This book reminded me very much of a cross between Hale’s Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife, I think because of both the voice and the wish fulfillment aspect, but for a younger audience and with a touch of magic. I don’t think the appeal for this book is quite as broad as some of her other books, but I think for the right reader, the story will hit just the right spot. It’s very much a story about figuring out what you want to do with your life and learning how to “adult”.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale.

Shannon Hale is one of the few authors that has managed to slip through my "fantasy radar." It seems that no matter how amazing a fantasy book is, I can't do it. But maybe Hale's are just human enough to handle. Plus, I have enjoyed quite a few with my daughter, so that helps.

Josie's life has not turned out the way it was meant. She was meant to be on the Great White Way. Everyone in her life said so. But when she returned from NY to her hometown, not at all more famous, she feels disgraced and disappointed.

Now she is a nanny for Mia, who she loves, but also living in limbo, not sure who she is or where her life is going to go. Until she stumbles into a bookshop and buys a very unique set of reading glasses. Suddenly her daily reading has turned into something else entirely.

Ok, the reviews so far have not been kind to this book, which surprises me a bit. Is it a bit disjointed? Yeah. Does it hint to a few different genres without actually nailing any down. Sure. And are the characters totally like-able? Not always.

But this is so readable and fluffy, and feel good. I kind of like that it doesn't seem to know what it is. I liked all of the weird, zany adventures. I liked the flawed and awkward characters. Being a young adult is so funky and weird that I actually thought the author succeeded in portraying the inconsistencies with that stage of life.

I enjoyed this book. Josie's growth was very believable and I generally liked what Shannon Hale was doing. It ended up skewing far more fantasy than I expected and even than I particularly liked considering it's only hinted at the fantasy elements - through the book diving. I will also admit that having Zombie-esque creatures and part of a horror story caught me off guard as someone who doesn't like either of those genres. I liked the subplots with each of the friends - Nina, Justin, Mia and even the trio of friends from the park. I also enjoyed most of the book sections because it was when Josie grew the most. All in all, a pretty good book and one I will buy for my library because it'll definitely have an audience.

This book held a lot of promise but for me, it failed to deliver.
I just couldn't really connect with the story and it just wasn't for me.
I still highly suggest others give this book a try though because although it missed the mark for me, it may just be what you love.

Josie Pie is a star in her high school drama program. She leaves high school early to pursue her dreams on Broadway. The fact that she doesn't succeed is realistic. As a nanny to a young charge, she deals with her own failure and the absence of her charge's mother. As Josie reads books from the neighborhood bookstore, she begins to fall into the stories.

This fantasy just did not do it for me. I didn't really like Josie Pie. There was a lack of adults with any kind of wisdom. I would have a hard time recommending this book to my students. It was such a disappointment as I generally enjoy books by Shannon Hale.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The plot of this book sounded like an absolute dream, and that's exactly what this book was! The main character, Josie Pie, has the ability to portal into books as she escapes her real life that is falling apart around her.
The concept is so fun and any book lover will definitely admit to wanting to be able to actually dive in to some of their favorite reads.
The writings was so vivid and the storytelling was done very well, I just felt at some points that the author was trying to do a bit too much in one book and some things weren't as fleshed out as they could have been.
Josie does start off a bit immature, but the reader gets to see her learn and grow throughout the book which was really nice! I thought that the character development was good -it just takes a little time.
This book was so creative and a joy to read overall!
Thank you to Netgalley, Roaring Brook Press and the author for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Am only about 12 chapters into this and sadly, don't really care for it. I don't have much sympathy for the protagonist and am waiting for something more to actually happen.

Josie Pie is lost. She is wandering through life without a plan. She was a "big deal" in high school...a fact she manages to bring up too ofter. She copes with this lack of direction by falling into the setting of different books she reads.
I just could not get into this book. The age of the character did not match up with the age of the writing. It felt young adult/middle grade, but told a story of a college aged new adult. The main character was unlikable. It would be difficult to think of a library patron that would be an audience to this title.

This wasn't what I expected at all and was really odd, but also pretty great. I definitely recommend going in without much knowledge of the book because it's a ride.

It took me a bit to get into this book. I started it and put it down a few times. Initially it was because when she enters the bookstore, the books she picks (or has picked for her) are kind of dubious choices. I just didn't see a typical teen/early 20's person enjoying them.

I got over that aspect, and enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot. The main character, Josie, is fairly interesting. It is hard to see the other characters traits etc., and I question the whole aspect of her taking care of Mia.

It was a fun, light-weight fantasy. The ending was interesting.

Kind Of A Big Deal was very disappointing for me. I am a fan of Shannon Hale's books but I just didn't like this one. Josie the main character was very unlikeable which made it hard to root for her. I liked the concept of the book and thought it sounded interesting but it fell short. This one was Kind of a waste of time.

Kind of a Big Deal (Shannon Hale): This YA novel focuses on Josie, who is struggling after leaving high school early to pursue a career as a Broadway star. One day, she picks up a book and ends up in the story. She discovers that she can jump into different stories and change the plots to fit her own choices and ideas. 


I loved this book at first. The book jumps were fun, and I enjoyed the author's descriptions of how relationships can change as people get older and move forward with their lives. As it went on, however, there were too many threads to follow. It would have been better to focus on one or two important relationships, rather than trying to dissect so many in a story that had a whole bunch of other things going on, as well. Also, the climax of the book didn't really fit into the rest of the story at all. 90% of the book was realistic fiction with a bit of magic thrown in, but the big twist was completely fantastical. Then, the ending reverted back to realism, with no reference to the implications that would be expected after the huge magical event. 


Overall, I liked the book, but I wish it devoted time to fewer plot points. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! This title will be released on August 25, 2020.

I was SO excited for this book! I mean, who doesn't want to live inside of their favorite book, at least for a little while? After being a "big deal" in high school having lead in all the school shows, the perfect boyfriend, and the ultimate best friend, Josie Pie drops out of to school to make it big on Broadway at the urging of her theater teacher.

Unfortunately, it does not work out quite so well for Josie and she doesn't land any roles. She takes a job being a nanny for a recent divorcee who moves her daughter, Mia, and Josie to Montana for a new start. While walking with Mia one day, Josie happens upon a book store called "Walking Shadow Books." Inside she meets Deo, who flirts wildly, suggests a book, and gives her a pair of reading glasses when her eyes don't seem to be adjusting well to the elevation. While Mia is playing at a park, Josie starts reading the book, a swashbuckling romance. Next thing she knows, she is IN THE BOOK! She sees various people she has met in Montana playing different characters as well as Deo and all the other bookstore workers. Most importantly, her boyfriend Justin is in the book as well as her best friend, Nina.

Josie finds that while she feels out of control in the real world (Is Justin falling for another girl? Are she and Nina still best friends?), she can control the story in the book and live out the life she misses from high school where she was a big deal. Josie figures out the key to jumping into books and lives in different stories, all the while trying to reconnect with Justin and Nina, as well as take care of Mia. The problem is, the longer Josie spends in a story, the harder it is to get out.

I loved experiencing the different stories with Josie, but the book got bogged down with all the all the threads Shannon Hale tried to connect in one single book: depression, mother issues, a trans best friend, loneliness, lost dreams, distant boyfriend, reevaluating one's entire high school experience... I did feel as though it picked up the pace towards the end, and I couldn't put it down. However, the twist that explained why Josie was able to go into stories, again, seemed like it belonged in another novel.

I will be purchasing this for my library, and I will be recommending it to students to read. I just feel like it missed the mark, but still a fun fantastical read.

Thank you to Netgalley for access to an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted this book to be so much better than it was. The plot description had me hooked, and I was really looking forward to reading this one. However, the character fell flat and I was somewhat annoyed with her by the time I reached the halfway point. A book about being pulled into stories should have pulled me in, but I had to force myself to finish it. Even the climax, the "big fight scene" seemed somewhat lacking..

While a fan of Shannon Hale, I found this book to be slow. The book did not capture my interest, it reminded me of another series where the author becomes part of the story they read. The premise of Josie and her big acting dreams was hard to believe.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I like Shannon Hale's books and I liked the premise of this books, but the overall package fell flat. Josie was the star of her high school musicals and thought she was destined for a brilliant career on Broadway. But her plans came to a crashing end and she became a nanny living in Montana. Nevertheless, she clings to the idea that she was "kind of a big deal in high school" and never grows out of her HS diva stage. The concept of having her grow emotionally through imagining herself in the different books she reads is intriguing, but despite the different genres, all the books basically have the same writing style, and Josie never really experiences any maturity and remains somewhat spoiled and an unsympathetic character. A good idea that didn't quite work out.

I love Shannon Hale, but this book is book-nerd-bait. Will be recommending it to upper MS students who are heavy readers already, but the book felt engineered to appeal to people whose entire personality is books.

Cute book. Took me a few pages to get into the story. It was a bit faster after that. It finished way stronger than it started.

In this story Josie Pie (stage name) is killing it as the popular high school girl who has the lead in every performance. Everyone is constantly telling her she is awesome, and she believes it. Her drama teacher, who has connections to the theater community in New York manages to get her an audition, so she QUITS high school and moves to NYC - and bombs the audition. Unwilling to go back to her hometown as a failure, she stays in NYC, runs up debt, until she gets a nanny job that moves her to Montana. Here she sits, telling everyone who will listen that she was a big deal in high school. Upon the recommendation of a highly attractive book seller, she begins to read a book and finds herself literally drawn into the story. Trying to figure out what is going on, she book hops, until she finds herself trapped in a book, almost forgetting that she has a real life. She must figures out who she is, who she wants to be, and if she wants to leave this make-believe world behind.

I had a hard time suspending disbelief enough to get into this story. Our protagonist, Josie Pie, is so self-absorbed that it is hard to find her a sympathetic character, however, all the characters seemed to be pushed beyond the archetype they were meant to represent, so perhaps that is intentional. Having a teacher push to have a student quit high school to be a star on Broadway, and a mother who basically says, "meh, it's your life" just doesn't sit well with me. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be a cautionary tale for those kids who are so self-absorbed they can't function in society, or a satire of what the next generation seems to be prone to.

This book did not earn a place on my favorites shelf, but I'm sure that there are others that will enjoy it.

4/5 stars
*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Personally, I really liked Kind of Big Deal. It was exactly the kind of read I was looking for. The synopsis really stuck out to me, and the book itself did not let me down.
Kind of Big Deal is a YA contemporary/fantasy about Josie Pie. Josie Pie lives in Montana as a nanny, but she used to be something big. Big as in, Josie managed to get a Broadway audition. But unfortunately, Josie didn't make it. When Josie stumbles upon a bookstore in her small town, and picks up book and a pair of reading glasses, something strange starts to happen to her. When Josie reads, she actually is transported into the book. I was not the biggest fan of Josie, and in the beginning she was kind of annoying. Her character did get better over time. All of the other characters were not bad. Mia was my favorite. I thought the falling into books and being transported into them was a really cool element. It was like a story within a story. The pacing of this novel was ok. The beginning was fairly slow, but the novel sped up towards the middle/end. The novel also finished very abruptly. Overall, I really liked this novel and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick, immersive YA read.