▫️Pizza Girl | Coming of Age
▫️Author: Jean Kyoung Frazier @gojeanfraziergo
▫️My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
▫️Pub Date: June 9, 2020
Our unnamed protagonist is counting down the months until the arrival of her baby while working nights delivering pizza. Her mum and boyfriend are overjoyed, she could not be further from delighted. Dealing with the loss of her father and the impending role of motherhood she feels as though just as her life should be starting she is slamming on the breaks.
Until a request for pickles on pizza shifts her existence. Our protagonist becomes infatuated with Jenny, the pickle requester. A mother who like her seems to struggle to fit the mould of the role expected of her. Our ‘Pizza Girl’ has a devoted and benevolent partner at home keeping the bed warm for her but just a glimmer of Jenny’s attention brings her an incomparable joy. This book feels like a bizarre dream.
You are just sucked up into the surrealism of the situation and despite our protagonist’s poor poor choices I still found myself swept up in her turmoil and desire to feel something bigger than the world she exists in. It definitely spoke true to my experience as an early 20 something trying to navigate a world that seems to have seemingly all the potential and all the restrictions rolled into one big existential crisis. A wacky little gem that has rekindled my love for gherkins.
Reviewed by Megan Raynor