There were some stellar lines here. And I loved the dynamic of Jessi basically having a surrogate mother in the form of Mel. You can find family outside of biological ones, and I was thrilled to see it.

In addition, Jessi has a unique relationship with her biological mother whose struggles with mental health/depression has left her parental role seemingly vacant. The mental health conversations were excellent. Jessi acknowledges she knew her mother was sick and never faulted her for that, but that it was understandably weird and not earned that her mother wanted to suddenly make up for years of no parental guidance in a year. Depression can be messy, and I think the book showed that well.

Much like those Tiffany Jackson stories, it’s always so frustrating and intriguing to try to figure out what happened. I thought it was cute how Jessi was crushing on one of the brothers, but it got a little draining and stressful, to be honest. I really wanted to like her with Luke, but there was too much drama surrounding them; he was salty, but it took a good while to find out why. On the positive, Jessi felt like a real teenager to me. Overall, I liked this. I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author as well.

5 stars - the story, familial relationships, the drama, Jessi's character development, Naomi
3ish - the fake dating, Luke, Ro(wan)

Semi-spoiler: it never fails “Both the brothers are hot, and they want me omg!!!” always ends messy.

SN: One of the characters defers college for a year. I haven’t really seen that in YA fiction before

3.5 ( )

This story broke me. So so good. Told from two perspectives, past and present, Jessi has to find out where she belongs, which family is truly hers without losing herself while availing herself of the guilt over the death of her best friend and the impending death of her “surrogate” mother Mel. And also trying to rebuild a relationship with her Mother who has suffered a decades long battle with post partum depression. I didn’t want it to end. I cried, I laughed, I got angry. A highly recommended novel for HS ( )

This book recommended in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2020/08/03/all-eyes-on-her/

This book was advertised as having a similar feel to This Is Us, and it delivered. Jessi should know better than to start fake-dating her ex, Luke, who hates her, just to make Luke's dying mother happy. "Should" being the operative word. She finds it impossible to resist being pulled back into the Cohens' world. Told in a split timeline, the reader follows Jessi both before and after the horrific event that ripped her relationship with the Cohens apart.

Before: When Jessi was seven, the Cohens become her substitute family. Jessi's mother stays in bed with depression, and her dad doesn't want to upset the status quo. So she becomes the daughter the Cohens never had. Ro's her age and stays her best friend as they navigate high school, and nerdy older brother Luke is always around, too. But when mother-figure Mel is diagnosed with cancer, all Jessi wants to do is help to take care of her. Luke and Rowan react differently. Rowan begins acting out and pulling away, while Luke and Jessi get close. Jessi discovers she might prefer the serious older brother to the force of nature that's Rowan. And Luke likes her too. Jessi can't figure out why Rowan starts acting so weird about her dating his brother. Then a horrific event rips everything apart.

After: Luke hates Jessi, but wants to give his mother peace before she dies of cancer. So he convinces Jessi to pretend to date him. That way they can all be together again in the end.

This is the kind of book that stays with you long after you've put it down. It's both heartwarming and heartbreaking. ( )