I wanted to like this book so much. It had theatre, beautiful Montana, and teen angst. I usually love those things! I had a hard time getting through this book because I just didn't seem to care about the main character, Josie Pie. She was a self-proclaimed "kind of a big deal," but her arrogance and seeming lack of understanding about the world around her was off-putting. Near the end, as she fights her demons and comes to terms with her mediocrity, I started to root for her more, but the ending of this book just completely ruined it for me again. The premise of this book was SO COOL, but I'm sorry Shannon Hale--I really like you, but this just wasn't it for me.

Special thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read and I really did enjoy Hale’s voice throughout the book! Perfect for an enjoyable weekend binge!

Kind of a Big Deal is the first book that I have read by Shannon Hale and I am really expressed. Adulthood is not easy and in Kind of a Big Deal, Hale demonstrates how frustrating life can seem when your plans do not go the way that you expect. As the story progressed, I found myself easily relating to both Josie and her real-life, adult struggles. Although I am not a Broadway hopeful like Josie, I too have felt disappointment during the pursual of my post-graduate school's goals. Constant rejection will hurt anyone's confidence in his or her abilities, no matter how talented he or she may be. However, like Josie comes to realize, happiness can still be found in any situation. It is the person's job to make the most of his or her life - even if that life may not be going as he or she had originally dreamed it would be. For that reason, this coming-of-age tale is a perfect read for any high school graduate (or even any college graduate). A lot can be learned from Josie's experiences.

Many thanks to Macmillan's Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to read an early copy of this book!

I received an eARC of this in return for a fair reveiew.

2.75 stars overall.

Our main character, Josie Pie has hit her peak in high school and now she doesn't know what to do with her life now that things are in the toilet. Cue magical reading time where she finds herself as part of each story she reads. Things are so much more exciting in the books than in her real life, and she soon finds it difficult to pull herself away from her fantasy worlds.

I knew the plot was pretty predictable going in, but I was still hoping for a fun read. And it was fine, but not really anything I would recommend to anyone as a great read. Josie was an extremely annoying and woe-is-me person and I never liked any part of her character. The first 2/3 of the book were easy to follow plot-wise, but there were so many characters I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. Over time, I found I just wanted to be done with it, and then for the last 1/3 of the book was kind of confusing how everything tried to be resolved. I was mostly disappointed by the time I reached the end of the book.

“Determined. So determined it was an adverb. She walked away determinedly.”
So goes the language in this fun, bookish novel about a girl finding herself (and a bit of an adventure) inside of a (slightly haunted?) bookstore in small town Montana. Fair warning, I am a long-time fan of Shannon Hale and a librarian, so I may be a bit biased on this one. I was also given the ebook for free (thanks Netgalley!), so maybe take my ravings with a bit of salt.
Josie Pie has lost herself. She was “Kind of a Big Deal” in high school, the star of every musical, the popular girl that everyone wanted to be, the champion of ill-treated students everywhere…but that was before she quit high school to make it big on Broadway. Except making it big didn’t happen, not even close. Now she’s stuck hiding (figuratively and literally) inside the world of books. She visits cheesy romance novels, post-apocalyptic zombie worlds, and even gets to live out her fantasy of performing on Broadway. However, she must eventually answer the question: How long can you keep losing yourself before you stay lost?
Kind of A Big Deal is a wonderful pick for anyone who has ever felt more at home in imaginary worlds, ever lost themselves in a good book, or ever felt just a little lost in this great big world of ours. Relatable and fun, this one should definitely go on your reading list when it comes out at the end of August.

Who hasn’t dreamt about getting fully submerged into a book you are reading? This is literally what happens with Josie, a young woman who was not as successful as she thought she would be on Broadway, so she moved to Montana with the family for whom she is a nanny. In the beginning, she is able to pull herself in and out of the books easily, but it becomes more difficult as she realizes what she can become while in the stories, and she has to come to terms with who she is, as well as who she will become.

I really liked the idea of this book. I’m just not 100% in love with the way it was written. There were several characters that were written in, but I felt like their presence was disjointed, and needed more background. And I didn’t love the last chapter. I felt like it needed something more. But it was a quick read, and it was entertaining for the most part.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. This is really really not a good book. The basic plot is that of the 90s movie The Pagemaster: person obtains magical ability to insert themselves into the stories of books, and by doing so finds their inner strengths and becomes better able to cope with real life. Conceptually, this is a great plot, and one that can be done in so many different ways, so going into reading this book, I was not at all bothered by the fact that the plot sounded like The Pagemaster. However, Kind of a Big Deal is really not well done. Josie is a terrible main character, and I did not identify with her at all. She thinks she's hot stuff because she got the leads in musicals in high school, and then she's surprised when she doesn't immediately make it on Broadway, and her whole life falls apart because of it. This is an extremely flimsy setup in my mind, and it really doesn't make much sense, but I kept reading because I was mainly excited about the parts where she goes into books she is reading. Unfortunately, those parts are not well done either. Every book she enters sounds exactly the same even though they are supposed to be different genres, and all the characters in the books look and act like characters from her real life who do basically the same things every time. I think the author was going for some humor in the writing style, but mainly it just comes across as inane. The ending makes even less sense than anything else in the book (and that is really saying something). Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone.

This was an interesting book. I was kind of thrown off by the magical element, but thinking “a good book can really pull you in” helped me continue reading. I found Josie, the main character to be extremely unlikable, but maybe that was the point? I thought the storyline was well paced, and I enjoyed the ending because it did wrap up neatly. I think some of my students will truly enjoy this book!

I LOVE the idea, but I can't help wishing the protagonist was more likable. I understand that part of the point is that she NEEDS to grow, but it still made it difficult to relate to her struggles. Despite the fun premise, I had a hard time progressing through the novel because she annoyed me so much.

I love a novel that acknowledges tropes. This book didn't just acknowledge the tropes, it built them into the plot on a fun, campy way. It also balanced the camp with serious discussions about growing up in different types of relationships, taking on new responsibilities (including your own happiness), and the fallibility of adults. It explored that time right after high school when everything is possibility which I'd love to see more of in the YA sphere. So satisfying!

Thank You Publisher for Sending me and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, but just couldn't get into it. I think it could have been really fun but I just couldn't get into the writing style. It was sort of strange, and I felt like I had to really pay attention to understand what was happening. Like the story started going in a lot of directions all at once. It was just difficult for me to get into.

3.5 stars

Josie was the star of all her high school musicals, but after failing to crack Broadway, she’s now a nanny in Missoula, Montana. When she starts reading books recommended to her by the dishy bookstore clerk, she finds herself getting sucked into the plots. Literally.

There’s a lot of meta fun with the tropes of bodice-ripping romances, post-apocalyptic dystopias, superhero comic books, and even YA high school dramas and Josie enjoys the escape from all her actual problems: credit card debt, her transgender best friend and boyfriend moving on without her, and her not entirely-connected-to-reality mother.

When she gets rejected by the local community theater, she decides the only way to live out her dreams is through a theater novel. But will she ever want to leave?

As Josie finally understands she has to deal with life in the real world, she realizes she’s way more than being "kind of a big deal” in high school. The author keeps the tone light and sweet while dealing sensitively with the upheaval from school to the real world. All major characters are white.

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thought I don't often read YA, I read the synopsis of this and thought it was would be cute, but unfortunately this missed the mark for me. The main character Josie was insufferable and I found the writing to jump around a lot. The book does have some great themes to it around relationships, failing at your dream, financial worries and feeling like you don't belong. There were some funny parts, but overall this was a hard one to finish.

Josie Pie dreamed of Broadway. So when her drama teacher gets her an audition, she drops out of high school and heads for the Big White Way. Sadly, Broadway doesn't welcome her with open arms. So she gets a job as a nanny and ends up in Missoula, Montana.

As Josie takes care of Mia in the absence of Mia's single working mother, she discovers a bookstore in which handsome bookseller Deo sets her up with books and a pair of reading glasses that Josie suddenly seems to need. And when life isn't going her way - her boyfriend, Justin, is distant, and best friend Nina seems to be finding her own niche in college in Chicago - Josie falls, literally, into the stories she's reading.

She tries out historical romance, YA rom-com, horror - and wishes to find the story that she could have a happily-ever-after with. But when she finally discovers the truth about her book-lives, she must fight for her real life or end up trapped in her imagination forever.

This is a very cute story that ties in reading with dreams of acting, which as a former actress, I could totally relate to. Josie is a likeable character and her affection for her charge, Mia, is what brings her back to reality every time she falls into a book. I was not expecting the twist (no spoilers) but totally enjoyed it.

Definitely a fun read.

This story was confused, messy, and way too long. The worst part of this book was that it had a really interesting concept, but it was executed so poorly that it felt like a waste of a perfectly good plot. The characters were bland and forgettable, the writing was flat, and the book just went on and on. It's never a good thing to finish a book and thing "wow, that was long, and I'm so glad it's finally over." That's exactly how I felt at the end of this. I hardly cared about Josie's actual life, and I wanted to skip entire pages of the "book within a book" sections. The worst part was that these had the exact same writing style as the main plot, so they didn't sound or feel like other stories. Again... flat.

There was a part about three quarters of the way through where I was finally interested. I still didn't really care about Josie, but there were some interesting side characters and I wanted to know what would happen. And then after that scene... there was still so much book left. And it was boring again, because I still didn't care about Josie or what happened in her real life.

If this book had been a quarter of the length, pulling only the most intriguing points, it could have been a worthwhile read. As it was, I only finished because I wanted to read the whole thing so I could leave a review. I definitely would have stopped reading this after the first couple chapters otherwise. Really a disappointment because I really enjoyed some of Shannon Hale's books when I was younger! This definitely did not hold up to her other works.

It took me a while to read this one. I’m not sure if that was just me or if it was in any way related to the book. In any case, I enjoyed it. The story was well though out and written.

I’m going to say right now that this was definitely not up my alley at all. The premise of this book sounded really good. A girl gets sucked into the books she’s reading and becomes the main character. I loved the idea of getting to live out my favorite adventures in real time by being an active participant in the plot. I didn’t really get that from this book though.
First, Josie is an extremely annoying character. I can normally put up with a lot from characters in books when it comes to personality quirks, but so many of the things Josie said or did throughout this book were just downright cringey and it almost made me not finish this book multiple times. Alas, I kept trucking on.
I personally thought it was kind of creepy that she took her high school boyfriend’s last name as her stage name. That was just one thing that Josie did that made me uncomfortable. She also seemed to have a savior complex when it came to her trans friend, Nina. I hated that a lot. I didn’t like the way Josie felt like Nina wouldn’t be okay to live her life without Josie there with her. She spent a lot of time thinking about how Nina’s trauma affected her rather than how it affected Nina.
I had a hard time with this book because it couldn’t seem to decide whether it wanted to be a contemporary novel or a fantasy novel. There was so much switching back and forth between the two that the themes of the book were unclear. I honestly had no idea where the plot was going until the very end and then suddenly all of this weird stuff was happening and I had no idea what was going on.
For me, it just felt like a lot of things were just left out. There was too much of Josie’s awkward quirks and not enough development of the plot itself. None of the characters felt real. It was like every single one of them was a robot and not a real person, so I couldn’t even latch on to one person in order to anchor myself in the story.
The only redeeming quality this book had for me was Mia. That little girl will have back problems forever for carrying this entire book on her back the whole time. I love quirky little kids and Mia was right there on the edge of creepy. Loved her. 10/10 would read about her again.
All in all, I found this book lacking a lot of substance. The book just wasn’t sure what it wanted to be which in turn made me, as the reader, feel lost within the story.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the book/character as it takes you off to a rough ride. As you want to accomplish things but so many things go wrong, especially when you drop out of high school to pursue your dreams and it flops and have to do other things. Life's stories, but then you immerse yourself in books and reality or life we'd like to live out from our stories we read.

My first time reading from this author and I really enjoyed the book, thank you, Shannon Hale.

Josie Pie was a big deal … in high school. She even dropped out of high school to move to New York City and become a star! Her dream was short-lived and now she is a nanny in Montana where she is hoping to earn money and pay down the debt she racked up in NYC. She is isolated in a town where she knows no one and her old support system has fallen apart. Josie is desperate to get away from her life and decides to start reading again. What she doesn’t expect is to literally be pulled into the books she is reading. Is she going crazy? What is causing the phenomenon?

Kind of a Big Deal is a stand-alone novel that is definitely more comedy than fine literature. I found myself rolling my eyes at the characters and storyline while also trying to figure out where Hale was going to take the story next. I’m not sure I would have finished the book if I hadn’t committed to reviewing it. It is a short read, so as something to fill in some free time, it was OK. Definitely not a book to make time for, but if you don’t have anything else on your agenda, it is good for a laugh.

Kind of not. Unlikeable main character. Tired premise. Stopped reading at 25% on my Kindle.

eARC provided by publisher.