Tell Me Three Things

Overall I found this book very enjoyable. I thought the banter between Jessie and Somebody/Nobody was very funny and realistic. It was a very feel-good book, and I recommend this to anyone out there in the mood for a romantic story. But although this was a fun read I was a bit disappointed by the very predictable plot. It was very obvious from the start who SN was and although the author tries to make us believe it was someone else it was not credible at all. The author is clearly very talented, and I believe they could have made this a bit less predictable. This is why I would rate this book 4/5 stars. But I decided to up this book to 5 stars for the following reasons:The reason that I picked up this book was because of the most 'helpful' comment out there. The commenter of that review gave one star to the book because she felt it was too graphic for her 13-year old daughter. I picked up this book not because I wanted to read graphic scenes but because I was absolutely outraged that someone would give one star to the author because in their opinion this was 'too graphic'. The responsibility of what is considered okay for a 13-years-old is up to the parent, and it is not my place to have an opinion about this. But giving a one-star review for that very reason is deplorable. Indeed it is not the author's fault if this book does not live up to the standards of a parent. A review is supposed to criticize the book for its plot, its character development and overall to give feedback to the author. I have all the respect in the world for people who give one-star reviews to my favorite book as long as they do so with constructed criticism. This is not a criticism here but a complaint originating from specific moral beliefs. In my opinion, this is completely disrespectful towards the author who deserves valid criticism. By giving a one-star review you are plundering the average rating of the book, and doing so without actual criticisms seems unacceptable to me. This is why I felt that I needed to up by a star my review, to make up for what I consider an unacceptable review.There are many other ways to complain if a parent feels that this is not acceptable for younger audiences such as writing an actual complaint to the editor and asking that warnings be put in place. Moreover, I want to point out that the label YA and other reviews that recommended this for high school teenagers might have given a hint to the person who wrote this bad review that this might not have been acceptable for her daughter.Going back to my actual review I want to add that the character development of Jessie was also very well done. We see the evolution of how she deals with grief splendedly. She was a very real character and I felt that I could relate to her a great deal. The other characters also had personalities that were easily distinguishable, making it an even more enjoyable read.This book was enjoyable and as I believe I've said before a very fun read, which I thank the author for.

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum4.5 stars!!!“In the Venn diagram of my life, my imagined personality and my real personality have never converged. Over email and text, though, I am given those few additional beats I need to be the better, edited version of myself. To be that girl in the glorious intersection.”I love a good YA, despite my forty-two years of age. When a YA is done well, age is just a number and the story has the capacity to transport you back to your teens and this is what Julie Buxbaum did. This book was the perfect balance of emotion, banter and wit and with poetic prose that keeps those pages turning you will find yourself turning the last page before you know it or want it.“Maybe home doesn’t have to be a place.”Jessie’s mother died two years ago, she thought that was the worst of it, but her father drops a doozie, he has eloped, got married and now they need to pack their bags and move to Chicago to move into the home of her step-mother and her son. Leaving the home she loves and her friends behind Jessie is despondent especially when she sees what a far cry from her norm her step-mothers home really is.“One of the worst parts about someone dying is thinking back to all those times you didn’t ask the right questions, all those times you stupidly assumed you’d have all the time in the world. And this too: how all that time feels like not much time at all. What’s left feels like something manufactured. The overexposed ghosts of memories.”With a mansion, a fancy private school, a pain in the arse step brother and a step mother that just keeps trying Jessie feels like one tiny little fish in an ocean of posh, entitled sharks. Jessie struggles to fit in at school, friendship dynamics that have been born since birth and social standing are hard to infiltrate and with cliques as tight as theirs Jessie was fighting a losing battle. The new girl is the easy target.“Welcome. To. The. Jungle.”Fresh blood in school means new eye candy and it isn’t long before Jessie captures unwanted attention, but it seems she has found an ally, if only she knew who it was. “Somebody Nobody” is her intel, a friend who wishes to remain anonymous and gives Jessie the lay of the land, who to trust and who to befriend. They soon become fast friends communicating only through words, but it is these words that Jessie becomes reliant upon and the more they communicate the more she wants to know who it is.“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.”This was a fantastic read, I adored everything about it and while I “knew” who “Somebody Nobody” was I wasn’t really, truly sure until the reveal happened. You know who want it to be, but the thought of it not being them was heart breaking.“He’s more like me, I think: burdened with the realization that what goes on in his mind is somehow different from what goes on in everyone else’s. Even those closest to us.”Julie Buxbaum perfectly navigates school life and that constant ache to fit in, to be somebody, to be seen for who you really are, not what people want to see. The difficulties of life after death on both child and lone parent and the impact moving on really has. But most of all it was about friendships, the companionships, the highs and lows and finally about love. Getting to know that someone so deeply, without a face, without an image, to sway perceptions…know the person first. Adored it!!“Tell me three things…”