Jessica Bell

First off, let’s appreciate this stunning book cover! It caught my attention right away, and it was a great surprise that this pretty cover belonged to a dystopian book, for it’s my favorite genre ever!

When I started reading this book, I could see that it was different from the other books in its genre. It indeed has some connection with The Handmaid’s Tale, but this book was much enjoyable, in my opinion. The writing style was simple, and I finished reading the book in one sitting. It’s true that the description of the places, sometimes, wasn’t clear for me to imagine them. However, the characters were layered enough for me to keep on reading this remarkable book.

The main idea of the book made me think long about it. Finding your happiness on a new level gave depth to the book, making it unique. The first/third person POV was a good choice. And I found this way of telling a story fascinating because I love reading a story from the first-person POV; it was interesting to find out what the other characters were thinking and what was happening with them.

And, yes, I hated Norate, of course!

A particular scene was touching and brought tears to my eyes when the thirteen-year-old Leila had to go through a process to make her pregnant.

Overall, I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes Dystopian books.… (más)

This book has a good story. It has good characterisation. It's quite punchy. It has an interesting style. And yet. Ultimately, it's not for me.

This is the story of several dysfunctional families, all with a single connection, and how the secrets they keep affect their lives, and more Importantly, those of the people they love.

I was not even halfway through this fairly slim novel before I had concluded that I was not its demographic. I reached that conclusion long before I had answered "me" to the question posed by one of the characters "What teen wouldn't recognise a marijuana plant browning next to a bed of Chamsonetter Pink Gazanias". That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story. It did hold my attention, I wanted to know where it was going, and the characters are very well drawn, sufficiently for me to feel something for them, be it like or dislike.

But there was something holding me back from really liking the book. Partly, it is the style of writing, in very short, punchy sentences. In some ways, it adds a leanness to the book, which makes the stripy move along apace, but sometimes, for me, it feels like I have no feel for the surroundings the characters are in. It is a style I am sure would suit many, which is why I am not saying this as a criticism, but just saying that I am not the demographic this book is aimed at.

Whilst being light on description, there are numerous analogies, and I will admit I found the pharse "like a" rather tireseome after a while. I particularly didn't take to something being described as "like a fertilised egg in a uterus". There sometimes seemed to be too much detail: I didn't need to know that a character was "snapping the 250-gram bunch [of spaghetti] in half". But on the other hand, writer Jessica Bell can produce lines such as this, from a young woman who lives with her alcohlic mother, feeling that hope has left, that "sympathy claimed its freedom long ago, descending down their street in triumph", and there are moments of brilliance, such as when Brian's thoughts are in turmoil. This is a time when the short punchy sentence es really work, perfectly capturing the restlessness in the character's mind.

The concept of moving the story on from the perspective of 7 different people works well together, particularly where the same scene is viewed from more than one perspective. But it does also give the novel the feeling if a film script, and I couldn't help wondering if that was the ultimate aim the author had.… (más)

(This review can be found on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl towards the end of December).


The Book by Jessica Bell is a book that I've been wanting to read for awhile. The synopsis really intrigued me. I was thrilled when I won a copy of The Book. Luckily, this book didn't disappoint.

Bonnie is a 5 year old girl. While her mother Penny is pregnant with Bonnie, John, Bonnie's dad, starts a journal (referred to as the book) where he writes his thoughts and wishes for Bonnie. However, Penny is the one who starts writing in it more than John. However, things don't go as planned. When John and Penny split up, the book becomes Penny's release for her feelings. Bonnie notices that her mom always cries when writing in the book, so she thinks the book is what is causing Penny's sadness. Bonnie sees her mom and her mom's boyfriend, Ted, fighting over the book, so Bonnie just wants to get rid of the book. Little do all the adults know how their actions will affect Bonnie.

I love the title! It's super mysterious but such a fitting tile. I think Ms. Bell did a fantastic job at picking this title.

I'm also a fan of the cover. I like the shadow of the child, which I believe to be Bonnie, with words written over it. I also like the pink (my favorite color) and the font.

Jessica Bell does a fantastic job with the world building. I felt like she creates the world of a 5 year old almost perfectly. I did find it strange that Bonnie's parents refer to themselves by their first name instead of mom and dad when writing things to Bonnie, but that's just me.

The pacing starts off a little slow, but before I realized it, it had really grabbed me and pulled me into the story. After that, the pace never slows down nor does it speed up where I didn't know what was going on.

The plot was very original which made for a refreshing read. It was interesting to read everyone's thoughts through journal entries (Penny and John) and through Bonnie's point of view. I also would've never predicted the ending of The Book!

The characters were all well written and rounded. I felt for Penny when she was torn between two men and doing what was best for Bonnie. I felt for John who wanted to be there for his daughter yet his hands were tied. I felt for Ted who was oblivious to what was going on around him through no fault of his own. I mostly felt for Bonnie who, due to her age, didn't know why everyone was acting the way they were over this book. Bell captures the emotion of each character perfectly!

Bell writes like a 5 year old would think when it came time for Bonnie's point of view. I found this annoying sometimes, but I understand why it needed to be done. It needed to be done to really capture the essence of Bonnie. There were times when I felt that Bonnie was acting or thinking like that of an older child, but this could've just been a personal thing as all children develop at different levels. Other then that, I found the dialogue to be very interesting. It also flows very smoothly and never feels rushed.

Overall, The Book is a fantastic and emotional read. It has an original plot line with memorable characters and fantastic dialogue.

I'd recommend this book to those aged 18 who are after a read with an original story with a lesson to be learned.

I'd give The Book by Jessica Bell a 4.5 out of 5.… (más)

Bitter Like Orange Peel by Jessica Bell focuses on six women with an interconnected relationship. In a rather awkward scenario, three are daughters of Roger and three are the mothers of those daughters. Ivy, an anthropologist with a masters who is recently divorced and working as a barista, is the daughter of Eleanor, a pediatric surgeon who is the only women who was ever actually married to Roger. Kit, also an anthropology student, is the daughter of Ailish, an English literature professor who had an affair with Roger. Eydie is the last sister (and a surprise to Kit) and her mother, Beth is an alcoholic who slept with Roger.

The secrets revealed were not that earth shattering when held up in comparison to a woman (Eleanor) who encouraged a relationship between half-sisters (Ivy and Kit) and, in fact, had a friendship with the mother of the woman who had an affair with her husband (Ailish). That's not even taking into consideration the completely worthless deadbeat father who apparently was fathering daughters everywhere and then disappeared without even trying to continue a relationship with his children.

The problem I had with Bell's book was not with her writing, which, even though it was a bit over-wrought at times, was certainly well executed. (This is assuming I ignore inclusion of Australian slang in American characters - I'm running with the premise that Ivy's acquaintances picked it up from her.) The problem I had was with every single character and everything they said and did. In the end I actually loathed every character in this book. That is a mighty high hurdle for any storyline/plot to overcome. Bell still might have won me over but the ending was unsatisfactory to say the least. Sadly, Bell just couldn't pull this one out of the hole for me.

I'm giving Bitter Like Orange Peel a so-so rating based on the quality of the writing alone.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of the author via Netgalley for review purposes.… (más)