this is such a lovely and colourful book. it's lyrical and whimsical and i was engaged the entire time. such a great little piece of escapism!

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Jelly in exchange for an honest review.

I live for weird books and Jelly definitely falls into that category. Clare Rees handles the bizarre premise perfectly. Right away you're thrown right onto the back of a giant jellyfish (or a giant not-jellyfish depending on who you ask) with Martha and her friends. A note at the beginning of this book compares being trapped on a giant Jellyfish while the rest of humanity fights for their lives against giant crab-people on shore to the current covid crisis and it somehow makes perfect sense.

I haven't laughed out loud for a long time at a book but Jelly got me so many times. Martha is such a brutally honest narrator and I really loved her and the rest of the Jelly-squads nonchalance when talking about their current situation.

I'm honestly not sure how to talk about this book because of how absolutely insane it was, so I'll cut it short here. It's wonderful. Read it.

The premise of this book seems so cool and that’s why I originally picked it up. But I ended up not even being able to finish this book because it was so confusing and I felt like it wasn’t very well thought out. I don’t think that the author did a good job explaining or creating the story in a tangible and comprehensible way for the reader. Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me.

The way this story is written leaves the reader feeling kind of disoriented and unsettled for the first third-ish of the book; while this is a stylistic choice and I understand what the author was going for, I felt like it made it hard for me to want to keep reading the story. The story is very strange and unexpected and almost whimsical, which sometimes feels at odds with the idea that this is a survival story. The writing is quirky and the cast of characters are interesting. this wasn't the story for me, but I can see why it would appeal to others.

I thought the premise of Jelly was interesting and quite different from anything else (although the Moby Dick vibes were there) from anything I'd read before.

Unfortunately, I only made it about 30 percent through the book before I realized it just wasn't appealing to me.

I think a younger audience may enjoy it however!

The premise was fascinating and the characters were well-written but something felt off. Maybe the book didn't need two predators? I have lots of questions about the setting. Certainly offers great discussion points.

Thanks to the publisher for access to this title. 3.5 stars

When the ice capes melted and the ocean levels rose, the world as we knew it was changed forever when large sea creatures came from the depths and turned to hunting humans as their new favorite. A large group of people find themselves stranded on an enormous jellyfish floating just off the coast and though they have made multiple attempts to reach the shore, nothing has worked in trying to escape their captor.

This is definitely a weird and bizarre story. It was somewhat difficult to get a good read on the timeline of events that had taken place before the reader is brought into the story, and the characters were somewhat hard to keep separated as there wasn't a lot to differentiate between them all. Overall, not a horrible read, but not a great one either.

I was so excited to read this book about living on the back of a Jellyfish. The subject was fresh and unique and especially intriguing for someone who loves all things water related as I do. The story mostly takes place on the back of a very large jellyfish after destruction of the world as we know it. The life of the inhabitants is developed in great detail which is fascinating but the action is lacking until the very end which, unfortunately, allowed me to lose some interest in the book. The ending ramped up the excitement factor but then trailed off again leaving me a bit confused. I do believe that many young adult readers will enjoy this book and it's different storyline. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Goofy and dystopian survival don't usually go together in a story description, but in "Jelly," the light-hearted approach to how the narrator and her comrades survive a giant Jellyfish (or is it?) and kriks is probably the best combination of funny and suspense I have seen in a while.

When I close my eyes and picture ways the world could end, I haven't ever seen killer crabs and giant jellyfish. However, it is poetic justice that the ocean reclaims the land that has polluted it for so long. It's undeniable that humans are killing ocean life and are over all bad for nature.

This novel turns humans into pets and flips the narrative. What if humans had to survive on the back of a giant jellyfish creature and are only able to eat what the jellyfish brings to them or whatever happens to wash up near their habitat? What if humans are put onto this jellyfish for their own protection since the world has been over-run with giant killer crab like creatures? Jelly explores all these questions and more.

4 teenagers have grown up on this jellyfish like creature. They have adapted and made the best of it. But land is out there. Will they have the courage to strike out on their own?

Sidenote: I do love that there is a hint of romance between a few characters, but overall, this novel is devoid of any romantic relationships and does not have a side love story. I can appreciate that.

Recommended: middle schoolers interested in marine biology and teens who like dystopian literature.

Just like a jellyfish, the flesh is there but it’s missing the skeleton

Who would think you could write an entire book about people living on top a giant floating jellyfish? Clare Rees did. This story has a unique and whimsical premise that immediately got me hooked. And I was not let down when I started the first pages, by immediately getting caught into a very intriguing post-apocalyptic waterworld-like setting following a group of survivors.

I struggled getting any attachments to the characters in the book, but perhaps a younger reader could empathize more with the teenage protagonists. Despite that, I enjoyed learning about this strange futuristic world where the oceans (full of plastic pollution) have risen. Every chapter seems to explain a little more about how humanity got to where it is, but in the end I did feel wanting a little more history and explanations. Even though I was interested and somewhat captivated by this book, there was a point towards 80% in where I was ready to put it down. I won’t lie, I struggled to get through the last 20%. If it weren’t for that, I might consider a 5-star instead of 4-star rating.

All in all, it has a interesting plot with a unique setting (I mean, hard to beat the top of a giant jellyfish) that skims the surface of today’s environmental issues. I am sure a lot of young readers will enjoy!

This is such a wild ride! I loved it. It reminds me of a Neal Shusterman novel (one of my favorite writers ever), particularly the Skinjacker trilogy (and also Challenger Deep!). The world-building is top-notch and I will definitely be using selections from this book in my creative writing class as a way to illustrate how one can build creative worlds in a unique, yet relatable way.

Rees is a great talent. I can't wait to read more.

Last, I love love love love the cover of this book.

Jelly is probably one of the strangest post-apocalyptic novels I’ve read to date, but I liked it. From the start, its premise was a point of interest to me, and the end result was as fascinating as I thought it would be. After all, how many stories do you get where the setting is on the back of a giant jellyfish? Not many.

One of the reasons I kept reading was because I wanted to see if the questions I had would be answered. How did they end up on the jellyfish anyway? Why did it keep them alive for so long? And will they ever escape?

There was a lot I enjoyed about Jelly. The beginning was kind of shaky, but once I got into the story, I was really into it. The time period was set in what could have been a handful of years from now—if giant frightening sea creatures existed—and as such there was a lot of commentary about global warming and rising sea levels woven in with the more fantastical elements of the story.

The setting was limited to the back of a giant jellyfish, and I did like how Rees handled that aspect of the story. There was a bit of a mind game going on here. While there was no authoritarian government to fend off, the jellyfish could almost be taken as a metaphor for one. The characters were in a bad predicament, and they were essentially forced to survive on what trash floated by and the handouts from the jellyfish. Where the mind game comes in, is how close the jellyfish remained to the coast. So it was always in sight, but there was no way to get to it. The sense of isolation and desperation was a common point for many of the characters for much of the story, but there was always that thin sliver of hope. This goes into characterization as well. For example, the narrator, Martha, was often snarky or quietly plotting as a way to pass the time. Her character was a prime example of the ways the isolation of the setting shaped who they were and how they navigated what was a horrifying situation.

Overall, Jelly was a good story. While I would have liked to see more about what was going on in other parts of the world, by keeping the focus of the story limited to one group, the ending proved to be a satisfying conclusion.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Amulet Books) via Netgalley for this review, thank you!

Mash up "Moby Dick," "Life of Pi," "Lord of the Flies," "The Phantom Tollbooth," and James Thurber's humor, and you'd have "Jelly." I was drawn to the story because of the ridiculousness of the characters' situation and wanted to know how it would all turn out (though, I wouldn't rule out a sequel).

The characters weren't fully-realized people; we're provided just enough description to keep them from being mixed up with each other, which was OK because the characters weren't 'the story.' Their predicament was 'the story.' Imagine being a survivor of a catastrophic event but finding yourself existing on a humongous jellyfish. Intriguing, right? Of course! The tale of their survival - how they lived, what they ate, what their shelter was, what they wore - all made for a great story.

The only thing I might caution to those who are squeamish about animal cruelty is the way the survivors treated their lifeboat jellyfish, which was rather cruelly. However, given that the jellyfish wouldn't allow them to leave its back, one could understand why the survivors reciprocated with torturous acts.

The reader is never told how the survivors initially ended up on the back of a jellyfish, and at the end of the story, we are left to imagine what the survivors next adventure might be. This tale requires two good imaginations, one from the author ✅ and one from the reader ✅.

I was more interested in the description of how this book came about than in the actual story. It's fascinating that it grew out of a class project.

The book was an interesting twist on dystopian worlds, but the storyline of living on a giant jellyfish for over a year was so far 'out there' that, even as a dystopian novel, it was nearly unbelievable. Still, it would appeal to some young adults as it was written from that viewpoint.

DNF at 35%. This book just isn’t doing anything for me. It feels like I’m reading someone’s novel-length description of a very weird dream. The writing is quirky and kind of amusing, but there’s nothing overall to hold my attention.

For me, this would have worked better as a short story.

This book was weird. It was weird in all the best ways. Martha, and a large group of survivors, are stranded on the back of an enormous jellyfish the size of a rugby pitch. As the four youngest of the group Martha and her friends are the main characters the reader follows. Honestly, I couldn't put this novel down. It's a coming of age novel in a post-apocalyptic setting with a really great message about being better than those that came before. Martha and her friends are seen as "kids" on the Jelly and don't really come into their own as people until halfway through the book. All of the teens/young adults (no ages or time span is given we just know it's been "AWHILE") are very blunt and pragmatic in their views of the current world, which works to their advantage and provides some wonderful humor that left me chuckling and remembering my own youth fondly. If you want an addicting book that has far more adventure and danger than it seems, grab Jelly. It's great!

This is one heck of a weird book. It took until about 30 percent before I was oriented to the story. Although I liked the way the author keeps you guessing about literally everything for the first quarter, it also made it difficult to get into the book. Around the 50 percent mark thing started to be cleared up and there was more of a linear narrative structure. These people are trapped on a giant Jellyfish, they have no idea how they got there. It seems like the rest of humanity may or may not have been obliterated. The cause of this seems likely to have been the rising seas and destruction of habitats which resulted in some creatures called kriks exiting the sea and eating all the people. The people on the Jellyfish- which may or may not actually be a real jellyfish, have been their a heck of a long time. Various escape plans are hatched and fail.

My biggest issue was that I didn't really care about any of the characters. The characterization was pretty thin. The main group of characters are some teens. They have some pretty broad, basic personality traits. James is the boy who makes nasty jokes, one of the other girls is angry all the time. I can't remember their names because I wasn't really invested in them The narrator and the other girl are pretty nondescript.

In short, at first I wanted to keep reading to to find out what the deal with the Jellyfish was. Then, I wanted to see how their first escape attempt would go, but then the pacing and the lack of interest in the characters put me off and I didn't really want to read it anymore.

*Received via NetGalley for review*

This was a super weird book, and I loved it. A group of humans (including out main characters, 4 young adults) have been living on the back of a jellyfish/sea creature, and are finally ready to do whatever it takes to escape.

Not a lot is explained, but it doesn't need to be. You feel the boredom and despair and excitement that everyone feels, and even though the premise is crazy, it feels REAL. Definitely an exciting new addition to the YA apocalyptic survival genre, and a must-read for fans of the weird.

Gorgeous cover. It was the cover of this book that drew me in. Also, the idea that, after what can only be seen as the apocolypse, there are many people stranded on the back of a jellyfish, out at sea? Yeah, sure. SIgn me up. This sounded like an exciting book. But do you know what happened? Nothing. Nothing happened because those folks were stuck out on the water, on top of a jellyfish, until they weren't. I'm sad to say that the cover was the best part of this book.