Lianne Oelke

"Jane Sinner, a 17-year-old dropout, sets out to redefine herself through a series of schemes and stunts, including participating in a low-budget reality TV show at her local community college"--

Nice Try, Jane Sinner

Jamieson

mum: what are you reading

me: nice try, jane sinner. its about a girl who wants to move out of home so she joins a college version of big brother

my mum: ........ well thats not a plot I would have got in my books fifty years ago



  “Wouldn’t it be nice, don’t you think, to not constantly compare everything you say and do to everything you’ve ever said and done and hope one day the good will outweigh the cringeworthy?” 


I've been reading so many heavy and serious books lately I really just needed and wanted something light and fun and easy to cleanse my palette and this was literally the perfect book for that. Nice Try, Jane Sinner is a quick paced contemporary following a seventeen year old girl called Jane Sinner who is expelled from her high school and thus has to attend Elbow Creek College to get the last few credits to graduate. Jane is also desperate to move out of her home and away from her strict christian parents - so she applies for and gets into a Big Brother meets Survivor style reality show being held on campus called House of Orange. The book follows Jane as she navigates college, and tries (really hard) to win House of Orange, gunning for grand prize of a second hand car and a college scholarship. 


  “Some girls just want to watch the world burn, you know?” 



My favourite thing about this book was how fun it was. I don't watch a lot of reality TV BUT the two I do enjoy are Big Brother and Survivor and I loved how this book translated those shows into a book. It managed to capture all the extreme drama and that "so bad its good" feel reality TV has. This is told in journal format as Jane recounts her thoughts and I really liked that too. This book flew because of the easy reading format and we get fun extras like emails, Jane writing imaginary interviews out, and more. This book was just so easy and enjoyable and if you're just looking for something that is going to be fun and easy and quick like I was this is PERFECT. 

I also LOVED Jane as a narrator. She's extremely sarcastic, blending deadpan humour with existential dread, nihilism and just a a bit of pettiness. I genuinely can't think of many (any?) protagonists like her in YA contemporary. Maybe a little like Leah from Lean On the Offbeat but .. better. Jane Sinner was hilarious, and I really loved how clever and ruthless she was. Even though she is prickly at times, I literally love her so much. 

The side characters were also enjoyable. Robbie Patel - a fellow contestant who was Indian and had a cleaning disorder (never mentioned, but I assume its OCD). He was so much fun, both an angel and also extremely ruthless? I love that. Alexander Park, the producer of House of Orange who is Korean and has a mysterious past of his own. I enjoyed his character so much, and enjoyed how Oelke played with the 'nefarious producer who will do anything for content' concept with him. Jenna Park, Alexanders sister and Jane's new friend. She could of had more development but I enjoyed her relationship with Jane.

The romance in this was also surprisingly sweet. It was kinda lowly throughout the story and really slow burn with a bit of drama and angst but I was rooting for it. So I really enjoyed that subplot. 


  “Forgive me Father, for I am a Sinner” 



My one issue with this comes with some of the rep. This is about a reality show but its also a depression book focussing on Jane's depression. I thought the depression rep was overall pretty good - I liked that it talked about Jane being on meds and how it was affecting her life on and off the show, and how it was being exacerbated by certain events at times. 

However, I think Oelke kind of made a cheap plot twist in revealing quarter way through the book Jane had attempted to commit suicide on the New Year. It is referred to as "The Event" before it is revealed, and I think the way it was kind of dealt with as a plot twist for drama was a bit cheap and kind of insensitive. I've seen other reviewers feel the same way, which is comforting, because when I read it it didn't sit great with me even though overall I still liked the MI rep. 


  “Jane Sinner: I think I can save us some time here. I’ll tell you my only motivation in life.
The Doctor: And what motivation is that?
Jane Sinner: The lols. It’s the only reason I ever do anything.”


Overall, Jane Sinner was an immensely fun read for me, and I read pretty much all of it is one day despite it being a 400 page book. It really flew past, and I loved how Oelke brought reality show drama to the page. Jane is an absolute legend, and there was so many fun twists and unexpected moments in this it was just so fun to read. Although that one reveal didn't set well for me, the rest of this book was so good and I'll definitely look out for this authors next book!

tw: suicide ideation, mental illness / depression, getting drunk, representation of a cleaning disorder, mentions of drug use

Sofie

Jane was a hilarious protagonist! Loved the writing style. The plot was just okay, though.

Maria

Джейн Синнер выгнали из школы. Потому что она туда не ходила. Из-за депрессивного эпизода и попытки суицида. Но соседский коммьюнити колледж разрешает Джейн закончить на своей базе необходимые курсы и получить школьный диплом.

Джейн эта идея нравится – во-первых, в колледже никто не будет знать про её инцидент, а во-вторых, можно сбежать от родителей, проедающих ей плешь. Правда, есть проблема с финансами. Джейн подрабатывает в супермаркете, на нормальное жилье не хватает денег. На её счастье, в кампусе объявляют кастинг в студенческое реалити-шоу для Ютуба. Шесть участников, три девочки и три мальчика, будут жить вместе в большом доме, делить быт, участвовать в конкурсах и голосовать друг против друга.

Большая удача этой книжки – главная героиня, которая мне больше всего напомнила Дарью Моргендорффер (дети, Daria – это культовый мтвишный анимационный сериал нашей молодости). Она умна, саркастична, местами цинична, но при этом не стерва, вполне себе привязывается к людям и способна им доверять (прим. ред. – и зря!).

В книге есть небольшой эпизод, когда Джейн проходит тест MBTI и получает вариант INTP – в более распространенной в России соционической терминологии это «Бальзак». Я не знаю, прошарена ли авторка в этой теме, или так случайно вышло, но Джейн у нее получилась просто типичнейшим Бальзаком, именно так этот тип и описывают все сектантские книжки.

Реалити-шоу внезапно оказывается захватывающим сюжетом – без особой грязи, но с дурацкими челленджами, бытовыми скандалами (есть прекрасная линия, когда Джейн дрессирует соседей не воровать её еду), интригами и предательством. А поскольку книжка не американская, а канадская, в ней встречаются подростковое пьянство и сексуальные отношения людей с большой разницей в возрасте – видимо, в Канаде с меньшим пиитетом относятся к идее clean books.

Еще одна канадская деталь: Джейн живет в Калгари и постоянно трэшит Эдмонтон. Я сначала было не заметила, но после третьего упоминания, какой Эдмонтон отстойный, полезла гуглить. И да, есть такой феномен – The Battle of Alberta, соперничество между Эдмонтоном и Калгари, которое началось еще из-за того, каким путем возить меха на продажу, а сейчас цветет в основном в спорте, ну и вот в быту (москвичи и питерцы поймут).

Единственная причина, по которой я не даю Джейн Синнер пяти звездочек – это концовка. Мне очень хотелось мести и пожаров, чтобы она вот прямо взяла и растоптала всех подбитыми железом сапогами, но Джейн выбрала добро, я разочарована!

Отличная, в общем, книжка – без соплей, без драмы, и при этом вполне себе отрабатывает взрослую тему последствий депрессии и экзистенциального кризиса.

Katie

It will be extremely difficult for me to produce an "objective" review (if such a thing even existed), because of how strongly I related to our main character, the titular Jane Sinner. Her mental health experience so closely mirrors mine that as soon as I finished it, I shoved it in my mother's face saying, "If you want to know me, read this book." That being said, trigger warnings for depression and suicide in this novel.

Jane is funny, and spunky, and sassy, and everything I wish I was. There is a running joke where she consistently messes up idioms on purpose (think "curiosity killed the cat's pajama's" or something like that) because she knows her dad hates it, and that is exactly my brand of humor. Not all of the other characters are particularly notable, but the premise is a reality tv show, like Survivor: College Edition, where people get voted off, so the characters that get the boot early understandably don't have a lot of development. The ones that stick around longer are interesting in their own ways and I enjoyed seeing Jane's interactions with them.

One thing I wish there was more of was character motivation. This is hard to show with any character but Jane since this novel is in a diary format, but I wish there had been more conversations with other characters about why they had done certain things. I also wish we had gotten more of Jane's "before" personality. There are multiple mentions of her personality being a little more subdued and she kind of describes herself as a doormat, but all of that is told, not shown. Again, because this is a diary, we couldn't have a proper flashback or anything, but I would have liked to see more of that change.

Both of those are small potatoes complaints given how much I love the message this book sends. It is about the drama of a reality tv show, and I loved the parts that were drama-filled, but it was unexpectedly a "mental health book" as well, and it really was more of that than the drama. I cannot separate this book and Jane herself from me, so I don't think this could ever be less than five stars. I went into this expecting something fairly lighthearted and cute, and came away with a new top 5 favorite of all time. I'll say to you all what I said to my mother: "If you want to know me, read this book."

Samantha Seeman

A STRONG 4.75*
Wow. This book honestly really surprised me. For those who know me really well, I have certainly delved myself in reality TV. Unfortunately I am SUPER picky about it, and lean heavily toward MTV (i.e. The Challenge and Jersey Shore). Surprisingly enough, I only heard about this book recently, on a video posted by Emmabooks where she recommends books based on her high school phases (see below). Jane Sinner was recommended for Emma’s “leaving the church” phase of her life, which also surprised me about this book. Basically, Nice Try Jane Sinner follows a high school senior who has dropped out of school due to an “incident” that happened several months ago. She compromises with her parents, and agrees to take makeup classes at the local community college so that she may still graduate high school. The catch is that she wants to move out and live on her own. With little to no cash, and only a grocery store job bringing in money, Jane finds an alternate means to housing. She signs up to be on a locally run reality TV show similar to The Challenge or Big Brother. It is a story that has a step in the familiar and well loved reality TV realm, while also addressing questioned faith, trust, depression and other themes. I was most impressed and engrossed in the dry humor of the main character and the general dialogue throughout. It was so refreshing to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are some trigger warnings for depression and suicide though, and a few scenes that involve underage drinking. I picked this up not expecting much, and ended up really really impressed. This author is on my radar now. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Alexis 

4.5/ 5 stars

I really Enjoyed reading this book..... more so than i thought i would. This is a debut novel and i will say i'm definitely impressed. The writing was great. I sat down to start the book, next thing i know i'm finishing the last page. The characters and the plot were really well done. Overall a fantastic book and a fantastic debut novel. I can't wait to read more from this author.

Paige Green

Rating: 4/5

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 15+ (underage alcohol usage, sex, trigger warnings for suicide)

Pages: 416

Author Website

Amazon Link

Disclaimer: I got this book through KidLitExchange. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: It’s Kind of a Funny Story meets Daria in the darkly hilarious tale of a teen’s attempt to remake her public image and restore inner peace through reality TV. The only thing 17-year-old Jane Sinner hates more than failure is pity. After a personal crisis and her subsequent expulsion from high school, she’s going nowhere fast. Jane’s well-meaning parents push her to attend a high school completion program at the nearby Elbow River Community College, and she agrees, on one condition: she gets to move out.
 
Jane tackles her housing problem by signing up for House of Orange, a student-run reality show that is basically Big Brother, but for Elbow River Students. Living away from home, the chance to win a car (used, but whatever), and a campus full of people who don't know what she did in high school… what more could she want? Okay, maybe a family that understands why she’d rather turn to Freud than Jesus to make sense of her life, but she'll settle for fifteen minutes in the proverbial spotlight.
 
As House of Orange grows from a low-budget web series to a local TV show with fans and shoddy T-shirts, Jane finally has the chance to let her cynical, competitive nature thrive. She'll use her growing fan base, and whatever Intro to Psychology can teach her, to prove to the world—or at least viewers of substandard TV—that she has what it takes to win.

I am not a fan of YA Contemporary and honestly I didn’t remember ordering this book from KLE. So when it arrived I was not excited to read it. Then I read it. The book isn’t a normal contemporary. It’s darkly funny like Daria and the main character feels genuine. The author included some diverse characters in it, including a bisexual best friend and a love interest who suffers from what appears to be suffering from OCD. The main character herself suffers from clinical depression. The plot and pacing are very well done and I loved the diary format of the book. I seem to be loving these of late. 

However, I did feel that the book didn’t focus on some of the side characters enough. They aren’t very well developed in comparison to Jane. The father is mentioned to have certain traits and some of the housemates are too, but beyond that they aren’t very well developed and the ending is a little ambiguous for everyone. While I liked that type of ending, I know a lot of others really won’t.

Verdict: If you like dark humor you’ll love this book.

"Jane Sinner snarked her way into my heart, and she's never leaving. Prepare to fall hard for this hilarious, heartfelt gem of a book."—Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda It’s Kind of a Funny Story meets Daria in the darkly hilarious tale of a teen’s attempt to remake her public image and restore inner peace through reality TV. The only thing 17-year-old Jane Sinner hates more than failure is pity. After a personal crisis and her subsequent expulsion from high school, she’s going nowhere fast. Jane’s well-meaning parents push her to attend a high school completion program at the nearby Elbow River Community College, and she agrees, on one condition: she gets to move out. Jane tackles her housing problem by signing up for House of Orange, a student-run reality show that is basically Big Brother, but for Elbow River Students. Living away from home, the chance to win a car (used, but whatever), and a campus full of people who don't know what she did in high school… what more could she want? Okay, maybe a family that understands why she’d rather turn to Freud than Jesus to make sense of her life, but she'll settle for fifteen minutes in the proverbial spotlight. As House of Orange grows from a low-budget web series to a local TV show with fans and shoddy T-shirts, Jane finally has the chance to let her cynical, competitive nature thrive. She'll use her growing fan base, and whatever Intro to Psychology can teach her, to prove to the world—or at least viewers of substandard TV—that she has what it takes to win.

Nice Try, Jane Sinner

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