The reason we read historical fiction is because sometimes the facts just aren’t enough. A brilliant, beautiful book like Dawn Tripp’s, Jackie, touches the soul in ways conventional biographies can’t. I devoured this novel, and felt the power of history and a remarkable woman.

Jackie by Dawn Tripp is a stunning, intimate portrait of a woman we’ve all heard about, but rarely get to know on a deeper level. This book doesn’t just focus on the surface—it pulls you into Jackie’s inner world, giving voice to her thoughts, emotions, and quiet strength.

I loved how Tripp wrote her with such care and complexity. Jackie wasn’t just a style icon or political figure—she was a woman navigating grief, ambition, motherhood, and legacy. The writing is lyrical and rich, and there were moments I had to pause just to sit with a line or reflect on Jackie’s emotional depth.

I’m giving it 4 stars because while I truly enjoyed the journey, there were a few slower parts where I wished the pacing picked up a bit. But overall, this was a powerful and beautifully rendered historical fiction read. If you love character-driven stories about iconic women reclaiming their narratives, Jackie is absolutely worth picking up.

A comprehensive and honest portrayal of First Lady Jackie Kennedy. I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Historical Fiction at its best! This book grabbed me from the first page, could not put down. It was a very interesting HF look at Jackie Kennedy's very private life, very well researched. I would highly recommend. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy.

Love love LOVE! What an incredible telling of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ life. From her point of view & sometimes Jack’s aka JFK - I really enjoyed reading about them, their marriage, diving into their thoughts & minds, it was truly so good! I would read it again & I don’t say that about many books. I’m also absolutely obsessed with the cover photo, in LOVE!

"The world has divided my life into three acts. Life with Jack Kennedy. Life with the Greek. Life as a woman who goes to work because she wants to. My life is all of these things, and it is none of these things."

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC of Jackie in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts that follow are my own.

Jackie is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis from the humble beginnings of a 21-year-old young woman dreaming of an internship at Vogue to the legacy of one of the most famous First Ladies in the history of the United States. This book was actually super interesting to me because of course I knew who Jackie was and the story of November 22, 1963 but I had never read much more about her and her relationship with John F. Kennedy. I was drawn into this book and the lives of the Kennedys from the very first page.

Something I really enjoyed about this book was that while Jackie was the narrator of the story, the author still included little vignettes throughout the book from Jack's point-of-view. It was interesting to see different events not only through Jackie's eyes but also through Jack's. I also liked that this book not only focused on Jackie's life while she was the First Lady but also what came after that and how much she struggled to continue living after Jack's death even though their marriage stuggled greatly. She still loved him and maintained that love throughout the rest of her life.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Jackie Kennedy-Onassis but is looking for a more in-depth story about her. 4/5 stars!

Dawn Tripp’s Jackie is a stunning, intimate portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis—not just as the icon we all know, but as a deeply private woman who navigated love, loss, and reinvention on her own terms. Written in lyrical, almost hypnotic prose, the novel paints Jackie not as a myth, but as a fiercely intelligent, complex individual shaped by privilege, heartbreak, and resilience.

Tripp takes us from Jackie’s early days—dreaming of France and winning a Vogue internship—to her transformative relationships with Jack Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis, and finally to her years as an editor, carving out an identity beyond the world’s expectations. The novel beautifully explores how she balanced duty and desire, grief and power, public image and private longing.

More than just a historical novel, Jackie is an emotional meditation on identity, independence, and what it means to reclaim your own story. Fans of The Paris Library or The Personal Librarian will love the rich historical detail and poetic style. If you think you know Jackie, this book will make you see her in a whole new light.

I wanted to LOVE this book. I love historical fiction, I love Jackie O, obsessed with the Kennedys.
I thought this would be my book!

Sadly, I DNFed at 16%. The writing style was not for me. In that 16%, it felt like nothing happened and was very repetitive. I was finding it hard to connect to any of the characters. The writing felt disjointed. It was also written very stream of consciousness and would change stories multiple times in a short period of time, which was very confusing.

Obviously, this is a great book if there are SO many amazing reviews. This just wasn't the book for me.

I devour any book about Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, and this book was no exception. However, with all that I knew about Jackie, this book taught me more than I knew and really went into more detail on her years as the love of JFK. I really enjoyed this read and highly recommend!

I may be in the minority here, but I found this book overloaded with details and tedious. I wasn't sure where fact stopped and fiction started - I guess that is a good thing. I don't think I learned anything new about Jackie.

Knowing what was coming with Jacks death, it was hard to read that part. I can't imagine dealing with all she had to deal with in the public eye.

I wish I had heard more about her childhood, that made her the kind of woman that could accept a marriage where her husband was cheating all the time. Then to marry a man like Onassis. It makes me interested find out more about her childhood.

In this complex and emotional historical fiction novel about Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Dawn Tripp brings her many identities and lives to life in this complex semichronological narrative. Exploring her life before, during, and after her first marriage to Jack Kennedy, readers gain harrowing, moving, and immersive insights into her life and her thoughts as a capable, fiercely intelligent, and unbowed woman in the mid-twentieth century. In challenging the original divisions of her life by Jackie’s marriages, Tripp succeeds in giving her a voice of her own and making her a complex agent in her own life who makes choices and lives life to the fullest. Jackie, as the star of the novel, is so complex and multifaceted, and Tripp really succeeds in bringing this to life in creating multiple Jackies throughout the novel and balancing and alternating between them as necessary for the narrative. As for the other characters, interactions, and locations throughout the novel, they enhance the plot and Jackie’s role in that particular scene by adding complementary detail and juxtaposition. With brilliant characters and an emotional and engaging narrative, fans of Jackie Kennedy and female-led historical fiction will not be able to put down Dawn Tripp’s latest release.

I had picked up a copy of this book from NetGalley ages ago, as soon as I saw the cover I couldn’t pass it up. I have always had a thing for the history of our Presidents and First Ladies. Even back to when I was a kid, one of my favorite parts of visiting Washington DC was seeing the First Ladies collection at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I’ve also been extra fascinated in the Kennedys.

I loved following Jackie’s life from when she first met Jack and her life after. I was fascinated by the details that Dawn portrayed about the struggles Jackie and Jack had within their marriage, and how she struggled after Jack’s death. Reading the details of Jack’s assassination was so emotional.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dawn at a book signing and I loved listening to her talk about how she wrote this book.

Thank you Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for my ARC of this book.

If you are forever a Jackie fan, as I am this book is for you. This captivating woman is forever part of our culture but she was so much more than a cultural icon.
This book looks at the many lives of Jackie. The lives of Jackie, Miss Bouvier, Mrs. Kennedy and Jackie O.

Huge thank you to @randomhouse
for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
.

As much as I love memoirs and biographies I have a very hard time with fictionalized biographies. I spend nearly the entire book trying to figure out what’s truth and what’s not and it makes the whole experience thoroughly unpleasant. I was so wary when I picked this book, but I have always found Jackie Kennedy Onassis to be fascinating and I couldn’t resist.
This book opens right before Jackie and JFK meet and follows Jackie throughout the next 40 years. It’s written so beautifully with Jackie narrating in first person as though she is talking to Jack and has interludes of Jack’s point of view from the third person. Ms. Tripp truly brings us up close and personal into the life the classiest woman in the last century.
In her author’s note Dawn Tripp says “E. L. Doctorow once said, ‘The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.’” This and the knowledge that Ms. Tripp thoroughly researched her subject made this fictionalize biography the most enjoyable one I have ever read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy of this. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it. Jackie hit the shelves on June 18th.

I enjoed the first person narrative of Jackie in this novel. It really set the stage from the onset.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Jackie by Dawn Tripp. This is the imagined story of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, from meeting Jack to her death. It starts with the assassination, goes back and forth through the rest of her life. There have been so many books about her, hard to see how there is room for another one. But I always seem to read them! If you like Jackie O, good one to read. #jackie #dawntripp #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #lovetoread #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #jacquelinekennedyonassis #takeapagefrommybook

Jackie by Dawn Tripp drew me in from the very first chapter! Starting with JFK's assassination we get an intimate look into what it would mean to be the first lady in such turbulent times. I learned so much from reading this and thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommend!

This is a beautifully written historical fiction of Jackie, before, during, and after Jack. Jackie was, like a more recent First Lady, married to a powerful man who often strayed from his marriage, while absolutely needing his wife by his side. Her strength and grace and love come through in this intimate portrait of an imperfect woman who lived much of her life in the spotlight.

I love all things Kennedy related and this book did not disappoint!

Loved:
The way that it was written - historical fiction as its finest as the author imagined many of the conversations that would have taken place between Jackie and her husband in such a beautiful fashion.

It didn't shy away from the reality of JFK's affairs or his shortcomings.

Showcased her personality in a way that acknowledged her humanity but still gave us the glamorous, smart, effective woman she was.


Thanks to NetGalley, Dawn Tripp, and Random House Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Jackie by Dawn Tripp offers a poignant and nuanced portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, capturing the complexities of her life as a public figure and a private individual. Tripp's lush prose paints a vivid picture of Jackie’s world, from her glamorous appearances to her personal struggles, providing readers with a deeper understanding of her character. The exploration of themes such as loss, resilience, and the burdens of fame adds emotional depth to the narrative, making it an engaging read for those interested in the iconic first lady's life.

However, while the writing is beautiful, the pacing can feel uneven, with some sections dragging and others racing through significant events. Additionally, certain characterizations may lack the depth needed to fully resonate, leaving readers wanting more insight into Jackie’s relationships beyond the surface. Overall, Jackie is a well-crafted tribute to an extraordinary woman, but it doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights it aspires to, making it an enjoyable but somewhat uneven experience.