Nothing to See Here: A Read with Jenna Pick

I love the book, but I ordered a new copy and it arrived with the front cover torn and some bent pages. Too late to order a new one before Christmas 😕

Told in first person, our main character and narrator Lillian travels to see her friend, Madison, who has a job offer for her. It isn't until after she accepts the job as governess to Madison's step-children that Madison tells her the kids burst into flames when they feel angry or frustrated.The fire children do not make an appearance until 26% (on a Kindle). The first 1-7% is the foundation of Lillian and Madison's relationship. This includes how the met, their school-girl-days, and their current status. The story of their girlhood makes you feel emphatic towards Lillian and resentful towards Madison. From 7-26% it is Madison preparing Lillian for the children, and Lillian adjusting to her new rich life at her friends mansion house since Madison married a wealthy Senator. From 26%-until the end is the adventure of Lillian with the combustible twins.Lillian's voice and POV is what makes the story so comical. Her comparisons, overemphasis, self-deprecation, and sarcasm created lots of laughable moments.While the beginning starts off hilarious, the story itself that revolves around the relationship of the main character and the two children who are combustible is starkly serious. Though obviously cynical, I felt the twins ability to burst into flames an affect of both satire and analogy. The embedded theme for their paranormal state of combustion seems to mirror children on the spectrum, children who have cognitive or behavioral challenges that might just be misunderstood, or kids who are still developing proper coping skills. The combustible twins struggle to feel love from their father because of their flaw and ultimately want to feel accepted by their family.Family dynamics, parental love, and acceptance is a focus in this funny but short tale that includes wearing inflammable clothes and applying noncombustible stuntman gel to those around. How will Lillian learn to handle the children when they "burst into flames"?I loved this book and laughed out loud! But at the end, I teared up! I think parents and those who work with children will love this book. Highly recommend!!!!

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This book was described as Very Good. It was NOT. It arrived with no cover and with a tear between the spine and front cover. Also the bare cover was dirty on front and back. I'm not happy.

This is the weirdest most bizarre story premise, but I could not put it down! I loved all the weird!

It sounds insane, but give it a try because you might love it. Although it seems unbelievable that children can spontaneously combust, in this story they are almost normal. Or as normal as any kids growing up these days. I really found the story engaging and the characters truly shine.

This book made me tear up! It made me laugh out loud. It made me furious and so happy. I’d write more but my eyes are blurry.

An enjoyable read even though it was unrealistic. I mean… kids that catch on fire? Really? Just go with it.

I’m wasn’t sure I would like this book as it sounded weird but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. An interesting premise about children who catch fire. Don’t let the description dissuade you, it is quite good. Enjoyed the story and it was a quick read.

This is a strange, oddly compelling book. I would have liked it better if it didn't seem so allegorical. Honestly, I expected a deal with a demon in the end. But no demons here.

I am the mother of three children (now grown) with a genetic disorder called HHT, that causes spontaneous nosebleeds and other vascular anomalies. Kevin Wilson hit the nail on the head of what it’s like to negotiate family life with special needs while navigating one’s own inner life. Lillian is the best developed character to grace the pages of a novel I’ve read in a very long time. A great read. Very encouraging and validating.

Has one of the most accurate inner monologue of someone playing one on one pickup basketball I’ve ever read. Fun read, would recommend.

Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here is an unusual novel. The story takes place in a very real contemporary world, and yet it involves a set of twins who spontaneously combust. Ultimately, the book is about parenting…how to be a parent, the effects of lack of parenting, the need for good parenting and how it affects both the children and the parents. The book is a quick read, rich with characters and setting. The main character, as a teenager, was “done wrong” by her best friend, and yet, when she is called, as an adult, to come take care of these fire-producing ten-year-olds, she comes willingly and doesn’t seem to ever blame her friend, a woman I never trusted throughout the book, for any wrong-doings. So add another layer to the story, that of friendship—or lack thereof— and how we all deal with it. And adding another layer, we have this “friend” who is so ambitious she cannot see how her actions affect others. So this little novel packs a wallop. My only complaint—and it isn’t really one—is that the book seems to be taking place in the present (published in 2020) but the pop culture references don’t always ring true. I kept trying to figure out just how old these two women were, and it seemed they were late-twenties/early-thirties. But the book has barely any internet, only one cellphone, and when TV shows are mentioned, they are from a much earlier era, one in which these women probably didn’t live through. But that is quibbling, for we read novels all the time that are written in earlier times and thus we accept whatever is in there from those times. Maybe I’m just not as well-versed in pop culture as I thought I was.

A lost soul finds herself, surprisingly, as a successful nanny to twins with special powers and finds herself along the way. Intriguing story line, sweet ending, quick read.

There is plenty to see here — dysfunctional families, dysfunctional friendships, and children that catch fire. Lillian has defined herself by her worst moments and allowed others to do that as well. Her one bright spot is her friend Madison who badly betrayed her in high school but remains her only friend through the letters she writes. By her on admission Lil has no idea how to navigate a relationship.When Lil is hired by Madison to serve as governess (it sounds better than nanny) for her husband’s twins, she and the twins find a family. And as things literally burn they find the best you can do is hold on to each other.Children on fire is a bit far fetched but nothing about this novel disappoints

I read everything, except bodice rippers. Ask anyone who knows me. But I digress. The story starts out with absolutely no mention of these kids or how special they really are. A grave injustice is done early on, radically changing the course of two lives. The two people involved have diametrically different lives, even though they end up going in the same direction as each would have gone without the betrayal of the first.Out of nowhere, Lillian hears from Madison, her long ago roommate and best friend. It seems that Madison now needs Lillian desperately, and in a huge way. Lillian had married a V.I.P. An old money Southern politician with lots of power. And a secret, the special children . And it won’t do for the talents of these wonderful, special kids to ever be known.For, you see, they have a very visible and destructive gift. One that simply cannot be trusted. And Madison needs her best friend in a very important and immediate way. For her husband, the rich and powerful, can have no secrets if he is to remain rich and powerful.And so, Lillian, with very few answers to her many questions, leaves her mother and her home and goes to the aid of her friend. And enters another world. She goes with only the clothes on her back, transported by the Senators right hand man, Carl. A quiet, secret agent type, he doesn’t have answers either. So she waits.She finally gets the answers. The kids, fraternal twins, have firey, I mean actual combustible,personalities.She sees this up close and personal within the first five minutes of meeting them. She is to be their Governess in a specially constructed fire proofed house on the grounds of their father’s estate, not to be seen, referred to or included in the family at all. And the only other person they have contact with is Carl.There are so many twists and turns in this story, some forseen, some complete surprises. Lillian has no experience with any children, much less these weird, awkward twins. Something changes in them, all of them. And I really, really hope there is a sequel coming. I want to see the twins continue to grow and experience life and the unconditional love that Lillian has for them.The writing style is perfect. It’s as though the author is trying to figure things out as he goes, just as the characters in the story do. It is a wonderful story, and I hope you will read it.

I loved this book. I wouldn’t have found it without a recommendation from The Atlantic, which recently featured a segment on “The Great American Novels.” I remember thinking that the premise was absurd, but hey, if the story is good and the characters are interesting, who cares?Of course, Nothing to See Here is more than a story about spontaneously combustible kids. It’s about true love in its various forms, classism, and quirky characters that we can all identify with in some way. And so much more.I read it over a single day because I couldn’t put it down. For me, that’s rare, even for a book this size. Kevin’s writing style grabbed me from page one. So many reviewers have mentioned the sentences and phrases that stand out; one of the professional reviews noted that Nothing to See Here has “mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming.”I disagree with another earlier reviewer who complained about profanity. I’ve seen a lot more and a lot worse. For me, it wasn’t gratuitous, but rather a natural expression of how some people think and talk. It seemed especially fitting for the narrator or even the children when trying to impress the adults.Some might disagree with me here, but I kept hearing Holden Caulfield’s voice. While Lil isn’t a teen anymore, she seems stuck in her development at a young age, so her disaffected and snarky attitude seemed to fit the Catcher in the Rye hero to a T. I’m inspired to pick up the old classic and give it another turn.So much fun! I can’t wait to read more from Kevin Wilson.

This was the first Kevin Wilson book that I read, on the recommendation of a friend. I didn’t have high hopes for it, because the premise sounded kind of silly, but sometimes silly can be fun, so I went ahead and dug in.I could tell from the beginning that this wasn’t exactly going to be what I had expected. The initial relationship between two characters was presented in a wonderful and emotional way. So, by the time we got to the burning children, I was already very invested. And even the burning children were presented in a much more deep and beautiful and heartbreaking way. The silliness of their flammability ended up, not being so very silly at all, and was an excellent metaphor.Later, when I read his first book, I realized that this is one of a few stories that were first introduced in a different form in that book (Family Fang). I’m kind of glad that I came upon this novel first. In many ways, it’s a great introduction to his work. He is definitely an interesting author and he always gives you more than you think you’re going to get.

Crazy entertaining book. The concept of this book is so out there and I don’t know what possessed me to listen to it. Lillian is contacted by her old high school roommate with a job opportunity. Lillian and Maddison were best friends, from different family backgrounds. Lillian raised by a single mother and did not have money. Maddison was raised in a wealthy family and was expected to get a prestigious education, so she could marry well. Maddison, now a senator’s wife, contacts Lillian to help her with her twin step children that are coming to live with them full time. Needless to say the step children have unique abilities, they spontaneously burst into flames if they become agitated. This is where the crazy concept comes in. I immediately imagined Drew Barrymore in Stephen King’s “Firestarter.” This book was hilarious, wild, outrageous, and sad all at the same time. I think Michelle Ireland is now my favorite narrator. If you want something a little different to shake up your reading style, then this book is it.

A quirky story about two kids who once agitated light on fire; burst into flames. Nothing happens to the kids, they are unharmed when it happens. This book has a gentle pressure that pulls you through the text and keeps you turning the pages. I did not think I would like it but, ended up enjoying it a great deal. Its more about relationships, old and new. How Lilian melds with the two children almost like an Old Yeller kind of story (that’s a bad example but that’s what it felt like). I laughed out loud in several places, the wry sense of humor in situational comedy. I also found it easy to buy into the premise. I think it was because Lilian (the point of view character) didn’t make a big deal about it when it was explained to her, almost like, “Oh, the kids just light on fire.” Since she bought into it so easily (and I already knew her well before this occurred and trusted her judgement) I went along for the ride. It was weird how I dropped into the story and believed it. That wonderful, ever elusive, “Fictive Dream” I’m always on the hunt for is definitely present in this book. I love a story that can evoke this kind of emotion. One bit of criticism, I think the often-overused F-bomb didn’t have a place here. I’m not a prude by any stretch but the book would have had such a stronger impact without it. And it might have had a better chance of becoming a timeless kind of story. This is a four-and-half-star book and I would recommend it.David Putnam

This is kind of an odd book to rate. I’m not sure what I feel about it. It’s both really interesting and witty, but also incredibly weird and the sort of thing that leaves you wondering what it was all about.The premise is that chronically disillusioned mess up and underachiever, Lillian, is called upon to do another dubious favour for her best friend, Madison- spend the summer looking after Madison’s unwanted step-children. The only problem is said step-children are given to catching fire and burning everything around them.I kind of really loved this strange and bizarre examination of love, family and friendship. It is humorous but it also is one to make you a little sad. I think this is filled with all sorts of really honest, really vulnerable and raw observations of what it’s like to be the child of awful parents and lots of very relevant, very witty and well-put observations about contemporary society.I really liked this book and for me, it was a 3-4-star book. The only reason why this was rounded down (to a 3 instead of up to a 4) is that I’m not sure this was cohesive enough. It sometimes felt a little scattered and I sometimes wondered the point. That said, I enjoy it and I recommend it to anyone who’s looking for something smart, funny and bizarre to read.