Book:
I AM NOT JESSICA CHEN by Ann Liang
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the EARC (Jan28)

Review:
3⭐
I feel like we've all been there: thinking someone's better than us, wishing we were smarter, wishing we could succeed at something someone else has succeeded at. That's what Jenna Chen thinks.
I AM NOT JESSICA CHEN follows Jenna and Jessica. Jessica: perfect, smart, ticket to Harvard. Jenna: not happy with herself, parents who want her to be more like Jessica, etc. When Jenna makes a wish, she finds herself trapped in Jessica's body. But nothing is as it seems.
I AM NOT JESSICA CHEN has "Freaky Friday" vibes that immediately pulled me in. After reading some of the early reviews, I was expecting a near perfect read, but this book didn't fully hit the mark. It felt almost lackluster in a sense... The beginning was interesting. Then the switch happened and book was repetitive for the entire middle with no real progression. The last bit of the book did keep me hooked better, but ultimately, I thought the execution fell short, the repetitiveness was annoying, and Jessica's lack of pov, even though it affected her too, was something that the author should have thought about adding to add more dimension.

I would read anything Ann Liang published. Give me her shopping list and I’ll give it a 5 star rating in a heartbeat. But this book is her best one yet, and that’s not an easy feat.
This is a book about a girl who wants to be someone else. But, above all, it’s a book about wanting more. More success, more recognition, to be more. Jenna Chen is a character that represents me in a way no other character ever did.
She wishes upon a star to become her beautiful smart ivy-league accepted cousin and she does, kind of a freaky friday situation. Now, she has to navigate this new life, watching everyone forget who Jenna is, as she never existed, and find out if being the “perfect” student and daughter is really everything she hoped it would be.
I can only say that this novel felt very near and dear to my heart. I think we all at one point or another in our life looked at someone else’s life and wished they could be them. I read this while struggling with the feeling of not being good enough and came out with a more positive outcome of life. And of course, as a hopeless romantic, I loved the couple moments as well.
This is for the burnt-out prodigy kids who feel like they’re never going to be good enough. Ann Liang, you get me in a way no one else ever did.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers (HarperCollins Children's Books) for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

—

When it comes to raw, visceral, deeply empathetic portrayal of teenage fears, insecurities and longing, few are better than Ann Liang. With a light, deft hand, she cuts right down to the heart of all the ways success culture and the institutional racism of an elite private school can wear away at not only her protagonist, Jenna’s, self esteem and sanity, but the other students around her as well, from the brilliantly overachieving to the never-good-enough. The emotions Liang portrays are incredibly real and heartbreaking, and as we got closer and closer to the climax, I couldn’t put this book down.

Was it a perfect book, then? Not quite. The pacing got laggy for much of the middle, taking the wind out of the emotional stakes. Jenna getting repeatedly injured multiple times just so Aaron could patch her up felt contrived and painted her as a damsel in distress. To go a bit further, the conflict in Jenna and Aaron’s relationship was entirely predicated on a Big Misunderstanding, and while it was entirely believable for an emotionally immature teenager - which Jenna definitely was at the start - and fit with the themes of the story, it’s still a trope set I find extremely annoying.

(I found Aaron a tiny bit too good to be true, but in a sea of garbage love interests, Mr. Green Flags is honestly such a breath of fresh air, and Liang did ultimately give him internality and soul.)

And once this book got going, oh, it got going! I found myself tearing up when Jenna admitted in so many words how much she’s hated herself, impressed by the thoughtful, empathetic portrayal of the secret note writer, and cheering when Jenna finally snapped over one microaggression too many. The ending felt heartwarming and well-earned, and left me grinning.

And oh, that cover! It looks and <I>feels</I> like one of Jenna’s self-portraits, as described in the text, and it’s absolutely beautiful.

So, all in all, I didn’t love this one as undyingly as I loved If You Could See The Sun, but I liked it an awful lot.

Paging Ann Liang because I’m convinced she had a camera filming my entire advanced math and science high school experience to put into the pages of “I Am Not Jessica Chen” 😦

Emotionally immersive and atmospherically melancholy, Liang’s 5th book is another return to the rigors of being a Chinese diaspora student, full of overly stressful expectations and goal posts that continue to shift. Liang’s writing is where she continues to shine, bringing to light Jenna’s struggles with the slightest imperfection while attempting to compare herself with her all-star cousin Jessica.

It’s easy to relate to Jenna, easy to see why she’d make a simple wish for perfection, easy to understand her obsession with perfection and her reluctance to return to her old self, and the first half of this book truly emphasized the entire whirlwind of these emotions so well.

However, as we near the explosive third act and conclusion, the character development of Jenna, and to a lesser extent Aaron, begins to feel vapid, mediocre, and predictable. I wasn’t a fan of how Jenna drops her single female friend, taking confidence instead in Aaron, and his monologue in the third act felt so boring and overdone. I’m not too upset about the miscommunication, but I do feel like the resolution between Jenna and Aaron was far too abrupt and lacked any flow.

In the end, I just wish the developments, both internal and external, that occurred had been allowed more page space to ferment and settle. But overall, I’m still a fan of Ann Liang’s compelling writing so I will definitely continue to pick up more of her books in the future.

Ann Liang must put some kind of magic in her books because that's the only explanation for how all her books are such bangers but, more importantly, how a critical mood reader with admittedly high standards and little--okay, no--interest in speculative fiction (like myself) could pick up I Am Not Jessica Chen in the middle of a reading slump (not once, but twice,) get completely immerse before reaching chapter two, and then walking away with a new favorite book is nothing short of pure sorcery.

So buckle your seatbelts kids because, yes, this is going to be another rant about how much I love an Ann Liang book.

I'm always a fan of Ann Liang's writing, but something about her speculative story really lends itself to her beautiful prose. I've mentioned this before, but she has a kind of Taylor Swift lyricism that is especially highlighted in I Am Not Jessica Chen. Overall, the vibe of the story is pretty different from all her other books so far, which is impressive in and of itself (is there anything she can't do??). I don't even know how to describe this story, but there's a dream-like, hazy, slightly creepy feeling that permeates the whole thing, and it's SO GOOD. I personally avoid the word "immersive" whenever possible, but really there isn't a better word to use here. Liang pulls you into the narrative so deftly that it's like you're there with Jenna experiencing everything first-hand. The story is grounded enough so that it feels plausible but just weird enough that you feel slightly off-kilter at just the right moments, and it's incredible. Reading IANJC is like waking from a dream--in those first few moments when you're not quite sure what's real and what's not--and trying to get your bearings, and like, if I can find more stories like this, I might become a speculative girlie just yet.

I Am Not Jessica Chen is an ambitious novel--especially for a YA contemporary--but Ann Liang manages to deliver. In her author's note, she introduces the story as a book that, at its heart, is a story about wanting. She's upfront in acknowledging that she doesn't "have an antidote to this wanting--nor am I convinced that wanting is a poison," but Jenna's desperate, urgent, all-consuming want drives the whole story. With a cousin who's like her in every way, only superior, Jenna is caught in a cycle of feeling like she doesn't quite measure up, always falling short of the standard set by her perfect cousin. It's such a deeply personal story that I'm sure will resonate with many readers because, let's be real, how many of us haven't wanted to change something about ourselves or compared ourselves to others at some point in our lives? But as Jenna starts to discover that sometimes the grass is greener on the other side, but it also costs more to maintain, Ann explores ideas of success, identity, and belonging.

I know the romance doesn't play a huge role in the story, but we have to talk about it because I love it. I don't even know how to categorize it, but if I had to try, I'd go with estranged-friends-to-lovers? Whatever it is, it's my new favorite thing. There's some unrequited love, there's yearning, there's slow-burn, there's banter. It's basically everything I love all in one book, and it was spectacular and someone needs to give me fourteen of them right now. I can see some readers complaining that the confession scene is a little melodramatic--more like something you'd find in a regency romance than a YA novel--but I personally loved it. Cai Anran is my new favorite Ann boy (sorry Caz) in part because of two big speech scenes that are the actual best. It probably didn't hurt that they had the same vibes as some of my favorite Austen moments, but honestly, if you can accept body swapping you can accept genius teenage boys giving slightly dramatic professions of love.

I minor quibble--keyword minor--is that I feel like Ann Liang starts to explore some really interesting ideas of success (especially in a predominantly white, upper-class world) and identity that I wish were fleshed out just a little bit more. It feels like they're introduced a little later in the story, so she's just starting to scratch the surface when we get to the ending, which felt a little more rushed than I would like. She also creates a really interesting dynamic between Jenna and Jessica where the person you admire and envy is also the one you love, and I wish we'd gotten to see that developed more. Again, these are very minor quibbles (see: critical mood reader with admittedly high standards,) but overall, this is still an incredible read that I already know I'll be rereading again and again.

GOD THIS BOOK WAS SO BEAUTIFUL I JUST. Cannot stop crying. I really think this is ann liang's best so far. Her writing is so easy to follow and so captivating and she writes her characters sosoooo well, especially here. I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time

god that was the most heartbreaking and honest ya novel i’ve ever read. such a beautiful coming of age story.

ann liang is definitely an autobuy author for me now!

thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Caveat. I don't read much YA for partly thematic reasons and partly writing convention reasons. When I do get drawn into a YA story it can be for all sorts of reasons, those or others, and I tend to follow authors whose YA I love into the genre because I discovered their adult books first and loved them. This happened here. I learned of Ann Liang through her adult A Song to Drown Rivers, which broke my heart in the best way and now here I am, testing the YA waters. To everyone who reads YA I say, go take a swim in this story. Especially to any young people for whom themes of distorted academic excellence metrics and pressures internal or external that obscure the falsity of one very insidious interpretation of the success/happiness hypothesis, I say JUMP IN. This nerd-speak just means that I Am Not Jessica Chen is a very well-done, poetic lesson on why the grass always seems greener and why it never is. It's a reminder for every age that comes wrapped in a very compelling, touching love story where the protagonist is also her own romantic lead.

Wow, I've never felt more seen in a character than Jessica Chen. Miss Ann needs to stop writing such relatable characters.
I Am Not Jessica Chen follows Jessica Chen when she one day wakes up in the body of her Harvard-bound, prodigy cousin who she admired and envied her entire life. Known as every Asian's dream daughter, Jessica Chen has it all. She has the looks, the grades, and the popularity. On the contrary, our main character Jenna Chen has always lived in the spotlight of Jessica. She never gets the best grades and doesn't have many friends and when she finds out that she got rejected from every school that she applied to, she made a wish to become her cousin only for it to come true.
In all honesty, I did not know I was gonna enjoy this book as much as I did. I Am Not Jessica Chen is definitely one of Ann Liang's darker books as it focuses more one's internal struggle growing up in an Asian household and the inevitable of feeling like a disappointment, especially when compared to prodigies like her cousin and friend, Aaron. I related heavily to the character as I also grew up in an Asian household and being constantly compared to others my whole life, I know how desperate Jenna must have felt when she made that wish. But as Jenna explores her new life in Jessica's body, you also get to see the perspective of the so called prodigies and that they also have it as hard as us. You are always expected to be the best, to never speak out, and you realize that the prodigy life is not all that glamorous. This really serves to tell us that you never know what's happening on the inside than what is presented. ...And I realized that I'm starting to analyze a little too much, but what I just really wanna say that this book is for all those this is me trying, mirrorball, the archer, not strong enough girlies who felt like they've tried so hard to prove themselves in life and it's never enough. While we don't all have a childhood friend that's been secretly in love with us our whole lives, we can all apart of ourselves in Jenna.
My only complaint is that I felt the ending was a tad bit rushed and we didn't get a lot of Aaron and Jessica and their backstories, but I also so realize that this book is about Jenna and her insecurities and problems rather than them.
Overall ratings 4.75/5

LOOK AT THIS COVER I’M BEGGING YOU

There’s a strange thing that happens to me with Ann Liang books, and that thing is that I’m physically incapable of putting them down. My to-do list can go down itself, I HAVE to know what happens immediately or else I will die.

And that’s the story of how I read this entire book in one sitting. Now please go do the same.

I Am Not Jessica Chen is my fourth book that I've read by Ann Liang and so far, I can say is that Ann Liang has yet to let me down. I loved I Am Not Jessica Chen and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish. I've heard a few mixed reviews from other early reviewers so I was worried that I will not enjoy this one as much as I did with the 3 previous ones, but this book did not disappoint me one bit.

I think my favorite thing about this book was how well Ann Liang wrote the fear of failure and the suffocation of being the model student in the main character. Although I know that Ann Liang previously had touched upon these topics and themes with her other works, I actually thought the way she wrote it here was the most accurate and realistic, and I also appreciate the messages that she brought up in this. I also loved Jenna's and Aaron's brewing romance in this - childhood friends with a hint of second chance and angst? count me in. I thought their scenes were tender and although I cared more about the plot than the romance in this one, I thought the placement of their little moments were well done.

Overall, I thought this was a great read and I think a lot of people would enjoy and appreciate it as much as I do when it releases. Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for approving me of this book! I will definitely be buying that paperback when it comes out next year.

4.75

This book arrived in my life just when I needed it most. Moments before I began reading, I was on the phone with my mom, pouring out my insecurities about feeling inadequate in my classes compared to the other students. I felt overwhelmed by the pressure to be perfect, to meet some ideal standard that I thought would make my parents proud. But as I read, I found myself profoundly connecting with Jenna. Her story mirrored so much of my own experience—her desire to be seen as the perfect, intelligent daughter, constantly striving to live up to others' expectations.

As I followed Jenna’s journey, particularly her struggles to maintain the persona of Jessica, I began to see my own situation more clearly. Jenna's realization of how exhausting and ultimately unfulfilling it was to be someone she wasn't hit home for me. It made me reflect on my own life and recognize the futility of trying to mold myself into what I think others want me to be. The book taught me that true happiness and fulfillment come from embracing who we truly are, rather than chasing after an image of perfection that isn’t real. In Jenna’s story, I found not only a character I could relate to but also a powerful lesson about self-acceptance and authenticity.

Hmm, hmm, hmm. What to say about this one?

On the one hand, I loved the themes of self and familial pressure, aligned with failure, self doubt, and imposter syndrome. As well as the consuming and immersive writing style of Liang's.

But there was something so obstructive for the reader about Jenna having no one to confide in during her journey in Jessica's body. While the internal monologuing made for multiple relatable rants, it also made for a lonesome and boring journey. On top of that, I really wish Liang had made Jenna feel Jessica's hardships and pressure on a deeper level instead of easily reaping the benefits of being Jessica Chen. I feel the story would have been even more impactful in it's themes if Jenna truly got to experience Jessica's hardships, and that the story would have benefited greatly if it also had Jessica's POV.

god this was so good. every time i read one of ann liang's books she manages to cut me even deeper to the bone. jenna's character—her fears, her insecurities, her jealousy and endless vices—is so real and relatable. every single one of her monologues are infused with scathing accuracy... all i can say is that i feel SO seen. although i could pretty easily predict what was going to happen, i loved the way the story progresses. finding out the truth about jessica somehow felt so satisfying, so redeeming to see jenna's idealization of her shatter. and aaron, GOD aaron is such a beautiful and sweet boy. i loved how in this book, we got to see jenna want him so openly and obviously in her internal dialogue. in a book that is all about wanting and yearning and desire, it makes so much sense that she wants aaron so desperately as well. all in all, another amazing novel by ann liang. it plays along some of the same tropes as her debut and third book, but does it wonderfully and organically. the prose is excellent and the characters are crafted so beautifully. ann liang could write the same story in 50 different fonts and i'd still eat it up every time.

4.5 (rounded up)

I am Not Jessica Chen is a YA magical realism story about Jenna Chen who has always felt inadequate in the shadow of her cousin, Jessica Chen’s, achievements. After getting rejected from all the Ivy Leagues she applied for and fearing the crushing disappointment of her Asian immigrant parents’ expectations, Jenna makes a desperate wish to switch places with her cousin. Miraculously, Jenna suddenly wakes up in Jessica’s body but discovers that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

I was absolutely hooked from the very beginning, Jenna’s struggles with comparison and her desire to be the best were all so relatable to me and I think for a lot of people as well. I think Ann Liang has always beautifully captured the teenage struggles of self-acceptance and growth and I am Not Jessica Chen is no exception. I loved seeing Jenna’s development as a character throughout the story and how she comes to a better understanding of herself and her cousin as well. (Although I definitely do wish we could have gotten Jessica’s POV as well)

I have not other words, except that if you love childhood friends to lovers, light academia, and listened to ‘this is me trying’ by Taylor Swift on repeat, then this book is definitely for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for providing this eArc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

it's been two years since IANJC was hinted(?) on Goodreads, and the fact that I devoured this book in one sitting? Less than 24 hours after waiting 2 years?! That's how good Ann is. Within every page, you can feel seen, whether it's relating to Jenna's vicious want to be the successful daughter to Jessica's desperation to step away from the mantel of perfection. It's human nature to always want, I guess, and Ann captures the beauty and ugliness of that completely.

This book is for the people who can never reach the top, no matter how hard they try, for the people who are trapped in the never-ending loop of comparing themselves to others, for the people who simply want so much and can never be satisfied because it will never be enough.

The comfort that you get from IANJC, though, is that you feel less alone with these feelings of burnout, imposter syndrome, failure, etc. Everyone buries these thoughts (or at least, some of us are good at it.), so it's normal to believe that we're alone in feeling this way, but everyone feels like Jenna or Jessica. IANJC isn't meant for a solution to stop these emotions. It's just the perfect story to read and feel seen that it's normal to want, to never feel like it's enough, but things will get better. So long as you don't make a wish to literally become your perfect cousin, you'll find that there are things worth more than a shiny championship trophy or an Ivy League acceptance.

<I>ianjc core songs<I>
jealousy, jealousy - "all I see is what I should be // I'm losing it, all I get's, jealousy, jealousy" (girl if this isn't on loop while you read ianjc, what are you doing)
in my mind - "deep in the silence, may end up violent // what an anomaly, what is so wrong with me?
letter to my 13 year old self - "I'm so sorry that they pick you last"
you're on your own kid - "I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this"

ann liang never disappoints oh my god this was everything!!! further rtc when i can form coherent thoughts but OH MY GOD

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollin’s Children Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I Am Not Jessica Chen is a great teen (and adult) read, delving into family pressure, self pressure, and exploring the often felt desire to be someone else when you’re on the outside looking in - not realizing that everyone has their own struggles.

Jenna wants nothing more than to be Jessica and she gets her wish but it turns sour for her. I loved how this was explored, but fully going into the experience one might have in another’s life but also the self realization and growth that would come with it. While this a serious read, I think there were enough light parts (and romance) to keep a teen reader engaged, helping to work through the longing that we all come to feel at different points of things being so much easier if we are someone else. Hopefully this helps bring on the understanding that it’s better to double down on your own life and make it the best you can rather than wasting time looking outside of yourself with envy at other’s.

“i am not jessica chen” was the first book i’ve read from ann liang, but i know her other novels are very popular and i finally understood why. i am a lover of magical realism in books, so i really enjoyed reading this one – it’s a perfect combination of magical elements and a coming-of-age story. i found jenna’s journey to be well explored and she was a character i could relate to easily.

the plot itself is pretty straight-forward – jenna’s wish to become jessica is answered and she wakes up in her cousin’s body, just to find out the grass isn’t actually greener on the other side. the book is more character-driven than i expected, but it’s a very enjoyable, easy read, even though the subject isn’t the most light-hearted one. i also really enjoyed the relationship between jenna and aaron. he was such a breath of fresh air because he was always supportive of jenna.

overall, i really enjoyed this story – it was the perfect coming-to-age story, with a drop of romance and magical elements. the characters were well developed and i liked how the author approached the subject of basing your worth on your grades and academic wins.

Ann Liang is just killing it right now. This book was very nearly perfect (in my humble, and definitely correct opinion). Liang touches on a bunch of different themes: family, pressure, pressure from family, self identity and self worth, etc. and she examines all of them with tact and care. It would seem that she just doesn't miss, and I can't wait to continue to read her work. Wow. Her characters are so real, and the emotional experiences she portrays in her books are so honest. there is truly nobody like her right now.