Pizza Girl: A Novel (2020 original; edició 2021)

I am torn about this book, it is more 3.5 I think. The whole storyline and heros is a bit too much, but there were parts I strongly connected to and loved how they were put in words. Pregnant girl's alcoholism was deeply troubling me. ( )

Pizza Girl is a quirky and at times funny novel that hits the reader hard at the end with emotion. It’s a short novel under 200 pages, but it packs a lot of feelings under the simple premise of the life of a young pregnant woman who delivers pizza.

The protagonist is unnamed for the majority of the novel and the story is told from her perspective. Her life lacks direction after school finishes. She’s pregnant, living with her boyfriend and mother and delivers pizzas. When she receives a request for a pepperoni and pickles pizza, it sparks her interest. Jenny is new to town with a son who won’t settle into his new life. She’s desperate and the protagonist hears this, so complies with the request. It starts a strange friendship between her and Jenny, with Jenny filling some sort of hole in her life. But does Jenny reciprocate? Will the protagonist face up to her fears that she will turn out to be like her alcoholic father? Will she let her boyfriend and mother help her?

The story is alternately light (pizza delivery has its quirks) combined with the protagonist musing on her lack of direction and lack of interest in the future. It’s not until nearly the end of the book that things get darker with the protagonist going off the rails completely. As she’s not really a likeable character, it was hard to emphasise with her at this point. It’s more weird and creepy as she’s been directionless to this point. The epilogue does offer some closure although it’s not complete. I would have preferred some more direction as it was hard to predict the character’s actions as she’s alternately lazy and unpredictable. All the characters are flawed, which makes them interesting, but there was a lack of progression/development at times for some of them that made me wonder how they got from A to B.

If you like your characters messy doing messy things, Pizza Girl is worth the read for its blunt honesty. The protagonist simply doesn’t care, even as though around her do. It makes for both a refreshing and occasionally awkward read.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com ( )

Content Note: stalking, alcoholism

Plot:
She is 18 years old, pregnant and works as a pizza delivery girl. Living with her mother and her boyfriend who seem way more excited about the baby than she is, she has no idea where to go from here. She doesn’t even want to think about it. Then she delivers a pizza one day to Jenny and her son. Something about Jenny’s apparently chaotic life and her ponytail draws her in, and Jenny, too, seems to take an interest in the “Pizza Girl”, as she calls her. She starts waiting and hoping for Jenny’s call to the pizza place every week – but soon that isn’t enough anymore.

Pizza Girl should be a heavy book but somehow Frazier manages to keep it light and quick despite the many difficult topics she touches on. While I appreciate that, I would have also liked to feel the heaviness a little more. That being said, it’s certainly a memorable novel and a very good debut that will stay with me.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2021/08/24/pizza-girl-jean-kyoung-frazier/ ( )

Funny, weird, interesting story. ( )

“I realized how avoidance was the most attention you could give something”
― Jean Kyoung Frazier, Pizza Girl
Fiercely honest and unapologetic, Pizza Girl brings to life the story of the protagonist: a pregnant 18-year-old girl living at home with her Korean mother and American boyfriend Billy, the father of her child, who adores her more than life itself. The dynamic of the young protagonist’s life is complicated. With her alcoholic father recently passed, hormones raging through her body, and a mother and boyfriend who suffocate her with their love and care – the protagonist is in an entangled mess of emotions and alcoholism.

As I read this book, I could feel the melancholy of the protagonist seep through the pages. She masks her unhappiness with dark humour and lack of care for herself and those around her, so much so that it makes her kind of unlikable to be honest.

The protagonist delivers pizza as a way to make ends meet and pretty much despises her job. But one day a woman calls in a pepperoni pizza order, begging for pickles to be added on top, as it’s the only thing her son will eat. With a kind of "f**k it" attitude (pardon my language, but this is pretty accurate of the protagonist if you ask me), the protagonist obliges the request and runs down to the local grocer to pick-up pickles to slice and toss on the pizza. Certainly an act that makes the cook's eyebrows waggle in confusion. And it all seems innocent enough, but this is the beginning of what will become a deep, downward spiral into obsession (seriously though, you might just wanna jump into the book and shake her all the while asking her "What are you thinking?! Are you even thinking?!"). However, there’s more there than meets the eye. This book explores desire, depression, alcoholism, fortitude, and perhaps mental illness.

For 200 pages, this book unpacks a lot. Readers should be advised that strong language is used and could be offensive for some. I felt there was room for more character development and the last few chapters of the book felt a little rushed, but I liked it, 3.5 overall. ( )