When I got approval to read this book early, I COULD NOT WAIT to read it!

That lasted till around the 25% point.

Then, I COULD NOT WAIT for it to end!

Jane is back, but this time, she is more CRASS than she is SNARKY!

She is playing amateur detective, as she try’s to find her 16 year old niece, Kayla, who has gone missing. This storyline is not as interesting as the story of REVENGE, which introduced us to Jane, in book #1, Jane Doe, one of my most frequently recommended books from 2018!

There is a lot of “filler” about Jane’s childhood, which I found boring, and the search for Kayla drags on too long.

At about the 75% point of the book, things get interesting again, as the author sets the scene for what seems to be an INEVITABLE , Jane Doe #3.!

Jane Doe #3 seems like IT WILL BE what I was hoping for from Jane Doe#2.

I wish the author had condensed the entire middle of the book into a few chapters, and given us THAT story now! Sigh!

But despite NOT loving this book...I really do think I will like the next chapter of Jane’s story...

Thank You to Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Victoria Helen Stone for the digital ARC I received in exchange for a candid review! This book will be available on March 24, 2020!

Yes, as like Sir Elton John’s song name: THE BITCH IS BACK! But best theme song for definitely coming from Talking Heads and let’s sing the chorus together for Jane Doe: “Psycho Killer! Qu'est-ce que c'est
Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better! Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away!”

This time my mash up psychopathic, sociopathic, this woman is not a regular badass chick, she is completely out of control stars swinging between 3 to 4! (I feel like I put a glass on my quija board-yes I got new one to scare those mean kids next door, shooting my video when I was performing my happy dance!- it moves between 3 to 4, 3 to 4) Okay! I rounded up to 4 stars, but I think a sequel is coming up and I’m not so sure, I’ll give high stars to the third installment. I love Jane but I also love to meet new characters of the author!

Our favorite sociopath is back, working at law office, climbing career ladder by orchestrating the best schemes could be imagined! She has a stable, regular relationship with Luke (poor, innocent, decent, patient soul has no idea that he’s dating with Dexter’s soul twin sister), not giving any heck of the blood sucker parent’s drama till she gets a call and finds out one of her brother’s child from the flock of the woman he impregnated is missing and nobody cares about to find her. At first Jane didn’t care, too. But well… as she found out, her niece is also younger mini-Jane Doe, had sociopathic tendencies, that girl grabbed her full attention!

This book is a little slower, repeating itself but good thing is we learned new ugly facts about Jane’s family history and it gave me so much reason to declare them as the most despicable, punch-able, disgraceful fiction beings!

Ending of this book was creepy, because we already have our lovely predator and now we have her mini-Doe version but unfortunately this young minion is not easy to empathize! She really gave me chills!

I didn’t get bored any second and Jane Doe’s awkward antics, way of thinking, her POV about the world and her motives always got my attention. I loved her at the first book. I still enjoyed her new adventure. But I think
I’ll stop from here. If it’s planned as a trilogy and having a surprising, vengeful ending, I’m still in! But if more books to come and more minion Does are to be introduced to us! I’ll pass!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sharing this spooky ARC COPY with me and thanks to Victoria Helen Stone to bring my one of the favorite villanelle back!

4.5 stars. Woah what a fantastic story!! This story is about a woman named Jane who works in a law firm and is a sociopath which is a unique characteristic for a protagonist. She is strong, brave, manipulative and doesn't care about anything or anyone. She lacks emotions and does not faze to do anything when she wants. She believes in revenge and is quite the sassy one.
She has so many other qualities which make her an interesting character. She has a loving boyfriend, a lovely house and a stable job. But her life wasn't like that when she was a child. She possessed a hard life and she had to face hardships to achieve what she has now. Her life is almost perfect when she receives a call about her niece missing which she didn't even know existed till now.
This gives Jane a chance to bring excitement to her perfect boring life but that means she'll have to revisit her past. So with that, the story ensues and with that new adventure.
There are so many situations where I loved Jane and how she dealt with certain situations. She emerged to be a smart woman in the story and we come to know that she is not quite the sociopath she claims to be after all.
Some part where there was repetition of the fact that she felt no guilt or regret got too much for me at one point but otherwise the story was mind blowing. I didn't expect the events to turn out this way which I loved.
I loved how the story ended. It gave us an insight into Jane's extension of being a sociopath. I loved the story and would definitely recommend it.

Compared to [book:Jane Doe|36531070], this is four stars. Compared to most other books, it is five. Part of the great fun of Jane Doe, for me, was the stakes. Jane doesn't have much to lose, she has a desire to destroy Steven, but she could do it any number of ways and it is unlikely that she will be hurt in a way she can't handle in the process. This really gave me a sense of safety as I read and I could fully enjoy the revenge fantasy in a way that was super cathartic.

Now, with Problem Child, Jane has stakes. I, as a reader, am invested in her life, her relationship, her cat. I was proud of her semi-closure with her past and her family, and here it comes back to drag her in again. So, this book is not going to be as fun as the first one because I as a reader want her to be happy, I don't want her to ruin anything with Luke, I don't want her caught up in stuff. Also, her being more reactionary than orchestrating everything herself is less cathartic and less <i>fun</i> for me. Now, "fun" isn't the most important point of most literature, even pleasure reading, so that's not a problem, just a difference between this and the first one.

The book opens with Jane building a new life for herself here, instead of returning to Malaysia. She's happy with Luke, although she bristles at how serious he wants to get, and channels her scheming into getting ahead at work (or possibly just evening the playing field, given how women tend to be overlooked in law). Then, she is given another possible release: searching for her missing niece, one everyone says is just like her. The idea of another sociopath in her family, one she could help guide in life, intrigues Jane into action.

So now Jane is off on an adventure that she didn't really instigate. and we get to see some of the background she escaped, some of the home life that she says had a role in making her a sociopath. Really, the only bad things I can say about it are things inherent in it being the second book. It isn't the first book and couldn't be. I definitely recommend reading the first one first, but it is laid out well enough that you don't have to (or don't have to reread it in order to pick this one up seamlessly). I'm highly recommending this, and if there are any more I will read those too <spoiler>despite the ominous ending, I don't really have any fear, I think they will end up a happy family, albeit in their own way. I don't think Jane has much room to judge murder given how she was willing to kill Steven and her main logic against killing is that it's too easy to get caught. Kayla was in a bad situation and it's a damn good thing that she wasn't turned in to someone who wanted to kill her. I don't think she is likely to kill again unless put in a real bad place. Also, while in spoiler tag, can I say how glad I am that Jane put 'protect Luke and never hurt him' as a priority. I still think she could discuss mental health with him and make it sound similar to just an empathy disorder or the autism he thinks she has, but I also can see why she doesn't want to and why she doesn't think they will last long enough to bother </spoiler>.

I got this book as an advanced reader copy through NetGalley but my thoughts and opinions are my own. (and in this case, I am not even canceling my pre-order for the book. I still want to count towards sales stats, I like these books so much.)

I love Victoria Helen Stone's writing so much! And I love the character of Jane, dark and sociopathic as she may be. This sequel adds such a fascinating new side to her, as we see her trying to find and save Kayla along with being in a very different place lifestyle-wise than she was in the first book. Overall, it was a page-turner, equally as engaging as the first. I'll look forward to anything Stone writes!

It was an intriguing novel by an extremely talented writer. Excellent character depiction, plus an exciting storyline make for a roaring success. Highly recommended.

Jane Doe is a sociopath, and worse. She’s been programmed that way and even though, on the surface, she appears to be living a normal life, underneath she’s still the same old Jane. When her teenage niece, Kayla disappears, Jane really doesn’t even care. Until she sees a picture of the girl and recognizes herself in the dead, blank stare in the girl’s eyes. Knowing that Kayla is capable of anything, Jane realizes she’s the only one who can track the girl down, before she wreaks too much havoc – or something terrible happens to the teen. So, you won’t like the main character in this book very much, but you will be fascinated by her and the workings of her mind