I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Mess by Michael Chessler is a third person-POV contemporary following a professional organizer to the stars in 2019. Jane has been going to the homes of the rich and famous to sort their closets and help them throw out what they know longer need. But her own life is in shambles as her long-term relationship with Teddy reaches a tipping point and she’s not sure how to salvage it.

Jane is very much an unlikable narrator. She’s judgemental of others, including her clients, she constantly pushes aside her own trauma and scoffs at the idea of triggers, and she’s not always the best coworker or friend. She’s also extremely unsure of her relationship with Teddy to the point that I struggled to figure out if she even wanted a relationship with him or if she just wanted a relationship. She’s going to be frustrating for some readers but she could hit right with readers who like to see the worst parts of themselves, or their generation, reflected back at them and take that reflection as a starting base for what to work on.

Teddy is into cryptocurrency and even mines it, he’s part of a band, he does Twitch, and he doesn’t really have a steady job that isn’t reliant on getting big eventually. As we know in 2024, people can become influencers and have successful careers, but it’s also hard to keep that train going for a lot of people and it can be very soul-sucking. Teddy isn’t really an influencer so much as someone who has a lot of ideas going because his friend keeps suggesting them but nothing is actually panning out. I can understand why Jane would be frustrated with him because I would also be frustrated if I felt like my partner was constantly pivoting towards the hot new way to make money without really researching it only to abandon it.

Each chapter follows Jane to a different client and how she connects it to what is going on in her life or what has happened. Jane’s mother focused a lot on Jane’s weight when she was a child and Jane has a younger brother who is Autistic that she hasn’t seen in a while. When we get these glimpses into what made Jane Jane, we do start to get why she’s so judgmental and why she’s constantly pushing things away. She’s not ready to deal with her childhood.

I would recommend this to fans of contemporary fiction with unlikeable narrators and complicated romantic relationship arcs that don’t follow romance genre rules

I was so intrigued by this book’s cover and premise, but I was ultimately let down. The main character is so unlikeable, and I can’t really say that I found the main character’s actions added to her character’s complexity but rather contributed to the loss of the point of this story. While not my favorite read, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to read this ARC. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This arc was provided to me by Netgally & HarperCollins

This book was a solid 4.5 for me. This book deals with one's self-image, love, loss, heartbreak, guilt, complex family relationships, judgement, friendships, growth, and so much more.

Jane Brown may organize other people's life for a living, but she is nothing but messy herself in her relationships and in her own personal life. She is very cynical with her views the world, her boyfriend, her mother, her clients, and her coworkers. But deep down despite everything, there is a part of her that finds some type of clarity with each of these different characters that come into her life. Jane is not perfect, and she never claims to be. She is not a one dimensional character. Jane is going on a journey, and while she has a very long way to go, there are small steps being made.

I have to admit, as I was reading I felt like I could envision this book perfectly as a limited TV series with the way it was structured. I went through allllll the emotions reading this book laughing to crying & even thinking how I definitely related to certain things with Jane.

My only con is that I wish the ending didn't feel so abrupt. But also, I wanted more a glimpse into her future. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book and found it a surprisingly very emotional read for me.

I feel like the cover and description of this book were extremely misleading, the cover looks cool and the description sounds really fun.
However, I just finished this book and I felt as if I’ve read nothing.
The main character is a thief who just kinda coasts through life while making judgments on everybody and ends up exactly where she was when the book started.
Still cleaning up others lives, still making judgements, still with her just fine boyfriend.
I really can’t figure out the point of this book.

I appreciate the ARC but this book was not for me. I was intrigued by the synopsis but it didn’t hold up. The main character was not likable and her decision to steal at every job was so odd and didn’t feel like it lined up with her personality. If there had been more backstory about her, perhaps it would have helped me to understand this piece.

I enjoyed meeting some of the client characters but the back story for each, along with the need for every client to relate back to her previous entertainment industry experiences was too much. There really is no love story here at all. The book has great bones and feels like there could have been more with an actual plot but instead feels like the snapshot of 6 months of a random girls life.

Mess is a witty and heartfelt exploration of life’s imperfections, wrapped in the glitz of Hollywood and the soothing aesthetics of a well-organized closet. Jane Brown is the kind of protagonist who might initially come across as cool and collected, but her sharp judgments and insecurities give her a complexity that is both relatable and endearing. This book offers a humorous yet deeply insightful take on the things we hold onto, both physically and emotionally, and the freedom that comes with letting go. With sharp prose, charming characters, and a story that is as funny as it is tender.