For fans of YA Contemporary stories about the pressure teens are under today, you have to read I Am Not Jessica Chen. This book examines envy, success, and sacrifice. It’s a tangled up mess of family expectations and pressure. Keep reading this book review of I Am Not Jessica Chen for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I Am Not Jessica Chen took my heart and scooped it out. It’s a tender, raw, and emotional story about expectation, about success, and sacrifice. For teens today, this is absolutely a must read. We can place so much pressure on ourselves, on perfect grades, the next milestone, and the upcoming award. Even more so, our family can rest their dreams, their sacrifices, on our shoulders. We can buckle under the weight of pressure. And under that burden, no one can survive. No piece of ourselves can escape. I felt Jenna’s ambition, her desperation, her commitment.
The idea that just one more night of sleepless studying. One more sacrifice, one more extra curricular, stands between us and what we dreamed of. But it quickly becomes about what next award, next achievement, we can set our sights on. If you’ve ever felt yourself slipping into this mentality – one I too often find myself in – then you need to sit with I Am Not Jessica Chen. Success will leave us lonely at the end. It often requires a complete commitment which leaves relationships empty and tables deserted. With almost a supernatural twist to it, I Am Not Jessica Chen reminds us of what’s most important.
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That the world will continue to demand. The world will continue to want perfection, model students and minorities, excellence and silence. When we define ourselves by what we’ve done, always trying for the next thing, it often leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouth. To know that we will never be happy with who we are. Find I Am Not Jessica Chen on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.