When Jane and Fen first meet he is dark, disturbing, and seems to be the black sheep of his family. We soon discover that the Sarafian brothers may not be what Jane thought and the more time she spends with Fen the deeper their attraction grows. I’ll admit, I loved Fen, but boy is he a dark soul! He is tall, dark, and handsome and has been obsessed with Jane since he saved her when she fell in the ocean two years ago. He has even commemorated that accident with a tattoo. As she gets to know the Sarafian family she is drawn to how “normal” they seem but as she gets to know them she sees the problems that reside at their roots which lead her to making some difficult choices.

I was surprised by the dark undertones in this book. The synopsis made it sound like it would be a young adult contemporary with a bit of a romance and it was, but there was also quite a bit of angst and pain. Not a bad thing but just unexpected. Fortunately I really liked both Jane and Fen. The more that was revealed about each of them the more their quirks made sense and I wanted to keep getting to know them.

I’m a sucker for books that have a music theme. Not that I know that much about music, I don’t! I just love that vibe and creativity. That Jane and Fen got to know each other through their love of music gave them a commonality that was fun to read and was a good contrast to the dark themes throughout the novel. Have you read a lot of Jenn Bennett novels? I’ve read a few and thought I knew what to expect but this novel surprised me. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

Always Jane is an adorable take on one of my favorite movies, Sabrina. Jane is the chauffeur’s daughter who grew up with the sons of a wealthy LA rock producer. She has had a longtime crush on the older brother, but is shocked when one summer she finds herself falling for the other brother.

While this isn’t my favorite Jenn Bennet book, but it is still just as sweet and swoony as her previous romances. I loved Fen and Jane’s love story of enemies to friends to lovers. As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I also appreciated the storyline of Jane‘s aphasia and how it is portrayed in the book.

Overall, Always Jane is an emotional romance with a ton of heart.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jenn Bennett has a knack for writing places and people, and Always Jane is no exception to the rule. The setting works so well with the plot of the story, and most of the characters aren’t faceless, one-dimensional, cardboard cut-outs. Even the side characters were interesting, and I wish there was more with them.

This, however, cannot make up for the problematic aspects of the story. While this book covers a variety of issues, the biggest hiccup is that the female protagonist cheats on her boyfriend with his brother. There’s no denying that the chemistry between Fen and Jane exists and is much more interesting than Jane’s relationship with Eddie, who is so obviously wrong for her. I don’t even mind that this book is about someone who cheats. There should be books that cover that since it unfortunately happens. The problem I have is that there are no repercussions for their actions. Eddie blows it off like no big deal despite explaining how much he actually likes Jane. He’s not hurt, neither Fen or Jane get in trouble, it doesn’t affect anything in any real way. It’s almost like everybody in the story just gave them a pat on the back, told them to do better, and didn’t care. Even Jane internally knows that what she’s doing is wrong, wrong, wrong, and then continues to do said wrong actions.

I cannot support a book that is so problematic. Pile on that it’s just weird for someone to be in a relationship with her boyfriend’s brother, Fen’s obsession with Jane is slightly worrying, and the whole plot line that she doesn’t know 100% who her dad is has no resolution or bigger connection to the main plot. What was the point of including that at all???

I’ve read many of Jenn Bennet’s YA contemporary romances, but this one was just so different from her other books. While I appreciate her including a character with aphasia, I felt like everything was too much and not thought through enough.

3.5 stars. I adore Jenn Bennett and everything she writes. As soon as I saw she was releasing a new one, I was all on board. While I enjoyed this one, it felt like there was a lot going on, and I really hate a love triangle. I was all on board for Fen and I was annoyed with Eddie right off the bat. Fen was a bit much with the brooding sometimes, but you could tell he really loved Jane.

It was all a bit of a mixed bag. Not my favorite from Bennett, but still enjoyable.

Okay, I cannot believe I am saying this, but I had some mixed feelings about this one. Yes, mixed feelings, about a Jenn Bennett book, I can't believe it either. Here's the good news: I still really enjoyed the story. The bad news? There were times the characters were just... yikes. Overall though, and because the ending redeemed a lot of the troubling parts of the story, it was still an overall win. And look- there was definitely more good than bad, I just... don't want to overlook the bad just because I enjoyed it, I think is my point.

The Good:

Like any Jenn Bennett book, I was immediately invested in the characters, messy as they may have been. Frankly, I like messy, and these two, well they win an award or something. The author just really has a way of writing characters that makes you care, almost immediately, no matter what. So care I did. The story itself contained some mysteries too, surrounding Jane's past, and in some ways, her present. That made the whole thing really readable. Plus, the romance was obviously going to be something I shipped, as always, even if I didn't love its beginning (see below).

I loved the family focus, especially Fen's family. His mom is my fave, and will likely be yours too, because she's really kind and caring but also just awesome. I know some people may end up not liking that Jane was initially "with" Eddie, Fen's brother, when they start catching feelings. But. Upon reading about Eddie for, oh, three minutes, you'll see that it's really more of a relationship in Jane's head than Eddie's reality.

Without giving too much away, the route the story takes made up for all the issues I had at the start, so that is a huge plus. Jane and Fen both really need to figure out who they are, and I liked that the book paved the way for that to happen.

The Not As Good:

There is really only one thing in this category, and that is how cringey the characters were on occasion. And look- I get it, we're all cringey at times! But the relationships they had were sometimes borderline unhealthy. And that is what gave me pause, especially when I consider the audience. Here's the thing: Fen is obsessed with Jane. And it's weird! Like my dude, you don't even know her? And like, okay, obviously they do eventually get to know each other in a proper way, which is why I still have mostly positive feelings about the book. But wow, this guy needs a little therapy, frankly. Jane could probably use some too, now that I think about it. Nothing wrong with therapy, guys. I had just kind of hoped that Fen's obsession/borderline love bombing would be addressed, and it really wasn't.

Bottom Line: Still awesome and swoony because it's Jenn Bennett, but with a minor glitch for me.

This started out rough for me. I was very confused by Jane’s current relationship and the cheating. I love the authors other work and I would recommend those to students first.

This was a great YA novel, that's a perfect read for summer!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

dnf @ 50% I honestly hate all of these characters except maybe the mom. The MC is so dumb and is ignoring all of the really horrible red flags in her relationship. You see the entire plot and conflict coming from a mile away and none of the actual plot is plausible at all. I would've liked if they'd played up the music aspects more. But like who are these characters and what are their ambitions?? I do love a good Shakespeare reference. The love interest was way too good for the MC but really romanticized her and was low key obsessed with her before really meeting her at the beginning. Honestly Bennet's weakest novel with a messy plot and weak characters. There really was no driving force for me to finish this book so I gave it my best shot.

This was my first Jenn Bennett book, but I went in with high expectations because her books are always recommended to me. I really enjoyed that the characters read like messy teenagers, however, I had a hard time connecting with Fen as a character. It might be because he comes across as obsessive and toxic. His fixation on Jane felt more creepy than romantic. I was a lot more forgiving of Jane's messiness because I like reading messy YA characters, but at times I was confused by her motivations. Overall, I was really hoping for a fun, lighthearted YA romance and while I enjoyed the book, this didn't seem to really fit that expectation. I enjoy Jenn Bennett's writing style though and I'm excited to read some of her back catalog that I've been told seems to fit better into the fun, lighthearted YA category.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuester Children's Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Always Jane in exchange for an honest review. This review will be posted on Goodreads/Amazon upon publication of the book.

I usually love Jenn Bennett but this just wasn’t my jam
from the get go. I was so confused by the whole premise - why is she dating this boy Eddie? I don’t understand why it the accident needed to be a secret/cover up and why it would be so shocking someone would save her. Then I could tell there was cheating. This one just didn’t give me the swoony feeling her other did.

I used to love this author and her earlier books, but this one was a bit of a let down for me. There was a lot happening that made it hard to focus on the actual story, but at the same time I felt the story was lacking. The author introduced multiple issues through this story that at times it was confusing to keep up with the character and I felt that it never added growth or developed the characters because it never was fully developed or explored. There were times while there was such a disconnect with the story I felt bored while reading.

I didn’t enjoy the romance either. It felt messy and toxic. There’s an underlying “obsessive” feel to their “love story” that didn’t feel organic and I had a hard time connecting or even understanding Jane and Fen. I felt that the author's approach to this storyline felt much weaker in delivery than her other stories in the past.

I really wanted to love this story, but this was just not a good match. There were a lot of issues with this book that made it feel underwhelming and confusing. I didn’t think at all the cover matched the darkness of the story, so if you are thinking this is a lighthearted YA romance, this is not that book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for this ARC.

I’ll start the review by saying that I just never connected with the book in any way, whether that be characters, plot, the tropes, etc. This was very much different than her other work that I have read and maybe that is partly to blame for my disconnect from this story. I was expecting a cute, summery read. It also is written for more upper YA, or even NA, which is not what I am used to from this specific author.

Fair Warning: This review will include spoilers.

The book is told from two point-of-views: Fen and Jane. Fen’s starts off first and we catch a glimpse of the past and his first interaction with Jane. Once Jane’s pops up after that it is a two year jump. She is no longer in high school and dating the brother of Fen.

None of the characters really piqued my interest besides Fen’s mother Jasmine. She was a kind soul and I liked her. Jane felt really oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes with Eddie. Although her actions and thoughts on the situations are understandable, it still felt like she and others let Eddie off the hook rather easily. Sure, he needed help with his addiction but that doesn’t excuse the fact he was two years older when they met (which Fen thought was weird at the beginning and kept it from his mother) but also he took advantage of her accident.

The last point brings me to the love triangle. To Jane, it was a love triangle. To the reader, it was predictable to know who she would end up with. He has his own point-of-view. There is no pull from the reader to believe either is a viable option because Eddie is a dillweed with a ton of issues and Fen is a weird stalker that only met her once and felt a connection from the moment he pulled her out of the water. It’s kind of delusional. If I am going to read about a love triangle sure, one guy can be a bad boy but don’t make him so bad that he is poop and don’t make the other the black sheep of the family who has a soft side but doesn’t even know her and wants her. It kind of just feels like payback when Eddie did Fen dirty and got his first girlfriend taken away and out of the picture.

As for the plot, it was dramatic but also simplistic as some of the character’s issues happen off page and Eddie isn’t truly around much.

Overall, this just wasn’t for me. I didn’t find enjoyment and continued to read only to see if something would click. If you do tend to pick up this book, go in with an open mind especially if you have read this author’s previous books.

I almost immediately knew this book and I weren't going to be friends. Fen and I just didn't click. I thought he was pretty obsessive and creepy towards Jane. Like dude, you talked once when you were nine and you saved her life once, she doesn't owe you her undying love. Apparently I'm the only one who feels that way though as this book never did anything to call out that creepy behaviour. In fact once Jane ends up falling for him she gets just as obsessive and intense. It just doesn't really seem all that healthy to me. On top of their relationship just feeling toxic as fuck I also just didn't really feel any chemistry between them and it felt extremly insta-lovey as well. Even besides the romance I didn't like that much about this book. It had a lot going on but none of the issues it tried to tackle really got their time to develop, which caused me to just not be as interested in those elements of this book. Therefore I was also quite bored while reading. The only thing I really liked about this book was Jane's experience with recovering from the accident as well as the traumas from the accident. I feel like if this book focussed on that and not the romance it could have been an absolutely fantastic hard hitting contemporary novel. Anyway, I've been interested in Jenn Bennett's books for a while and I'll definetely will read more by her because this was quite the quick read and I liked the writing. Part of me is also just hopefull that the hype around her is something I can partake in.

I was really disappointed by this book. I almost DNFed it several times but persevered in the end.

I'll start with the few things I liked before jumping into the nitty-gritty.

Jasmine, our love interest's mom, is so awesome! She's a meddler and I loved her for it. Also, there is a lot of really beautiful imagery in the writing. When Fen and Jane describe their feelings, it's very flowery and beautiful (almost poetic). I loved that!

Now, let's get into it.

There were a few tropes represented in this book that I thought were going to be really great. For example, falling for the wrong brother and bad boy love interest. I was so disappointed by them though. I mean, we hardly get any time with both brothers and while Fen is supposed to be the black sheep of the family, he still doesn't really feel bad boy to me. These weren't the real problems I had with the book, however.

The main thing that made me want to throw this book away and never look at it again was the fact that it seemed to have no plot. It was so boring and I had no idea what the end goal with the book was other than the two main characters falling in love. And even that didn't even stretch through the whole book. There were many times when I would jump ahead a few pages because I was so bored and just wanted to get to something interesting.

As per usual, the main characters in this book are a little strange and super quirky. Bennett creates very specific characters that are oftentimes easy often to like even if they're strange. I didn't fall in love with any of the odd characters in this book.

And just to touch briefly on a character, I'll speak about Jane. She's supposed to be working as a personal assistant for this young lady, Velvet, but I'm not convinced she actually did any work in this book other than watch the dog. It didn't make any sense.

Lastly, I'll point out that this book is upper YA/NA. It has lots of cursing and some material is probably not suitable for young YA.

I love Jenn’s books! They are so full of romance and they take you away into a world that you never want to leave.
This book somehow seemed a little different for me and I can’t tell if the formatting was what made it not as enjoyable. On Netgalley Shelf, the pages skipped around a lot when scrolling and it was a nuisance.
I liked that there was a story that involved music and the like, which is always a selling point for me. But I didn’t really care about Jane or any other character in this one.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

It had been two years since Jane suffered a head injury, and her return to the scene of the crime came with many complications. Among them, developing feelings for Fen.

• Pro: This is a Jenn Bennett book, so I was throughly entertained. The dialog was on point, and there were lots of messy things going on to hold my interest.

• Pro: There was an adorable romance at the center of the story between Jane and Fen. They were such a great fit, and I adored listening to their conversations that ranged from Seinfeld-esque to really deep. They had chemistry galore, and everything I learned made that little love triangle non-existent in my mind.

• Pro: Fen, oh my heart! He was so wonderful and owned me. As if I was not dazzled enough by his musical knowledge, he just said and did all the right things. In a nutshell, he was a soft and wonderful unicorn boy.

• Con: I will admit that it took me a long time to find the focus of this story. There was a lot going on, however, I never found my interest waning and I devoured this book.

• Pro: Amazing supporting characters and a great setting added to my enjoyment of this story. Two standout characters who stole the page when they appeared where Jane’s dad and Fen’s mom. They were really special, and so were their relationships with their respective children.

• Pro: This story all came together for me, and I saw that this was about Jane and Fen figuring out who they were outside of their family or employer. It was about them finding their way on their own and blazing their own path on their own terms. I really appreciated this aspect of their story and enjoyed taking this journey with them.

You know what always makes me happy? A Jenn Bennett book. This tale included some complicated family dynamics, a bit of a messy romance, and two teens figuring out their futures while coming to terms with their pasts. I found myself lost in this story, and as expected, wearing a big grin at the end.

As a devoted fan of the author, I get used to give my five shining stars before reading her books because they’re absolutely sweetest romance reads with adorable characters!

But this time I have to give less than five stars!
I’m sadly saying I even thought to give it three stars when I was reading some chapters of the book.If you ask me why I can honestly say: there’s too much going on at this book. Actually there is enough material to write three different books: Dysfunctional families, too much angst, triggering issues, love triangle, enemies to lovers, music, brain trauma etc.

Normally I’m not big fan of live triangles but there’s no real triangle at this book: because Jane has unrequited feelings for Eddie from the beginning. He didn’t care enough of her, never returning to her messages or showing any affection! Then she finds herself drawn to younger and badass musician brother!

Interestingly I loved Fen more than Jane: the black sheep of the family, passionate for two things: Jane and music! He’s keeping too much inside, bottling up frustrations, resentments, unresolved issues! He’s so close to burst out!

I loved Fen and Jane’s enemies to friends and friends to lovers steps and their connection via their musical interests!

The supporting characters including Jane’s father and Fen’s mom were lovely!

The characters’ self growth, evolving were well written!

But the book a little exhausted me by telling too many things at the limited space! I felt like I ran 7 hours long marathon ( I finished it in seven struggling hours)

I’m still rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 pinky, musical, sibling rivalry, class differences, true love against the obstacles stars!

I didn’t love this book as much as the other works of the author! But she’s still brilliant storyteller! I still go blind and read everything she writes before thinking any further!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster’s Children’s Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I'm realizing that Jenn Bennett stories are very hit or miss for me. And while I did not hate this, I found the story very disjointed. It almost felt like I had read 3 different stories in one. I'm not bothered by her unrealistic characters. I actually find them charming, but something just felt off about this one,

Content Warning: Drug Use

First off – the cover of this book does not match the story. I get that the main character Jane loves pink but I feel like the cover should’ve matched the aesthetic of other Jenn Bennet book covers.

Right away I was intrigued with this story of a girl who has a brain injury because of an accident – she ends up dating one of the guys who was there at the time of the accident but then ends up liking his brother. Yes, beware, this is a love triangle that involves brothers but I have to point out Eddie and Jane’s relationship is pretty flimsy and it’s not a serious love triangle.

Jane wasn’t a character I could say I really connected to but I like that we see how her life is affected by her brain injury, aphasia, and also we get a glimpse into her life as a domesticate worker for a music mogul, Mad Dog. Her dad is the chauffeur so her whole life has been in the employ of Mad Dog. There is a rumor though that Jane may be Mad Dog’s child – but it doesn’t matter, she knows who was her dad is and who took care of her from when she was a baby. I did enjoy Jane’s relationship with her father, they are so close to one another. Jane is eighteen and not sure what she wants to do with her life, if that means moving in with her boyfriend Eddie or keep working for Mad Dog. When she returns to the place she had her accident, she meets Fennec/Fen, Eddie’s brother and she realizes she has more in common with him than Eddie. I did like to see Jane’s growth by the end of the story.

Fennec comes off as the ‘dark horse’ in his family compared to the ‘golden boy’ Eddie but we learn that isn’t true – he is a young man who loves his family, loves music and loves Jane. He is not afraid to speak out against his brother, even if it gets him kicked out of his own home. I thought he was the more interesting character between him and Jane but he is definitely filled with a lot of angst. Fennec comes from a bigger family who are always involved in each other’s lives. Fen’s mom was very interesting and seemed to run the household even though Fen’s dad is the head of the family. He doesn’t have a good relationship with his dad.

Now as far as how the romance unfolds – Jane is Eddie’s girlfriend and he is on a business trip. I got the feeling right away that he wasn’t into the relationship like Jane was and that made me feel so bad for her because she didn’t know much about him but she was ready to move in with him! She learns more about him through his brother Fennec. Jane and Fen have so much in common especially when it comes to music. They go from enemies, to friends, to more than friends but obviously Fen has been crazy about Jane since before her accident.

Overall, I didn’t connect to the characters as much as I’d like, and I think there was a bunch of things going on in the story that didn’t make it flow as easily as her other books. Jane is trying to decide her future and get out of being a domestic worker, she’s trying to navigate her feelings about the rumors about her real dad being Mad Dog, she’s an assistant to Mad Dog’s daughter Velvet and trying to deal with her drug using antics, and she’s supposedly in a relationship with Eddie but falling in love with Fennec. Jane grows and learns to stand up for what she wants out of her life by the end, even though it means to do it without Fen.

FINAL THOUGHTS::
Why you should read it:
*you love Jenn Bennett’s books
*Jane and Fennec bonding over music – he’s so in love with her
*Jane’s growth

Why you might not want to read it:
*I didn’t connect as much to the characters as I would have liked
*seemed like there was too much going on in the story

My Thoughts:

This is not my favorite Jenn Bennett book but the signature imperfect characters are present in this book. It’s what I adore about Jenn Bennett books. I just wish I connected to the characters more and there was less going on when it came to Eddie’s drama, and maybe Mad Dog being Jane’s father (which didn’t matter because her dad was there from day one). Jane and Fennec are both eighteen years old kids who are trying to figure out life, obsessing about music, dealing with some family drama and falling in love.

Another super cute YA read by Jenn Bennett. I enjoy the way she writes characters that are flawed and realistic, while adding in some adventure and romance. This was a quick read and I found it to be a fun book. I really appreciated the way that she incorporated apraxia in the story and discussed how it impacted the main character. I can't recall anything else I have recently read that has discussed this neurological issue. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.