Jenny Pox

Oh my god... WOW! I had known that I had wanted to read Jenny Pox since Jenny, from Supernatural Snark reviewed it a couple of months ago. What I hadn't known was how much I was absolutely going to freaking LOVE it!

As book bloggers we go into every book we read, hoping to find the next "ONE". You know what I mean... The next "one" that makes you smile when you think about one of the characters, a book that moves you to tears, a book that causes you to spontaneously burst into laughter, a book that causes anger to burn deep inside... Basically:
The NEXT the book that makes you FEEL real emotion.

Jenny Pox is THAT book.

I was utterly captivated by this book from the very beginning... We meet Jenny as a child of no more than four years old. show more You can immediately sense an undeniable sort of desperation about her, and then we're shown why. Yes, I CRIED... on page freaking THREE of this book.

Jenny can't touch ANYONE, for if she holds on for too long or bumps into someone and has too much skin on skin contact... they're dead. Jenny's touch brings to life severe pustules, boils, blisters... upon the other person or... animal.

After an incident in KINDERGARTEN when Ashleigh Goodling *cough*nasty little witch*cough* basically attacked Jenny on the playground and ended up getting gross, blistery things all over her body- and Ashleigh has affectionately called Jenny, "Jenny Pox" ever since.

Jenny has been an outcast after that fateful day.

Now, they are seniors in High School... which means Jenny is almost free of the constant sneers and general hatred thrown at her from the rest of her classmates. Since she can't risk accidentally touching someone, she figures it's best that the other kids avoid her anyway.

Everything changes the day Jenny's three-legged dog gets hit by a car and Seth (Ashleigh's perfect boyfriend) saves his life by simply laying his HANDS on him... oh and you know as an added bonus... regrows his MISSING leg!

Seth and Jenny start spending time together, and realize they might just be perfect for each other. They are so cute together that my heart was just BURSTING... Seriously.

"Will you keep me safe?" she whispered. -Jenny
"I promise." -Seth
"Then I'll go anywhere with you." -Jenny

I rarely get quite THIS attached to fictional characters... Jenny- I instantly want to hold and keep all the bad in the world away from her. Seth- *swoon*. Ashleigh- wouldn't have lasted a WEEK in my high school. I would've slapped the **** out of her.

Jenny can kill... Seth can heal... and Ashleigh can manipulate love... and you will NEVER in a million freaking years guess where this story will take you in the end.

J.L. Bryan is BRILLIANT. I adored every single second of this book, the ending was mind-blowing and phenomenal!!! I was completely blown away- I absolutely LOVED this book. show less

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this book. Inexpensive, young adult fiction with a female lead? However, I was surprised and impressed. As I read I kept expecting it to go wrong somewhere, but it never did. While the triangle of the evil, pretty popular girl and good but clueless handsome male lead with a female loser/outcast is common enough, it never felt old here, and it felt like a very fresh take on that sort of thing. More like that typical dynamic was just window dressing for another, deeper dynamic.

While some readers are put off by the sex and drug use in the book, I found the sex scenes relatively tame in the book. I've read smuttier stuff in classic literature. I can't recall there being a single case of graphic show more female-male penetrative sex in this book. There's mostly instances of nudity, kissing, etc. As for drug use... some of the teenagers smoke pot. There is an incidence of cocaine use, but not by the main characters, and it is in no way portrayed as a good or cool thing to do.

While I don't really see why this book should be marketed specifically as young adult (other than containing teenagers as main cast) it seems perfectly appropriate for a younger teen to read. The facts are, if your teen isn't homeschooled and very sheltered, they encounter kids everyday who smoke marijuana. Who have sex. Keeping them away from this book won't keep them away from mentions of drug use or hearing about explicit sex. I say this is as a college freshman-I can well remember hearing way, way more than I wanted to about people's relationships at high school and even in middle school. Perhaps this book will seem shocking to 40-year old parents out there, but to someone fresh from the perils of high school it's nothing out of the ordinary. The one thing that is unusual romantically/sexually about this book is the female/female dynamics-few young adult books that aren't LGBT focused are willing to include female/female subtext and undertones.

The writing itself is GOOD. If you read a lot of books you get pretty good at seeing how things are going to play out for the characters-that never happened here. I was always being surprised and looking forward to what would happen next. This book keeps you on your toes and is surprisingly suspenseful. I actually don't like getting so invested in what's going to happen to a character-it's rather stressful! I also like that this book focused less on moral absolutes like Good VS Evil and instead illustrated power dynamics and struggles for control.

I was especially impressed with the writer's portrayal of female characters. This book manages to have unique, out-there females without ever straying towards the dreaded Mary Sue syndrome. I have read a lot of young adult novels and most of the female characters either tend towards Mary-Sueism or are trainwrecks (there are notable exceptions, such as girls in The Hunger Games trilogy and other). While the male characters in this story are realistic and can garner emotion and investment from you, it is the women in this story who are the key players, struggling and manipulating and calling the shots without ever seeming unrealistically strong or talented.

-Another reader who can't wait for the next book. show less

Jenny Morton discovered early in life that she could never touch anyone. If she did, they would immediately develop horrible sores and eventually die if she held on for too long. Needless to say, Jenny is a lonely girl. At school, she's largely seen as a low class, shy freak because of the gloves she wears everyday and her dad being a drunk. She has pretty much faded into the background in her classmates' minds, except for Ashleigh, an ambitious and cruel cheerleader, who makes fun of her pretty consistently. Jenny is resigned to her lonely life, when something unexpected happens. Her dog is brutally run over by a dumb football player and Seth, Ashleigh's jock boyfriend, stops to help. With his healing powers, he saves her dog, even show more restoring the leg that was lost before Jenny got him. She is excited that there is someone else out there like her and she may even be able to touch him without harming him. However, he is still with the evil Ashleigh, who seems to be more than just an annoying, ambitious, popular cheerleader. How will she react when her equally popular boyfriend is taken away from her? Has Jenny finally found happiness?

Jenny Pox is one of the most unique fantasy books I've read all year. There aren't any typical supernatural creatures, like werewolves or vampires, but fairly normal teenagers with powers that I haven't really seen before (namely Jenny's and Ashleigh's). It's a breath of fresh air compared to the assembly line of novels that just seem to jump on the bandwagon of whatever's popular right now. Even though their powers are a big part of the story, it's the main characters that really make the novel interesting and hard to put down. Jenny is a relatable, good character. I really felt for her in her loneliness and her resignation to a life she really didn't want. She could have used her powers to kill the people she didn't like and even get away with it, but she decided that living quietly at the sacrifice of her happiness was a better decision. Her powers and the quirky romantic story kind of remind me of a reverse Ned from Pushing Daisies. The friendship and romance between her and Seth is so sweet. They both can be themselves around each other and don't have to hide who they are. As their relationship evolves, so does Jenny. She blossoms in to a strong, assertive girl who is in control of her own power.

Ashleigh, on the other hand, is one of the best villains I've ever encountered. On the outside, she's the perfect, pretty, popular girl who can do no wrong. On the inside, she's a sociopath who will take advantage of anyone if it benefited her. She has no real relationships, only people she can push around or step on to get her way. I loved to hate her. She sets up these crazy plans that end up working and making everyone else look horrible in comparison to her. Her ability is pretty insane and she uses it pretty much whenever she can, unlike Jenny. The despicable things she does get worse as the novel goes along and it was shocking to me how far she would go to get what she wanted.

Jenny Pox is now one of my favorite books. I literally could not put it down until I was finished. JL Bryan mixes supernatural elements with a realistic portrayal of what it's like to be a teenager. I think everyone could find something they like in this novel: horror, romance, fantasy, and even politics. I highly recommend it. I hope that it will eventually be reprinted in a smaller, more manageable format (the paperback I bought is enormous) and made more widely available. show less

Originally Reviewed at:Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Purchased
Reviewer: Heather

Jenny Pox is a story about a girl born with poisonous skin, so deadly that she killed her mother, the doctor, and many nurses when she was born. She lives her life in the hot & humid climate of South Carolina where she is forced to cover up her skin, and she can’t touch anything alive for fear she would also kill it. If she walks in bare feet she kills the grass, she touches a rattle snake and it dies, and when she touches a person they appear to die of the plague.

Seth comes from the right family, went to all the good schools, and even plays football. He’s like to be a physical therapist so he can help people, but he has show more a secret of his own, and a haunted past. Seth heals people with a single touch, and he can even save lives. But his greatest gift is that he is the only one that can survive Jenny’s deadly touch, the only one who could ever truly love her, and understand what she has gone through.

Ashleigh is the popular girl, the one who always gets her way, and that everyone loves. The problem is, is that there is absolutely no reason to love the deceptive, conniving, two-faced (insert nasty word here). In fact, there is only one person immune to her wiles -Jenny- who is also the only one who can undo the spell she places over everyone.

The story starts off with a very, very young Jenny, and then flows into various ages. This is, I believe, to show us the torture she faced on a daily basis, and to show us how cruel Ashleigh is. Yes, she is cruel, evil, and every other descriptive word that falls under the sun. She was extremely well written for a villain to the point of feeling the fear leap through the page when she was talking, thinking, or just nearby. I felt every character was well developed, but Ashleigh sticks out to me as exceptional work. If you don’t believe me, go read it for yourself, and you’ll find yourself cringing in terror too!

But she isn’t our main girl, Jenny really is. Jenny “Mittens” as Ashleigh calls her, and thus the majority of the town. She is a girl with a deadly secret just trying to survive, or contemplating on whether or not to commit suicide depending on how horrible the day has been. Her father, a semi-functioning alcoholic, is the only man alive that knows just how deadly she can be.

One day Jenny is out for a run with her dog when he gets hit by a car. She forgot her gloves so she can’t touch him, and she knows she doesn’t have much time. Seth just happens to drive by, and stop. Not knowing about his gift, Jenny yells and cusses at him as he works his magical touch. Images of killing Seth for torturing her dog during his final moments pop into her head until she realizes he has healed him. Not just healed, he has even regrown his missing limb. From this day forth a bond forms between Jenny and Seth, but there is one problem…Seth is Ashleigh’s boyfriend.

That’s all I’m giving you folks!

I loved, loved, loved this story. I loved it so much that I was up until 3 AM just to finish it because I couldn’t put it down. The author did a wonderful job at capturing my attention. There were also a lot of surprising moments, twists, and turns that I never ever saw coming.

If you have never ever been to South Carolina then never fear because the description in this book fits it to a T. I should know, I’ve lived here for five years now, and I know what grows here, how the weather feels, and all of that lovely, and not so lovely (hello humidity!), stuff is.

I will point out that although there are teenagers in this story, that this story is geared more toward new adult and adult audiences. There is a lot of descriptive sexual scenes (well written too!), violence, drugs, underage alcohol use, etc. While this is all normal teenage behavior (it was for me at least) I just felt I should mention it so that readers would know, and parents too. show less

This was one of those rare free reads that for me hit the jackpot. Fantastic, gritty, overblown story that goes down and dirty all the way.

The concept is pretty simple: a poor social outcast Jenny falls in love with a popular jock Seth who's got an evil cheerleader Ashleigh for a girlfriend.

Not so simple if you think that these three individuals possess ancient powers, - one of them can kill by mere touch, one can raise you from the dead and one can make you worship them and plans world domination...

The dramatic events unravel in a small American town, where Jenny lives with her alcoholic dad, Seth is a son of a rich banker and Ashleigh is as hypocritical and dangerous as you can expect from a daughter of a preacher.

Of course the plot show more is full of cliche, however the writing is very engaging and half way through gets more and more gruesome and shocking. Sorry, I like gruesome *grinning*. It's like a big train wreck/B-movie - horrible to the point of being absurd but hugely entertaining.

So, I very much recommend J.L. Bryan, and I'm definitely planning to read the rest of the books in series. show less

The first thing I have to say about Jenny Pox is that I was surprised to learn that the author is a man. Now, I don't mean that to be sexist, but as a compliment - he wrote a fantastic female protagonist. The second thing I have to say is that this is probably one of the BEST Kindle freebies I have ever read. And if it's a strategy to get me to buy the rest of the series, it's certainly gotten the next two books bumped up to the top of my wishlist.

The plot of Jenny Pox is just what it says on the box - Jenny is an isolated, lonely girl living with her father and just generally trying to avoid everyone, as anyone she touches immediately breaks out in 'Jenny Pox', a pretty icky disease kinda like small-pox. When she meets Seth, who also show more possesses a unique power, she also finds the one person that she can touch without killing them.

I loved Jenny - I couldn't help but cheer for her through the whole book, through pain, happiness and anger, and the nastiness of the kids at her high school, the way she cared for her heartbroken and broken father, and her emergence into a more confident and happy girl. And Seth was awesome, especially as the book progressed and he fell in love with Jenny - he was continually looking out for her, and didn't seem phased by his friends pretty much dumping him when he started dating Jenny. And Ashleigh? Ohhhhhh that girl is Evil (with a capital E), manipulative and power-hungry.

The writing makes for easy reading without being overly-simplified. The dialogue was realistic and true to the characters, and several of the little side stories were heart-stopping or majorly creepy.

The ending of Jenny Pox is pretty intense and I loved it! I was flipping furiously through the pages, and literally couldn't put it down until I reached the climax. And although this is part of a series, I didn't want to throw the book (which would be risky seeing as I read it on my tablet!) across the room in cliffhanger-tantrum - instead I was almost satisfied - and I say almost because I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

If you have Jenny Pox on your Kindle, or have a Kindle and can snag a copy - read it. Now. Seriously. show less

This series initially appealed to me because the story sounded unique and got a great review by one of my favorite authors, Amanda Hocking. This book had so many different elements that I truly loved: romance, horror, gore, poetic justice, sexuality and a relatable protagonist. I feel the need to point out right away that this is NOT a book for the squeamish! The author is very descriptive regarding some very intense and disturbing situations. Also, this book has some mature sexual situations that I'm not used to seeing in a YA novel. However, I didn't feel like it took away from the story and it didn't make me uncomfortable, so it was fine--I just wanted to put that out there.

I like how relatable Jenny's character is; not because I show more can infect the plague upon anyone who touches me-- but because I know what it's like to feel like an outcast (much like everyone else out there who has probably felt this way at one time or another). I couldn't help but feel empathy for her and I truly wanted better for her.

Because of Jenny's condition she is forced to distance herself from everyone (making her a social pariah), until she meets Seth. I was a little reluctant to like Seth at first, but after a while I relented. He seemed to awaken something in Jenny that she was never capable of, or allowed to render, before. I will say that I was initially annoyed at how fast their relationship seemed to progress, but by the end of the book I understood why it did.

The character of Ashleigh was just plain awful, and to say that she was the quintessential "mean girl" would be an understatement. She was a huge reason as to why several people went out of their way to taunt and berate Jenny, unjustified. The hate-fueled relationship between Ashleigh and Jenny reminds me of the stigma that goes along with being "different", and that it's easier for people to jump on the hate-bandwagon than it is to try to think for yourself and show a little humanity for the people and things you don't understand.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely make it a point to read "Tommy Nightmare", the next one in the series. I can't wait to find out more about Jenny's abilities, and those like her. show less