Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Reinventing Jenna Rose by Joni Marie Iraci, Fat Boy Books, May 2019 for Suzy Approved Book Tours
Joni Marie Iraci, Author of “Reinventing Jenna Rose” has written an intriguing, emotional, intense, compassionate and captivating novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Legal Suspense, and Family Drama. The story takes place in California, and in New York. The author takes us on an emotional journey of her main character from a young child to an adult. The author describes her characters as complex, and complicated. Some of the characters are quirky, helpful, and warm. Some of the characters are flawed and behave in a toxic and illegal way.
Jenna Rose has been isolated in California, being homeschooled. Her mother seems to be traveling for work and her father seems to often be drunk. There seem to be deep dark secrets that her mother and father have. While going through her mother’s things, Jenna discovers that she has a grandmother that is alive in New York. She is able to escape and goes to her grandmother’s home.
Katherine O’Connor, the grandmother realizes that Jenna has lived a traumatized life, and shares her family stories with her. Jenna meets some new loyal friends and realizes that she has to overcome the past, to deal with the present and future. The story is told from Jenna’s point of view. This is also a coming of age story. Jenna’s grandmother is instrumental in Jenna to work on her self-worth.
I appreciate that the author discusses major contemporary issues such as abuse, drugs, negligence, and abandonment. Also, the author discusses the importance of family, friends, emotional support, communication, love, and self-worth. I would highly recommend this intense novel.