I have treasured Shannon Hale’s graphic novel work, as well as her journeys into the Marvel Universe in prose. Here is an original prose work, and I was quite pleased with the result — a book I would gladly share with young readers.

Many thanks to the publisher for an advance review copy, from which I offer this unbiased review.

Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale follows Josie, who dropped out of high school to follow her dream of becoming a broadway star. When her dreams don’t cash the way she thought they would she follows her charge to Missoula as a nanny to try and pay off her debt and hide the shame she feels at not becoming the big deal she thought she’d be. After a trip to a bookstore she finds out she can actually enter a book and live the story, her way and proceeds to have many adventures but the trips are addictive and she begins to lose herself to the stories.
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What I enjoyed about the story: it addresses that awkward stage of teenage to adult where everything is scary. Some people seem to make it work and others have dreams that don’t work the way we thought they would and it’s terrifying because that was the dream, that was the goal. Now what do you do? While Josie isn’t exactly likable her characterization made sense and the things she went through are certainly things I could relate to.
Through her book jumping Josie examines the relationships she has out in the real world, gets a reality check on some of those relationships, and learns that getting exactly what she thinks she wants might not be what she needs at all.
The book jumping was fun, and poked fun at some common tropes and lines used ie. “breath she didn’t know she was holding”.
Josie wasn’t likeable but her growth was believable and at the end made her more palatable.
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Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Whoa...this book was a lot. I initially went in because the premise sounded so interesting and I really enjoyed Austenland by the same author. However, this one was a definite miss for me. The main character was so hard to like and empathize with. Josie has moved to New York to fulfill her broadway dreams and dropped out of high school, only she doesn't make it and now she is a live in babysitter with tons of debt. The entire time of the book she continues to say that she peaked in high school and that she was somebody. Reading her inner monologue was not fun, being constantly reminded of how important she was and yet how she feels like the world is not working around her just was exhausting. My main issue with the book was the element in which Josie would read books and literally fall into the story and live through snippets of them. The separation of these snippets in the story was jaunting and hard to get into. They were scattered and really made me feel separated from the story. There was a weird attempt at a love triangle that somehow magically fixed itself in the end with her boyfriend, whom she's been constantly thinking has been cheating on her, just shows up and everything is forgiven. The other part is how badly she treats her friend and she barely takes care of her ward. Honestly this book was a mess and sadly I just could not like it. I really liked the previous work by the author but this one was a miss for me.
**Thank you so much for sending me an arc of this Netgalley and Roaring Book Press in exchange for an honest review**

Josie "Pie" was basically the biggest thing ever in high school. A big enough deal that she dropped out of high school and moved to New York to become the next big Broadway star...but she was a total flop.

Now, up to her eyeballs in debt and hiding out in Montana as a nanny, all Josie wants is to be a big deal again. Through a mysterious chain of events, Josie finds herself losing herself in books...literally. As she reads, she finds herself in the story. Will Josie decide that real life is better than fiction or will she choose to live in books.

I was really excited for this book because I loved Squirrel Meets World and some other books by Shannon Hale. Unfortunately, I didn't love this book. For about 85% of the book, Josie was a completely unlikable character. She was spoiled, self centered, and a more than a little obnoxious. The remainder of the book took an already farfetched premise and then jumped the shark a little bit with tying in Greek Mythology (a little) and a huge battle sequence.

I also felt that Hale's reveal of Josie's high school best friend as a trans woman was a little ham-fisted and that she revealed that information because she needed to add an LGBTQ+ character to check a diversity box somewhere.

I have always loved Hale’s writing and looked forward to reading this new title. While the premise of jumping in and out of books along with mentions of well known titles had so much promise, this book unfortunately missed the mark for me. In addition to the main character's cringeworthy overuse of the title throughout the book, it felt as though there were too many ideas to flesh out properly within this one story. As a result, Josie’s relationships came across as stilted depth despite their potential for so much more. I did love the dystopian scene and will continue to read anything Hale writes despite my experience with this particular story.

Unfortunately, I did have to stop reading this one. While certainly a great idea (especially as I love Shannon Hale's past works), Kind of a Big Deal fell flat for me. Not only did certain plot points not strike a chord with me (such as a trans character not fully fleshed out), some of the writing truly was hard to read, such as in the cheesy repetition of the main character stating that she was "kind of a big deal". While I understand the want to state the title of the book as a type of slogan, there came a point where it was just too much.

I definitely have teens who will love this book (and eat up just about anything by Shannon Hale!!!) but I wasn't the reader for this. I found Josie to be a bit over the top and inauthentic; she has vulnerable moments, but the hokey way she keeps telling people she was "kind of a big deal" was too much for me. I thought the idea that she could jump into stories she read was cute and interesting, but the addition of the bookshop employees being demons trying to keep her there?? Too much. Additionally, Josie's best friend being trans felt like an added afterthought to include an LGBT character. I want authentically diverse characters always, but something about this addition felt off to me.

Things I liked about this book:
It is creative/imaginative
There are shreds of truth regarding the lost feelings that come between adolescence and adulthood
The main character truly cares for her charge (despite getting wrapped up in her escapes)
The graphic novel sequence was unexpected and very fun

Things I didn't care for:
I didn't get as wrapped up in the relationship of Josie and Justin as I wanted. The tender parts where Josie realizes the foundation of their relationship are great, but there isn't enough to balance out her insecure moments. At the end, he seems to know so much about her time in NYC (and her many failures), but the first 50% or more of the book give the impression that Josie didn't tell him much about what was going on, so it was a bit of a disconnect
I love the IDEA of warping all of these different genres and the were all very funny and creative, but I found myself skimming a lot of it because I couldn't figure out who was who and what the purpose of it was.

Overall - it just didn't work for me

I love Shannon Hale’s fantasy novels, and I highly recommend "The Goose Girl," but I hated this book. The main reason "The Goose Girl" captured my heart was because of its heroine, Ani, who has become one of my most favorite literary characters. In "Kind of a Big Deal," however, I hated Josie. She was selfish, naive, and still somehow prideful. Even if it turned out to be a coming of age story where she learned how to sort out her priorities and become a better human, she didn’t have a redeeming quality that let me root for her. The writing wasn’t particularly engaging and the plot wasn’t something that entirely intrigued me to begin with. I did not care, at all, and could only force myself through 15% before I gave up. Maybe it’s just not my kind of book. I’m disappointed, to say the least, but I have not given up on the author.

I was a little worried at first with this one. The writing was good, but the main character was shallow and while the premise was interesting, I was afraid it was going to be stupid rather than silly - but I'm glad I stuck with it! The story grew depth and direction and ended up being great fun!
I enjoyed the story and found myself laughing out loud several times. It has a good message, the MC grew and matured over the course of the pages, and even though this book definitely falls under the 'clean teen' category, there's still plenty of entertainment!

And the ending? Completely took me by surprise!

I feel that this one probably appeals most to traditional aged YA readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of Kind of a Big Deal.

The book has a great premise that went in a direction I was not expecting. I did not expect Josie to see people in the books who looked like people she knew in real life, I did not expect her imagination or will to shape the stories, and I did not expect Greek myths to become involved. Not expecting these things to happen isn't a bad thing, mind you, since in the end I found them to be clever.

There were light, fluffy moments that I enjoyed and chuckled at (all the Spice Girls references). I liked seeing comic book pages included. That was creative. I sped through this book, too. It's light reading, and sometimes you don't need to read a dark and heavy book.

Josie had her moments where she was immature, selfish, and ridiculous (an 18 year old giving up on her dream when, let's face it, she didn't spend all the much time going after it), yet somehow I wanted her to achieve her dream. I felt bad for her when her teacher (Mr. Camoin) told her to drop out of school and go straight to Broadway. That was irresponsible of him and he was setting her up for failure. He was setting her up to believe getting a role on Broadway would be easy and like it wouldn't take years and years of hard work.

Even though we don't get to see Josie get everything she wants in real life, the lessons she takes away are good ones, especially for any teenagers reading this book who think high school is the most important part of their lives. Life may not be a smooth ride, your dreams might change, but don't give up and think one setback ruins it all.

A fun concept that also reveals deep questions about the feeling of not knowing your place in the world, and not living up to your own expectations. It’s a book that’s great as a distraction from all the big things going on right now.

I knew this book was going to be good but I didn't realize how amazing it would be. I already love Shannon Hale and she is on the auto buy list but this book was wonderful. Amazing characters, the plot all so so good. This is a great read for the world today. Highly recommend.

A story about how difficult it is to let go of your dream or revamp it. Cute story filled with magic.

Welcome back, Shannon Hale!

Kind of a Big Deal isn't afraid to look at how fragile a person can feel after their life implodes, in fact, this is a feel-good return to the genre about growing up and realizing that dreams can change.

Josie Pie (stage name pending) used to be a star in her high school, but after dropping out and trying to make her way in New York City, she runs to do a live-in nanny job in an isolated Montanan town where she can grieve in peace. For me, this alone is painfully relatable to read Josie trying to reclaim her dream as she watches her best friend and boyfriend live their own lives, blossoming far away from her. Then comes the best part - the genre-bending joy of Josie finding a strange pair of reading glasses that enable her to end up inside every book she reads. Shannon Hale's writing glows with self-aware hilarity of swoony historical romances, the chosen ones in YA high fantasies, and even superhero comics! The deeper Josie finds herself in these portal worlds, the harder it becomes for her to come back to her life and face the very real music.

An introspective book that is full of the light-hearted joy of rediscovering who you are. Kind of a Big Deal is the perfect return for Shannon Hale.

A digital ARC has been provided by NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Clever, engaging, original, this book was everything I love in a 'modern world meets fantasy' story.

This book is slow the entire way through. In general, I'm not a fan of books written within books and this book was filled with multiple books within books.

Shannon Hale has written a lot of wonderful books for kids/teens, but this isn't one of them. Josie, is coping with the reality of having been "kind of a big deal" in high school to an unsuccessful adult. Josie was the super successful theater kid in high school, having won the lead role in all the musicals, being locally famous, having won high school acting awards, as well as having great grades and being on the track team. Her parents seem checked out of her life, so when her high school teacher encourages her to drop out of high school and immediately go to New York to become a star, she does it. He sets her up with an audition, but of course, it's just a cattle call scenario and she's quickly dismissed for lack of experience. While in New York, she lives on credit and lies to her friends that she's successful - thus these relationships are strained. Unsuccessful at theater, she got a job nannying in New York. When the parents divorce and the mom relocates to small town Montana, Josie goes along,. Thus, the story opens, she's a broadway cautionary tale, deeply in debt, isolated without her support network, her only company a four year child, as the child's parent is out of the country. So, Josie, alone and miserable, ends up in a bookstore and upon reading the book, finds herself literally inside the story. By which, she is a character in the novel she has been reading - experiencing the discomfort of the clothing, the weather, interacting with the characters, all of whom look like her friends or people she has observed in this town. So, the novel goes back and forth between these dream - mental breakdowns- fantasy sequences and Josie's unpleasant reality. I'm not going to spoil, but the gist is - does Josie embrace the fantasy world or attempt to succeed in the real one?
Obviously many people head to New York, LA, etc and find the reality different than their dreams, but Josie's experience felt kind of dated. Are kids in 2020 really expecting to be wildly successful on broadway without an agent? While the characters text, there's no mention of social media success/failure which this kind of kid would embrace And, an entire broadway baby tale without one reference to Hamilton? Josie's entire being is based on being the high school success queen - it seems unlikely she would have dropped out of high school to leave it early- skipping college, sure, but dropping out of high school prior to the end of the year awards glut just doesn't fit this self absorbed character. The book is meant to be an exploration of Josie's character and her journey to understanding of herself and what she really wants, but we keep being told she's one kind of person, yet shown that she is not. . The love of her life boyfriend character seems flat - "he loves her for who she is- a star and now that she's not a star, will he love her" brought to life primarily seems to focus on how (PG) hot he is in each fantasy. Her best friend, Nina, is transgender, which seems less like a integral part of the story than a box check for diversity. Even as Josie recognizes her shallowness in the present, it's hard to believe Nina didn't call it out at the time, particularly as Josie sees her friendship as protecting Nina from school bullies- even while casually remembering a brutal hate crime against Nina. . Hale has done much better work than this.

Fun easy read with a cute premise and fun and realistic characters. Received this as an ARC via NetGalley.

This was a little silly but a fun read. I loved all the literary and Broadway references. It was enjoyable and satisfying to read.