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Just Jack
"Anorexia. When you hear it, when you say that word, you think of a girl, right?"
Mirror on the wall, who is the skinniest of them all? Jack Thorne has lost everything. Still struggling with inescapable guilt and grief from his fathers death, old emotions and demons from the past resurface when his best friend suddenly vanishes. He had nothing - until he met her. Emily Gray, a mysterious yet inviting girl that, unbeknownst to Jack, is connected to him forever.
Just Jack chronicles the life of a teenage boy, on the brink of becoming a man, who develops anorexia after the sudden death of his best friend. Join him on his journey to recovery and on the rocky roller coaster of a new found love.
Mirror on the wall, who is the skinniest of them all? Jack Thorne has lost everything. Still struggling with inescapable guilt and grief from his fathers death, old emotions and demons from the past resurface when his best friend suddenly vanishes. He had nothing - until he met her. Emily Gray, a mysterious yet inviting girl that, unbeknownst to Jack, is connected to him forever.
Just Jack chronicles the life of a teenage boy, on the brink of becoming a man, who develops anorexia after the sudden death of his best friend. Join him on his journey to recovery and on the rocky roller coaster of a new found love.
271 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 2, 2014
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Shaun Powell
1 book7 followersHi guys! My name is Shaun Powell, I'm 20 years old and I wrote that little book Just Jack!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 22, 2021
When people talk about eating disorders, they usually talk about girls. The thing is that boys have them too and this story proves it. I loved this story so much because it was so incredibly nice. There were times when I wanted to punch the characters, others when I cried with them and other times when I just felt my heart swelling and I was falling in love with them all. It was amazing and I really enjoyed it all. The characters are real, with bad things and good things, which makes them all much more realistic. Loved it and can't wait for the paperback edition!
July 12, 2014
One of the few books that really open your eyes to something that you would have otherwise never have given thought to. It covers so many different topics while still remaining focused on the main story and can be very relatable at times
April 24, 2014
SUMMARY
“Anorexia. When you hear it, when you say that word, you think of a girl, right?"
Mirror on the wall, who is the skinniest of them all? Jack Thorne has lost everything. Still struggling with inescapable guilt and grief from his father’s death, old emotions and demons from the past resurface when his best friend suddenly vanishes. He had nothing - until he met her. Emily Gray, a mysterious yet inviting girl that, unbeknownst to Jack, is connected to him forever.
Just Jack chronicles the life of a teenage boy, on the brink of becoming a man, who develops anorexia after the sudden death of his best friend. Join him on his journey to recovery and on the rocky roller coaster of a new found love.
Heartbreaking, engaging, realistic, inspirational. Those are the few words that would describe this novel. It was one of most realistic, saddest novels that I read in while. Yet the moment that I picked it up, I found myself hooked. I couldn’t put it down, no I didn’t want to put it down. I needed to know how it would end. It felt like I needed to know that Jack was going be okay, that he wouldn’t go downhill yet. If it happened to him twice, there was a chance that it could happen again. I was observed in the story, in Jack’s life. All through the book, I hoped for happy ending for him, especially with everything that he gone through.
Powell‘s descriptions,, emotion were amazing. It felt so real and a lot of time, it felt like I was feeling what Jack was. It’s not often you hear or read books that deals with anorexia with guy as main character. Most of time when you hear anorexia, you instantly assume a girl. That was one of things that made this story so unique; it was unlike any book that I read before. I learned so much about anorexia that I wasn’t aware of before. I felt so bad for Jack too, it didn’t seem like anything was going well for him. I wished that I could pulled him into hug. But he pulled through, and that takes a lot. I don’t think I would able to, if I was in his situation.
Jack & Chris: At first I thought that maybe, there was more than typical best friend friendship there. At least it felt like it to me. Mostly because of how Jack reacted when Chris disappeared, and how he acted when he came back too. There was a connection there, that went beyond best friends. I wasn’t too happy that he faked his death, but once I read why, I understood. I wish he could at least warn Jack. I was glad that he came back though. Even if Jack didn’t feel same about Chris as he did, I got feeling that there was still something there, some sort of feelings that he might have denied.
Jack & Emily: Their relationship was different, unique. That was one of things that I loved about it. I could tell that Jack was attracted, connected to her right away. How he acted, how he thought about her gave me that feeling. It was different, cause he was anorexic and she was bipolar, unlike any relationship I read before. All through the book, it would make reader wonder, how far the two of them would make it. Emily always seemed to appear everywhere, when Jack needed her. That was one thing that I couldn’t figure out how she did it. When she left, I felt sad just like Jack. I wondered if that truly was end of the relationship.
Just Jack is one of most inspirational books. Once I finished reading it, I found myself thinking about it afterwards. It will make you cry, but it will always make you smile, hope and think. There isn’t a single scene, page that doesn’t keep you wondering. It’s a book that everyone should check out. Powell is an author that is going go a long way. I’m eager for his next book.
“Anorexia. When you hear it, when you say that word, you think of a girl, right?"
Mirror on the wall, who is the skinniest of them all? Jack Thorne has lost everything. Still struggling with inescapable guilt and grief from his father’s death, old emotions and demons from the past resurface when his best friend suddenly vanishes. He had nothing - until he met her. Emily Gray, a mysterious yet inviting girl that, unbeknownst to Jack, is connected to him forever.
Just Jack chronicles the life of a teenage boy, on the brink of becoming a man, who develops anorexia after the sudden death of his best friend. Join him on his journey to recovery and on the rocky roller coaster of a new found love.
Heartbreaking, engaging, realistic, inspirational. Those are the few words that would describe this novel. It was one of most realistic, saddest novels that I read in while. Yet the moment that I picked it up, I found myself hooked. I couldn’t put it down, no I didn’t want to put it down. I needed to know how it would end. It felt like I needed to know that Jack was going be okay, that he wouldn’t go downhill yet. If it happened to him twice, there was a chance that it could happen again. I was observed in the story, in Jack’s life. All through the book, I hoped for happy ending for him, especially with everything that he gone through.
Powell‘s descriptions,, emotion were amazing. It felt so real and a lot of time, it felt like I was feeling what Jack was. It’s not often you hear or read books that deals with anorexia with guy as main character. Most of time when you hear anorexia, you instantly assume a girl. That was one of things that made this story so unique; it was unlike any book that I read before. I learned so much about anorexia that I wasn’t aware of before. I felt so bad for Jack too, it didn’t seem like anything was going well for him. I wished that I could pulled him into hug. But he pulled through, and that takes a lot. I don’t think I would able to, if I was in his situation.
Jack & Chris: At first I thought that maybe, there was more than typical best friend friendship there. At least it felt like it to me. Mostly because of how Jack reacted when Chris disappeared, and how he acted when he came back too. There was a connection there, that went beyond best friends. I wasn’t too happy that he faked his death, but once I read why, I understood. I wish he could at least warn Jack. I was glad that he came back though. Even if Jack didn’t feel same about Chris as he did, I got feeling that there was still something there, some sort of feelings that he might have denied.
Jack & Emily: Their relationship was different, unique. That was one of things that I loved about it. I could tell that Jack was attracted, connected to her right away. How he acted, how he thought about her gave me that feeling. It was different, cause he was anorexic and she was bipolar, unlike any relationship I read before. All through the book, it would make reader wonder, how far the two of them would make it. Emily always seemed to appear everywhere, when Jack needed her. That was one thing that I couldn’t figure out how she did it. When she left, I felt sad just like Jack. I wondered if that truly was end of the relationship.
Just Jack is one of most inspirational books. Once I finished reading it, I found myself thinking about it afterwards. It will make you cry, but it will always make you smile, hope and think. There isn’t a single scene, page that doesn’t keep you wondering. It’s a book that everyone should check out. Powell is an author that is going go a long way. I’m eager for his next book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2014
I’ve finished this book quite a long time ago. It took me less than 2 days to finish it, but it took me a lot of time to figure out how to put everything in a review.This book got me feeling some kinda way. I have no idea why I just said that but anyway. I enjoyed every single moment of reading this. I wish I could read it again for the first time. This book was painful, real and it hit you in the face right when you expected the least. But I can tell you, this book, ”Just Jack”, yes this book, has thought me that no matter what happens, and no matter how many times you feel like giving up, you just need to fight. Tomorrow will be better.
I personally never expected this book to be so good. I’ve wanted to read a book about anorexia in quite a long time, and when I found this, I knew I had to read it, but I didn’t have many expectations. Oh, how wrong was I.
The book tells Jack’s story (obviously). But it’s not just a story. It’s so much more than that. So much more. It breaks your heart. And it goes to a point when you actually ask yourself, how many things can go bad anymore. Jack is an example of someone who just had everything go wrong in his life, and found strength to stay alive, even when he thought he life will never go back. He got to a point when he was afraid to be happy. But he had people in his life who brought him back on his right way.
I would honestly recommend this book to anyone. Any age, any gender. Why? Because it’s an inspiring book. Because it helps you get a new perspective on life. Because it will make you laugh, cry, smile. Everything. And I can assure you of one thing: it’s not predictable.
So, why are you still reading this review. STOP READING IT AND GO BUY THE BOOK. BORROW THE BOOK. READ THE BOOK. You can thank me later.
(review posted on http://booksandtvscreens.wordpress.com/)
I personally never expected this book to be so good. I’ve wanted to read a book about anorexia in quite a long time, and when I found this, I knew I had to read it, but I didn’t have many expectations. Oh, how wrong was I.
The book tells Jack’s story (obviously). But it’s not just a story. It’s so much more than that. So much more. It breaks your heart. And it goes to a point when you actually ask yourself, how many things can go bad anymore. Jack is an example of someone who just had everything go wrong in his life, and found strength to stay alive, even when he thought he life will never go back. He got to a point when he was afraid to be happy. But he had people in his life who brought him back on his right way.
I would honestly recommend this book to anyone. Any age, any gender. Why? Because it’s an inspiring book. Because it helps you get a new perspective on life. Because it will make you laugh, cry, smile. Everything. And I can assure you of one thing: it’s not predictable.
So, why are you still reading this review. STOP READING IT AND GO BUY THE BOOK. BORROW THE BOOK. READ THE BOOK. You can thank me later.
(review posted on http://booksandtvscreens.wordpress.com/)
August 20, 2014
This book started out strong. I liked Jack as a character. The book had a lot less to do with Jack's anorexia than the blurb would have you believe.
The problem I had with the book and what kept it from being a three star read for me was that there was just TOO MUCH. There were too many issues crammed into one book. There was anorexia, abuse, bullying, suicide, same sex couples, evil step parents, cancer, survivor's guilt, a coma, mental health issues and I'm sure I've missed at least one more. I felt like none of the issues were really developed in full because there were just too many of them. It got to the point where I was thinking okay, what else could possibly go wrong.
The book could also benefit from some editing as there were a lot of errors.
The problem I had with the book and what kept it from being a three star read for me was that there was just TOO MUCH. There were too many issues crammed into one book. There was anorexia, abuse, bullying, suicide, same sex couples, evil step parents, cancer, survivor's guilt, a coma, mental health issues and I'm sure I've missed at least one more. I felt like none of the issues were really developed in full because there were just too many of them. It got to the point where I was thinking okay, what else could possibly go wrong.
The book could also benefit from some editing as there were a lot of errors.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews