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From Horn Book

January 1, 2018
An old acquaintance invites orphaned Jane to her family's exotic island mansion. What's going on? Jane wonders, watching the household prepare for a gala and noting the priceless art. The story then splits into five alternate scenarios; in parallel narratives, Jane moves between multiverses of surreality, sci-fi, and art theft. Clues to the story's fantastical nature are playful and sly, and Cashore's inventiveness is unflagging.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Horn Book

September 1, 2017
When her guardian, Aunt Magnolia, dies, Jane is left untethered and financially insecure. Then Kiran, an old acquaintance, invites Jane to Tu Reviens ("you return"), Kiran's family's island mansion. Aunt Magnolia had told Jane unequivocally that "if you're invited to Tu Reviens, go." So Jane ends up at the exotic mansion, a place where staffers are not what they say they are, and the wealthy patriarch is a depressive recluse. What's going on? Jane wonders, watching the household prepare for a gala party and noting the priceless Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Brancusi works on display. Then the story splits into five alternate scenarios. As Jane follows first one inhabitant and then four others in parallel narratives, she moves from the romantic confection the novel first seems to multiverses of surreality, science fiction, art theft, and Espions sans Frontieres (Spies Without Borders). The clues to the story's fantastical nature are playful and sly. As scenarios multiply, the story becomes light on character development and rather plot-heavy, but Cashore's glee, wit, and inventiveness are unflagging. With its references to works ranging from Doctor Who to Rebecca to Winnie-the-Pooh, this is pleasantly peculiar and unpredictable. deirdre f. baker

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

Starred review from August 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Before her Aunt Magnolia died in a blizzard in Antarctica, she made Jane promise to accept any invitation she might receive to visit Tu Reviens. When her high school tutor, Kiran, extends an invitation to her family's annual spring gala at Tu Reviens, Jane knows she has to accept even though she is still deep in mourning for the aunt who had raised her. But the estate (and the impossibly rich and peculiar family that inhabits it) is far more perilous than she could have possibly imagined. Befriended by a very odd dog named Jasper and the intriguing Ivy, Jane is drawn into an Alice in Wonderland-like adventure where nothing makes sense, and danger and intrigue are the order of the day. According to the author's note, Cashore has incorporated elements of many of her favorite books into this hefty novel. The book is divided into multiple long chapters, each offering readers different paths for Jane. Each "direction" adopts the format and narrative structure of a distinct genre, sometimes to great effect, but occasionally leading readers into a confusing jumble of characters and subplots. Nevertheless, teens will willingly be pulled headlong into a novel that ranges in topics from space-travel to umbrella-making to art theft to kidnapping and international espionage. VERDICT This excellent, genre-bending title is a great pick for teens looking for something challenging to take them off the well-beaten path of standard YA fare.-Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

August 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 When Jane receives an invitation to attend a gala at the island mansion Tu Reviens, she acceptsnot because she wants to go, but because her adored (and recently deceased) Aunt Magnolia made her promise to visit Tu Reviens if she ever got the chance. Bizarre personages and events fill the palatial home, including art theft, kidnapping, a secret organization, flirtations, and seemingly impossible twists of fate, all of which the impetuous Jane faces with a devoted basset hound sidekick. It's the story's structure, however, that's most noteworthy, as Cashore (Graceling, 2008) applies the concept of a multiverse to Tu Reviens, following Jane down five possible paths during her stay. Yet, it's not until the second half of the book, where things go increasingly off the rails, that the story truly blossoms. Art forms a constant backdrop to the narrative, and in all versions of Jane's story, she finds respite from her grief and uncertain future through artistic expression. Creation, compassion, and choice repeatedly emerge as themes in this ambitious, mind-expanding novel. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Though a departure from her beloved Graceling books, this is getting the full treatment from the publisher: author tour, Comic-Con promotions, a floor display, and more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

From Kirkus

July 15, 2017
A seemingly innocuous choice leads to wildly divergent potential futures in a genre-busting departure for a lauded fantasy author (Bitterblue, 2012, etc.).Still grieving for the aunt who raised her, Jane has dropped out of college and feels left at loose ends. At the invitation of a wealthy sort-of friend, she visits the family's crazy-quilt mansion on their private island only to find it overstocked with rich eccentrics, mysterious servants, fabulous art, dangerous secrets, potential lovers, and infinite possibilities. After a contrived setup freely borrowed from the classics of gothic fiction, the storyline splits into five distinct narratives, each employing the style and conventions of a different genre (mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, and fantasy), each intersecting and commenting upon the others, and each with a different (not always pleasant) conclusion. This can all manifest as a bit too clever, and the bewildering abundance of supporting characters from every class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation sometimes reads more like bundles of quirks than fully realized persons. Still, an understated romance (plus a perfectly adorable basset hound) helps unify the various scenarios, and the whole is grounded by the personality of the bisexual title character--the only one explicitly ambiguous in race--with her honest kindness, blunt humor, nerdy creativity, and rock-solid integrity. Not for everyone, but adventurous readers will find it charming, thought-provoking, and utterly sui generis. (Fiction. 14-adult)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

June 26, 2017
Cashore's first novel in four years covers an eventful weekend in the life of 18-year-old Jane, an orphan raised by an aunt whose recent death has left her niece unmoored. When a former tutor, Kiran, invites Jane to her family's island mansion, Tu Reviens, Jane accepts, arriving with everything she owns, including 37 handmade umbrellas. A cast of guests, servants, Kiran's twin, and a basset hound is quickly introduced, as are a raft of suspicious activities. The story then restarts five times in five genresâ€"spy thriller, horror, science fiction, mystery, fantasyâ€"sometimes repeating information verbatim from a previous section. Each new version is a little weirder than the last, and the overall effect is less Choose Your Own Adventure than Groundhog Day on acid, set within a framework that pays homage to several classic novels, most notably Du Maurier's Rebecca. These shifts require a reader patient enough to follow the story's many contradictions until Jane discovers why she's at Tu Reviens and, ultimately, what she wants. An ambitious departure for Cashore that will reward (and perhaps demand) many re-readings. Ages 14â€"up. Agent: Faye Bender, the Book Group.

From AudioFile Magazine

Narrator Rebecca Soler establishes characters and settings quickly and convincingly. She portrays heroine Jane's intelligence and sarcasm with a tinge of grief, resulting from the recent death of her beloved aunt. Cynicism surfaces in Soler's depiction of wealthy Kieran, the girl who has invited Jane to a gala at her island mansion. Later, Soler makes clear the insecurity beneath Kieran's snootiness. Curious Jane senses something below the surface of the snobby gala guests and taciturn servants. At this point the author leaves her linear plot and launches a multiverse world that explores Jane's reality through five different genres-- mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, and fantasy--each of which is announced by a tonal shift in Soler's voice. In addition, Soler's solid character portrayals are crucial, given the story's multiple shifts. S.W. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine