This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey – Book Review

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This Is Not the Jess Snow Synopsis

Black Mirror meets My So-Called Life in this fast-paced, timely YA thriller about separating fact from fiction–and how far we’ll go to create our own version of reality.

Like any other teenager, Jess Flynn is just trying to get through her junior year without drama … but drama seems to keep finding her. Between a new crush on her childhood best friend, overprotective parents cramping her social life, and her younger sister’s worsening health, the only constant is change–and her hometown of Swickley, which feels smaller by the day.

Swickley is getting weirder by the day, too. Half the population has been struck down by a mysterious flu. Conversations end awkwardly when Jess enters the room. And then one day, a tiny, sleek black device–with an apple logo on it–falls out of her best friend’s backpack and lands at Jess’s feet.

This Is Not the Jess Show by Anna Carey – Review

Note: This review contains spoilers.

YA Version of The Truman Show

In 2020, probably later than most of the world, I finally watched The Truman Show and it became one of my favourite films of the year and I’ve already re-watched it since (and now talking about it is making me want to re-watch it again). So when I read the synopsis for This Is Not the Jess Show, I knew I instantly wanted to read it.

It definitely gave me Truman Show vibes, but with a teen protagonist in a late 1990s setting, which I loved! This ‘90s setting was then juxtaposed with 2030s New York City, with advanced technology and a world where interactive reality TV is shown 24/7 on literally every screen around the country.

People in this world seem to care more about voting on reality shows than they do about their own lives, and this makes you really think about the implications of our own tech-driven reality if we keep becoming more and more reliant on tech!

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I was on the Instagram tour for this book – check out my post above (and follow me on Instagram if ya like!)

Story & Pacing

At first I thought the pace was moving a little too quickly and Jess was learning about everything very fast. It seemed like the plot in the first half was being moved along quickly, so that it could easily make way for the bulk of the story to happen in the second half. There was a lot to pack into a 300-page book.

However, as the story progressed, I completely forgot about this pacing issue I had in the first half and I didn’t care, because I was dying to find out what happened next. I read the entire book in 3 hours, so that should tell you how fast of a read this is. By the end, my heart was literally racing. And the ending? Perfect!

I would like to have seen more about Jess’s reaction to everything going on — she seemed surprisingly okay considering she pretty much travelled decades into the future. I would have liked it to have more of a toll on her mentally and to see how she would cope with that, but the whole story takes more of a surface-level, lighthearted (kind of) approach. But then again, with the pace rushing at the speed it did, I bet Jess wouldn’t have even had much time to dwell on what was happening to her!

Overall

I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a very fast, exciting, pulse-racing story. I noticed that Goodreads says that it’s book #1, so whether that means there’s a sequel is in the works, I don’t know. But if so, there are a few things left unanswered and an ending that leaves us on a slight cliffhanger, so I absolutely want more!

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