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Nice Eyebrows and Other Karmic Bodyslams
Jess was every mom, planning the lunches, picking up groceries after work, making sure everyone has clean underwear and is only using their own toothbrush. If you asked her, she wouldn't say she was unhappy, but she couldn't quite pull off domestic bliss, either. Then perimenopause joined the chat and Joss tumbled into the new reality that she's too old to be interesting, too young to be eccentric, and that no amount of time on the elliptical would change anything about that.
What Jess didn't know was that she would become invisible after forty, that she would virtually cease to be seen as a whole person and occasionally (often) be reduced to no more than a walking wallet with a driver's license. When the realization hits her like an ice-coated snowball to the forehead, she has no idea how to be seen again, but she's determined to pick up that ice ball and throw it right back.
There's an impulsive, nearly catastrophic haircut, discount self-care, and respite under the bed with the family dog, in between unintentionally viral attempts to subvert the patriarchy, all while trying to find just one - seriously, just ONE - pair of jeans that actually fits. Will Jess find a place among the youngsters in the spotlight or will she decide that being invisible isn't so bad after all?
What Jess didn't know was that she would become invisible after forty, that she would virtually cease to be seen as a whole person and occasionally (often) be reduced to no more than a walking wallet with a driver's license. When the realization hits her like an ice-coated snowball to the forehead, she has no idea how to be seen again, but she's determined to pick up that ice ball and throw it right back.
There's an impulsive, nearly catastrophic haircut, discount self-care, and respite under the bed with the family dog, in between unintentionally viral attempts to subvert the patriarchy, all while trying to find just one - seriously, just ONE - pair of jeans that actually fits. Will Jess find a place among the youngsters in the spotlight or will she decide that being invisible isn't so bad after all?
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 1, 2025
Have you ever got stuck behind a full shopping cart in the middle of a narrow aisle while the owner is off living their best life three sections away and struggled with how many petty small actions your brain is suggesting for dealing with that person? Or watched a grown adult have a meltdown over something no one could control and thought "oh, so this is how supervillains are made"?
Well, then Nice Eyebrows and Other Karmic Bodyslams might be the kind of cathartic chaos you deserve. Because this book not only understands that feeling. It also hands you the cape and the theme music for your petty villain arc.
Jess, the main character, is a wonderfully complicated woman trying to figure herself out. I love that Knelsen didn’t try to make her perfect or super likable. She made her real. Jess is messy, angry, vulnerable, and honest.
Also, she's done. Done being polite, done with disappearing. Done with everyone's nonsense. She’s a little wild in the best way: taking revenge for wronged cashiers, turning pettiness into an art form and scaring neighbours by screaming her rage to the void (location of the void: under her bed).
There's so much realness in this book. Like the quiet heartbreak when people start treating you like you’re invisible. Or the ache of having to shrink yourself down to please everyone else.
Don't ask me about technicalities. I'm a character driven reader. Give me a compelling, layered, complex one and I'm sold. Also, ngl, I went through this book the same way I do through a pack of plantain chips (inhaling them at unsafe speeds). All while cheering like a drunk auntie at a family wedding.
The best I can do is point out that the writing is scrappy and raw, with tons of personality, energy, and emotion.
For the rest, go read the book. Trust me, you won't regret it.
Well, then Nice Eyebrows and Other Karmic Bodyslams might be the kind of cathartic chaos you deserve. Because this book not only understands that feeling. It also hands you the cape and the theme music for your petty villain arc.
Jess, the main character, is a wonderfully complicated woman trying to figure herself out. I love that Knelsen didn’t try to make her perfect or super likable. She made her real. Jess is messy, angry, vulnerable, and honest.
Also, she's done. Done being polite, done with disappearing. Done with everyone's nonsense. She’s a little wild in the best way: taking revenge for wronged cashiers, turning pettiness into an art form and scaring neighbours by screaming her rage to the void (location of the void: under her bed).
There's so much realness in this book. Like the quiet heartbreak when people start treating you like you’re invisible. Or the ache of having to shrink yourself down to please everyone else.
Don't ask me about technicalities. I'm a character driven reader. Give me a compelling, layered, complex one and I'm sold. Also, ngl, I went through this book the same way I do through a pack of plantain chips (inhaling them at unsafe speeds). All while cheering like a drunk auntie at a family wedding.
The best I can do is point out that the writing is scrappy and raw, with tons of personality, energy, and emotion.
For the rest, go read the book. Trust me, you won't regret it.
June 1, 2025
Beach read meets perimenopause. Very relatable, easy ready.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews