Jenny James Is Not a Disaster by Debbie Johnson is an enjoyable contemporary fiction that left me feeling uplifted and a smile upon my face.

This was a feel-good contemporary fiction that takes the reader along for a ride of overcoming obstacles, finding meaning, looking for that silver lining, and finding hope in a future that now doesn’t seem quite as dark. Jenny, Charlie, and Luke are great main characters, and through their gathered trip, we get to see them truly blossom.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and HarperCollins Focus, Harper Muse for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 7/9/24.

This was quite the road movie, only for it to be a book :) With three enjoyable main characters, especially the banter between Charlie and his mother Jenny was a joy. And him praising her, saying she rocked for leaving her comfort zone on one particular day, something to do with not revisiting a sandwich she just had for lunch (in case I spoil things by revealing too much) almost had me in tears.

Jenny has set everything aside for Charlie and struggles to make ends meet, often feeling like she is not good enough in what she has to offer as a single mother. This means she has some issues with certain people for making her do everything on her own. Indeed, everyone's problems are validated, so is this, seriously.
It was nice to read that things can be somewhere in between instead of being black and white, even if that is easier to deal with since there are so many things in life we cannot control. In the end some people turn out to be quite a surprise.

And yet that is exactly what was a bit much for me in this too good to be true feelgood book. All of the painful loose ends being nicely wrapped up.
Personally, a feelgood book can still have some leftover, unresolved, toxic aspect in the background, despite or especially with a happy-ending for a more real-life feeling, methinks.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.