Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale

There's nothing worse than peaking in high school. Nobody knows that better than Josie Pie.

She was kind of a big deal—she dropped out of high school to be a star! But the bigger you are, the harder you fall. And Josie fell. Hard. Ouch. Broadway dream: dead.

Meanwhile, her life keeps imploding. Best friend: distant. Boyfriend: busy. Mom: not playing with a full deck? Desperate to escape, Josie gets into reading.

Literally. She reads a book and suddenly she's inside it. And with each book, she’s a different character: a post-apocalyptic heroine, the lead in a YA rom-com, a 17th century wench in a corset.

It’s alarming. But also . . . kind of amazing?

It’s the perfect way to live out her fantasies. Book after book, Josie the failed star finds a new way to shine. But the longer she stays in a story, the harder it becomes to escape.

Will Josie find a story so good that she just stays forever?

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It pains me to write this. It really does. But here goes; this book is Not Up To Shannon's usual standards. It's probably my fault; I came to Shannon through the Books of Bayern and the Book of a Thousand Days, which are based on fairy tales and feel like it. This is a contemporary, a totally different style, and it's maybe unfair of me to compare them.

Now, a not so great Shannon Hale is still a lot better than a lot of other authors. If you haven't read any of hers before, you're likely to enjoy this fun, contemporary read about a teenager figuring out her life by trying a lot of others on for size. Although it took her far too long to figure out the trigger, but then, I'm outside the book and she isn't.

I did enjoy this. I know I'm sounding like I didn't. It's a good read, and Shannon succeeded in wrongfooting me about one character, which doesn't happen very often. I think I had the wrong mindset going in, which did affect my enjoyment but won't be an issue for other readers. Josie was clever, and strong, once she dragged herself out of her pit, and I could feel as I read how hard she was working at it. Her relationship with Mia is fantastic, and I loved Nina. And I noticed that sly reference to another of Shannon's series! I also really liked ... I don't want to give too much away ... the depiction of a mythological figure. It was a really clever way to use them. And I loved the graphic novel section. Very clever and cute.

Overall, I enjoyed this more than I didn't, and I'll be recommending it to other people.

Kind of a Big Deal publishes on the 1st September, 2020.