JANE DOE AND THE KEY OF ALL SOULS

Jane Doe will either save or destroy all the worlds, bantering all the while.

Jane, who is either 14 or a “gazillion-odd years” old, depending on how you count, has escaped from the labyrinthine Manor into the harsh desert Otherworld where she’d once hoped to meet her mother. But as Jane’s adventures unfold, it’s become clear that she’s not a real person with parents. Instead, she’s the third key, a secret weapon made by the gods themselves—and the woman she’d thought to be her mother is furiously resentful that Jane has taken the place of her own dead child. In this blazingly hot Otherworld, everything is hostile: the climate, the fauna, and even her allies. The only people she believes she can trust are her crush, Violet; former bad guy Hickory; and the Leatherhead monster she’s befriended. But even her friends have their own agendas. Jane wants to destroy the evil villain and save the Manor, but can she rely on her sidekicks? A lengthy, climactic action sequence hits every beat. Double-crosses! Triple-crosses! A daring flight in a location definitely not intended for an airplane! A massive rolling boulder! Sandstorms and scorpions! Amid all the death and betrayal, Jane’s timid, sweet flirtation with Violet comes off as positively darling. Jane is olive-skinned and the populations of the Otherworlds have a variety of skin colors.

An explosive, fast-paced, snarky, high-stakes quest through an ancient haunted house.