Josie was a big deal in high school. A beautiful singer, she always had the lead role and the adoration of the teacher-director in the school plays. He adored her acting so much, he convinced her to head to Broadway to test her luck. So she quit school, packed her bags, and found out that making it on Broadway is much more difficult than she imagined. Now she is in Montana as a nanny for a little girl and spending her time with her nose in a book.

Literally. Because when she opens a book, she actually becomes one of the characters in the book and gets swept up in the action. She starts to look forward to these out-of-reality moments living her dreams. She meets two people in the books and they become more friends than the ones she is ignoring in real life.

While I'm a fan of Shannon Hale, I am not a fan of this book. It felt chaotic and disorganized. This is particularly true of the relationship with her boyfriend. Are they together? Is he losing interest? Does she really care? What about the people in her life now? Pretty much a shrug to me.

To be quite honest, I was very excited for this book; it sounded like a book lover's dream. I ended up being quite disappointed with it, and I thought the writing was subpar, the story was silly, and the "reveal" was ridiculous! It was still fun and sort of cute, but I think where this book went wrong is it reads like a very young YA book, a book aimed at, say, the 12-year-old YA audience, which is just fine. However, the main character is 18 (maybe even 19, I can't remember), so it wasn't quite able to balance itself out.

Unfortunately, though this book sounds like something I'd love, this wasn't a great story for me. It was very bland and boring, especially the protagonist, who felt so much like a Mary Sue. It was disappointing since I have liked many of Shannon Hale's past books!

To keep it simple: it was okay. Josie as a character was okay, her entry into a fantasy world to escape her problems was okay, the plot twist was okay. I honestly don’t have strong feelings about any of it either way. The first time Josie slips into a book and finds herself actually IN the book, I got really excited but was quickly disappointed by the meh-ness of it all. The most intriguing subplot was zombloid creatures what are most affected when in close proximity to another person (I would have read an entire book about THOSE). But even then I found myself indifferent to Josie’s survival.

Honestly, I DNFed this book. I couldn't get into it or through it. I found it really hard to get into the characters and the storyline. I kept trying but after about 60 pages, I had to put it down. I didn't dislike the writing itself, Hale has a great voice, but something about this just didn't click with me the way I was hoping it would.

My introduction to Shannon Hale was first through her playful, lighthearted novel Austenland. I have to also mention, though, that my six-year-old has been captivated by the Princess in Black series, beginner chapter books that are a delight for parents to read as well.

Having experienced titles of hers meant for adults as well as the series meant for children, I thought I'd also look into this new young adult title, Kind of a Big Deal. Josie is a high-school student who was fawned over for her natural ability, one that everyone believed would hit it big. When she encounters failures and interprets them as challenges to her self worth, she runs. She would rather protect her image from a distance than reveal any weakness.

The structure of the book bears mentioning, as the "story within a story" technique is employed throughout. They are used as literal escapes as Josie avoids dealing with pain and failure, but she does gain insight and maturity by the end.

I found this a capable book and fully admit I am not the target audience, but I found the stories went on too long and would have preferred a tighter narrative.

(I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

If you could live in any book for the day, which book would it be?

I’d have to go with Harry Potter (I know, I know) but only if I’m a witch, not a muggle.

In Kind of a Big Deal by @squeetus Josie Pie was supposed to be a big broadway star. And for a while...you guessed it, she was kind of a big deal. But then she wasn’t.

Now she’s in small town Montana and getting back into reading. Literally. When she reads a book, she enters the world as a character. She loves it so much she someday may never leave.

This book was so funny. Not like a few one-liners here and there, but like living in Josie’s head was hilarious. One of the most fun books I’ve read all year for sure.

Can you write your own story? This book is the answer! Josie Pie peaked in high school and feels like there is no future for her. She can't see a future for her career or her friendships, but a magical encounter helps her realize she can have control over her story....but will she realize before she gets swept up in the magic, and time runs out?

I did not connect with the characters in this book. I do not believe the
Main character’s thought process and it was hard to get through.

Shannon Hale’s Kind of a Big Deal tells the story of Josie Pie, an 18-year-old nanny who “peaked in high school” and is now struggling to find her footing as an adult. After failing on Broadway and alienating her boyfriend and best friend, lonely Josie moves to Montana to care for five-year-old Mia but soon finds herself able to literally escape into a book while wearing magical glasses. Through her time in a romance, dystopia, fantasy, and realistic fiction, Josie discovers her inner power and redefines what her adult life could be.

While the premise sounded enticing, the novel just didn’t work for me. First, Josie is a difficult character to like, what with her inability to follow through with promises and her inexplicable decision to stay disconnected from everyone else; perhaps these traits could have made sense with more backstory, but as it stood, they just painted Josie as petulant and immature. The plot was also muddled; I was never sure if Josie was actually learning from characters like best friend Nina or simply imagining the scenarios surrounding their deep conversations, and I had a tough time making much sense of the ending. Finally, while there were moments of really beautiful writing and a few humorous bits, most of the plot felt much like Josie—trying too hard but eventually coming off as repetitive and boring (if I had had to hear ONE MORE TIME that Josie needed to get out of the Spotlight book, I think I may have thrown my Kindle across the room).

Despite the cool concept, most libraries would be okay skipping this one. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Kind of a Big Deal wasn't as big a deal as I hyped it up to be. It is somewhat entertaining, as long as you don't look into the plot - which there isn't really. It is more a series of events that could be interesting if there were a plot based on any one of them. Kind of disappointed in this author.

i'm not exactly sure how i ended up with this book on my tbr. i think i maybe won a galley via the cancelled book expo arc lottery, but who knows. anyway, i enjoyed austenland the movie, and kind of a big deal was written by the same author, and seemed to share a similar love of books premise. so i figured it was worth a try.
and this is fine. i guess. the main character makes it hard to root for her, which is never my favorite. and there's something of a love triangle, which is also not my favorite. not feeling particularly compelled to like the main character made this harder to enjoy. but that just means it wasn't for me. i'm sure others will disagree.

**kind of a big deal will publish on august 25, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy netgalley/macmillan children's publishing group (roaring brook press) in exchange for my honest review.

Kind of a Big Deal is a unique, coming-of-age story that depicts Josie Pie's journey of self discovery.

Josie was a star in high school who chased her dream of becoming a Broadway success in NYC. After falling flat on her face and feeling too ashamed to return home with her tale between her legs, Josie seeks to hide from the rest of the world. She settles for life as a live-in nanny in Missouri, becomes more and more distant from her friends, and endlessly obsesses over how she was " kind of a big deal" in high school. After purchasing a book at a local book store, Josie discovers that she is suddenly able to enter the world of every novel that she reads. In each new story, Josie is the heroine and her recently distant boyfriend is the leading man who is crazy in love with her. But what will happen if she finds a story that she wants to say in forever?

Kind of a Big Deal is a very creative and original story. While I really liked the concept, I am sorry to say that I often found it very confusing and difficult to follow. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if it had been executed in a more seamless and believable manner. I also found Josie to not be very relatable, despite feeling sorry for how lost she was.

Despite the story's faults, I do appreciate the heart behind it. Kind of a Big Deal tells the story of a young person who fails, gets discouraged, and needs to find herself again. Life doesn't always turn out the way we expect it to, but that doesn't mean we should give up and withdraw from the world. We need to simply pick ourselves back up and move forward.

Thank-you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this novel!

Kind of a Big Deal is about a girl named Josie, who “was kind of a big deal” in high school. Josie even dropped out of high school in order to pursue her dreams of singing on Broadway. Unfortunately, those dreams didn’t quite come true. Now Josie is a nanny in Montana and trying to find her way.

Josie seemed like a lame character. Her background wasn’t that interesting, her attitude is pretty lame, and the way she interacted with the other characters was just unlikeable. When Josie ventures into a bookstore one day and starts reading books, she ends up falling into whatever she is reading. This premise was promising. There was a chance for a lot of fun interactions that just seemingly fell flat. The shift between the books Josie was falling into, and reality were a bit jarring. It was an immediate change in writing style and language, and I found myself often having to retrace my steps to figure out what exactly was happening.

Overall this book was a miss for me. Josie was just too unlikeable.

DNF. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy! I decided to not keep reading this one, it was not for me. Thanks!

It was a little slow at first but once I got into the story, it had me hooked. I think this would be a good book to have a discussion about peer relationships, OCD, abandonment issues, career seeking, and independence. It would be a good book to have in a high school library.

Shannon Hale has a dynamic writing style and I always enjoy the reading experience she provides. This book is no exception. This young adult novel is fun, transporting and offers a unique experience. Josie Sergakis, our heroine, is a "big deal" in her very small town where she is a high school student. She literally is the star of every school dramatic production and is even voted "most promising rising star" in a national competition. Josie changes her name to Josie Pie (in which she takes her boyfriend's last name) and drops out of high school to head to Broadway where she is convinced she is going to make it to the "big leagues." Her first audition does not go as expected and she experiences a series of rejections and disappointments that lead to her feeling displaced and separated from the life she once new. Determined not to return to her small town as a failure, she takes a full time babysitting job and moves to Montana. In her "new life", as the plot progresses, Josie begins to read a book in which she is literally transported into the actual book. She enters a world full of literal characters of which she has never experienced. She takes up with a troupe of bandits and realizes they resemble the people in her new Montana home. When she returns "home", she realizes that no time has passed and then she finds herself in another book. Josie's new challenge is to find out why this is happening. This book is light-hearted and I recommend the wonderful adventures and interesting plot lines it provides. It is entertaining and not too heavy to be enjoyed with a smile on your face!

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for a review.

I have to be frank - I hated this book. Struggling to get through the first chapter wasn’t enough of a red flag, but it sadly didn’t get much better from there. The writing was extremely elementary and read like something I read when I was 12/13 years old. Between the genres Josie jumps into, I expected there to be more of a notable difference, but they all fell flat and molded into one, unreadable genre. The overall plot was dreadful and the book was torturous to get through. Definitely wouldn’t recommend.

2/5 stars.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought that the book sounded really cute, but I could not get through this book. I tried starting this book a few times, and I ended up DNFing (Did Not Finishing) the book around 40% through the book. I had a lot of trouble connecting with the main character, and I found the story slightly confusing.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

I enjoyed this book. It was hard to relate to Josie at the beginning and her ego. Additionally, the ending was a little unbelievable with her boyfriend just randomly turning up. However, I loved the play with genres and book adventures Josie went on.