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Side Effects
High school Sophomore, Whitney Connolly, is living in a house turned upside down. After her father abandoned his five children, just months after their mother’s death, her oldest brother dropped-out of medical school to try and keep the family together. As if that weren't enough, Whitney’s medication gives her musical hallucinations that disconnect her from reality and score the drama with her siblings and the high school mean girls to pop music. Meanwhile, sister Lexi parties too hard, brother Jason can’t deal, and the youngest Connolly, Sam, is just trying to survive middle school. As long as they can stick together, there’s a chance they can track down their dad and bring him home. Unfortunately, the family is on the verge of breaking up and one wrong note could disband them before they find him.
- GenresYoung Adult
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2014
5 people are currently reading
689 people want to read
About the author
Jen Calonita
110 books3,652 followersHi Goodreads!
I'm Jen Calonita, a MG and YA author who loves what I do because it lets me connect with all of you (and no, I wasn't intending for that to rhyme!).
I've been writing ever since I can remember, but it was fourth grade when I put my "three wishes" for a genie down on paper. They were:
#1. Buy all the Cabbage Patch Kids in the world and give them away for free (because apparently that was how I rolled).
#2. I wanted a mansion, limo, lake house, pool and speed boat (still sounds quite nice).
#3. I wanted to be an author for young readers, which I am!
I love writing novels for teens (and for savvy grown ups who know that YA rocks at any age). My first series was "Secrets of My Hollywood Life" and it followed a teen star named Kaitlin Burke who struggled with the fame game. I have also written the stand-alone novels Sleepaway Girls, it's companion book, Summer State of Mind and the Belles series.
I've been writing middle grade too and am having so much fun with my series Fairy Tale Reform School! The fourth book in this series about a school run by former villains is called Tricked and will be out March 2018. Ever wonder what it would be like if your parents got a job with someone like Taylpr Swift? My other middle grade series, VIP, follows super fan Mackenzie Lowell as she tours with her favorite band, Perfect Storm.
I promise to give book updates here, and on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or my website. I hope I hear from you!
xo
Jen
I'm Jen Calonita, a MG and YA author who loves what I do because it lets me connect with all of you (and no, I wasn't intending for that to rhyme!).
I've been writing ever since I can remember, but it was fourth grade when I put my "three wishes" for a genie down on paper. They were:
#1. Buy all the Cabbage Patch Kids in the world and give them away for free (because apparently that was how I rolled).
#2. I wanted a mansion, limo, lake house, pool and speed boat (still sounds quite nice).
#3. I wanted to be an author for young readers, which I am!
I love writing novels for teens (and for savvy grown ups who know that YA rocks at any age). My first series was "Secrets of My Hollywood Life" and it followed a teen star named Kaitlin Burke who struggled with the fame game. I have also written the stand-alone novels Sleepaway Girls, it's companion book, Summer State of Mind and the Belles series.
I've been writing middle grade too and am having so much fun with my series Fairy Tale Reform School! The fourth book in this series about a school run by former villains is called Tricked and will be out March 2018. Ever wonder what it would be like if your parents got a job with someone like Taylpr Swift? My other middle grade series, VIP, follows super fan Mackenzie Lowell as she tours with her favorite band, Perfect Storm.
I promise to give book updates here, and on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or my website. I hope I hear from you!
xo
Jen
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 23, 2014
Well, since I wrote it, I'm a bit bias! But honestly, this book was so much fun to write. It's based on the Awesomeness TV show (on YouTube) and if you haven't seen it, get to YouTube immediately and start watching. You'll be hooked, I swear. The book and show reminded me of "Glee" meets "Party of Five," which was a '90s TV show I was obsessed with (Matthew Fox starred alongside Lacey Chabert, Scott Wolf, and Jennifer Love Hewitt). I hope you'll enjoy the book!
March 8, 2015
I have the link to the web series (which I actually recommend) down below:
Okay. I don't give out poor ratings everyday, so I thought I should take some time to address my issues with this book.
Synopsis:
Whitney's life isn't so hot right now. Her mother has recently died of cancer, she's being bullied by the "She-Bitches", and her father has mysteriously taken off, leaving Whitney and her five siblings to fend for themselves. Naturally, this bums her out quite a bit and she starts taking medication that creates musical hallucinations. The Connolly kids attempt to keep it together while trying to find their missing father all with the occasional real-life music video thrown in. And that's our story.
My initial reaction when I heard they were making this fun and well-constructed web-series a book was "...how are they going to 'write' a musical?"
My concluding thought is "clearly you can't."
Now I just want to explain the controversy I had while rating this book. The plot, the dialogue, the characters, everything, including the musical hallucinations were all created by Allison Schroeder, not Jen Calonita. While reading this, like most of the anticipated audience, I already knew most of the plot, innately liked all of the characters, and understood how Whitney's "musical hallucinations" occured. I picked it up because I enjoyed Schroeder's story and Jen Calonita's job was to reinterpret the material from the web-series into an enjoyable novel format. Metaphorically, she's looking at a bowl of fruit and translating it onto a canvass. My rating is based on the painting, not the actually bowl of fruit.
And personally I hope Calonita can paint better than she writes.
I get it, okay. Recreating somebody else's work is hard to do, and I personally don't think film-to-book adaptations are a good idea.
But this was painful to read.
The writing is amateur, sloppy, and lacked little to no creative or artistic vocabulary. There was almost no character differentiation between the POVs. The slight changes she made to the dialogue and storyline were less realistic and cheesier than the web-series, which, as much as I love the web-series, is pretty cheesy to begin with! The character's inner monologging was acceptable if not cookie-cutter. Life lesson speeches were misplaced and almost always missed the emotional mark. And I swear to God stop describing what every individual character is wearing unless it is actually relevant to the story line!
*angst*
And those "musical-to-paper interpretations" were the worst of all.
I can't even begin to describe how hilariously terrible those scenes translated into print.
This book from the start was just a colossal mistake.
In terms of the ending.
I'm not sure who collaborated to create the last 40 pages (what will be interpreted into Season 3 if and when they continue), but I have mixed feelings.
I felt the emotional development between the characters was rushed and unrealistic. The whole point of "development" is that it literally doesn't happen overnight.
The conclusion to the She-Bitch plot-line? Same hilariously terrible musical interpretation. Even worse resolution and phenomenally idealistic way to "handling the problem."
I did like the Dad resolution and the romantic conclusion to Zak and Lexi's subplot, but I don't know whether to give the credit to Jen or Allison.
So, in a nut shell, I like the web-series but I'm not a big fan of the book. Can't wait to see when season 3 comes out though.
SIDE-EFFECTS SEASON 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaF5U...
Okay. I don't give out poor ratings everyday, so I thought I should take some time to address my issues with this book.
Synopsis:
Whitney's life isn't so hot right now. Her mother has recently died of cancer, she's being bullied by the "She-Bitches", and her father has mysteriously taken off, leaving Whitney and her five siblings to fend for themselves. Naturally, this bums her out quite a bit and she starts taking medication that creates musical hallucinations. The Connolly kids attempt to keep it together while trying to find their missing father all with the occasional real-life music video thrown in. And that's our story.
My initial reaction when I heard they were making this fun and well-constructed web-series a book was "...how are they going to 'write' a musical?"
My concluding thought is "clearly you can't."
Now I just want to explain the controversy I had while rating this book. The plot, the dialogue, the characters, everything, including the musical hallucinations were all created by Allison Schroeder, not Jen Calonita. While reading this, like most of the anticipated audience, I already knew most of the plot, innately liked all of the characters, and understood how Whitney's "musical hallucinations" occured. I picked it up because I enjoyed Schroeder's story and Jen Calonita's job was to reinterpret the material from the web-series into an enjoyable novel format. Metaphorically, she's looking at a bowl of fruit and translating it onto a canvass. My rating is based on the painting, not the actually bowl of fruit.
And personally I hope Calonita can paint better than she writes.
I get it, okay. Recreating somebody else's work is hard to do, and I personally don't think film-to-book adaptations are a good idea.
But this was painful to read.
The writing is amateur, sloppy, and lacked little to no creative or artistic vocabulary. There was almost no character differentiation between the POVs. The slight changes she made to the dialogue and storyline were less realistic and cheesier than the web-series, which, as much as I love the web-series, is pretty cheesy to begin with! The character's inner monologging was acceptable if not cookie-cutter. Life lesson speeches were misplaced and almost always missed the emotional mark. And I swear to God stop describing what every individual character is wearing unless it is actually relevant to the story line!
*angst*
And those "musical-to-paper interpretations" were the worst of all.
I can't even begin to describe how hilariously terrible those scenes translated into print.
This book from the start was just a colossal mistake.
In terms of the ending.
I'm not sure who collaborated to create the last 40 pages (what will be interpreted into Season 3 if and when they continue), but I have mixed feelings.
I felt the emotional development between the characters was rushed and unrealistic. The whole point of "development" is that it literally doesn't happen overnight.
The conclusion to the She-Bitch plot-line? Same hilariously terrible musical interpretation. Even worse resolution and phenomenally idealistic way to "handling the problem."
I did like the Dad resolution and the romantic conclusion to Zak and Lexi's subplot, but I don't know whether to give the credit to Jen or Allison.
So, in a nut shell, I like the web-series but I'm not a big fan of the book. Can't wait to see when season 3 comes out though.
SIDE-EFFECTS SEASON 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaF5U...
March 31, 2024
I really enjoyed reading this-I enjoyed the alternating chapters and loved how it all fitted together. The hallucination scenes were humorous even though its a serious topic. I read this book in a day and highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of shows like glee or just musicals in general.
June 25, 2016
The beginning was okay how it started. I liked how the book had interchanging perspectives between the family members. It gave me a good view of how each of them were handling the loss of their parents. I thought that it was just going to be in Whitney's point of view because of how the summary was described. I kind of wish that it was though. Even though you get to know how each character is doing and how they are coping, I thought that Whitney's was the best perspective. Her chapter got me interested because of what she is going through, something that is very relatable, being bullied.
However the chapter quickly becomes slow after a while. After you meet her bullies and have them bully her in person, things just slow down and starts to become really boring. Even though it was an okay start, after the part with her bullies, it just fails to keep a person's interest. It just stays boring until close to the end. To sum it all up, the book was just pretty disappointing. Nothing big or dramatic happened that would make me want to read it again. Most of the book was a bore and just seemed like a waste of my time.
However the chapter quickly becomes slow after a while. After you meet her bullies and have them bully her in person, things just slow down and starts to become really boring. Even though it was an okay start, after the part with her bullies, it just fails to keep a person's interest. It just stays boring until close to the end. To sum it all up, the book was just pretty disappointing. Nothing big or dramatic happened that would make me want to read it again. Most of the book was a bore and just seemed like a waste of my time.
November 26, 2014
As a huge fan of the show on YouTube, getting this book adaptation was a must to buy and to read. I really liked how the chapters were from different perspectives so you got to see the event through someone else's eyes versus focused on just Whitney and her hallucinations. The book went beyond season 2 and gave a full fulling ending to the series. I hope it gets a season 3 but either way, I LOVE Side Effects.
March 16, 2018
This started out weird and I was so sceptical. I was certain I would get half way through and I’d give up. But the swapping of the characters was good because it brought on another dimension, as well as made you feel for the entire family rather than one character. The ending was refreshing and when I closed the book I felt satisfied and content. Loved it and now want to watch the YouTube series this is based on ✌🏻
June 27, 2017
i was expecting a little more from this book...but still it was good !!!
September 6, 2017
3.75 stars.
January 24, 2018
I abouslutly loved reading this book from beginning to end. The characters were real and you felt like what ever they were experiencing you were to.
November 3, 2015
It’s been six months since the Connollys’ father took off and never came back. And now they are all falling apart. Whitney had a breakdown, and now needs medication to keep herself together, although that medication has a bizarre side effect, and causes hallucinations that make her feel like life is a musical. The youngest, Sam, feels ignored and neglected, while twins Jason and Lexi cope in their own ways—Jason by turning his back on his beloved baseball, and Lexi by seeking attention from the wrong kinds of guys. And Keith struggles with anger over giving up college to pick up the pieces. The kids need to find their father, and fast, but can they pull together to do so?
Jen Calonita’s "Side Effects" is a much deeper novel than readers might be led to believe by the description on the book’s cover. Whitney’s hallucinations do certainly add a fun and unique angle to the siblings’ problems, but they are by no means the central issue of the story, just as Whitney is not solely the main character. This book explores complex sibling relationships, faith (or lack thereof) in one’s parents, love, loss, bullying, and so many more important topics that it’s hard to believe they are all so seamlessly interwoven into one story.
Originally written for San Francisco Book Review.
Jen Calonita’s "Side Effects" is a much deeper novel than readers might be led to believe by the description on the book’s cover. Whitney’s hallucinations do certainly add a fun and unique angle to the siblings’ problems, but they are by no means the central issue of the story, just as Whitney is not solely the main character. This book explores complex sibling relationships, faith (or lack thereof) in one’s parents, love, loss, bullying, and so many more important topics that it’s hard to believe they are all so seamlessly interwoven into one story.
Originally written for San Francisco Book Review.
October 7, 2015
Let's start with the obvious. This cover is so unappealing. It's actually pretty grotesque. But this book is by Jen Calonita, who's one of my favorites and has never let me down. On the other hand, this isn't her original idea; it's based on some Awesomeness Ink web series that I've never heard of. But I decided to give it a try.
This ended up being a good read. I loved the different perspectives, the light romance, the friendship between Whitney and Susan, and most especially, the sibling relationship depicted. Really, the sibling road trip and the progression of all their relationships was just wonderful!
There's an excerpt for a book in the back that seemed really good, so I'll hopefully be giving that a try soon.
This ended up being a good read. I loved the different perspectives, the light romance, the friendship between Whitney and Susan, and most especially, the sibling relationship depicted. Really, the sibling road trip and the progression of all their relationships was just wonderful!
There's an excerpt for a book in the back that seemed really good, so I'll hopefully be giving that a try soon.
February 9, 2015
One of the main reasons I picked up this book was because of the web show, Side Effects, on Awesomeness TV. I was very happy with the book and was very happy I picked it up. I am not going to tell a lot about the book because I'm afraid I will spoil it. I loved the book and think more people will read it.
December 11, 2014
I found it awkward to read sometimes. I got second hand embarrassment reading the hallucinations. There are good cheasy moments and there's alot of bad cheasy moments.
February 7, 2015
I love love love this book and this show! The ending definitely left me satisfied and I cannot wait for season 3!!
April 9, 2016
I loved reading the book as much as I loved watching the series on awesomnessTV
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews