Jessie Hearts NYC

by Keris Stainton

Jessie's just arrived in New York, hoping to forget about her awful ex.
New Yorker Finn is in love with his best friend's girlfriend.
They might be perfect together, but in a city of eight million people, will they find each other?

• ISBN10: 1408304287
• ISBN13: 9781408304280
• Publish Date: 7 July 2011
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 February 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Orchard Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rach Wood]

First, I hate the synopsis, 'cause it tells the entire story. I mean, after it, I knew they'd fall in love with each other and I was waiting for the first meeting and the second and all others which would follow and I stopped enjoying the narrative for real, and that's kind of bad, I guess.

The book is written in a dual-perspective, which is pretty cool 'cause it's insane to think that two people are in the same city and we're following their lives that are happening at the same time but differ completely from each other.

There's Jessie, a British teen who'll spend the summer holidays with her best friend, Emma, at her mother's house, and hopes to forget her badass ex-boyfriend with Ben's help. And there's Finn that is in love with Sam, his best friend's girlfriend, and also doesn't know how to say to his father that he wants to change his major.

I thought that's fantastic Jessie being a tourist in NYC, 'cause it led me to make great tours, even though imaginary, and I enjoyed reading about thousands of wonderful places related to movies, although I've not seen a third of them, but now I want to, of course.

I didn't fall deeply in love with the characters, though. I liked Jessie, 'cause she's youthful, and I liked Finn, 'cause he's so adorable. But, for me, Emma was a pain in the ass, 'cause she was all over the places and I kept thinking, why the hell she doesn't go away when Jessie and Finn are together and it upset me. And Scott, Finn's best friend, is fine , but he's forgettable, 'cause I didn't know his name when I finished the book. Regarding Ben, he didn't win me over too, 'cause I realized what was going on in the elevator scene. I liked the friendship between Finn and Scott, 'cause I thought they really relied on each other and they understood each other's problems. And I also liked the fact that Jessie had worked things out with her mother, 'cause it touched me when she realized how much her mother loved her and how everything had been misunderstood.

In conclusion, it was ok, but not good enough for over two stars (and a half), 'cause Emma's presence ruined most of it and, mostly, 'cause it was really predictable.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I really enjoyed Keris Stainton's first novel, Della Says: "OMG!", so I was really looking forward to trying her second. Unfortunately, I didn't love Jessie Hearts NYC as much as I would have hoped.

Stainton is one of those authors who is a huge part of the blogosphere; not only has she been involved with a number of bookish blogs, she also interacts with readers and other authors on Twitter quite a lot (@Keris). So she's one of those authors I consider to be "one of us". Because of this, it's really difficult to write what is a less than glowing review for a book by someone I really like. But I guess we can't like all books.

Jessie Hearts NYC is a dual narrative, with Jessie and Finn getting their own point of view in alternating chapters. I wasn't the biggest fan of Jessie. I didn't find her very believable. There was just something about the way she responded to things that didn't feel right to me - they weren't the responses I would have expected, or the way she responded wasn't what I expected, like laughing when I couldn't see anything funny. On top of that, I also found her to be quite naive and just a tad selfish. Maybe it's my age (god, that makes me feel old!), but there were certain things that were going on in the story that just seemed so obvious, yet Jessie was clueless. And everything her mother did, she looked at those actions or words on how they effected her, seeming to completely forget her mother has her own life, and that the world doesn't revolve around her. In some situations, I could understand her feelings, but in general... I just didn't like her.I have read books where characters were similarly naive and selfish, but I just had a really hard time with Jessie.

Finn, on the other hand, was perfect. I found his story the most believable, but also the most interesting. He was completely real, he reacted in all the ways I would have expected him too, and he was just so lovely, despite his mistakes! He was such a sweet guy, and despite his feeling for the wonderful Sam, he always tried to repress his feelings as she was his best mate's girlfriend - though that didn't work much, he tried. His heart was definitely in the right place, he just screwed up a little. Like with Jessie, he also has some issues with his family, and I found his story, working out who he is and what he wanted, and dealing with that to be really lovely. He was just such a cool guy!

I'm not sure I can really say much more without spoiling the story. In all, Jessie Hearts NYC wasn't a bad book, I really enjoyed reading Finn's story. As I really loved Della Says "OMG!" and I've heard that Stainton's third book, Emma Hearts LA, is her best novel, I'm really looking forward to giving it a go despite not being all that keen on this one. Please read a few other reviews before deciding whether or not you think Jessie Hearts NYC is for you, don't base your choice on my review alone.