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A review by ilosttrackofthings
Jinx by Meg Cabot
1.0
Overall this was an enjoyable read and it, like all of Cabot's books, flew by quickly. Like many young adult novels it's a story of a young girl coming to terms with herself. Or at least that's what the novel says, I didn't so much feel it.
One of the big issues presented at the start of the book is that Jean (nicknamed Jinx) is unlucky. When, in the first chapter, her family mixes up the date of her arrival and she has to get herself home from the airport, Jean chalks this up to her constant bad luck. When she is presented with nice things early on in the book she is sure her bad luck will strike and they'll be taken from her (sooner rather than later, most likely). But that never happens and we never do get to see this eternal bad luck that inspired the book's title. I really wanted to go into the book, take Jean by the shoulders, and tell her that that's life. There's good and bad and you just gotta deal.
That's another thing. Jean borders on TSTL. As the climax is approaching someone Jean trusts actually tells her that she needs to watch out for the antagonist (who is acting wildly out of character). Jean is too determined to be happy by the sudden change to worry as she should. And when the climax actually happens Jean walks knowingly into trouble with nothing but magic (which she's been trying NOT to learn about) on her side when the safer, more logical course of action would be to get an adult.
The phrase "preacher's daughter" is thrown about quite a lot in the book. Jean is in fact a preacher's daughter and makes it clear early on that she's a good kid, which doesn't help her make friends at her new private school. But as Jean finds herself pulled back into the world of magic she's tried so hard to leave behind it becomes clear that "preacher's daughter" is nothing but words. The book never says anything about what kind of church Jean's mother preaches at but I think it's safe to assume it's a Christian one. There should have been some conflict there. If she really was raised as a stereotypical preacher's daughter there was no discussion of how being a witch might conflict with that.
This book wants to sell itself as coming-of-age, but it didn't feel that way to me. In the end Jean, in many ways, feels less wise than she did at the beginning. She's come to terms with many parts of her identity, but others have been brushed casually aside. We leave her the same naive teen we found her, only her naivete has shifted just enough that she feels she's grown when really she hasn't. And that's just frustrating.
One of the big issues presented at the start of the book is that Jean (nicknamed Jinx) is unlucky. When, in the first chapter, her family mixes up the date of her arrival and she has to get herself home from the airport, Jean chalks this up to her constant bad luck. When she is presented with nice things early on in the book she is sure her bad luck will strike and they'll be taken from her (sooner rather than later, most likely). But that never happens and we never do get to see this eternal bad luck that inspired the book's title. I really wanted to go into the book, take Jean by the shoulders, and tell her that that's life. There's good and bad and you just gotta deal.
That's another thing. Jean borders on TSTL. As the climax is approaching someone Jean trusts actually tells her that she needs to watch out for the antagonist (who is acting wildly out of character). Jean is too determined to be happy by the sudden change to worry as she should. And when the climax actually happens Jean walks knowingly into trouble with nothing but magic (which she's been trying NOT to learn about) on her side when the safer, more logical course of action would be to get an adult.
The phrase "preacher's daughter" is thrown about quite a lot in the book. Jean is in fact a preacher's daughter and makes it clear early on that she's a good kid, which doesn't help her make friends at her new private school. But as Jean finds herself pulled back into the world of magic she's tried so hard to leave behind it becomes clear that "preacher's daughter" is nothing but words. The book never says anything about what kind of church Jean's mother preaches at but I think it's safe to assume it's a Christian one. There should have been some conflict there. If she really was raised as a stereotypical preacher's daughter there was no discussion of how being a witch might conflict with that.
This book wants to sell itself as coming-of-age, but it didn't feel that way to me. In the end Jean, in many ways, feels less wise than she did at the beginning. She's come to terms with many parts of her identity, but others have been brushed casually aside. We leave her the same naive teen we found her, only her naivete has shifted just enough that she feels she's grown when really she hasn't. And that's just frustrating.