This is Not the Real World. (This is Not the Jess Show #2). Anna Carey. 2022. [May] 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: The gondola glided between buildings, and that same song filtered in right as we slipped under the third arched bridge.
First impressions: I fell hard for the premise of the first book, This is Not the Jess Show. That first book did not disappoint. I thought it was a fabulous premise-driven YA novel that was just fun. I was so excited to see the sequel is being published this May. I would love for it to be just as great as the first book.
Premise/plot: Jess Flynn has escaped the lie. But life is far from ideal in the real world especially when your boyfriend, Kipps, is still seventeen and under contract with Like-Life Productions. The two along with some friends (who helped them in the previous book) are hiding out...but the fact that they haven't been caught yet...perhaps leads to some mistakes in judgment.
After a very special celebration--the worst happens (relatively speaking). Will Jess sacrifice her own freedom in the real world to return to the lie she escaped? Will she return to her 90's obsessed television show?
My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. Did I enjoy it as much as book one? Probably not. Not that I didn't enjoy it at all. But it's hard for a premise-driven book to still carry that some momentum with a second book. I still cared about the characters, still had questions about the world--on and off of the set. This one had some twists and turns, but obviously not as many as the first book.
Definitely recommend for those that enjoyed the first book.
© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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