This is Not the Jess Show - Review

 

Author: Anna Carey

Genre: Young Adult 

Format: ARC

Pages: 304

A huge thank you to Quirk Books for an early copy of  This is Not the Jess Show!

This book surprised me with how quickly I fell in love with it and Jess Flynn. From the start, you know something is wrong, and I had a few theories myself as I started reading. None of which were right and that was fine because the reality was so much better. This book pulls in the same way TV Shows like My So-Called Life and Dawson Creek pull you in. You keep watching to see what happens next, and I kept reading for the exact same reason.

First, I am a 90's baby and loved every little detail that Anna Carey added to the book while inside Swickly. Things that Jess loved, I loved, and there were comments later that had me laughing. Particularly the one about Scott Wolf getting old. It was a blast from the past in a really good way.

I also really liked the world Anna Carey created outside of Swickley. It was great to see it through Jess's eyes, and I felt like Kipps paints a good enough picture the reader understands that things are bad. However, I'd love to dive deeper into the world they created because it sounds like an amazing story! 

The plot itself moves very quickly from start-to-finish, which makes the book really hard to put down. At the start I was sucked into the high school drama story-line and what exactly it is that Jess keeps thinking she's hearing. Then it was the thing with a sister. I actually really like the beans of what is really going on get spilled early on in the story. It gives Jess, and the reader, time to see Swickley in a light.

It also means I really like that this story is told from Jess's point of view. I don't think the story would be as compelling or grip me, the same way it did as seeing all of this through Jess's eyes as it happened. I also really liked watching Jess grow through the story. She was afraid, but she kept going, she kept finding solutions even when there didn't seem like there was any. And, Kipps was great as well. He never once tried to force Jess's hand because she didn't know what was going, or because she was a girl. He made her feel safe and let her finally be in control of her life.

Which is why I don't the romance in this book. I mean Tyler cold take a long walk off a short pier, but I'm glad Kipps got the girl.

All-in-all this book pulled me and didn't let me go. It was full of wonderful 90's nostalgia and is kind of turns the coming of age story on its head. I'm really excited for the second part of this duology, and really bummed about the wait.

This is Not the Jess Show comes out on February 2, 2021!  

HAPPY READING!!