The best part of this book was the 1990's attention to detail, although I feel that mostly says a lot about me as an adult reader and definitely says a lot about the age of the author (why learn about today's teens when you can rely on your memories?) I also liked that the crush wasn't the romantic hero, that was quite a good twist.

Otherwise, this isn't even pretending it's not a Truman Show rip off, which is insulting to the reader. It doesn't make a lot of sense, why would all the other children, including her younger sister(!) know that it was TV? It's set in 2037, just 16 years from now, so why do all the adults have scifi names? They've already been born! The friends being cynical producers didn't feel authentic and made me resentful of reading 75 pages of pointlessness at the start.

It really frustrates me that books like this are commissioned as a series. There is no need for a sequel here, the interesting points around augmented reality TV, childhood celebrity and public vs private personas have been made. Adding more "plot" doesn't achieve anything, and I think teenagers are intelligent enough to handle some ambiguity in their endings.

Wow this was so much fun! I didn’t go in with many expectations, just knew the book had such an interesting premise. It didn’t disappoint! I love the show Black Mirror and this could have been an episode; I think it’s very similar to one of them in fact. I was constantly wondering what was happening and on edge, like it was actually happening to me!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! Highly recommend this one! This Is Not the Jess Show is a tense story of a girl who realizes she is living inside a TV show. Scary and engrossing! My one critique is that the beginning is too slow. Also, I expected that Jess would have been way more freaked out when she learns the truth about her life. But that could just be me idk. Still, the plot is so interesting and weird! Many aspects of the story remind me of Black Mirror. I have seen some of the show but the bleakness really turned me off. This book has everything I wanted out of a “technology gone wrong” book plus a satisfying ending and romance!
Jess’s parents are actual monsters for putting her through that. Some people should never procreate.
I love that this is a book I could recommend to all genders at our library! I’ll be sure to add it to our collection!

The reason I read this book was because I’d heard it was packed full of 90s references. As a 90s girl I was immediately interested.

We follow 17 year old, Jess Flynn, she lives in Swickley. She loves watching 90210 and listening to Alanis Morissette with her sister. Jess starts to feel that things just aren’t quite right in her life. She starts to question her friendships, her family, and life in her hometown. Everything seems to put together.
But it’s not.

I found the story to be very intriguing and I really didn’t want to put it down. I didn’t know enough about the book that the big twist definitely surprised me. It made you question everything.

This book is marketed as a thriller but I honestly don’t know what I would classify this as. I was pleasantly surprised with this novel. I highly recommend people read this without reading the synopsis.

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy.

THIS IS NOT THE JESS SHOW

This young adult foray offers up surprising plots twists that keep you riveted and reading quickly, with the clever unfolding plot paralleling Jim Carey’s The Truman Show It portrays a dystopian social media and influencer landscape 40 years in the future gone amuck, overlayed with teens growing up in the relative simplicity and lack of tech of America in the 1990’s. It is a clever storytelling plot, which leaves you as the reader as naive as Jess, our 17-year-old clueless heroine.

Jess Flynn struggles with average teenage angst over school to romance, never realizing that her life takes place on a carefully curated reality TV set with millions of online fans and producers who conjure up soap opera plot twists to keep tune-in high. A striking moment is when one teen drops a flat device Flat device with a picture of an apple with a bite taken of it, and Jess merely looks on in bafflement. Cell phones and social media platforms have yet to dominate teens’ lives in the 1990s.

There are two distinct levels to read this book: the teen perspective, but also that as a parent. On the teen level, there are shifting friendships, mean girls, budding romance, academic struggles, alcohol-fueled parties, and all the teen social angst of finding one’s place to navigate. On the parental level, Jess’s showbiz parents have no qualms about rolling her up in their ambitious, callous plans much like a highly managed child star. Each in their way remains emotionally remote, with an adult friend stepping in for surrogate parental comfort. Ultimately, Jess lives in a world where her sense of choice and self-direction turns out to have been highly manipulated, and even the closest of relationships deceptive and shallow at their core. The self-serving amorality of all the adults in Jess’s life proves dismaying.

But ultimately the resentment I felt as a reader with being deceived does not yet suffuse Jess. She merely shrugs off profound deception and betrayal that would leave most teens bereaved, furious, confused and fundamentally unmoored in understanding who are they really. The plot thus carries this first novel instead of deeper character insights. The book ends by teasing up a next book in the series. Hopefully, we’ll see more depth to Jess’ emotions And guess what: I can’t wait until it comes out as I want to know what happens next!

I would give this book 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the 90s references and The Truman Show style setting.

Jess is a normal teen living in the late 90s. There’s a mysterious flu taking over her small down of Swickley, and things just seems a bit off. She is navigating her normal life—friendships, crushes, and her sister’s rare illness. All along it seems like something is off. Her friends seem to be hiding something, and her sister’s disease is roller-coastering. Jess begins to discover that the strange things that don’t add up aren’t adding up for a reason.

I really liked the story, but I had a hard time staying engaged with the story until the end. It took me a while to read. I never felt very connected to the main characters particularly Jess, and the circumstances surrounding Jess’s life make it hard to like her family and friends because they were hiding to much. I think the story was good, but it was not my favorite. I do not regret reading it, but I wouldn’t likely pick up a sequel of it is released.

Jess is living the life of a normal 90s teen- she has a crush on her best guy friend, has two girl best friends, two parents and a sister who is sick. Slowly she begins noticing changes in her environment- kids at school are suddenly missing, her friends are acting very secretive and suspicious, her dog is mysteriously different and her sister dies of a disease she has never really heard of. She also starts hearing strange voices and notices people in roles they never had before. It turns out that she is the unknowing, unwilling participant in a creepy reality tv show, a pawn in her parents quest for money and fame. How can she escape the world she’s trapped in? It was a great book and an unnerving commentary on how far some people will go to be rich and famous, even to the point of exploiting their children.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Quirk Books in exchange for an honest review.

Reading the description of this book, I expected a fun YA take on The Truman Show with a 90s twist. Instead I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this book. It manages to take a concept which has been done before (and quite successfully) and put a unique, interesting spin on it.

This is Not the Jess Show is the story of Jess, a girl living her best teenage 90s life. However, soon enough people around her start behaving really odd. She confesses having a crush on her male best friend to her other friends but they act as though she hasn't said anything, pushing her onto some other guy instead. When a strange device falls out of her friend's bag and no one gives a satisfying explanation, Jess starts to suspect there might be more to her reality than she's been told.

I really loved the execution of this plot. Like I said, it goes in quite a unique direction which I won't spoil but I immensely enjoyed. The characters were pretty great and it raised some interesting questions about celebrity and the nature of privacy. I did find Jess frustrating at times, mainly in her reactions to finding out her world was false. I wanted more anger or for her to react in a more direct way. Having said that, she does become somewhat proactive eventually so I did appreciate that.

Sadly I can't say much more about this book because I don't want to spoil it, but if the basic premise interests you then you won't be disappointed. It does more than just copy The Truman Show and it definitely deserves credit for that. The writing is fun, the plot is engaging and I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen. Overall a great read.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

*contains spoilers*

It’s 1998 and Jess Flynn is an average teenager living in Swickley. However Jess’s life seem far from average as strange drama’s seem to plague her family. Her mother is also extremely over protective and her sister Sarah is extremely sick, the towns population seem to be disappearing, struck down with a mystery flu and then an unusual device falls out of her friend bag. Suddenly people are acting strangely around Jess and it isn’t long before her investigation leads to a discovery that flips her world upside down.

I found this a really fun and enjoyable story but with some much darker underline themes being explored. This book appealed to me immediately when I read it was set in the 90’s. I was born in the late 80’s and grew up in the 90’s so I always feel a huge amount of nostalgia with anything involving this period. This book really touched my 90’s loving heart. It was steeped with pop culture references and it was so much fun being transported back to this time period, I couldn’t help but smile whilst reading. At times it did feel like there were a lot of references really emphasising the time period. However, on the whole I really appreciated the setting.

I flew through this book in just over a day. I found it a really quick read that I couldn’t seem to put down. There wasn’t anything in particular that kept drawing me back except just enjoying being in Jess’s world. I found the title and the synopsis of this story quite interesting because it essentially gives away a huge chunk of the storyline. Although it doesn’t give away specifics, I feel most people could predict elements of this story. I found this an interesting choice because I think I would have enjoyed the first half more had not so much of the plot be given away. I think it could have been a lot more successful, creepy and slightly eerie if I hadnt had such a big clue as to what was happening.

I found this book really interesting in how it got my mind ticking about how the themes reflect our lives today. We live in an age where so many people share their lives online and in turn share their children’s lives. Often these children are too young to consent or have a choice in this. The earnest of responsibility therefore falls to the parents and one hopes they make the right decisions. This book really explores this in an extreme way and what happens when this goes wrong or when parents don’t act in the best interests of the child. Every person in Jess’s life treated her awfully, even those that help her eventually are complicit in the lies told to her. She is essentially exploited for everyone else’s gain and its awful seeing her realise this.

The later third of his book sees Jess leave the show. It is action packed and fast paced with an almost manic hysteria sweeping New York as the world want to see Jess to be returned to the show. She is free for the first time in her life but is more trapped then she was before. I couldn’t decide how I thought or how I wanted this book to end. I feel the ending was perfect though and it just highlighted and reinforced that message of how the world Jess lives in is. I also think the juxtaposition of the two time periods fed into the themes of this. It could have been set on a TV show but in the same time period but using the two different periods showed just how much the world has changed in quite a short period of time.

I think this book was a lot of fun, a little creepy at times but a fun read That i couldn’t put down. It explored a very thought provoking subject I had never really given much thought to and it really got my brain pondering. It also hit all those nostalgic vibes which was honestly my favourite part.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Quirk Books for providing me with a copy for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It definitely reminded me of The Truman Show but it was a much darker story. The world Jess lived in was cleverly constructed and it was shocking to see how far people were willing to go just to get good ratings! I enjoyed the depiction of the world outside the show and was really getting into it when the book ended! For me I think there's still a lot more of Jess's story to be told so I'd love a sequel.

Such a fun story taking place in a 1990s setting. Without giving away too much, my favorite parts were Jess interacting with her family and friends at school and at home. Anna Carey really captures the spirit of the '90s, which was really fun as a reader.

Purchased this YA/middle grade novel for my middle school library. Superb character development, elegant world building, and compelling plotting.

I really miss the 90’s sometimes. Any other 90’s kids out there? 🙋🏻‍♀️ Side pony’s, loud clothes, TGIF, dial up internet, Blockbuster, see through phones, Mall Madness...it was a blast!

The setting wound up being my favorite part of this book. It was so nostalgic for me and brought me back to so many fun memories. I also liked the premise of the book. Very much Jim Carrey in The Truman Show...hey! Another thing from the 90’s!

It was interesting to watch the way a television show and the media can trap a person. Poor Jess had no idea she was the star of this show until someone let it slip and they refuse to let her just leave. To see how human nature and greed played out was crazy to me. I think it accurately displayed how we act as a society at times.

The only negative I had is that it was a little underdeveloped and rushed in places, which could have possibly been changed since the NetGalley edition I read. Thank you to @netgalley and @quirkbooks for the advanced copy for my honest review ❤️

I came for the 90s nostalgia, I stayed for the weirdness.
Seriously.
The only reason I requested this book from Net Galley was I’d heard it was packed full of 90s references. And I love me some 90s. I am a proper devotee of that marvellous decade; I was born in 1981, so I remember the last great era with much fondness.
(You heard me. Last great era. Fight me and/or prove me wrong.)
I was there for velvet chokers, saw Clueless when it came out, and used to hang out at Hot Topic back when it was still goth. My friends and I freaked out when one of us somehow got our hands on an Academy screening copy of Titanic (on VHS, of course) before it came out on video. I remember with vivid clarity the sound of AOL dialling up. My bedroom walls were covered with posters torn out of Tiger Beat featuring JTT, Devon Sawa, and the cast of SBTB. Drew Barrymore is the reason I plucked my eyebrows to oblivion, I still know every word to Jagged Little Pill (including the secret song), and I had a pager.
So naturally, I’m so happy the 90s seem to be trendy at the moment. I just read that flared jeans are making a comeback, which excites me, even if the godawful mom-jean-high-waisted style is still du jour. Can’t win them all, and I suppose they are comfier than hip-huggers, even if they’re hideous.
I digress.

The point I was trying to make before I careened off down Memory Lane is this book is so full of 90s references that it almost overwhelmed even me. The proverbial cup runneth over. Every page had some mention of Weezer, Fiona Apple, flannel shirts, babydoll dresses, and Scott Wolf.

And then suddenly it turns into something else entirely. Not entirely unpredictably, mind you. For a while, I thought to myself, ‘Ah, well, this is obvious, we’ve seen this plotline a few times before.’ I almost got bored. But then it veered off again and recaptured my interest. I’m trying my best to avoid spoilers, so perhaps I should just stop now.

Altogether, ‘twas a delightful little read. Nothing mind-blowing or revolutionary: just a Black-Mirror-type story packed full of 90s goodness. My only real complaint is that ended rather abruptly. Like, really abruptly: I turned a page, found myself at the end, and thought ‘Where’s the rest of it? WTF?’ Turns out it’s the first in a series, though. So I’ll allow the unfinished ending.

For now.

Just gonna go listen to Jagged Little Pill now …

Thank you, Net Galley, for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked from the moment I started reading this book and just didn’t want to put it down! It’s definitely one you could easily devour in one sitting, but I managed to pace it over a morning and afternoon!

The story is told from the perspective of Jess who I just adored as a main character. Set in America in 1998 Jess is trying to survive high school, dealing with a crush on her childhood best friend, her overprotective parents and her sister’s steadily declining health. The only constant is her small town of Swickley, which Jess feels she is resigned to forever. That is until the day she discovers a mysterious device with an apple logo on it, causing her to question everything and everyone she has ever known and previously trusted. Slowly, cracks start to appear in Jess’ world leaving her with the difficult choice of living the rest of her life knowing it’s a lie or risking everything to uncover the truth.

I loved the 1990’s American setting and all of the little details throughout the story. Although I live in England, I could really appreciate and loved these references, especially to the many TV shows, CDs, clothes and toys which are mentioned. The way in which Jess’ relationships with her friends, family and guys from her school change and evolve throughout the book was also really clever and an element which I particularly enjoyed.

There is also the most brilliant twist within this story which I didn’t see coming! It is just the best feeling when reading a book to be surprised in this way. The ending also really made me smile and was just the perfect end to a perfect book!

I cannot wait to read more of Anna Carey’s books in the future!

The year was 1998. Bill Clinton was president. Dawson’s Creek was on everyone’s television. Ricky Martin was all over the radio. Yes, I said radio. And yes, I also said Ricky Martin. It’s also the year we revisit for This Is Not the Jess Show.

Well, sort of.

I never would have known about this book had it not popped up on my feed. Then when I saw buzz words like “nostalgia” and “My So-Called Life” being thrown around in association with this title, I swiftly made a request to NetGalley and never looked back.

This is the story of Jess Flynn. She’s just your typical 90s teen, living out a mundane and somewhat what expectedly angsty teenage existence in the small town of Swickley. Trying to navigate high school and first love is typical teenage fare, but Jess also has a sick sister at home whose days are numbered.

When it looks like her crush might be returning her feelings, Jess can’t believe her luck. But in a private moment of composure, Jess stumbles upon a whole different set of truths. This revelation kicks of a journey that is equal parts homage, hilarity, and thrilling.

If you were a teen of the 90s like I was, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book. It’s chock full of fun 90s references, but not in a way that makes it feel like overkill. In fact, the book itself is a shrine to the 90s as it very much pays tribute to the likes of The Truman Show, Ed TV, or even The Real World. This unique backdrop also serves to further set it apart from other teen stories. The fact that this is listed as only part one only makes me get more excited.

If you’re not old enough to remember the 90s then I can’t associate with you because you’ll just make me feel old. All kidding aside, young people should read this book too. They also should watch Dawson’s My So-Called Life and The Truman Show, but I digress.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quirk books for this decadent escape that reminded me of simpler times.

This book has a great hook and gets you immediately into the head of the character. It manages to make the 90s setting feel super forboding. Once I started it, I couldn't stop reading (although I stopped wanting to pick it up quite so much after the reveal, when it felt a bit more more like a typical YA dystopia book). But the pace was still fast, basically being one long chase scene, and it never let up through to the end. The social commentary was smart and made the near-future setting feel timely and relatable.

I won't be reviewing this on social media, because I will be nominating it for a YALSA quick pick for reluctant readers.

✨r e v i e w ✨
Thank you to @ for the book {gifted}.

💬Let me know one of your favorite 90’s songs and I’ll give you a shoutout in my stories

This is Not the Jess Show
“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.’

🧋All the 90’s trends and pop culture references
🧋Fun and fast-paced
🧋Similar to a popular 90’s movie (don’t want to give away spoilers by naming the movie)
Don’t take this one too seriously

When a book opens up talking about Titanic winning all the awards - you know it's going to be a good ones. This YA is set in the 90’s and has all the nostalgia of my elementary/teen years. This is the second YA book I’ve read set in the 90’s and I wonder if teens reading this would really get it. I enjoyed taking a trip back in time and all the twists and turns this book took. If you are a fan of the 90’s, this is for you.

Great story, definitely think it will appeal to teens. Very readable and exciting. Have recommended for purchase.

Do yourself a favor: If you have not yet read the synopsis, don't. I went in mostly blind, as always, and I am so very glad I did! This book surprised me in the very best of ways. As such, I will be keeping my review purposely vague, because I want you to enjoy it just as much as I did.

At the start of the book, we meet Jess, the titular main character who is living in what can only be described as an idyllic, small-town, middle class late 90s existence. Frankly, it was so spot on that it mirrored my own late 90s experience, complete with being desperate to get onto AOL so you could IM your crush. The stroll down memory lane was a highlight, no doubt.

But this isn't a rom-com about Jess's dial-up internet woes. That's really all I am going to say. Things start to get weird... then weirder, then straight up wild. The book takes turns I genuinely never saw coming, and I frankly could not put it down. I adored Jess, and could not wait to see what was going to happen next, and uncover all the mysterious things.

There were maybe a few points that things may have been a wee bit too easy for Jess, and that is my only very minor qualm with the story. Otherwise, I loved it wholly, and am basically begging for the sequel immediately because I need to know all the things.

Bottom Line: This book thrilled and surprised me, and I genuinely cannot wait to dive back into Jess's story!