Simona's Corner of Dreams: YA

Wednesday, 19 August 2015

I Knew You Were Trouble – by Paige Toon

My own copy

Original Cover

The blurb:

Life as the undercover daughter of a rock god isn't going to be easy. How will Jessie adjust to her old boring life again after spending her summer living it up with her dad in LA? With tough decisions ahead (and not just choosing between two hot boys), can she cope juggling her two very different lives?

Summer may be over, but Jessie's story is just beginning…

My Opinion:

You guys can’t imagine how I felt when this book arrived at my doorstep. I’ve been waiting for it since I’ve finished The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson last year.

Jessie has spent the summer with her “new” dad and rockstar Johnny Jefferson and his family. Now she’s back in England with Stu and her own bodyguard. She goes back to school, where she sees her ex-best friend Libby (who has a new best friend now, Amanda) again and also Tom. Something started between them, but without even a date, she went off for summer. She feels weird seeing him again, but the sparks are there immediately. I loved reading about how everything developed between them and Tom is really cute with her.

At school she meets Lou, she’s new and the two girls get along really well. Jessie takes Lou around and also takes her to parties. At one party she see her friend Natalie again and Tom and his friend Chris are also there, a great bunch of friends, I have to say.

Jessie struggles with being recognized and when someone slips it to the papers, it’s too much for her. When Jessie is a bit reckless and not careful enough, Johnny has enough and takes her back to LA. Jessie struggles at first, but enjoys time with her half-brothers Phoenix and Barney, and also Johnny’s wife Meg. Meg and Jessie get along really well, which made me very happy, I like them both, so I’m glad it turned out to be this way.

LA means seeing Agnes again and also her brother Jack, but Jessie is with Tom. She is really drawn to Jack though and they spend more and more time together. I don’t wanna say more here, but let’s just say Jessie has to figure out who she really loves and then make a decision. And she’s all over the place with that.

What I loved in this story was that Jessie discovered singing, I really enjoyed the scenes where she worked with Johnny and it’s so awesome to see him as her dad. It’s so sweet to see, how their relationship has grown and that Jessie feels more and more at home in LA, not just because of Johnny, but also because of Meg and the boys.

This story is truly magnetic. Jessie is a bubbly character and it’s so awesome to read her perspective, I felt like being in her head! Full of ups and downs, hilarious moments and also sad parts, the perfect mixture and so entertaining. The writing is really gripping, I couldn’t put the book down (only when I really had to), such a FABULOUS read!!!

The ending has left me quite excited of what comes next for Jessie, when Paige?! Tell me, it’s soon… ;)

Rating:

My possible cast:

Jessie

Johnny: Garret Hedlund

Meg: Alona Tal

Phoenix

Barney

Stu: Gary Oldman

Tom: Josh Hutcherson

Jack: Matt Dallas

Paige Toon on Twitter: @PaigeToonAuthor
Website: http://paigetoon.com

Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Sunday, 2 March 2014

The Accidental Life Of Jessie Jefferson - by Paige Toon

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

The first YA fiction novel, from the bestselling adult author Paige Toon.

Meet Jessie, the daughter of Johnny Jefferson, as featured in Johnny Be Good and Baby Be Mine…

My fifteenth birthday was the worst day of my life, and it's inconceivable to think that any single day in my future will ever be as bad. My mum was killed in a freak accident on her way to pick up my cake. Even when there was still no sign of her after two hours later, and my friends started to arrive at our house, it never occurred to me that she wouldn't be coming back.

That was six months ago. My mum died without telling me who my real dad was. And for a while I hated her for it. I thought she's taken the secret of my father's identity with her forever. But she didn't. Holy hell, she didn't. Because three weeks ago I found out the truth. And I'm still reeling from the shock of it. My dad is none other than Johnny Jefferson, mega famous rock star and one-time serial womaniser. And now I'm on my way to LA to meet him and his family.

My tiny little world has just got a whole lot bigger…

My Opinion:

I was over the moon when this book arrived even two day before publication day. I was waiting for it since I finished Johnny's Girl and I sensed some real trouble there.

Well, first of all, this is Paige's first YA novel and I was so curious to find out whether the style was much different to her chick-lit books. This is the forth book in the Johnny Jefferson series, I recommed you to read the books in the following order: Johnny Be Good, Baby Be Mine, Johnny's Girl, The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson.

The three books before were written from Meg's perspective. Now Jessie Jefferson or I should say Jessie Pickerill comes into the picture. Jessie is Johnny's 15 year old daughter, Meg (his wife) is still processing the news.

Now, let's really start with Jessie. She sounded like real trouble and a wanna be rockstar at the end of Johnny's Girl. It turns out that this is only a fassade to hide her real feelings. Her mother died six months ago and Jessie misses her so badly. She has a new group of friends who are drinking and smoking and her old best friend Libby is still there, but they don't talk. It's bugging Jessie that she probably never finds out who her biologigal dad is. But then her stepdad Stu has news for her and her whole world comes crasing down. Johnny Jefferson is her dad!? This moment in the book was so great, Paige's writing really conveyed the feelings.

The news bring her back closer to Libby and then Jessie flies to LA to spend the week with Johnny, Meg and the boys. It's finally where we get to see the real Jessie and I got to like her. I was so curious for Johnny's and Jessie's first scene and I just say: well done Paige :)

They spend more and more time together and they get closer, it was awesome to see that develop and we also see Johnny from a different side, which is great. I adored the way they shared more and more about themselves with each other. Jessie and Meg had a rocky start, but I think deep down they really like each other and they have a lot in common. I was longing for Meg's POV in some scenes, can't wait to read about her feelings again as well.

When Jessie left the UK she had her eyes on a boy, his name was Tom, but then Jack came into the picture in a LA. I loved how Jessie was with him and their scenes brought a lot of fun and spark into this story.

I can't wait to read more about how her story with these guys develops.

The ending was great and it calls out for more!!! Much more :) Paige really surprised me with Jessie's personality and she's such a great character. Such an enjoyable read, I couldn't put the book down. As always such a pleasure to read Paige's books.