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moodreaderhan's Reviews (628)
Thank you NetGalley, Ann Liang and HarperCollins Children's Books/HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thoughts:
“It doesn’t even matter–” “It does matter. You matter,”
If you are looking for dark academia, I won’t say this is it. If you are looking for a coming of age, light academia story with a touch of romance, and an fmc, Jenna, who is learning to love herself, then look no further.
In simple terms:
Writing? Stunning
Style? Instantly recognizable as Ann Liang’s style. None out there that is like it and I love it!
Characters? Not complex but relatable
Tropes? Predictable but cute
Romance? [She falls first, but he falls harder.] Truthfully it is lovely, but I wanted more butterflies and backstory. There is more tell than show for the love aspect. But boy does our mmc, Aaron, know how to make a girl swoon when it comes to declarations.
Friendships/side-characters? Very sidenote, and felt incomplete when it came to Jenna’s family and friends. We had more from “Jessica’s” side, but still felt like the story wasn’t finished or that something was missing in terms of the side characters mentioned with our main character, Jenna.
Plot? Well done, but gave me déjà vu because I definitely felt a sense of familiarity and similarity to things I’ve seen and read before. However, this was still a fresh take with a more modern touch.
I Am Not Jessica Chen is truly YA at its finest. The pressures of growing up are not to be taken lightly, and learning to love yourself does not come easy for everyone (especially when looking in comparison to others). The themes in this book are handled gorgeously. I like that our main character, Jenna, wasn’t perfect or perfect-in-disguise and just believing that she wasn’t. She had flaws, was selfish at times, and so very human, but also lovely, caring, and just navigating being a teenager. One additional aspect of this story I loved was that our author gives us is that even when the answers are staring you in the face, sometimes it is still hard to know what to do, make yourself face it and really do what you must.
Ultimately, I wanted a little more from this book (like I did with I Hope This Doesn’t Find You) and that is because I already have an expectation and adoration of Ann Liang’s work, but I am still very satisfied with it.This story delivers a beautiful message that AL dealt with delicately while also not hiding the difficulties. I would have loved to have read this book when I was a teen, and I hope that younger audiences take a chance on this. I know no matter what age I am or will be, I am still a forever sucker for Ann Liang, and will always read anything that she comes out with.
Always know that you matter. You are enough.
Quotes:
“The world just felt smaller with you … Or maybe you have a way of making the world feel bigger. I missed you. I’d miss you everywhere I went”
“I’ll be here, always.”
“Because I don’t want a quiet life, I want a brilliant one,” I say at last. “Because I need to know what it’s like to win. To be the best.”
‘I’ve always had this theory that if I want something badly enough, the universe will make sure to keep it just out of my reach–either out of boredom, or cruelty, like an invisible hand dangling stars on a string.’
‘the moral of the story was that sometimes you have to be a little cruel to yourself, that sometimes pain is necessary if you want to succeed. That’s what we do isn’t it? We turn pain into a story, because then it has a purpose. Then, we reason, there was a point to it along. But sometimes pain is just pain, and there’s nothing particularly noble about clinging to it’
‘It’s so easy to fall into the assumption that anything someone else gains is something you lose. To think of success as some lavish party with only a limited number of invites. To convince yourself that if you could only make it to a certain point in the distance, you’ll finally find a place to rest. To feel like there’s always more that you can do. But I mean, look what’s being done to us–to our self-esteem, to our pride, to our bodies. We’re all exhausted and on the verge of breaking down at any second and somehow . . . somehow we’re expected to just keep going.’
“I just need to know if you’re safe.”
“You know you’re my weakness”
“You think you can get rid of me so easily?”
‘I miss myself’
“you’re all I’ve ever wanted,” he says, quiet. Perfect. “It’s always been you. It can only be you.”
Would I recommend this and to who:
Yes, to fans of Ann Liang already, to YA lovers, and to those who are trying to find their place in this world
Paperback/Hardcover/Audiobook/E-book:
E-Book
Pace:
Fast/Medium
Triggers:
Racism, Abandonment, Classism, Mention of Death of a Parent, Injury, Grief, etc.
