DISCLAIMER:
In exchange for an honest review, I got an electronic copy of Allison Jones’s “Her Turn” from Netgalley. All of the opinions are my own, and they may differ from your views. But please understand that my goals are in no way to hurt you. This book wasn’t for me, so I’ll concentrate on the aspects that didn’t work for me in this review. I have no animosity against the author or her work, and I have no desire to harm her reputation by writing this review.
EXCERPT: HER TURN
Her Turn by Allison Jones is a tale of Addie and Jameson. Addie is an aspiring author, and Jameson is a publicist. Since Addie’s book launch, he has been appointed as her publicist.
After Addie’s selfish mother’s demise, Freshly fired from work, Addie used her experience to inspire herself and accomplish her vision of writing a book. Three months later, Addie’s book took the world by surprise. To her astonishment, the limelight is not something that she’s familiar with, not even having the clothing routines to handle effortlessly for someone accustomed to living with chocolate-stained clothes. A publicist and a stylist were appointed for her, to get her through the events, including book signings, launch parties, and news conferences. Her publicist, Jameson, a former Navy Seal, instantly captured her heart. While her stylist, George, gives her some fashionable essential services and a deep friendship that follows.
On the one hand, Addie was extorted by her cousin Matthew and his wife Dorothy. Who are depicted as mediocre adult versions of the incredibly popular high schoolers? They have not aged out of the privileges they were offered by their former social positions. On the other hand, her father threatened her to take Owen.
As Addie moves higher up the fame scale, she is actively attempting to ensure that her main priority is to secure her younger brother Owen, who has Down syndrome and whom she has sole custody of, while at the same time handling some significant family complications as a result of her unexpected popularity as well as the cash that comes with it.
Addie maintained her humor, along with her stories. But, will she be able to continue all this along with her dreams? Life is unpredictable, and so it was for Addie…
THE CATCH FOR HER TURN BY ALLISON JONES
Things that caught my attention: reading the book Her Turn by Allison Jones,
- The cover.
- An appealing blurb.
- An author gives us an insight into the life of an author and her journey as a best-selling author.
- Having a protagonist that is plus-sized and a character with Down syndrome is unique.
Verdict: HER TURN BY ALLISON JONES
Positive Aspect
Regarding the positivity of this book, the only thing that I loved about this book was the soul character of Owen and his relationship with his sister. As the author has a son with Down syndrome, she knew what she was getting into before writing about Owen.
I thought Owen’s relationship with Addie was the thing that I liked about this book. Apart from the siblings’ relationship, I loved Owen’s character. Honestly, he was the only sensible person throughout the book.
Negative Aspect
Starting with the synopsis, it sounded promising, but the book was not even close to the blurb. I was very tempted to DNF it at 15%. But, I have this reading ground rule of not leaving a book unfinished. That made me finish this book.
The first few chapters were somehow better with the plot introduction. But as I proceeded, I felt disconnected from the story. The characters sounded irritating, and the POVs of multiple characters didn’t help either. They were repetitive and some POVs were unnecessary, like man, I don’t need to know what’s going on in Addie’s cousin’s or his wife’s mind when the story is about Jameson and Addie.
Coming to the main protagonists, they both literary irked me. Addie was truly immature throughout the book, despite her age. Addie’s behavior toward herself was something that I found troublesome, and that didn’t change a bit the entire book. For instance, a woman who is above forty doesn’t even know how to be presentable to your business meetings, this aggravated me like anything. Like a man you find yourself ugly, you don’t know how to get dressed in a pair of clean clothes, this self-loathing character of Addie’s was something that put off this book for me.
Speaking of Jameson, I honestly found him toxic. Toxic masculinity is something that I can’t stand. Throughout the book, I tried to find a good thing about Jameson, but I couldn’t.
One thing that I didn’t like at all was the instant friendship between Addie and George. Like one second Addie was all nervous and the next moment they were best of friends. Like come on, this doesn’t happen in real life! All the hype that was created about the debut felt unrealistic to me. I have been friends with many authors, and I have witnessed their debut books getting recognition around the globe. But, they haven’t witnessed such treatment the way Addie witnessed, and this thing killed the buzz for me.
RATE & RECOMMENDATION
No matter how much I dislike a book, I don’t have the courage to DNF it. It needs immense courage to write a book and get it published, and I honestly cannot imagine myself in an author’s shoes…
Although I didn’t find her turn by Allison Jones much more interesting, there were moments that I enjoyed the book.
I am not sure about the recommendation, but if you want to read it as a NA Romantic Contemporary, then you will be disappointed. If you want to read it, remember that it falls under the YA category.
For me, I won’t categorize her turn by Allison Jones under ROM-COM, as it majorly falls under family drama.
LINKS FOR HER TOUR BY ALLISON JONES
If you want to explore Her Turn by Allison Jones, here’s the Goodreads LINK
If you want to read my other related posts, click here.
