I read this book solely on the recommendation of {Ja}. She said it was freakin’ hilarious and I thought, after all those somewhat mentally mess-you-up and frenemy-filled Elizabeth Scott books (which I never posted reviews for), I could use some light-hearted reading.
After reading the first few chapters of the book, I could instantly see why {Ja} loved this book. The main character, Jessie, talks exactly like how {Ja} does, snarky comments and all. For example: (in reference to her friend) "Actually, she looks pretty crappy (and I'm not just saying that because she sucks)." Jessie's speech throughout the book is also peppered with {Ja}-esque terms, such as "sucky" and "besty." Can’t you just hear all this stuff coming out of {Ja}’s mouth? I felt like I was inside {Ja}’s head. Scary. I mean, I live there half the time (we share a brain) and that freaks us both out enough already.
Apart from the snarky {Ja}-like comments, there was Jessie’s obsession with audiobooks. She’s constantly listening to them and getting lost in their world, bawling her eyes out as she walks home from school. Sound like someone’s obsession with fanfic? I think so! Ref: Dramione. I don't know if {Ja} has ever bawled her eyes out over a fanfic, but I do know instances where she has gushed endlessly to me about it. And she stays up to ungodly hours on school nights to finish reading them, even if they are terribly written. Obsessed, no?
AND FINALLY, in my “Jessie = {Ja} Theory”, Jessie has some rather violent thoughts. Like:
Sometimes I envision myself in situations, usually after someone has obnoxiously knocked my books out of my arms or stepped on a brand-new pair of shoes, where I execute a brilliant roundhouse kick and totally take some pudhole down. (p.99)
And I really have to include this one:
I'm having a particularly vivid and violent fantasy where I throw Bizza through one of the courtyard windows and scream, "How's your haircut now, b*tch?"... (p. 100)
{Ja} is all about kicking ass and blowing sh*t up, as evidenced by the types of movies that she favors. Although she hasn’t actualized any ass kicking and explosions in real life (that I know of), I’m pretty sure that she’s doing this all the time in Jamie-Land. QED.
Anyways, the real purpose of this post is to dissect the book right? However, the similarities between Jessie and {Ja} were so GLARING that I had to devote some time to it. And infinitely more entertaining to write about than a book review.
As for my thoughts on the book? I thought it was pretty funny (obviously, since I’m friends with {Ja}, a character similar to her ought to amuse me, right?). There is still the frenemy aspect in the book, but it's not the emotionally draining and depressing kind. Jessie’s endeavor to find a new group of friends is pretty entertaining, as well as her handling of her former "besties" who left her behind in the punk scene dust.
I did think, as {Ja} did, that she spent way too much time agonizing over whether she was turning into a nerd or not. Newsflash, Jessie, you are a nerd. (1) You are in all the smart classes. (2) You sew your own skirts, with strange fabric patterns, no less, and apparently categorize them by theme (Valentine's series? Circus collection? Really?). (3) You are particularly adept at mental math and make pre-calc flash cards. I don’t know anyone that ever did that. After awhile, her nerdy agonizing started to annoy me.
Overall, I found the book pretty funny and a nice change from the mentally screwy YA books.
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