Mary Jane

i'm not even 100% sure where to start, but i'll give it a go. this is one of my favorite books of all time.

it sounds sadistic, but i like reading books where there are traumatic experiences i have personally experienced and/or can relate to. in this case, mary jane living a fearful life under the roof of her bigoted, judgmental conservative parents hits incredibly close to home, and i found myself tearing up as mary jane learns that what she thinks and feels and believes are all valid, only her parents are telling her that there's something “wrong” with her. it was incredibly moving to see her open up and become an integral part of the cone family, all while helping jimmy recover and being the best fake-big sister to izzy. this book gave me a tight hug and reminded me that i don't have to be a product of my parents if i don't want to, and that there's nothing wrong with being me.

also i was 100% imagining sebastian stan as tommy lee for jimmy so that certainly helped my enjoyment

Cute, sometimes a little cloyingly so, story of sort of coming of age and of sort of found family. It made for an engaging and fairly cozy read. Mary Jane was a sweet and endearing character (teenage girls are often the worst Mary Jane is the opposite). Long story short if you need a break from heavy stuff, this one is pretty good.

Trigger warnings for mentions of racism and antisemitism (not a core aspect of the book but something to be aware of).

5⭐️

I don't even have words to describe how good this was, I love coming of age stories and this one hit so close to home that while listening to a bit of bullshit from my parents today I just kept thinking “just do what Mary Jane would do. lie and do whatever you want.” LOL

It's been a long time since I cried while reading a book and the ending was just perfect because it ended on a good note and I really needed that for Mary Jane. I didn't expect to get so attached to all of the characters. ❤️❤️