Tell Me Three Things By- Julie Buxbaum

27# Book Review– ★★★★★ (4.5 stars)

Tell Me Three Things

By-

Julie Buxbaum

Okay oh my god, give me a moment.

*Screams*

*Flails arms like a drunk penguin*

*Screams some more*

*Tries to control the excessive amount of feels*

*Fails*

Okay, this book was amazing. Like I want this book to end but I don’t want it to end amazing. Like, I feel the characters are my best friend amazing. Like I just about died from all those feels and this should be made into a movie amazing.

So here’s a short summary first:

Jessie’s mother died after she got sick, leaving Jessie alone with her father who was, like Jessie, deeply impacted by this sudden loss. Fast forward a couple of months, her father meets this rich woman Rachel, falls in love with her, marries her, and off Jessie is whisked from her simple life in Chicago to Wood Valley, Los Angeles where she is supposed to adjust into her new life—with her step mother Rachel, who she can’t help but hate (and secretly refers to as the ‘stepmonster’), her gay stepbrother Theo who basically pretends she doesn’t exist, and into her new high school that basically comprises of these really snobby rich kids who think she’s pathetic.

Life couldn’t get worse.

Then in swoops ‘Somebody Nobody’ this anonymous person who goes to her school. He emails her and offers to guide her through the treacherous waters of this new territory. Jessie can’t help but accept.

Her life slowly becomes bearable as she tries to tackle with the loss of her mother, makes new friends, deals with the absence of her best friend Scarlett, and tries to gain control of the crush she’s slowly developing on Ethan, the local hottie slash guitar player of the local band ‘Orgasmville’ who has this mysterious loner guy thing going on for him.

All through this, Somebody Nobody aka SN is her constant companion.

This book was really, really cute. It was super entertaining, and I haven’t read a YA Romance like this in a long, long time. It had everything. There was humor, there was emotion, there was drama, and so much anticipation and mystery. I practically devoured this book.

One of the main reasons why I loved this book so much is because I was able to connect with the female protagonist of this novel—Jessie. I’m nineteen years old now, but I was transported back in time, to when I was fifteen. I remember being insecure, and super self-conscious; being that girl who had this intense fire burning inside her, and all this sass and humor, but who never was able to express it properly. I remembered how awesome I sounded over texts, and I realized how cool I was virtually, and how not cool in real life.

I remember having this intense desire to be seen, to be noticed. I was tired of being the invisible girl who lurked in the shadows. I wanted someone to notice me, to want me, to want to know me. (I still do)

I remember moving away, leaving everything behind and getting distanced from my best friend and the kind of uncomfortable strain it put on both of us, as we both tried to adjust to a new life that was devoid of the other. I remember being bullied at my new school and that feeling of not being accepted.

So yes, you could say that I’m a little biased and the reason I probably loved this book was because I could relate so well to it, and put myself in the main character’s shoes.

So why should you read it? I’ll tell you.

You are not just a reader when you read this book. You become a part of it. And that’s a big deal. It’s one thing to observe everything as an audience, and another to be right in the middle of it. This book pulls you in and plops you right in the middle of this book, and you experience everything first hand. The credit can be given to the writing style of the author, which is part ramblings of a confused, coming-of-age teenager, and someone who is very, very human. The characters were believable, playing slightly on the cliché side but not becoming predictable or just surface-level characters. They felt real. Especially Jessie. You can understand her pain, and her insecurity. She makes you feel like you’re her friend, and she’s letting you in on a secret.

Initially, the story didn’t seem to have a very visible plot. It just felt like a bunch of things were happening. But eventually we could see where it was going. This book was obviously a character-centric book, and quite a good one. The character development definitely took place, at a realistic pace and not in an overly outright fake manner. In fact, almost all the characters underwent some development so that was pretty good.

The book was funny, though not hilarious, it had drama (not a lot, but it did.) But most of all, it piqued my curiosity. It was super fun to read and I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know what happens in the end. It was super cute. And did I mention the feels? Oh my god, them feels! It’ll remind you how it feels to be a teenager, and how a crush actually feels like and it’ll just really play with your emotions in good way. Also, one really redeeming thing about the main character was that she was written smartly in a manner, that made her oblivious to a lot of obvious things without making her seem dense or dim-witted or naïve. Her obliviousness seemed perfectly plausible, if you see it from a teenager’s perspective. And I know because I used to be that way (still kind of am.)

All in all, it was a really entertaining read, and not fully predictable or anything. A very good one-time read!