📖 Overview
An eighteen-year-old pregnant pizza delivery driver in Los Angeles becomes fixated on Jenny Hauser, a suburban mom who orders pickles and pepperoni pizza every week. The protagonist navigates her pregnancy while living with her mother and boyfriend, all while trying to process her father's recent death.
The narrative follows this unnamed teen through her work at the pizzeria and her growing obsession with Jenny, which intensifies as she makes weekly deliveries to the customer's home. Her relationship with her supportive boyfriend and mother becomes strained as she withdraws into her private preoccupations.
This coming-of-age story tracks a young woman's struggle with impending motherhood, grief, and identity. Through sharp observations and dark humor, the novel examines isolation, obsession, and the weight of expectations that society places on mothers.
👀 Reviews
Readers found Pizza Girl to be a raw, uncomfortable look at pregnancy, grief, and obsession. The story's dark humor and honest portrayal of a flawed protagonist resonated with many readers.
Liked:
- Fresh perspective on pregnancy that breaks from typical narratives
- Sharp, concise writing style
- Complex mother-daughter relationships
- LGBTQ+ representation without making it the central focus
Disliked:
- Some found the protagonist too unlikeable or frustrating
- Plot moves slowly with limited action
- Several readers felt unsatisfied with the ending
- Too much focus on the protagonist's fixation with the pickle pizza customer
Ratings:
Goodreads: 3.7/5 (21,000+ ratings)
Amazon: 4.1/5 (1,200+ ratings)
LibraryThing: 3.8/5 (300+ ratings)
Reader quote: "It's like a train wreck you can't look away from - messy and destructive but completely captivating." - Goodreads reviewer
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All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews Two sisters navigate their complex relationship as one battles depression while maintaining dark humor through life's difficulties.
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🤔 Interesting facts
🍕 Author Jean Kyoung Frazier wrote much of Pizza Girl while working as a pizza delivery driver herself in Los Angeles, drawing from her real-life experiences to shape the novel's authenticity.
📖 The book was written when Frazier was just 25 years old and became an instant critical success, named one of Time magazine's "100 Must-Read Books of 2020."
🤰 The protagonist's pregnancy experience was crafted entirely from Frazier's imagination, as she had never been pregnant, making the vivid portrayal even more remarkable.
🌈 The novel explores Korean-American identity and LGBTQ+ themes, drawing partially from Frazier's own experience as a queer Korean-American writer.
🎬 The film rights to Pizza Girl were acquired by Rachel Weisz's production company shortly after the book's publication, with plans to adapt it for the screen.