This Is Not The Jess Show

"This Is Not The Jess Show" by Anna Carey was...holy shit. It was something seriously fucked up (in the best way possible).

["Black Mirror meets My So-Called Life in this fast-paced, timely YA thriller about separating fact from fiction--and how far we'll go to create our own version of reality.

Like any other teenager, Jess Flynn is just trying to get through her junior year without drama ... but drama seems to keep finding her. Between a new crush on her childhood best friend, overprotective parents cramping her social life, and her younger sister's worsening health, the only constant is change--and her hometown of Swickley, which feels smaller by the day.

Swickley is getting weirder by the day, too. Half the population has been struck down by a mysterious flu. Conversations end awkwardly when Jess enters the room. And then one day, a tiny, sleek black device--with an apple logo on it--falls out of her best friend's backpack and lands at Jess's feet."]

Jess thinks its 1998. It's really 2037. This book is like the movie "The Truman Show" (which no one but GoodReads seems to be comparing it to, which is the most obvious comparison, but whatever) in the way that its a take on consumerism and the entertainment industry. What is the legal and moral boundaries for entertainment? And just how far can one exploit a person/people for the fame/fortune of all that is consumerism/capitalism? (a few buzz words I forgot about but GoodReads helped me with: human commodification, celebrity culture, toxicity, child abuse/trauma, privary etc)

I didn't expect this book to be so deep (and remind me soooo fuuuucking much of my literature theory course senior year of undergrad).

Even if you don't care (or want to care) about consumerism/exploitation, you still need to read this book. It was sooooo good and fun (in a high stakes, what the hell are these people doing, what is even a tree kind of way).

READ THIS. SERIOUSLY. NOW. ((and apparently, a sequel is already in the words))

#thisisnothejessshow #annacarey #stuckinthe90s #thriller #YAthriller #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks