I Am Not Jessica Chen

by Ann Liang

Overview

Jenna Chen has spent her life in the shadow of her flawless cousin. Jessica Chen is so smart she gets the top score on every test. Jessica Chen is so beautiful people stop in the hallway to stare at her. Jessica Chen is so perfect she got into Harvard.
And Jenna Chen will only ever be a disappointment.
So when Jenna makes a desperate wish to become her cousin, the last thing she expects is for it to come true—literally. All of a sudden she gets to live the life she’s always dreamed of . . . but being the model student at cutthroat Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she’d imagined. Worse, people seem to be forgetting that someone named Jenna Chen ever existed. But isn’t it worth trading it all away—her artistic talent, her childhood home, even the hope of golden boy Aaron Cai loving her back—to be Jessica Chen?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335523129
Publisher:	Harlequin
Publication date:	01/28/2025
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	13,082
Product dimensions:	5.63(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.26(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ann Liang is an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne. Born in Beijing, she grew up travelling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t stressing out over her college assignments or writing, she can be found making over-ambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog. Ann is the author of If You Could See the Sun, This Time It's Real, and I Hope This Doesn’t Find You.

Editorial Reviews

10/14/2024

A Chinese American high school senior who wants to be more like her perfect popular cousin gets more than she wished for in this haunting speculative novel by Liang (I Hope This Doesn’t Find You). Jenna Chen has been rejected from Harvard, an event that not only disappoints her immigrant parents but once again puts her in the shadow of her Harvard-bound cousin Jessica. Tired of feeling inferior, Jenna wishes upon a shooting star—“I wish I was Jessica Chen”—and suddenly finds herself trapped in Jessica’s body. Jenna finally gets a taste of what it’s like to live Jessica’s life, but all is not as it seems. Jessica’s journal reveals her true feelings and deep secrets of her own. And after receiving cryptic messages, Jenna learns that Jessica might not be as beloved as she thinks. Amid these revelations, Jenna contends with feelings for her childhood friend and crush until a larger problem surfaces: Jenna’s memories of her old life are fading. Via vivid prose, Liang grapples with identity, desire, and issues surrounding self-worth, immigrant parents’ expectations, and class divides. Ages 13–up. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

2024-09-28
Seventeen-year-old Jenna Chen gets her heart’s desire when she makes a wish to become her perfect cousin, Jessica.

Jenna and Jessica are Chinese American seniors at the cutthroat Havenwood Academy. But while Jessica’s exemplary academic and athletic performance has earned her admiration from teachers and peers alike, Jenna has always fallen short of expectations, no matter how hard she works. In a moment of despair, Jenna wishes on a shooting star to be Jessica—and is astonished to wake up the next morning in Jessica’s body. At first, being Havenwood’s star pupil is a dream come true for Jenna, whose hunger for outward approval is finally satisfied by the praise that’s being heaped upon her. But Jenna’s bliss fades as she experiences the immense social pressures that forced Jessica to maintain her spotless record. She feels a creeping sense of unease as everyone around her seems to forget her own actual existence, apart from Aaron Cai, her childhood friend and unrequited crush, who recently returned from studying abroad. Liang’s latest examines the costs of pursuing perfection through a vivid portrayal of the mental and emotional toll it takes on Jenna, Jessica, and their peers. Jenna’s artistic eye sometimes manifests in overly ornate prose in her first-person narration, but the vulnerability of her voice will pull readers in.

A sincere and emotionally astute story offering reassurance to anyone who feels like they don’t matter.(Speculative fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews