
Series: None
Released: January 7th, 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Rating: 1.5 stars
Word Rating: *rips hair out*
Reviewed by: Mel

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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.


The thing about See Jane Run was that either I was bored, or I was annoyed.

The Summary


Riley Alan Spencer’s life changes when she discovers a hidden birth certificate in her baby book when she and her best friend, Shelby are snooping around in her parents’ room. The problem with the birth certificate is that it doesn’t have Riley’s name printed on it. It says: Jane Elizabeth O’Leary. And when she starts getting creepy postcards from an unknown, Riley begins to questions her past that she never knew, and her overprotective parents. Are they even her parents? And who is Jane O’Leary?

The Main Character


Riley Spencer, the protagonist was the biggest problem for me. Why was this book boring and annoying, you ask? Because damn, Riley was either being an annoying, pain in the ass or being more boring than a life without twitter. Her constant worrying and overthinking simple answer situations made me want to slap her in the face multiple times. Get a bloody grip! Then at times Riley could be so naïve. She believes words from strangers and I understand that the author may just be trying to throw us readers off the mystery and throw us on another conspiracy but Riley felt too easily swayed and illogical.

The Best Friend


After I finish this review I plan to go find this Shelby and feed her to the wolves alive. From pretty much the get go, when Shelby and Riley uncover the birth certificate, Shelby was an infuriating brat. One of the worst friends I’ve ever read about. Because at first, Riley doesn’t really freak and lose her mind in possibilities of what the birth certificate means, but hell, you’ve got Shelby spitting out conspiracies, logical and illogical like she’s on a high.

“Oh! Bet it was your birth mother, closing in on you! She’s sending you mystery postcards to warn you…”
“Shelby! If I were adopted, my parents wouldn’t have changed my age and my birth date. Stop with this!”
“But if your—”


And then later, it’s like she’s a changed person and doesn’t find this birth certificate and these postcards interesting anymore.

“You really need to stick to your stories, Shelbs. Am I the missing kid, or is the missing kid my knocked-off big sister?” Shelby gunned the engine.
“I don’t know. You’re the one getting ghost posts.”


So let me get this straight. Your best friend is getting stalkerish messages and you don’t give a crap? What happened to wildly imaginative Shelby? I am really confused about where Shelby stands in this story. She’s sometimes overly caring, then not so caring at all.

And here’s another quote when Shelby is still throwing conspiracies and Riley is trying to reason out what’s going on. This is Shelby’s response.

Shelby flipped a page in her magazine. “Whatever makes you feel better, Ry.”


Talk about an inconsiderate friend!

The Romance


Or the tiny snippet of one. I loved how this romance didn’t take over the book. Riley and JD were a great couple and I liked how Hannah Jayne ended the book with the romance still left with many possibilities. Overall, they were sweet. But I must add in that I groaned when I found out that JD was the typical bad boy who gets detentions. *rolls eyes*

The Mystery


I wasn’t thoroughly pleased with this aspect. I won’t go into it much but I was expecting a much better plotted mystery with more logic in it. More suspense would have been better as well. I didn’t feel like was experiencing what the MC was experiencing. I felt like I was in the back seat instead.

Overall


I wouldn’t have wasted my time on this one if I knew how average and boring this book was. Definitely not recommending.

4 comments :

  1. I enjoyed this one a bit more than you did. Riley was frustrating at times because she didn't really use common sense, but if I suspended some disbelief, I was still interested in the overall story/mystery.

    -Lauren

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  2. We had some of the same issues, Mel. I liked Shelby a bit more than you did, and I didn't mind Riley AS much. I looked at her as an unreliable narrator, so her personality (or lack thereof) quirks didn't bother me AS much. But like you, I was really glad when the romance wasn't an overwhelming thing.

    Molli | Books and Whimsy

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  3. This sounds like an interesting story, but I can understand how those characters would drive you crazy!

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  4. I thought the summary sounded interesting, but I don't know if I'll give this a try if it was quite that bad. I'll have to do some more research. Thanks for sharing!

    Mary @ Mary Had a Little Book Blog

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