This book had so much potential. I promise it did. It started off so great but it sort of,,,,,folded in on itself. About 50% in. If the first half of this book only existed, then it would be a 5/5 star book. HOWEVER.
The plot just didn’t do it for me. Which is sad. life just wants to...punch me in the gut here lately and it’s fine.

I did not expect to cry, but this book brought out the tears - in a good way! Delia and Josie had the quirky, sarcastic relationship that I have with some of my friends. Their family dynamics were so great. The slight love story tugged at my heartstrings. This was an all-around great read. It is, however, a different kind of read than The Serpent King or Goodbye Days. This book had a lot of emotion - a lot - but it was definitely a more upbeat read than either of those two books combined. It was kind of refreshing to see this side of one of my favorite YA authors.

The audio version of this book was performed well, and you really got a feel for the sarcasm dripping from the dialogue. I super loved it. Hearing the story read out loud brought Delia and Josie's relationship to life, and made the emotions that much more real for me. I laughed out loud as I listened in my earbuds, I had to stop and catch my breath a few times, and I let some tears flow for the heartbreak.

Everything about this book was so quirky and genuine, and I loved it to bits. It's so quote-able and hilarious, and I just can't give it enough praise. I know a lot of people didn't like this book - for reasons ranging between MPDG troupes to a character disconnect. But that just wasn't the case for me. I listened to and then reread this book, and I have a feeling it's one that I will keep going back to.

osie (Rayne) and Delia (Delilah) are the hosts of Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee, a public access cable TV show in Jackson, Tennessee, which features hokey horror movies, interspersed with the girls' humorous banter and silly skits. Josie, who hopes to pursue a career in television, has an opportunity to take an internship with the Food Network, but struggles with her feelings of loyalty to Delia. Delia is passionate about resurrecting the old horror movies she watched with her absentee father as a kid. She secretly hopes he will someday see the show and reconnect with her. When Lawson, a young MMA fighter, guest stars with his beagle on the show, Josie finds herself falling for him. The three head to Orlando for the ShiverCon festival, where they plan to meet with legendary horror host Jack Devine, who might help them gain a wider audience. Delia also hopes to find her father, who is supposedly in Orlando. Written from alternating perspectives, the novel paints a picture of two colorful characters, whose witty banter and heartfelt angst about the future makes them an unforgettable pair.

Loved it, the kind of book that has you going through a range of emotions. Really enjoyable read, will look for more by this amazing author.

I didn't really connect with this book until about half way in. At the half way point, I started to enjoy it quite a bit more. I felt like it took a while to get into the meat of the story.

My heart. I loved this book about two best friends who are striving for the extraordinary by finding the beauty and the shine in the ordinary. Josie and Delia and Lawson and Arliss are my new favorite people. If you're looking for a book with a lot of heart, sass, laughter, and some heartbreak (but the GOOD kind, the one that feels like a soft bruise), then this book is for you.

Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee is about friendship, love, following your dreams, and the inevitability of change. If you're put off by the fact that their TV show is about horror movies, don't be; I hate horror movies but I loved reading about their passion. This is older YA, and Zentner perfectly captures that feeling of being on the cusp of adulthood. Zentner's dialogue is top-notch: quippy and fast and absolutely hilarious. I laughed out loud several times. If you like people who are slightly cynical and sarcastic but never mean, then Josie and Delia's banter is something to aspire to and an absolute pleasure to read.

I laughed and I cried and I finished this book with new best friends. A gem of a book.

PS: if you're not the kind of a person that can appreciate the conversation that would stem from "Okay, so would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or fifty duck-sized horses?" this book might not be for you. But give it a shot!

<b>3.5 stars</b>

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I really liked the setting and the romance in this book. It was really cute and I could feel the chemistry between Josie/Rayne and Lawson. It was my favorite part of the book. If there wasn't that, I would probably have dropped my rating.

Delia/Delilah, on the other hand, was really not my favorite character. To be honest, she annoyed me many times. Whenever she felt like she had to do things in order to keep her best friend around her or to please her father who abandoned them when she was little.

At one point, this book made me really angry when Josie/Rayne paid almost one grand because she was 'pressured' in paying an addition at a restaurant. She was SO STUPID to do that, still hoping she would get something out of it... Seriously, I was so pissed when I read those chapters. I thought she was smarter than that. But at least, she stood up for herself a bit later so there's that.

Even though a few things frustrated me, the ending was really sweet and overall, I enjoyed it.

<i>(Thank you to the publisher for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I won this also as an ARC off of Goodreads, So I was so grateful for the chance to read it, I love this book. I love how Jeff wrote these characters and their feelings toward life. I will be buying a finished copy. I can't wait to pick up more work by Jeff

After reading this book, I pre-ordered a copy for my library almost immediately. Jeff Zentner's books always have a lot of heart and this one was no exception. There were a number of scenes that made me cry and just as many that had me laughing out loud. The quirkiness of some of the side characters was slightly over the top at times, but Delia and Josie's friendship brings you back to solid ground. Their struggles to remain true to their friendship, their dreams, and their families was so real. I think this is an issue for a lot of teens as they make the leap from childhood to adulthood. This was definitely one of my favorite books of the year.

Love this author. Love this book. If his name is on it I will read it and buy if for my library. I bought this when it came out and it is like the others in my library. I haven't seen it since I got it ready for the students.

This was funny, emotional, heart- breaking, and heart- warming all at the same time. I've read The Scorpion King and loved it, so I knew this would be no different. The author made a note at the beginning to say this would be somewhat the opposite and I loved it too!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Two high school best friends play wannabe horror hosts in their own public access TV show, Midnite Matinee. They make a great team, according to their accomplice, Arliss, because Delia kinda sucks at TV, but knows everything about horror, and Josie is pretty good at TV, but doesn’t know jack about horror movies. When the opportunity arises to take their show to the next level, they take a road trip to the ShiverCon horror convention in Florida to meet with Jack Divine, a popular ex-horror host.

Josie and Delia live in a small town in Tennessee. Delia lives in a trailer with her mom, who struggles with mental illness (more so after her father abandoned them). Delia watches all of the old horror VHS tapes her father left behind, and harbors fear that everyone she loves will end up leaving her (underlying rejection and depression). Confident and charismatic Josie, who lives with both of her parents, struggles with the dilemma of going to college out-of-state to pursue her dream of being on television, or going to college with Delia so that they can keep hosting their show.

Zentner gives us a strong cast of supporting characters as well: Moody, middle-aged Arliss, and MMA-fighting, pancake-loving, fantasy-reading Lawson Vargas. 😍 Josie and Lawson’s side-love-story didn’t overshadow the entire book, but it was juuuuust right, and gave me cutesy stomach butterflies. Not only do we get strong side characters and a small dose of romance, but we get mental health and poverty rep! And a dash of horror thrown into the mix. (Seriously, some of the movie titles Delia picks are just hilarious – i.e., Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things.)

But Josie and Delia had an amazing dynamic together. The way the author wrote their interactions and dialogue gripped me so ferociously by the heart and by the funny bone! Jeff Zentner is the king of all analogies and witty banter. I literally could not get enough of his writing!

I highly recommend giving this one a read! You’ll be taken on an epic road trip with two best friends who try and find the answers to their questions: What comes next after high school? What’s going to happen to their show? Can friendship survive distance?

Every Saturday night, best friends Delia and Josie transform into their alter egos, Rayne and Delilah, to host a horror movie feature show on their local cable access station. For Josie, the show is just fun, a chance to put on a costume and practice her TV skills in case she decides to be a "real" TV star someday. Or course, this would probably require her to leave town...and Delia. For Delia, the show is her last connection to her Dad, the man who passed down his love of campy horror movies before he left her and her mom. If the show becomes popular enough to reach more markets, maybe he'll see her on TV, carrying on his traditions, and realize how much he misses her. Will the Josie and Delia's friendship be strong enough to keep them together as their lives are heading in different directions?

This is my second book by Jeff Zentner (my first was Goodbye Days) and I have decided that anything he writes is going to be worth reading. In Rayne and Delilah, he captures hard, heartbreaking moments in a novel that is mostly hilarious. That's talent. Because life is never 100% hilarious or hard. Even at the darkest moments, something funny can happen. Even the moments of greatest joy can be tinged with sadness. There were so many lines in this book that were so thoughtful or poignant or beautiful that I had to pause in my reading. Toward the end of this book, in a moment of excruciating sadness, Delia thinks about how there are not enough good places to scream in the world. That's so true. And funny. And really sad. All in one sentence. That's why you should read this book. You'll love Josie and Delia, and you'll love every little bit of how their story is told.

I didn’t like one of the main characters and found her quite mean. I really didn’t enjoy the friendship and it in turn affected my enjoyment of the book.
It’s probably not my kind of book, but others mind find it more fun.

A beautiful and emotional story about friendship, letting go and embracing an unknown future. Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee will make you both laugh and cry at the same time.

Let me start by saying this is probably one of the best contemporary novels I read this year so far. It has been a long time since I laughed out loud while reading, that my father and my sister had to check up on me to make sure I didn’t lose my mind. I just couldn’t put this book down, and I knew I had to read it in one go.

The story follows two best friends, Delia and Josie, who host a tv horror show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six. Delia developed her love for old horror movies because of his dad who abandoned her and her mom when she was still young. On the other hand, Josie’s dream is to work professionally on television. Doing this tv hosting made their friendship grow deeper. However, as their graduation neared, both girls struggled on deciding and facing what would next for their lives. Would they stay and continue to do their show? Or would they move forward and grab the opportunity to follow their dreams?

No doubt that this book is hilarious. The dialogues, the jokes, and the banters of each character are just full of sense of humor. You don’t need to hold your fart while reading this or else you’ll get some liver disease. The story itself is fast-paced, too. Moreover, the characters are full of heart, so relatable and feel so real. The dynamics of Josie and Delia’s dynamic is so in sync. You are so lucky if you have a friendship like Josie and Delia. Also, I like how the romance of this book didn’t outshine the main story but still gave you enough twitterpated feelings.

Although this book is funny as hell, this is also an emotional one. There are scenes that just wrench your heart. They will remind you of those times when you felt your being left behind, and those times that you felt you are not enough. The story well-portrayed the topics that were usually frowned upon or ignored such as mental health and the complex feelings that come with it. I like how this book showed how the characters bravely faced these complications realistically.

Overall, I am really impressed with this novel. It tackles deeply serious topics while balancing the story with a sense of humor. Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee is a must-read contemporary novel that teaches us that life-changing moments take a big leap of faith.

REVIEW: RAYNE AND DELILAH’S MIDNITE MATINEE

MARCH 7, 2019 BY JEN RYLAND (EDIT)

Based on the title, this didn’t sound like my kind of book, about two girls who have a Creature Feature show on public access TV. But I loved this book about friendship, family, and life changes.


Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Published on February 26, 2019 by Crown Books

Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station. But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show’s guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder. Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he’ll see it and want to be a part of her life again. And maybe Josie will stay with the show instead of leaving her behind, too. As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous…and momentous.

REVIEW: RAYNE AND DELILAH’S MIDNITE MATINEE

I read (and loved) The Serpent King. I didn’t (and just couldn’t) read Goodbye Days. But I’m so glad I took a chance on this book because I found it completely charming, hilariously funny, and quietly moving.

Josie and Delia are best friends who co-host a show on public access cable. They dress up, camp it up, and discuss cheesy horror movies. Josie’s the natural on camera and dreams of a career in TV. Delia’s the film buff, something she shared with her dad, who left their family. It’s senior year and Josie’s trying to decide about college while Delia’s trying to track down her dad.

What I loved:

The friendship between the girls was so sweet and relatable. These are two best friends who, though they are different, try to support each other.

The romance – one of my most favorite kinds: the has-it-all-together, slightly tough girl who has no time for love and then falls hard for the most unlikely guy. (Think Dexter and Remy in Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.)

The humor. This was a really funny book that made me laugh out loud more than once. There was a subplot about a trip to Las Vegas Orlando – (Whoops. It really felt like Vegas…) that took a turn that was a little weird for me and also took the attention off the girls and onto being rescued by a guy. But that was my only tiny quibble with this book, which is one of my favorite 2019 books so far. Okay, my very favorite so far. It’s only March but this could be a book that’s tough to beat.

If you could use a funny, romantic book about friendship and life, definitely check this one out!

Jeff Zentner is a talented author and his first two books are among my favorites. I've been looking forward to seeing what he’d come up with next. Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite work for me.

His beautiful prose is still on display but the characterization ran into trouble, at least it did for one of the main characters. Whereas Delia was well developed, Josie was more of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. I really didn’t like her, in part because she didn’t feel real to me. She was an Idealized Girl in every way with nary a true struggle. In fact, I was surprised Delia wanted to be friends with Josie because I couldn’t figure out what they had in common outside of the TV show.

Delia is a sidekick and the girl most people overlook and I really liked how she leaned into this, both the reality and the struggle, especially in comparison to Josie. She has a complex backstory with her dad who abandoned her and her mom, her mom who doesn’t always take her depression medication, and the way Delia manages her own mental health. The depiction of mental health was especially strong and one of the best parts of this book. I’m Team Delia in every way.

The plot lagged for much of the book and I struggled to stay interested. But then it really fell apart with the Jack Devine subplot, which turned out to be even worse than I expected it to be. This was followed by a rather predictable yet long-coming fight between Delia and Josie. And given my antipathy toward Josie, the only way I would have been satisfied is if Delia had ended the friendship or at least not given in so easily. Maybe that’s wrong of me but again: I’m Team Delia.

Of course, your mileage may vary. I’m still looking forward to whatever Zentner does next, even if this was a misstep for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown BFYR for sharing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Before we start... can I just say... THAT COVER!! I left the image larger than usual so you all can appreciate how gorgeous it is. SO PRETTY!

Anyways. Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee is possibly one of my cutest reads of 2019, and I would 100% recommend it. It was so good. In fact, as I'm writing this and looking back, I'm changing my rating. 5 stars all the way. In case my review is inadequate, I'm saying it here: READ THIS BOOK.

The good: Everything? But especially the characters. Dual-perspective really did me in, because I got to feel all the feels for both Delia (Delilah) and Josie (Rayne). One got the sense that even though they had an incredible bond, they still had problems and insecurities in their friendship, which is so real. I am all the way here for complex relationships between female characters like Delia and Josie. They supported each others' endeavors, worked through problems, and communicated.

The writing was funny in a natural way, with clever characters and snappy dialogue. I laughed out loud several times while reading. One particular line stood out to me, when Delia and Josie were watching an MMA fight, and Delia goes "Make him feel like every day is Monday," which I thought was hilarious.

I didn't know anything about movie feature shows before reading the book, and now I have to say, I'm impressed with the girls' dedication to their Midnite Matinee. I liked the combination of enthusiasm and determination they had, even with the other stuff going on in their lives.

Support of treatment for mental illness! Use of antidepressants as encouraged and appropriate for someone to help them keep living their life. I think this is so important, and I liked seeing Delia's mom forming good habits regarding her mental health.

The romance: Adorable. I have to say, I expected a different ending, but I was not disappointed! Lawson was adorable and I appreciated that he served a purpose beyond "love interest," taking an interest in the Midnite Matinee and accompanying the girls to a con.

Overall, 5/5 stars for Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee, which features a great balance of humor and originality with sensitive topics.

Thank you so much to Crown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Goooooooooood evening, boys and ghouls, zombies and zombettes, witches and warlocks, this is Midnite Matinee..."

All it takes is that punny intro from Rayne & Delilah's TV Six Studio show, and we're immediately informed of what kind of humor -- and characters -- we'll be interacting with throughout this coming-of-age contemporary.

(And that's not to knock it. I genuinely laughed. Often.)

Josie (a.k.a. Rayne Ravenscroft) and Delia (Delilah Darkwood) are best friends that run a weekly horror movie skit and commentary show at their local public access station. And while their back-and-forth zingers kept me chuckling, there's not much else this duo has in common:

"I think it means there's something great inside me, something extraordinary and mysterious and undiscovered."

Josie is the confident, charismatic, female lead that seems to have the world by the balls. She comes from a wealthy (and seemingly happy) family with the connections to make her TV-centric dreams attainable. And though at times she came across as snobby and flirted with the "manic pixie dream girl" characterization, she does attempt to change her ways by the end of the novel.

"You know what the worst part is about your dad leaving you? It makes you scared to trust anyone or anything, because if your dad can leave you, who wont?"

Delia, on the other hand, is basically Josie's polar opposite (read: far more interesting character). Suffering from depression and rejection issues that stem from her father abandoning her at a young age, she finds solace in the B-grade horror films he left behind. Desperate to reconnect with her father, Delia puts all her hopes and dreams into her skit show in hopes that he'll see it one day and come and find her.

Set in Jackson, Tennessee the novel is a love letter to teens from both sides of the tracks trying to figure out "what comes next" after high school. What universities should they attend, if any? What should they do with their growing public access show? Should they pursue romantic relationships if there's a end-of-summer expiration date? Will they stay friends if distance is thrown into the mix? Were they ever really friends in the first place?

While Zentner answers these questions, we come to really know these girls, their humor, and their doubts and fears. He sprinkles in a strong cast of side characters (here's looking at you and the steamy pancake scene Lawson 😍), solid mental health and poverty rep, and an overly cheesy yet satisfying ending.

And while I'd love to give my first foray into Zentener's works all 5-Stars I had to dock a star for the ENTIRE Jack Devine/Shivercon portions. You know what this book didn't need? Russian mob subplots. I honestly STILL don't have words to explain that writing tangent. So let's just move on, shall we?

"It's comforting to know that you don't have to be excellent to not be completely forgotten."

At the end of the day this novel made me laugh, reminiscence, and reminded me that sometimes the "small and unspectacular things can be a universe." It stresses the importance of finding your light and shining it as best you can for yourself, because at the end of the day you finding worth in yourself is what matters most.

All quotes were taken from an advanced copy and may not match the final release.

This was such a fantastic book! Jeff Zentner’s writing never ceases to draw me in and keep me reading and for that I am always grateful. I am in love with Josie and Delia and their easy friendship, Lawson for his adorable sweetness, and Arliss for his surly but supportive attitude. Jeff has shown he can write a friendship, humor, and romance book that doesn’t completely break hearts though there was a moment where I thought I was going to be blindsided by heartbreak. I appreciate the mental health representation and the character growth. I just adored this story and know I will be coming back to read it again soon.