Nice Try, Jane Sinner
Lianne Oelke
Jan 2018 · HarperCollins
5.0star
3 reviewsreport
eBook
432
Pages
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About this eBook
"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.
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.
Ratings and reviews
5.0
3 reviews
Jess Michalek
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26 January 2018
I cannot believe that this is Lianne Oelke’s debut novel. The synopsis is so unique! Jane Sinner has had to leave her high school following an ‘Event’, and she begins a program at her local community college to finish her diploma. She joins a reality Youtube show run by a fellow student, and subsequently gets into all kinds of trouble. Jane is one of the funniest characters I’ve had the pleasure to read about. This book is told in the format of Jane’s journal, so we get her unfiltered thoughts about her life. She is sarcastic and witty, and I was laughing out loud from page one. My favorite parts were Jane’s interactions with her imaginary therapist. I noticed a lot of growth of her character through these “therapy sessions”. At the beginning of her story, Jane Sinner is afraid of taking steps to improve her mental health. She resists her parents’ efforts to help her by joining a youth group, attend real therapy, or take antidepressant medications. However, as the story progresses, we get to see Jane come to terms with the Event that threw her life for a loop and changed the course of her high school and college experience. The side characters in this story were equally as interesting as Jane. I particularly liked Jane’s relationship with her younger sister, Carol. I would love to read a story told by Carol, as she seems to have the same snarky sense of humor as Jane. I also loved the other reality contestants. As a lover of reality competition TV shows, I mainly watch for the drama. Nice Try, Jane Sinner does not lack drama in any capacity. I would recommend Nice Try, Jane Sinner to anybody. It is a 2018 debut novel that is full of hilarious dialogue and an extremely entertaining reality show.
Andrea Reynolds
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10 January 2018
Jane is a hilarious heroine that anyone can relate to, and her adventures are totally addicting. Love this book!!!
About the author
Lianne Oelke has a degree in philosophy and works in the film industry—which may explain a lot about her debut novel, Nice Try, Jane Sinner. Or not. She lives, camps, and thinks about cats in Vancouver, Canada. www.lianneoelke.com Twitter: @lianneoekle Instagram: @lianneoekle
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