Tell Me Three Things

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PHILIPPINE RESIDENTS!!! FILIPINO BOOKWORMS! YOU CAN WIN A CHANCE TO READ THIS BOOK EARLY! JOIN MY GIVEAWAY HERE! What age level would be appropriate? At least teenager. Some mentions of sex, drug, and drinking. Not much details on anything. The protagonist's romance is very PG. Jessie was an ok character. Nothing about her made a lasting impression on me, but her perspective as a teenager was more accurate than most YA books. Within the standard-issue teen romance is a heartfelt, wryly perceptive account of coming to terms with irrevocable loss when life itself means inevitable change. Can I also say that I wanted more Theo? I love the bond that formed between him and Jessie despite the way things may have started (temper tantrum anyone?). They were good for each other and it was lovely to see the way their relationship develop.

Plus, there's that typical “type of girl” line (along with its close relative, “one of those girls”). They say don't mess with the classics!!! I LOVE how real all of Buxbaum's characters seemed to me! Wood Valley High is very different from my high school, yet the high school experience is (for the most part) is at least similarly and generally understood by most. This high school is filled with rich snobs, with perfect hair, model good looks, weird organic food... I've never been to L.A., but I can stretch my imagination and believe it. Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first weekof junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to livewith her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son, and to start at a new school where she knows no one. I’d avoid the meat loaf too, just to be on the safe side. in fact, stay out of the cafeteria altogether. that shit will give you salmonella.

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I kept trying to make excuses for it - that it was just supposed to be a lighthearted, funny book, but I couldn’t get past it. Guess it's a personal thing. I might just be wearing my grumpy pants today. A lot of the girl hate in this book is combined with another, less common but still thrilling type of hate: Californian hate/rich people hate/hippie hate??? I don't really know what to call it, but our main gal Jessie had to move from Chicago to California and she is so mad about it, you guys. Examples! And the constant L.A. stereotypes were more annoying than funny. Maybe I don't have a right to be annoyed by this just because I've lived out here for a while, but some of them are just so blatantly untrue that it feels like the author knows nothing about the city. Everyone is definitely not skinny. Girls do not always wear skimpy dresses (in fact, L.A. is super casual compared to the U.K. and most people wear jeans and baggy tees). No, people do not always watch movies instead of reading. Girls are definitely not all blonde (high Hispanic and Asian population, actually). No, the grass is not always bright green just because it's always summer (sun + drought = not a good recipe for green grass).

Theo. Jessie's stepbrother is such an asshole in the beginning, but he actually turns out to be incredibly honest, funny, and supportive. He is one of my favorite aspects about this book.

Einziger Kritikpunkt war für mich, dass das Ende mir zu schnell kam und ich gern ein wenig offenes Ende für Dri gehabt hätte. I know I just said how I loved that this book had no physical intimacy in it (like the only kiss comes at the very end, in the "reveal" scene). BUT I also personally find this to be a negative because I looove physical interactions in a book that has such a great romance in it! However I can see how that wouldn't really fit, in this book. But still. Maybe I’m becoming one of those cynical readers who criticizes everything (*screams*) but finding a realistic, relatable contemporary that has a good message and is enjoyable to read just seems so difficult lately.

When Jessie meets Ethan to work on The Waste Land, she can’t ignore that she has a huge crush on him. They discuss The Waste Land as they walk; Ethan puts on his sunglasses and looks even more unreachable. He shares that he has most of the poem memorized, since he reads poetry when he can’t sleep. Later, as Jessie and SN text, they start a game in which they each share three things. SN’s third thing is that he likes Jessie. Jessie feels the same way, but she also feels weird—SN could be anyone. To earn Jessie’s trust, SN shares that his sister died a year ago. He admits that he counts the days, hours, and minutes since she died. At about the same time, Liam texts Jessie asking about work, Ethan texts Jessie about The Waste Land, and Scarlett texts Jessie a picture of her homecoming dress. This a delightful, funny, solid, read that I highly recommend to friends who love a well done YA book. The story hit all the right buttons for me and left me with a huge smile on my face. Sometimes in life, you come across a book that is just so good and leaves you smiling for hours after you read it, and Tell Me Three Things is a book like that my friends. And because of that, my actual review is going to be littered with spoilers, so read at your own risk!I'm done with hate-filled quotes, so I'm just going to leave you with a cringe to end the night: “You know what I heart? Nutella. And pajama pants. And an awesomesauce book.” The deepest smile on my face, the lightest feeling I've had for the longest while, a warmness surrounding my heart... these were the things I've felt while AND after reading this book. I went from "Hmmm, this is interesting!" to "OMFG THIS IS THE CUTEST!!! MY HEART!!! ASDFGHJKL;" in like a fraction of a second once the book reeled me in its grasp. And trust me, it didn't even try. It was just absolutely, 100% effortless. I don't think I'll write a full review for this. It seems that all my GR friends loved it and I don't want to be that one party pooper who writes a negative review (again).

This book surprised me in the best way possible. I don't regret accepting the review request even one bit because it was so very worth it. Julie Buxbaum is now an insta-buy for me, and I have no doubt she will be an insta-buy for you guys as well once you get a dose of this beautiful, funny, cute, light-hearted story. This is a very well done YA that goes on my favorites of the year list. All the characters were developed, the pacing perfect, and the ending is smile-inducing. I don't like the comments Jessie make about other girls she sees at her school. Some skinny-shaming, slut-shaming, girl-hating-on-girls, etc. There are also some stereotyping. We're also granted the prize of some fun, descriptive phrases, like "a revolting group of too-loud giggling girls" (there's that loudness again!) I don't understand Scarlet. (And she has Korean blood! I mean, really?! Enough with the K-pop thing, please!) She and Jessie texted in a good vibe but when Jessie came to visit her, suddenly it was like she didn't want Jessie there. What is wrong with these people? And when Scarlet said Jessie only whined about her life while they were texting, that wasn't true. Jessie did asked about her life too, like how's she doing with Adam and all that. Yes, I'm on Jessie's side here. And what happened to Jessie at her visit did make me sad (And I think this is the best part of the story) How could two besties be like that? And they only two months separated, not years. So, come on! Grow up!and i love that this story also talked about really deep and meaningful topics, but did so in a very approachable way. and it didnt lessen the adorableness of the book by any means. if anything, it only made it feel more genuine. i would recommend this to anyone looking for a great YA contemporary to easily fall in love with! Perfect days are for people with small, realizable dreams. Or maybe for all of us, they just happen in retrospect; they’re only now perfect because they contain something irrevocably and irretrievably lost. Tell Me Three Things is one of the most relatable YA contemporaries I’ve read this year. The story line is simple, the plot not so eventful and yet it’s everything. It’s so easy to connect with Jessie, a teenage girl who just like any other girl is simply trying to figure out who she is. It isn’t easy being a teenager as it is but having to lose her mom at such a tender age and having to adjust to a new life that is very different from what she’s known- new home, new stepmom and step brother, I doubt I’d handle things any better than she did in the story.