i just finished jessica chen after like 3 months!!!! i really enjoyed it and it’s her best work plot-wise and character-wise this is the most in-depth we have gone for both the main character and the love interest
someone on goodreads said that this was like reading an old diary entry and oh BOY did that sum it up like did ann liang crawl inside my head?? i think many readers myself included saw themselves in jenna and it’s crazy how accurate and aptly she captured that desperate struggle of feeling like you’re never good enough and how hopeless it feels </3
aaronjenna didn’t have me in a chokehold surprisingly considering i LOVE friends to lovers and second chance romance???? idk that said their angst was top tier (i could even say it felt like too much angst at time and idk how that’s possible bc i LOVE ANGST) and how much they cared for each other was so 🥹
tbh i do think some of my issues with this book have to do with the mood i was in when i read it and/or the fact that it reminds me too much of my younger self if i’m being real…like jenna got a bit repetitive at times but then i think back and remember my own crazy chase for validation in high school and also the sadness over the guy i was obsessing over and it all checks out….
happy to reread this in the future though <3 for now imma give her books a pause and come back to appreciate them when i’m in the actual mood to read YA again







