This Is Not the Jess Show

1

Three things happened the week I found out. Titanic won a bunch of Oscars, and my sister and I stayed up late to watch because we d never miss a chance to see Leo in a tux. Meanwhile every news anchor was talking about the president, and everywhere I went people repeated that phrase, how he didn t have sexual relations with that woman.  I probably should have cared (president, impeachment, important stuff) but another, more pressing matter, had consumed me: I d fallen in love with my best friend. 
     Tyler. Also known as Ty, Scruggs, or Tyler Michael Scruggs. Formerly known as Bugs, Bugsy Scruggsy, or Fire Crotch (more on that later). We d managed to be friends for six whole years with no feelings whatsoever. We d never got weird with each other, even when we were in the throes of puberty and I was having vivid dreams about hooking up with Zack Morris. Growing up, Tyler had these huge buckteeth and moppy, rust-colored hair. When kids weren t making fun of his smile, they were heckling him for being a ginger, as if that alone were a sin against humanity. It had taken five years of braces to get his two front teeth back inside his head, but now those braces were gone and his smile was kind of . . . well, perfect. Now he was five eight, and his hair was longer and a little darker, and it fell into his eyes when he played the drums. Now he worked out.
     I rolled over in bed, my eyes squeezed shut. This thing with Tyler had gotten into my bloodstream and infected my brain. I was never alone because I was always imagining him right beside me. I couldn t stop thinking about the way the sleeves of his tee shirt strained against his biceps. How he closed his eyes and tilted his head back when he played the drums, and you could see the veins in his forearms. He was still the tiniest

Anna Carey

A 2022 Hal Clement Notable Young Adult Book
Named one of Brightly s Best YA Books Being Published in 2021
One of New York Public Library's Best Books of 2021
A 2022-2023 South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee

It s a dark and distorted mirror of our own extremely strange times, perfect reading for anyone who wants to feel seen without necessarily needing to be looked at.
Shondaland

I read this in a single, compulsive sitting. A fantastically smart, funny, and thoughtful thriller about how our devices manipulate and exploit our closest relationships.
Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star

At once thought-provoking and hilarious, This Is Not the Jess Show is a timely, incisive book so masterfully-plotted you won't want to put it down.
Tahereh Mafi, New York Times Bestselling author of the Shatter Me series and A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Nostalgic, romantic, thrilling, and with an exciting twist, I devoured This Is Not The Jess Show and didn't want it to end!
Sara Shepard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game

I read this book in under 24 hours, if that tells you anything about how thrilling and addictive it is. It has so many smart, insightful things to say about celebrity culture and the entertainment industry.
The Nerd Daily

A thrilling and thought-provoking ride.
Kirkus Reviews

This is Not the Jess Show goes deep in exploring how people live their lives and create their own realities sometimes at a cost.
Foreword Reviews

The fast-paced, intricate plot ramps up Jess's paranoia and frustration, both of which are vividly expressed through her first-person narrative.
Booklist

A fun and thoughtful thriller; this YA novel will please fans of E. Lockhart and Kiera Cass.