The Jesus Girl

The Jesus Girl by Mercy Marlowe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

ARC - Review

I had a really good time with this one. It’s a fast, busy, slightly ridiculous mix of friends-to-lovers romance, faith, comedy, sci-fi and supernatural horror, and somehow the different pieces mostly work together.

The strongest part for me was David and Jess. Their relationship feels like it has real history behind it, and David in particular has believable emotional baggage. His fear of losing Jess—and his feeling that he isn't good enough for the future she wants—actually drives his behaviour instead of just being there as a character trait. Their transition from best friends to something more also has plenty of cute, funny moments.

I also really liked how much happens. There are family problems, college worries, romance drama, mysterious technology, revelations about David, and eventually a genuinely creepy supernatural storyline. The last part gets much darker than I expected, and the contrast with all the silliness earlier actually makes the horror hit harder.

The humour is probably the most me part of the book: silly, cute and character-driven, especially with the family. The writing is very conversational and easy to fly through, although sometimes Jess explains a joke or emotion a little too much. The futuristic Tampa setting is also fun without drowning the story in world-building.

Spice-wise, this is probably around 3/5 for me—so it fits my updated limit better than I initially thought, although the author is very clear that this is an 18+ romance and the intimate scenes don't fade to black.

My notes:
❤️ David's psychology was my favourite part.
😂 The silly family humour absolutely worked for me.
⚡ There is enough happening that I rarely felt bored.

Verdict: 4/5 for me. A fun, fast-moving feelgood romance with surprisingly dark supernatural turns. The character psychology and humour are the biggest reasons I'd kept reading.