The formatting of the book as journal entries was enjoyable. It helped with the sense of timing. Although the story dealt with major issues -- depression, self-discovery, and the pressures of conformity--the main characters used subtle humor and sarcasm to get through some of the tough spots. A psych student who performs conditioning experiments on her roommates was a great touch!

This book is fantastic. It's rare to see YA based in college settings but I really enjoyed how this was portrayed. Also the dry witty humour was brilliant and really helped alleviate some of the darker topics addressed.

An interesting take on the unlikable female heroine in a YA world.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book that much. Between Jane's cynical personality and the improbable situations she finds herself into due to House of Orange, this book is a light, fun read, with a nice side of feelings Jane would be so annoyed at. I had a hard time putting it down each time I had to get back to the real world. Definitely a great read.

Most of the focus of the story is the reality show. High school dropout enrolls in community college to finish her credits, lies about her age to get herself on a Big Brother reality TV show in order to move out of her parents' place, all so she can reinvent herself.
I really liked the journal style format, easy to read. I really loved how Jane’s depression was represented in the story, Jane really starts to question her beliefs and that changes her entire outlook on life. I like that we get to see Jane’s own process of recovery.
Nice Try, Jane Sinner was a good book. The book explores very difficult topics such as family and friend relationships, suicide, mental illness and faith in a respectful way.
I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. I would definitely recommend.

HILARIOUS. Nice Try, Jane Sinner is hands down one of the funniest YA books I've ever read. Just imagine a YA version of the Big Brother reality TV show, but on a smaller scale and more of a chaotic mess. It is told through Jane Sinner's journal entries (which didn't feel like reading a journal at all) as she navigates the dingy halls and cameras of the House of Orange!

What I Liked:

I'm not usually a fan of books told in diary format (they are usually more miss than hit for me) but author Lianne Oelke did an explendid job with Jane Sinner's written thoughts! It truly felt as if we were there with Jane Sinner, going through all the horrific (but laugh-out-loud) events that take place inside the HOO.

This House of Orange reality TV show project run by community college students is the craziest thing to exist and most of the time I didn't know whether to feel amused, disgusted, stressed, or plain old shocked by the audacity of every contestant. Jane Sinner, a High School senior recently expelled, signs up to live with five other community college students for a chance to win a USED car, and they have to withstand survival-type games, free-for-all Friday fridge days, passive-agressive dish washing notes, and so on.

The purpose of the House of Orange show is certainly ridiculous, but all of the characters are in it for a reason, making the very idea of having to spend weeks with strangers well worth the effort. They even have voting ceremonies and kick out the least popular contestant until the last one is left standing! So. Many. Fun. Times.

Wow, I feel like gushing and even now I'm chuckling as I go through pages of this precious book. It is good for the heart as it lifts it with its unusual yet lovable characters and humorous happenings, but it's also a heartfelt story of a girl trying to move on from an almost catastrophic decision and wanting to, somehow, rebuild her life back up again. Even of it's at the House of Orange.

Final Verdict:

You haven't laughed for real if you have yet to meet Jane Sinner (existential angst at its purest form) and experienced the House of Orange. Read it, choke on laughter, and then join the rest of us Sinners and Hamburglars by yelling Nugz! Nugz! Nugz!

17 year old Jane Sinner should be enjoying her senior year of high school, but a traumatic incident has her constantly looking over her shoulder and second guessing the furtive glances of her classmates making it impossible for her to emotionally face their suppositions. Thus begins Nice Try, Jane Sinner where the author, Leanne Oelke, provides an interesting option for a main character suffering with depression and other mental health issues. Constantly skipping school, however, is not one of the acceptable choices, so by mutual agreement an alternative is suggested - a special program at the local community college where she can finish up high school and even take some college classes. Jane's parents are so desperate to restore some normalcy to their daughter's life that they agree to her demands of moving out and rooming with a friend near the campus. Little do they know that the place Jane chooses to live (sans said friend) is The House of Orange which is a Big Brother style set up filmed for the Internet with a used car as a prize for the last man standing.

Jane doesn't have to worry about her past while attending class at Elbow River Community College, so she can relax and focus on her goal of "winning" the prize. For someone who shrinks from attention, she surprisingly doesn't mind (too much) the invasive cameras which indiscriminately film her actions. She even forms an alliance and develops a friendship of sorts with her fellow contestants. A self-proclaimed psychology major, Jane sets out to administer a negative stimulus whenever one of her obnoxious housemates raids her personal dorm-style fridge - a nightly occurrence. Her aggressive, competitive style along with her sarcastic sense of humor and sardonic wit make her popular with an audience whose growing viewership leads to a spot for the reality show on a local tv channel along with a corporate sponsorship, complete with a scholarship and a cash award.

Complications include the fact that Jane cannot legally consume alcohol (at least not on tape) since the drinking age in the province of Alberta in Canada is eighteen. Even though she partakes the forbidden beverage off camera, the after effects of her imbibing is evident in the footage. This could lead to problems for everyone involved especially since the producer, a fellow student, assumes she is of legal age (probably because she lied on the application). It also becomes harder for Jane to keep the truth hidden from her parents as more and more viewers tune in to watch and she finally has to come clean with her younger sister who is pissed that Jane doesn't visit home more often.

Oelke has the main character tell her story uses a journaling style with a conversational dialogue imitating lines of a screenplay, including a bit of imaginary dialogue and a few inner psychotherapy sessions where Jane unsuccessfully attempts to psychoanalyze her own uncooperative self. The addition of some explanatory narrative nicely rounds out the plot making this book a fast paced, entertaining read despite the 400+ page length.

The cast of characters from her "new" life (along with her diverse fan base) plus those high school friends she occasionally sees, as well as her family and the members of the youth group she's promised to attend each week, provides an extensive list of names to keep track of that's just long enough for an annotated list of "cast members" to be helpful.

My major complaints were the melodramatic and over the top conclusion to the competition and the way Jane's little sister is portrayed - more like a whinny twelve year old instead of her slightly more mature age of fifteen. Kudos, however, for dealing with the topical issue of teen depression, along with the adolescent angst of discovering ones own identity (separate from that of their parents) which includes questioning ones faith in God and searching for the answer to the age old query "what do I do next?" Oelke provides a possible answer in an ending which promises a positive future for someone that needs a happily ever after.

Four stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jane Sinner, 17, enters a small reality tv show at her school and she's about to get more than what she bargained for.

I don't even know where to begin but I fell in love with this book so fast. I really related to Jane and I just loved her so much.

This book made me laugh so hard but also made me cry a lot... I was rooting for Jane from beginning to end. I could not stop reading and read the entire book in less than a day.

I barely knew anything about this book when I started and I think that’s how you have to read this, you should just jump in…

The plot was so perfectly designed, I was mesmerized from beginning to end...

I will seriously be looking out for this author and wait impatiently for her to get another book out!

This book is just a pass for me. I'm not into reality shows, so I just couldn't get into this one. And it is funny, just not enough to stick with it for me.

Nice Try, Jane Sinner was an enjoyable read, I liked the premise but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. It was refreshing to read about students in college, even if Jane is still technically in high school. Jane did grow over the course of the book, and you see her transitioning from a teen to a young adult, dealing with issues that arise during that point of your life. I really loved Jane's relationship with her sister. The reality TV show aspect was what interested me from the start, and I really liked reading about the “behind the scenes” of being filed 24/7. Though this wasn't a big hit for me, I would recommend to readers who want to read about mental health issues, the concept of faith, reality TV and college-aged (and over!) characters.

Was a little difficult for me to read because English is not my native language so I didn't unterstand ervery word but in context it worked for me ; ). Nevertheless I really liked it.

Recovering from an initially unspecified "event", Jane Sinner is clearly not in good place. Expelled from school, her parents want her to continue her education, so she agrees to go to the local community college if, and only if, she can move out of home. Little do they know that in order to make ends meet on the rent front, she plans on joining a Big Brother-esque student house, where they are constantly filmed for an online TV show.
The show turns out to be a lot more successful than anticipated, in many ways due to Jane's amusing projects that she experiments on her housemates with. She's not a psychology student for nothing!
Pacy, with unexpected twists and turns, this is a highly enjoyable fun read. Jane is a fascinating character, albeit often somewhat frustrating, however by the end only the stoniest of hearts won't be rooting for her.

DNF I'm not into reality shows, so I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe for others, it would be their jam. And it is funny, just not enough to stick with it for me.

I heard that Nice Try, Jane Sinner was funny, but I wasn’t expecting to fully enjoy it and laugh as hard as I did. From the very first page I caught myself laughing, and as the book went on, I thought it got better and better. If you need a book that’s going to make you have a laugh, think about things, and get fully immersed in a fantastic story with memorable characters, then Nice Try, Jane Sinner is the kind of book that you’ll want to lose yourself in.

“Ever have one of those days when all the shortcomings of your life come together to form one massive hole?”

Meet Jane Sinner – she’s seventeen, was expelled from high school before graduation, and at her parents’ insistence, she has decided to take some classes at the community college so that she can earn her diploma. However, she has made a decision – she will go back and get the credits necessary to graduate, but she has no interest in continuing to live with her parents. She hates living under their roof and trying to hide things from them – especially her growing confusion at what she believes about religion, which is difficult to keep a secret from her church going family. And after The Event (it is referred to as this for a good portion of the book), her parents are pushing religion on her more than usual, so Jane needs to get away, to start over. That’s when she discovers the student run reality show, House of Orange.

“Well, what else are you going to do with yourself, Jane?
For starters, I can revise my history. That’s what I’m doing here, isn’t it? Rewriting my story so it no longer revolves around the Event. So it no longer stars some washed-up nihilist too uncomfortable in her own skin to do anything worthwhile.
People already talk about me behind my back. Maybe it’s time to give them something new to talk about.”

So Jane signs up for the reality show, which is essentially like the show Big Brother – a few students live in the house, and antics ensue – competing in challenges, dealing with each other’s behaviors and quirks, and voting each other out until the last person still in the house wins the show – and the prize being offered, which is a car.

Jane wants to do something new with herself, to leave all the drama of high school behind and make something different from herself, so she signs up for House of Orange, lying about her age (she’s not quite eighteen yet), securing herself a place to stay (that isn’t with her parents), and she is able to compete for a prize. Meanwhile, she works part time at the grocery store and is able to take her classes. She promises herself she isn’t in the game to make friends or find herself a special someone, but as time goes on, she finds herself drawn to the company of Robbie, a contestant on the show with whom she feels she can be herself around.

However, when things take a turn for the worse and Robbie betrays her trust, Jane must find a way to extract revenge on him for luring her in with trust and then stabbing her in the back. While she is determined to get back at him, new secrets come to light, and Jane has a hard time figuring out exactly what she needs to do. Through all of this, Jane has to keep her grades up as well as deal with constant family obligations, including her younger sister, Carol, who misses her, and a best friend, Bonnie, who feels as though Jane has abandoned their friendship to focus on the show.

Nice Try, Jane Sinner has such a fun cast of well-rounded characters that I will remember long after reading the book. Jane, Jane’s sister Carol, Robbie, and even Marc, one of the contestants, are all interesting and their antics and conversations make this book laugh out loud funny. These are the kind of characters that can bring a book to life and make it stand out.

The book itself is told in the format of Jane’s journals, with conversations being recorded for us to read, and Jane’s innermost thoughts and feelings. She questions herself, makes plans, and details her emotions, allowing readers to get inside her head and fall in love with her wit, sarcasm, and overall interesting personality. This writing style stands out since it isn’t told in traditional novel format – I thought it was a fantastic touch.

The plot twists in this book take the novel to new heights, and I have to say that I didn’t see some of the things coming – they were surprises, and fun ones at that. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book, and I was pleasantly surprised by how I just fell in love with this novel, reading huge chunks at a time because I had a hard time putting it down.

If you want a fun, light read that’s sure to make you laugh (or at least smile!), Nice Try, Jane Sinner is a fantastic read that you will want to read through in a single sitting!

This is an excellent and touching book. I'm not a huge contemporary fiction fan, but this was so funny! I loved the aspect of reality TV and wish there were more books like it of quality. I can't wait to read more from this author. Nice job, Lianne Oelke!

3.5....I actually really enjoyed this. I am a huge Big Brother fan so the synopsis of this book caught my eye (no matter how absurd it was). I really liked our main character Jane. Her dry sarcastic sense of humor was refreshing and I definitely laughed out loud a couple of times. Even through there was a lot of humor in this book it also dealt with serious issues such as depression and suicide. I both loved and hated the journal style format. At times is was slow but others I felt myself flying through it. Overall, I liked story and the humor.


I recieved an Arc of this novel via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, Jane. You are a mess, but I couldn't stop reading your story.

Told in Jane's funny, dry voice. Silly premise lightens underlying issues of depression and coming of age. Should appeal to teens who like to buck the system.

Nicely done!

Sort of Breakfast Club meets an underground reality show. I loved the way this was written with the continual running commentary in Jane Sinner's head. Her interaction with the therapist in her subconscious was just delightful.
Jane Sinner, recovering depressant and attempted suicide survivor is looking for a second chance that doesn't involve God. This causes concern and consternation in her very active Christian family. Her old High School memories are too raw to continue attending. She enrols at the local community college, and in an attempt to leave home, auditions for an internet reality tv show. This gives her a rent free place to stay. Way to go, Jane!
I enjoyed all the participants and their quirky, sometimes grievous behaviour. Janes's fridge antics are a hoot. Pavlov's dogs taken to a new height! Very clever.
There's is some pointed social comment about acceptance throughout the novel, particularly in this age of same sex relationships, via Jane's friend Bonnie. Really about acceptance generally of those who are different. It seems it takes a reality show to make that happen, and to have Jane accept herself.
We continually live in Jane's head. I really enjoyed this. Jane's angst and fears and way to deal with them are sometimes funny, sometimes sad but all the time real.
Her self deprecating manner and ironic commentary gives that extra special oomph to the novel.

A NetGalley ARC

An excellent book that shows what the cusp of childhood/adulthood can be like.