We all have a Jessica Chen in our lives. Someone close, a friend or relative, who seems to have it all together. For Jenna Chen, it is her cousin Jessica, with her perfect grades and perfect hair, and her acceptance to Harvard - while Jenna constantly feels like a disappointment to her parents and a discount version of Jessica.

When one night, Jenna makes a wish to actually be Jessica, she thinks little of it - until the next morning, when she wakes up in Jessica's body. Now inhabiting her fantasy life, Jenna discovers that maybe, just maybe, things aren't all that perfect for her perfect cousin, but can she accept herself as she is and go back to her own life?

Even though I am old enough to be Jenna's mother, this story resonated with me because the struggle at the center is universal. We have all, at some point in our lives, looked at someone else and wished we were like them. Ann Liang has told this story beautifully, and I very much enjoyed it.

Ann Liang has done it again! She has been one of my favorite authors for a while now, and she completely outdid herself with this one. Her ability to write characters that feel so real and struggles that resonate so deeply always amazes me. It’s like she knows exactly how to put all those messy, complicated feelings into words. This book is an absolute masterpiece that had me hooked from start to finish!

Jenna’s story was such a rollercoaster. I could totally understand why she wanted to stay as Jessica—it felt like she finally had everything she ever wanted. I loved how the book explored that bittersweet realization that perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Watching Jenna grow and start to embrace her true self was so emotional and inspiring. And I really appreciated how Jessica wasn’t just the “perfect cousin.” Liang gave her depth too, showing that even people who seem to have it all struggle in ways you might never see.

And let me just gush about Aaron for a second—he was such a great love interest! Sweet, supportive, and just the kind of person Jenna needed as she worked through everything. I might even say he’s my favorite Ann Liang male lead, which is saying a lot because she writes amazing ones.

This book was such a beautiful reminder that it’s okay to not have it all together and that being true to yourself is worth more than any perfect image. It made me laugh, cry, and think so much about my own experiences. If you’ve ever felt the pressure to be “perfect,” this one will hit close to home in the best way. Absolutely loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

After getting rejected by every Ivy League school she applied to, Jenna Chen makes a wish to become her much more successful Harvard-bound cousin, Jessica Chen. But when she wakes up and finds herself in Jessica’s body, she learns that being perfect isn’t as effortless as it seems. As everyone in her life begins to forget who Jenna was, she must decide if being the top-student and daughter is worth losing herself.

This book was a horror movie come to life for me. The idea of being stuck in the body of someone smarter than you and having to live up to those standards, but with your subpar brain??? Nightmare fuel. I was more stressed out than Jenna was this entire book. Jenna is a very flawed yet relatable character. Despite being incredibly driven and hardworking, she wasn’t born gifted. She always seems to fall short of her peers, and the envy she feels eats her alive. She gets caught up in what she doesn’t have, rather than embracing her own unique strengths. Many people will see themselves in her struggles and self-hatred.

Ann Liang is a goddess when it comes to writing romance. I love all her male love interests, she knows how to craft the most spine tingling, knees-weak confession scenes. I thought this novel perfectly balanced the romantic subplot with the larger conflict. A little sweetness to keep you going in the devastation. I was getting a little anxious thinking this book was going to fall into the “romance fixes mental illness” trope, but thankfully it expertly sidestepped it. Finding out that someone loved her true self did not overturn her self-loathing. It was not enough to show her the worthiness of her life. It was only once she began to recognize her own gifts, as well as the dark sides of academic praise, that Jenna began to see value in her old life.

A part of me wishes we saw more of Jenna and Jessica’s relationship before the wish. Their interaction at the end of the novel revealed how much closer they were than I originally assumed. I think it could have been more impactful to see Jenna’s darker emotions of jealous and envy contrasting with the lighter ones of love and friendship beforehand.

My first Ann Liang book! I am Jessica Chen. Or more accurately I am Jessica and Jenna Chen. Contemporary YA can get frustrating as an adult reader but this I remember; how uncomfortable I was in my own skin in high school, my identity crisis, body image issues, the pressure of college and homework and exams and extracurriculars. It's smart that the book is titled I Am Not Jessica Chen, she's physically not present in most of the book but yet is larger than life. The actual FMC Jenna is more of a footnote and her name forgettable. But is she really or is she making herself that? This book is really about the feelings. I was surprised to find out after I finished it's almost 400 pages. It doesn't feel that way, I flew through it.

The writing has room for improvement but the topics covered made up for it. The only things I really felt were lacking is development of the love interest Aaron, we didn't get to see or learn much about him. Even what we did we didn't get to go deeper, what's his dad's name, what's his house like, who are his other friends? I almost felt like I was reading book 2 of an interconnected series and was missing Aaron's background. Second, in general I feel like the friendships could have been developed more. Jenna really is a normal and kind person, she said Leela was her best friend but we never really got to see it. She seems to have no acquaintances even though she has always been in Havenwood. These might have been a byproduct of everyone forgetting her.

I really really loved the focus on Asian immigrant life and the feelings and issues associated. I'm excited to read Liang's backlog.

Thank you HarperCollins Children's Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

I know she isn't Jessica Chen, so why do we basically only learn about Jessica Chen? Our main character feels very conflicted over her identity and jealous of Jessica, so she obviously focuses more on her prettier, cooler cousin that she thinks is more deserving of attention. However, I felt like it made me empathize with the actual MC less because I knew so much less about her. It took me hundreds of pages to learn how she could afford to go to her school because there was so little emphasis put on Jenna herself. I still enjoy Ann Liang's books, but this one wasn't my favorite.

“I’m simply not that good. Not in academics. Not in extracurriculars. Not as a student, or a daughter, or a human. It doesn’t matter if I crammed my brain to the point of breaking with formulas and dates, threw myself into my classes, painted until the skin on my hands and split open. Here is incontrovertible proof. Something in me is missing. Lacking.”

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang
Release date: January 28th, 2025
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Age rating:13+
Spice:none

Thank you Ann Liang and Netgalley for this arc! This was so beautiful and heartbreaking. I loved it so much! I relate to Jenna so much. I could feel her pain throughout the whole story. Watching her try so hard to be perfect with school but feeling like she was falling short broke my heart. This girlie really needed some hugs. The super small subplot of romance was so cute and sweet. I loved it so much. The plot was so good and intriguing and I haven’t really read a book like this before. The writing was so beautiful and I highlighted so much. One super small thing I love about Ann’s books is the way she makes time move. It’s super subtle but it feels like the time moves so smoothly. Like I don’t feel like we’re just jumping through weeks and months abruptly if that makes any sense lol. Anyway I LOVED this one and binged it in one day. I can’t wait to get a physical copy so I can annotate it. I definitely recommend!

Anything ann writes is gold, she is an incredible author, a master of ya genre, ever since the book was announced i have been so excited to read it and when i got e-arc i was buzzing and soon the buzz turned into sobs because the book was like if ann peeked into my head and wrote jenna with everything she found in there. The book was filled with everything ann writes the best, academic pressure, the struggles of being asian minority and a swoon worthy love interest.

The story is beautiful with well developed characters and a pace that doesn't let your attention waver. Everyone who reads this is in for a ride by the end of which they'll be sobbing just like me <3

This is my third Ann Liang read and I believe her second dark academia book.

What I really liked about Ann Liang first is her writing style. Accessible writing style is difficult to achieve especially when it revolves on a plot that blends modern contemporary setting and magical realism. And I can say that Ann managed to deliver the expected voice of Jenna Chen.

Storyline is also a strong point to discuss since this novel promises a discussion about comparison and pressure that is normalized in most, if not all, Asian families. Jenna Chen, our MC, has been doubtful of her hardwork right from the very first chapter as she can’t seem to attain the level of success that her cousin, Jessica Chen, is enjoying.

What Jenna doesn’t know is that her random wish upon a star will suddenly come true and she will assume the life of her beloved cousin Jessica but at what cost?


This is borderline dark but not as dark with Ann Liang’s debut. I like the discourse about familial expectations that pushes kids to the point of no return, in this case, Jenna and Jessica share the same school and same family but never the same level of success hence imagine the comparison.

There is also a romance element in here that somehow became a major element at the end and as usual, I enjoyed how the author balanced the mystery of Jenna/Jessica and the romance without overshadowing each other.

One thing that I noticed in my experience reading IANJC is that I was expecting more but nothing too surprising came. I think it was more of a me problem since I put too much expectations.

Rated this one 4stars. If you enjoyed IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN, there’s a high chance you’ll love this one as well.

DNF at 33%

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc but this one…. Was not for me.

I am SO incredibly surprised by Ann Liang disappointing me in her YA contemporary. I loved her other 3 books… but this one did NOT hit right and she has gone from an auto-buy author to a “I will be avoiding her” author for me now.

This book… is basically a mix of Wish Upon a Star (the DCOM movie) and Mean Girls. Jenna wishes on a star to become her cousin and wakes up the next morning as her - exactly the same as the movie. Except that Jenna’s real body is completely GONE? (Wtf) And her mom is like “she left for that trip… but I don’t remember the details” (WTF) And Jessica’s soul is also gone. (Ummmm) This just makes ZERO sense in the world of magical realism. Why didn’t she go with either full body swap or a world where Jenna doesn’t exist??? Like what is with this half-assed “she’s away” crap???? 💩

So why do I mention Mean Girls? This is like if Regina were outwardly “nice” and Cady replaced her body instead of her completely. Jessica even has two friends: a faker and a slacker. Both of whom are horrendously MEAN.

This is honestly a chore to read and I hated everything I read so far. There are some tiny bits that have promise but most of this is overwhelmingly bad.

Also Jenna’s parents just SUCK. I hate when YA parents suck.

5 stars <𝟑
⤷ this is a literal masterpiece. im in awe ꨄ

💌 ”maybe a miracle will happen. maybe the universe will be kind for once, and when i reach up, the stars will fall into my palms. maybe…”💌

ohmygosh. this hit too hard. ann liang truly never misses with these incredible standalones— never ever. jenna chen is the representation I needed. the neglected daughter that can never be quite enough for her parents. its nice to be acknowledged, despite how much this book hurt bc i felt it on an insanely deep level that i needed to step away and wipe my tears.

🥀”the books i find myself thinking about long after turning the last page are not necessarily the ones that say “here’s how to stop feeling like this,” but instead, “you’re not alone in feeling this way.” W whether you find yourself relating more to jenna chen or jessica chen, i can only hope that’s what this book does for you.” 🥀

I truly hope anyone that ever feels like they’re not enough, or feel so jealous of someone else’s achievements that you don’t even wanna be you anymore— please, pleasee, read this book. I it healed me like no other book has before. because there is always someone who’s proud of you and sees you as the most precious thing in the world <3 never compare yourself!

📖 plot:

jenna chen is sick and tired. tired of never being enough to please her parents. tired of never being smart enough, or good enough, to receive the offers and awards her cousin jessica so easily does every single day. when she gets rejected for her dream ivy league college, harvard, and finds out jessica got accepted— it’s her last straw. she feels so ashamed, so embarrassed that her cousin can receive everything so easily, and she continues to be a failure. so she wishes. she closes her eyes and wishes with all want and desperation.

”I wish I was Jessica Chen.”

she goes to sleep sad. knowing it will never happen— that she’ll never be anything like her successful cousin. but when she wakes, <u>in jessica chen’s body</u>, she thinks she’s got everything she ever wanted. she can finally be seen— recognised for her talents, praised, adored. it’s everything she ever wanted.. right? but when everyone else starts forgetting jenna chen, she wonders, was this all worth it?

🫶🏼 characters:

🎨jenna chen. she was so easy to relate to. I saw a lot of me in her, as im sure many will, and im sure reading this will help a lot of people realise they’re not alone in feeling not good enough, or finding that you compare yourself to others from time to time. it’s completely normal, but i want you to know that you are enough, you are perfect <3 im happy to see her character develop when she realised sometimes it’s okay to not excel at everything, and that things have a way of working out in the end… (i did sob violently when i came to this conclusion last night)

🩺 aaron cai. ahh new book bf alert!! whilst romance was not exactly the main focus of this story, i still adored him so much. ann’s fictional men never ever fail me. they’re always so sweet, so romantic, so adorable!! and when he was telling jenna how incredible and talented she was, I literally wanted to cry for her because that’s all she ever wanted. he’s a cutie pie for sure.

☄️ jessica chen. i literally don’t know why i used that emoji but whatever. seeing jenna live her life made us see how much she struggles— the way she’s so harsh on herself because everything is expected to be perfect from her. her grades, her mannerisms, her accomplishments. and if she fails, the disappointment just hits even harder bc no one expects it. so I really feel for her even though i admit i have a few ‘jessica chens’ in my life that i wanted to be like.

🧸 quotes i loved:

ᯓᡣ𐭩 this is a book about wanting. wanting to be prettier, smarter, cooler, more popular, more confident, more talented. wanting someone so desperately down to your bones that you fear and hope they’ll be the end of you. wanting to scrub your insecurities away and try on another life like a brand-new dress.

ᯓᡣ𐭩 i’m simply not that good. not in academics. not in extracurriculars. not as a student, or a daughter, or a human.

ᯓᡣ𐭩 “..you hate me.” his brows drew together. “No,” he said firmly, despite his confusion. “I could never hate you.” “Really?” “I swear it.”

ᯓᡣ𐭩 “You’re so talented you don’t even have to try, while all i do is try,”

💐 conclusion:

sorry for the yap overload, but this book just means sooo much to me, I can’t even explain how healing and beautiful and helpful and amazing this was. i’m omw to preorder it rn bc I need this in my possession the second it comes out!! so, so good. pls go read it <3 ann liang i love you so much.

thank you to harpercollins publishing and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!!

You know those kids who were told they were Gifted & Talented at a very young age and now they’re dealing with crippling emotions and expectations? Enter Jenna Chen. Because that’s the vibe she’s giving. I’ve two of Liang’s YA contemporaries and she is a wizard at writing teen angst and all those complicated feelings hormones give us in high school. I loved the magical realism aspect to this one. The writing as beautiful, as to be expected from Liang, the message was powerful, and Jenna’s growth was perfectly executed. I have no notes. I enjoyed this as an adult but I would’ve made this my whole personality if I was a teenager. Perfect song pairing is lacy by Olivia Rodrigo.

ann, write me a biography next please. this book is practically one already! i had the privilege of interviewing ann a couple days ago and hearing about the writing process behind iamnjc. i am so wowed by the character jenna and how liang turns the metaphorical into literal, it helps the reader feel vividly. i think students across the world who are going through a tough academic process right now can find comfort within these pages, the author's writing helps us realize that perhaps wishing to be another person does have its side effects after all. you never know what someone's going through, be grateful for yourself.

This is the book I needed when I was a teenager who wanted to be perfect and struggled to balance it all before I knew what really mattered. This is the book I needed when I was in college and wanted so badly to do something meaningful with my life while trying to ace the academic system that was never accommodating for someone like me. This is the book I needed now, when I still have no clue what to do with my life. I Am Not Jessica Chen is a young adult magical realism book with deeply moving and inspiring themes. The main character wants to be her perfect cousin so badly that she wishes she was her. And her wish comes true. She quickly finds out that the grass isn’t greener on the other side. As she lives the life of her cousin, she starts to unravel the secrets hidden beneath the perfection. It’s not hard to relate to Jenna who is so afraid of failure that she is extremely stressed out and starts to crack under the weight of the pressure. The author pitched this book as this is me trying and I couldn’t have put it better myself. If you relate to that song in any way, I highly recommend this book. The friends to lovers romance was so sweet and genuine. I think the romance made this such an amazing well-rounded standalone that ended perfectly. This book was so vivid and raw and real and vulnerable and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

*4.5 Stars*

I really liked this one. I really like how it used something fantasy-like happening to really talk about every day things. It was really captivating and I really liked getting to know the characters. I liked getting to know Jenna and Jessica through Jenna. I really loved how Jenna grew and how she changed through the book. She was a very layered main character, it was frustrating at times, to be in her head, but it really made for a great read. I also enjoyed the side characters and how they added to this whole world.
Basically, I loved the concept and all the little things that made this story what it is. It made me want to read more books by Ann Liang!

ann liang did what she does best, which is make the most achingly relatable fmcs. jenna chen has always desired to be better. she’s constantly lived in the shadow of her cousin, jessica chen, who happens to excel at literally everything offered. she’s smart, athletic, beautiful, rich, well-liked.. and after jenna is rejected from every ivy league, she makes a ridiculous wish: to become jessica chen.

somehow, jenna wakes up jessica’s body. now, she seems to have the entire world at her fingers. ann liang’s writing style is so captivating & it’s so easy to get hooked onto her books. i didn’t feel like the plot was rushed or dragging at any time during the story, everything was just balanced and easy to grasp. (literally read it in one day lawl)

i could go on about how jenna is the realest fmc to ever fmc, but that would be no fun. i absolutely adored her character. ann liang does an amazing job at portraying asian family dynamics. it all felt so real, at some point i was convinced the author went into my mind and turned some of my thoughts into a book. i would give jenna a hug if she was real, i would in fact give her the whole wide world!

aaron cai has quickly become my fav mmc! his relationship with jenna had me on the floor sobbing. he also deserves the biggest hug ever, deserved so much better than what he was given. i know this book doesn’t focus on romance but i would loved to see more of jenna and aaron together & explore their relationship, because there is a very interesting point in the book which i will not name.

this book made me feel so many things, and is probably my favorite from ann liang yet. jenna’s story is going to haunt me for the rest of my life, and i’m so excited for the book to come out so i can cry about her with everybody!

This book is a love letter to the burn-out overachievers out there and academic validation-seeking pessimists who constantly feel like they’re never enough.

The premise of this was so unique, interesting, and I could not put this book down. I literally inhaled this in under 24hrs.

Jenna was such a realistic and relatable character on so many levels. She was so well written and her development from start to finish was absolutely amazing as she loved her true self and worth. I had the strongest urge to wrap her up into a hug! That obsession of wanting success and perfection to the point where it’s deeply messy and human – it was captured so well through the writing and characters.

Ann Liang truly understands and she was a genius for writing this book. The writing was addictive and the effortless switch between genres was just *chefs kiss*. This story hit hard because of its relatability on a personal level.

I love everything in the Liangverse (if that’s what it’s called) and this is truly my favorite book by her so far. The romance was absolutely heartwarming and sweet as well.

Aaron Cai is such a green flag and the best book boyfriend ever! I adored his growing relationship with Jenna. I also enjoyed the pacing of the plot, the mystery elements, the cultural background, and Jenna’s bonds with both Jessica and her parents.


I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to read an early copy of this gem. A million thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

many thanks to the publisher HarperCollins for the e-arc.

i can't believe it but Ann Liang does it again for the fifth time in a row. i just love the way she writes, in a way that i can only describe as simple yet heavy. the way she pieces words together always makes everything so profound and hits hard. this one in particular stuck with me because of just how well she writes Jenna's voice that as someone who was once a burnt out chinese student i felt every single bit of.

like many others i'm sure, i saw myself in Jenna. i saw myself in her, in the way she tries so hard she feels like drowning, in the way she never feels good enough, in the way the race for success and whatever it is she needs to achieve never ends. i felt that in every B and C i got in school even though i was always the first to get started on the assignment, even though i put in all the time and effort for it and still didn't manage to even do as well as someone who started a week before the deadline. truth is when i was in school, i never felt good enough. and that was the part of Jenna i understood the most. the worst part is that i understood how it felt to be in someone's shadow, to want to blame someone else for this. sometimes i felt so flat that i was just a cardboard cut out that no one would even assign a role at a table read. the moment when Jenna mentioned being left out when picking groups also made me remember that vividly. like no one would even notice if i was gone.

and somehow i saw myself a little in Jessica as well, if that was possible. no, not in being so perfect and talented all the time at all, only the pressure that comes with it. despite dismal grades, i was always touted as being 'smart and quiet' (typical asian i know) and it felt so hard to live up to that all the time when deep down i knew i wasn't. okay, maybe that's not to much Jessica as i thought it would sound.

(spoilers ahead!)

once again, i loved the chinese whole family dynamic portrayed in here, with the subtle nod to classism in the difference between Jessica and Jenna's households, even within the family. though honestly i would have liked to see more explored in the relationship between Jenna and Jessica since that was so crucial to the story. i felt like i needed more than one scene of them together before Jenna took over to really be convinced of their bond.

but of course Ann Liang writes spectacular romance, and i loved the slow burn childhood friends to lovers thing going on with Jenna and Aaron, and how he was the only person to eventually piece together that she was Jenna and not Jessica. okay, him flying to Paris to run from his feeling from her was a little dramatic. but he's a teenager with talent and money so i can't say much. but still, the tension between them is always sizzling on the page and i love how they are always there for each other. and the banter. god. the scene where Jenna calls Aaron on the anniversary of his mother's death to distract him and lets him yap for two hours on medical stuff? hot damn.

and the art stereotype, the painting, the pressure cooker education portrayed? phenomenal.

i can't wait for this book to be published so i can own a physical copy.

3.5 ☆ i am not jessica chen follows a young chinese girl, jenna chen, who often feels overshadowed by her smart and successful cousin, jessica chen. after receiving her rejection letter from harvard, she believes that all hope is lost. but who does get into the ivy league? jessica, of course. as they're all gathered that night, a shooting star passes through the sky and jenna makes a wish to be jessica. the next morning, she wakes up in a different body - jessica's body. she's forced to go through life as a top student who participates in all the extracurriculars, gets all the good grades, wins all the awards, and sweet talks all the teachers. but is this the life she really wants to live?

growing up in a chinese family, the feeling of being compared to your relatives and parent's friends is honestly something you just... live with. because of this, i resonated with jenna's story of feeling lost and hidden. this brought back a lot of anxiety, not gonna lie! this was extremely relatable and i actually enjoyed the touch of magical realism within the story. however, i felt like there were some missing pieces in all of this. i think the romance with aaron was pretty much forced - he was kind of a side character and i honestly could have gone without him. this book didn't need the romance at all! the mystery element was also fun, but was resolved too quickly in my opinion and didn't end up being of much importance to the book. however, ann liang did such a great job at instilling that fear and anxiousness in the reader through jenna. i also loved the different chinese elements and the mandarin speaking!

Very obvious 5 stars from the start, after all who can expect less from the very best? This was intricaticly written showing Jenna's jealousy and wishfulness in the beginninng began to ebb and fade away as she learns how truly lonely a successful life was. We see her character developement as she learns the dark truth about Jessica's acceptance into Harvard and how Jessica feels about her life through a series of diary entries. Despite all this, Jenna still continues to live in Jessica's body, until something unexpected happens, and her life-long love finally forgets her. This starts to worry Jessica "Jenna" and she promtly make the wish to return back. In the end we see her wish fulfilled, and she now shows more apprecciation to her life. Thank you to NetGallery for the early version of the book!!!
Review on Goodreads -> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6515133188

A stunning and heartfelt work. I enjoyed this book so, so much. The romancea nd themes it was all so good. Can't wait to read everything Ann writes!