I Am Not Jessica Chen was a great story. I enjoyed the writing style and the overall message that this book had. You should embrace who you are, even when you think you want something, or in this case, to *be* someone else. It's not all it's cracked up to be. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's greener where you water it.
I also found myself falling so effortlessly for the romance and was swooning. Overall, it was a great story that I blazed through it. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

😭😭😭 so many emotions while listening to this audiobook!! I just wanted to give Jenna a hug and let her know that she’s smart and doesn’t need to go to a fancy school. She doesn’t need to compare herself to her cousin. She’s her own amazing person!

Be careful what you wish for. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Jenna wishes to be her cousin Jessica. But Jessica’s life isn’t as perfect as Jenna thought it was. I think everyone can learn a lot from this story.

This was a beautifully written story. I loved listening to the audiobook. Katharine did a wonderful job as the narrator.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Ann’s books! Thank you so much Ann, NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ALC! I will be buying a physical copy of this book.

Publication Date: Jan 28 2025
Rating: 🌸🌸🌸🌸

#NetGalley

4.5⭐️

And I was right—this book made me see myself in a light I don’t think I ever have before.

The jealousy she felt was incredibly real to me. I understood every decision she made because, honestly, I would have made them too. That feeling of trying so hard while others seem to succeed effortlessly? Absolutely maddening.

I really wish we had Jessica’s story too. I wanted to see her thought process—how was she so smart? Was she just naturally gifted, or did she struggle in ways we didn’t see? Her perspective would have been so interesting to explore, and I need to know more about her.

The content of the book itself is timely. I think many teen readers and people of Asian descent will be able to relate to aspects of this story. Its construction, however, is somewhat lacking. Having undergone the Ivy League gauntlet, I did not find that it at all rang true that there is somebody as perfect as Jessica Chen in the world. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to be everything she is, and I think that would have been an important message to readers of any age.

Moreover, the obsession with Ivy Leagues is never quite dealt with. While by the end the protagonist seems to find some kind of peace with her position, there is never an examination of why Ivy Leagues are so coveted in the first place, why renown and financial success is so lusted after. There are a lot of implicit values that go completely unexplored in this book, and I found that to be quite dissapointing. In the end, Ivy Leagues are still painted as an implicit good that you just may have to live without.

While I have enjoyed this author's books overall, there seems to be a continuous lack of examination on aspects like these always leaves me dissapointed. I am not sure if I will continue picking up future books by this author.

Thanks to Negallery and Harlequin Audio for the ALC of I am not Jessica Chen.

I wish I could put in to words all the things this book made me feel, but I am not as good with words as Miss Ann Liang. All I will say is ...WOW! This book is EXTREMELY beautiful! From the story, the way is written and the narration in the audiobook! I found myself crying a couple of times, smiling and thinking so much about how, at times, we are so hard with ourselves.

I would have liked to see a bit more of how Jenna and Jessica interacted with each other before the big events of the novel took place. I also kind of wish we saw a bit more of the imperfections in Jessica’s life earlier - especially the racism, since that seemed like such a key turning point for Jenna, but we really don’t see it until the very end.

Stylistically it was solid. The dialogue was good, the pacing was good. It’s a solid YA contemporary. I definitely wouldn’t rule out reading more of Liang’s backlist

Jenna Chen has always been second best, falling short to her cousin, Jessica Chen. Jenna wishes for once, that she could be first. Well her wish is granted when she wakes up as Jessica one day. Is Jessica's life really as glamorous as it seems? Or will Jenna learn to love and appreciate her life?

I loved everything about this book...the magical realism, the lessons on comparing ourselves to others, the character development. The character development was so thorough. I truly got to know Jenna and Jessica. Their struggles, wants, and desires were on full display and greatly evolved by the author.

This book took me back to my younger years and the struggle with comparison that exists in most young people. I loved how the authored wove a plot that was relatable while teaching life lessons. This story is so timely in today's society and culture. What a reminder that it's ok to be yourself and it's ok to love where you are even if it's not where you want to be yet. This was such a masterpiece of a book that was narrated by the perfect narrator, Katharine Chin.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I haven't read anything by Ann Liang before. I've tried to in the past (borrowing library books from Libby) but I never seem to be the mood and the the book expires and disappears lol. I'm kind of glad this is the first book by her that I've read (or I guess listened too). The narrators voice was soothing and they were able to capture Jenna's emotions so well that I was tearing up at a lot of parts. I've also felt the struggle of trying to be perfect and comparing myself to others (whether it be my grades or other aspects of my life) so I related a lot to both Jessica and Jenna. I adored Aaron as well. How, despite Jenna not being honest up front and him not believing her, he was able to sense Jenna underneath it all. He knew her so well that that even her smallest actions were able to capture his attention. Oh to be loved and understood on such a deep level.... I'm a little disappointed that we don't find out the fallout of Jessica's actions. I would hope it wouldn't do irreparable damage to her academic career, but I fear that it probably did.

audio-ARC from NetGalley.

3.5

I enjoy Ann Liang's books, but I constantly expect to like them as much as I loved I Hope This Doesn't Find You and am consistently disappointed. I think it's my fault: Magical realism just isn't my thing.

I Am Not Jessica Chen follows a high school senior named Jenna Chen who has spent her entire life comparing herself to her cousin, Jessica, and perpetually falling short. One night, after yet another Jessica-related underachievement, a meteor shower occurs, and Jenna wishes upon a falling star that she could be her cousin. When she wakes up in the morning, she is.

There were elements of this story I loved. Chiefly, the feeling of inferiority when standing next to someone you love and hate simultaneously was really relatable. But also the experience of always being the last one picked, of never quite fitting in, and of being no one's best friend, even if they're yours, really struck me. While I never actively wished to be someone else, I always wondered why I wasn't as good or pretty or popular or likeable as everyone else.

My issue was the romance. So much of the marketing centered around Aaron being the only one who cared enough about Jenna to remember her, but he was a far less central character than I expected. Their relationship felt underdeveloped, and his involvement in her quest to be Jenna again was short-lived and rather anticlimactic.

The story felt more like a stressful psychological thriller than a romance or a coming of age story, so it didn't quite hit the mark.

I Am Not Jessica Chen was an enjoyable read. The narrator was clear and interesting and handled multiple languages with ease. This novel manages multiple high stress topics well. As the parent of a college freshman, I recognized the stress on high school students to excell, while also maintaining self esteem in the face of a world that is obviously judging them. The author also addresses the prejudices and sterotyping felt by children of immigrants, sometimes in small ways from their parents, and in much more damaging and big ways by the world around them. Jenna feels all of this as overwhelming pressure, and makes a terrible wish that comes true, and allows her to see the world from a different perspective. I though Jenna was a strong character who was able to address her flaws in the narrative and change in a positive way.

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this advanced copy! You can pick up I Am Not Jessica Chen on January 28, 2025.

What a gorgeous and haunting tale about identity and the intense WANTING that can drive our behavior. Jenna Chen knows she can never live up to her perfect cousin, Jessica Chen. But when wishes come true and she actually BECOMES her cousin... it's all she ever wanted, right?

WRONG.

This book is the perfect encapsulation of the pressure we put on students nowadays to achieve perfection and how devastating it can be when you don't measure up to others' expectations (or when they don't have expectations for you in the first place). Jenna steps into Jessica's perfect life and sees how NOT perfect it can actually be, and how much she took her own life for granted. Ann Liang drops some truly banger lines about how Jenna's wanting controlled her life, how potential "simply meant you didn't live up to the idea somebody else had of you," and more. I was honestly blown away by the writing and how Liang summarized Jenna's pain (both as herself and as Jessica).

And let's not forget the delicious romance Liang wove into this story. Aaron being the only one to not forget about Jenna was top tier. And seeing him advocate for the girl he's always been close to and grew to love was swoonworthy. We needed more scenes of Aaron and Jenna when she wasn't Jessica!

All in all, if you want a slightly spooky, definitely emotional, Freaky Friday-esque contemporary story, this is your book!

“I Am Not Jessica Chen” by Ann Liang’s is a thought-provoking coming-of-age story that explores identity, family expectations, and self-discovery. The audiobook, narrated by Katharine Chin, brings the protagonist’s voice to life with an engaging performance. Chin’s narration captures the nuances of the main character’s struggles as she grapples with comparisons to the “perfect” Jessica Chen, making her journey feel deeply relatable. This book is perfect for fans of contemporary YA fiction, and an excellent audiobook choice for both teens and adults.
Thanks to NetGallery and Harlequin Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Ann Liang has become one of my must-read YA authors. Whether I am reading one of her romances or contemporary works, I feel all of the feelings. Liang captures the young adult anxieties, particularly for asian American teens, so well in I Am Not Jessica Chen. I loved this book & cannot wait to put it into the hands of my community.

I LOOOOOOOOOOVED it, I literally exported all of my annotations for safekeeping because I pulled SO MANY quotes out of this book. The list is literally two pages long. Thank you, Netgalley and Harper/HarperTeen, for the Advanced Listener's Copy of the audiobook!


This is for the girls who think they're not good enough. Whose lives are believed to be better if they could just be more like someone else. For the girls who compare themselves to others constantly and find themselves coming up short. Thank you, Ann Liang, you absolutely get it. It feels like a love letter to all of us and herself, reminding us its okay to be different than anybody else and to love ourselves regardless.

"Then I look into mirror and recall all of those fleeting moments when I was myself - and I'd catch my own reflection in the dark window of a store or a passing bus, and think I could be beautiful, I could be everything I've ever wanted, I could be like Jessica Chen. I'd even imagine my features smoothing out into Jessica's, my lashes lengthening, my skin softening, my lips curving up."

Have you ever thought what it would be like to be the person you idolized? Have you, then, wondered what would happen if you did, indeed, become that person? What happens to the old version of you?


""It's so easy to be generous when you lack nothing. To be nice when you're not in pain. It doesn't matter if people are cheering for someone else because they're already cheering for me."

"For years, I've watched Jessica Chen from the back of the room, how she sat with her chin up, head straight, her ponytail swayed when she laughed, how the teachers reserved their praise just for her. I've watched, and wondered, what it's like to be that talented, that brilliant, and now I know. I feel incredible, invincible. I feel like I could claw the sun from the sky and eat it whole."


Jenna Chen is good, but she's never been as good as her cousin Jessica Chen. She both envies and idolizes her. Everybody loves her, even Jenna's own parents; she is wildly successful, and now - Jessica has gotten into Harvard, while Jenna has been rejected. Even though she resents Jessica, she still wants to be her - even dreams of being her. The universe really says "Your wish is my command" in this one. When Jenna wakes up in Jessica's body, she's elated - but she soon finds out that being Jessica takes so much more than what is seen on the surface. Soon, she can't keep up, but she isn't entirely hating it. Even when she starts to notice how pieces of Jenna, her real self, are slowly disappearing, she is reluctant to go back.


"That's the one thing I've worked for my entire life, to be someone who matters. That's why my parents moved to this country, that's my purpose. If I can't do it, then what's the point of anything? What's the point of me? What could I possibly provide?"

"I will never know what it's like to be you, and you'll never know what it's like to be me... To want something so deeply, so desperately that it hurts you."

"And the moral of the story was that sometimes you have to be a little cruel to yourself, that sometimes pain was necessary if you want to succeed... We turn pain into a story, because then it has a purpose. Then we reason there was a point to it all along. But sometimes pain is just pain, and there is nothing particularly noble about clinging to it."

"I can never just be okay, I have to be perfect... I have to prove that I'm intelligent or I'll stop mattering... Everyone thinks I am good - and they're right, in a way. I'm a good student, a good daughter, a good example - but I've never been a good person. I don't know how to be."

"Even though it feels small in the same way a bone fissure feels small, in the beginning, or a crack in a vase - apply the right pressure, and everything breaks."



This... This is a work of art. It starts at the cover art and trickles down throughout what is possibly one of the most poignant and resounding stories I've encountered... and it is YA! Ann Liang cooked here, so to say, and every bit of emotion, personal criticism and ideal is felt off the page. The story is about Jenna and Jessica, truly, but the way the romance element is embedded and worked through is beautifully done. It isn't thrown in your face, it is in the periphery. It is a metaphor for what it is to be loved. Aaron Cai says, "You truly have no idea what you mean to me. You can't see yourself through someone else's perspective. You don't even know yourself... You're incredible." And to me, that is what it is like to be and feel seen. There doesn't need to be a whole lot of fanfare, but all the girls who feel inadequate just want to be seen. Boys, be like Aaron Cai.



"Because I have all of Aaron's features memorized. I could conjure up his face with my eyes closed, and the curtains drawn and the sun down in the distance. I paint him privately, with just my mind, every time we're together. I know him better than I know anyone."

"When he was around, the world felt safe. The kind of place that was worth everything... the disappointments, injustices and chips at my pride. The kind of place that could be beautiful if we really tried."



Another very important piece here that I took away is that you could literally be the most successful student, and beautiful to boot, but still have both racism and sexism thrown at you, fight back, and still be the problem. White men (or boys, in this case) and their egos, ugh, gross.

And finally, Jessica and Jenna, together? A work of art. As girls (and women), we absolutely have to look to and out for each other. It is human to compare, but you are good just the way you are. You don't need anyone to remind you of that. Sometimes, it takes a little time to get there, and that's okay. Just be sure to give yourself grace.

I am Not Jessica Chen is a heartbreaking story about self acceptance in a unique way. After Jenna Chen was rejected from Harvard, failing to meet her Asian immigrant parent’s high expectations, Jenna wishes to have her cousin Jessica Chens’ life instead of her own. Unexpectedly this wish comes true, but not in the way she thought it would. After this wish, Jenna must decide if she wants to continue down the path she has started or risk losing herself.
I found this novel to be a heartbreaking look into the way that people put pressure on themselves. I loved this book so much!

4.5 rating

Jessica Chen is the epitome of perfection. She’s smart, beautiful, kind, and perfect in every way. Everyone–students, teachers, family members–looks up to her. Jenna, Jessica’s cousin, is in the same grade at the same school and has grown up in Jessica’s shadow, always envious of how easy her life seems to be. In a “Freaky Friday” type of moment, her wish to become Jessica comes true. Only now that she is Jessica, Jenna realizes how hard it is to be Jessica and how much she misses her old life, except the longer she stays Jessica, the more Jenna disappears in this reality. This is a phenomenal audiobook, I listened to it in one full day because I didn’t want to stop. 4.5 stars, highly recommended, especially for those who are feeling both the pressure of being perfect and those who have been living in the shadow.

A thoughtful twist on the "Freaky Friday" concept that delves into deeper life lessons. "I Am Not Jessica Chen" brilliantly illustrates the adage of walking in someone else's shoes before passing judgment.

Jenna Chen represents many of us who've been sold the familiar narrative: excel in school, secure a good job, work hard, and success will follow. But as the story poignantly reveals, life rarely follows such a straightforward path. Despite our best efforts, we might still fail that test, and academic achievements don't guarantee personal fulfillment or a satisfying life.

The novel explores these themes with nuance, ultimately suggesting that finding contentment in your current circumstances—though certainly easier said than done—is valuable wisdom. It reminds us that envying others based on surface appearances overlooks the universal truth that everyone carries their own unique burdens and challenges. Perhaps most importantly, the story affirms that we're all exceptional in our own distinct ways, each with valuable qualities that deserve recognition and celebration.

The best descriptor I can apply to this book is “beautiful.” Jenna Chen is a painter and the way she sees the world is so eloquent that the author must have some sort of background in art. I really connected with Jenna, because I was a “gifted student” in my younger years, but that gift can sometimes feel like a burden, especially if you are not the “best.”

Despite being intelligent and creative, Jenna is never as good as her cousin Jessica who always receives top marks, lives in a mansion, and is expertly skilled in every extracurricular she applies herself to.

When Jessica gets into Jenna’s dream school, Jenna makes a wish on a shooting star to become Jessica Chen. By some miracle, her wish comes true. The only problem: Jenna Chen begins to fade from existence and the real Jessica Chen is nowhere to be found.

This book was so well written and left me entirely enraptured. I would strongly recommend taking the time to read it.

📚 5/5

Imagine always being compared to your perfect cousin, Jessica. Jessica gets the perfect grades, always looks put together, and everyone loves her. You, Jenna Chen, try so hard but can never reach Jessica's perfection. One night you make a wish and 💨you are Jessica.

I was surprised how much I loved this book. On the surface the story is about wanting what others have but it's more than that. It's about the external pressures you feel to be prefect. I see myself in Jenna. I would highly recommend this to the overachiever, the people pleaser or anyone who wants to read a well written book with well-developed characters.

The narrator, Katherine Chin, did a wonderful job bringing the story to life. I love how she changed her voice for Jessica and Jenna.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I Am Not Jessica Chen is a powerful, evocative, and immersive YA novel that hooked me from the first page.

I adored this story. The speculative dark academia aspect was executed beautifully: The settings were immersive, the characters felt real, and the themes of burnout, imposter syndrome, and failure were achingly relatable and well-written. I loved the character development, and the romance—tender, strong, and utterly stunning—is one of my new favorites. This is a wonderfully creative story that explores what it would be like to live someone else’s life, including the pain, realizations, and consequences. The fantasy elements were compelling, and the ending was satisfying. Jenna was a fantastic main character, and I appreciated her character journey. This is a story about learning to love yourself and navigating the contrasts, difficulties, and joys of life. This is the story I’ve longed to find in the YA genre; with its realistic characters, a propulsive plot, and an addictive romance, I Am Not Jessica Chen is a must-have on any YA reader’s shelf.

Katharine Chin narrated this story beautifully. Her voice and accents fit the characters and world wonderfully, and she made the story even more atmospheric and emotional. I highly recommend the audiobook.

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!