☆ I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

About

After getting rejected by every single Ivy League she applied to and falling short of all her Asian immigrant parents’ expectations, seventeen-year-old Jenna Chen makes a wish to become her smarter, infinitely more successful Harvard-bound cousin, Jessica Chen—only for her wish to come true. Literally.

Now trapped inside Jessica’s body, with access to Jessica’s most private journals and secrets, Jenna soon discovers that being the top student at the elite, highly competitive Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she imagined. Worse, as everyone—including her own parents—start having trouble remembering who Jenna Chen is, or if she ever even existed, Jenna must decide if playing the role of the perfect daughter and student is worth losing her true self forever.

Thoughts

Ann Liang is an icon of young adult romances right now, and I Am Not Jessica Chen only proves this point. The story covers the difficult topic of wishing you were someone else through magical realism, while including an adorable yearning he'd-do-anything-for-her romance and navigating family dynamics.

This one feels a little different from her other novels, but still it's amazing and absolutely worth reading.

Content

Romance

LGBTQ

• An undetailed kiss

• A side character has two moms

• A female side character had a girlfriend

• Took the Lord's name in vain (over 30 times)

• "b*tch" (used twice)

• "h*ll" (used 3 times)

• "d*mn" (used 7 times)

• "sh*t" (used 4 times)

• "f*ck" (used 3 times)

Language