Item: Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee
Rating: 4.00
Author: wcs53

by Jeff Zentner

"Anyone can break your heart--Jeff Zentner can also make you laugh out loud!" --RAINBOW ROWELL, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Carry On and Eleanor & Park

From the Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King comes a contemporary novel about two best friends who must make tough decisions about their futures--and the TV show they host--in their senior year of high school.

Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six.

But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show's guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder.

Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he'll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too.

As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous...and momentous.

"I laughed, cried, and fell over-the-moon in love with Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee." --JENNIFER NIVEN, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe

"A testament to the power of friendship and big dreams, Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee had me laughing aloud on one page and sobbing on the next. A resounding triumph." --NIC STONE, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin

"Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee starts as comedy about the wildly imperfect, and ends as poetry about the ever-hoping heart. I don't know how you write that book. Fortunately, Jeff Zentner does." --JESSE ANDREWS, New York Times bestselling author of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

I received a free copy of this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers in return for an honest review.

This book took me a little while to warm to, but I'm glad I persevered with it. It's a story about two teenage friends, Josie and Delia, who are about to graduate high school. They host a weekly show, featuring low budget old horror and sci-fi movies, on public access TV in Tennessee. The story is told alternatively in each other's voice, which I didn't particularly enjoy at first. After the first 50pages or so, though, I began to appreciate the way the story was told, as it gave the perspective of each of the character, with insight into how they were feeling with the inevitable changes that would happen as they leave high school and continue their lives beyond that. Cracks start appearing in their relationship as they both try to figure out what is next. You'll have to read it to find out.

This is the second book by Zentner that I have read. I like his style and his characters are real. There were lots of funny laugh-out-loud moments in this book, but there were also other moments that were quite moving. Ultimately, it's a story of friendship, but it is so much more. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read it.

Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee

by Jeff Zentner

Reviewed by wcs53 on Jul 11, 2019

Reading updates