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This isn’t the kind of book that I usually review – despite being generally dedicated to YA, I couldn’t not review this, even though it’s non-fiction & music. It’s safe to say I’m a Tegan and Sara obsessive. I totally do not have a dedicated Tumblr ahem. So… this post doesn’t quite fit my blog demographic but I need to fangirl. Pls excuse my bad photos.

sojealousx.com description: It was nearly a year ago when we started talking about how to celebrate the 10th anniversary of So Jealous. We all agreed we needed to put together something really special; an extensive look back at a record that changed our sound and the course of our career.

We’re re-releasing the record and packaging it with our live DVD, “It’s Not Fun, Don’t Do It!”, as well as a 22-track bonus CD containing b-sides, previously unreleased demos, and new remixes of our favourite songs from the record.

The three discs will be bound into a beautiful hard cover book that contains over 100 pages covering every memorable So Jealous moment we could recall, along with personal accounts from the plethora of characters involved in recording, releasing, marketing, and touring the record. Not to mention tons of never-before-seen photos, many from our own personal albums.

My Review: I’ve been a Tegan and Sara fan since mid-last year, when I discovered them: So I’m not a long-time fan, as many are. However, I think I was nearly as excited as most long-time fans when I found out about So Jealous X: The tenth anniversary re-release & book, celebrating my favourite album of theirs.

I love So Jealous, the album, because of its indie-rock feel and the beautiful lyrics. I practically begged my parents for a pre-order of So Jealous X... My little fangirl heart died a little when I opened it on Christmas.

The book is just so gorgeous to look at. I’m a big fan of Emy Storey, Tegan and Sara’s artist, who had so much input on the layout of the book. The look and feel of So Jealous X is just amazing. It feels like a very personal scrapbook made at the time; I loved leafing through all of the dreamy-looking polaroids and funny candid shots from backstage on tour!

So Jealous X is a complete, and brilliant, archive of everything So Jealous-era. There’s so much more than I thought would be in there: I was expecting the book to be some pages of song lyrics, some photos of behind the scenes production… And So Jealous X does include that… along with poster artwork, and merchandise archives, and music video storyboards, and press shot outtakes, and brilliant anecdotes, and even more.

I enjoyed everything. I would totally buy more Tegan and Sara books – maybe on the tenth anniversaries of their albums post-So-Jealous, there’ll be more?;D

The writing was so fantastic: I loved reading Tegan and Sara’s introductions to the book (They were so nostalgic and wistful-sounding) and especially loved all of the inputs from band members like Ted Gowans, guitarist. It was so fascinating to read how important So Jealous was to Tegan and Sara – their accounts shows how pivotal the album was.

On Christmas day, I intended to read just the intros by the twins, and ended up sitting and reading the entire book in one go. And I’ve reread many parts since. Reading about the whole band’s experiences and memories – from Tegan and Sara themselves, to managers and art directors – makes you feel like you were there with them.

Also, it’s not just the book that’s beautiful – this goes a lot off topic from a book review, but the book does come with SO Jealous, the album, plus the DVD from the era “It’s Not Fun, Don’t Do It!” and a bonus CD of remixes and covers and demos of songs from So Jealous. The DVD made me laugh wayyyy too much, and the bonus audio that had never been heard before was so mind-blowingly awesome. I really liked the covers of Tegan and Sara songs included – my favourite has to be the screamo-ish So Jealous rendition by the Cancer Bats. I haven’t stopped listening to it!

Overall, I couldn’t have loved So Jealous X more. I love how personal So Jealous X feels to fans – with a whole, colour book, containing so many experiences and recounts and photos, along with two album’s worth of songs and a DVD, it’s so much more than just a re-release. Though quite a bit of money, I really recommend it if you’re a fan of the Quin twins, or if you’re looking for a crazy, amazing new band to discover. 😀 // End fangirling.

My Rating:

I received So Jealous X as a Christmas present!