Tell Me Three Things

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Caleb, Ethan, and Liam felt interchangeable. Like there wasn’t a lot of difference between them. SN had more depth than any of these men. And Jessie objectified them most of the time. Their floppy hair, their piercing eyes… I was waiting for her to discover more. 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. There’s really not much reason to write any sort of detailed review on this. Rachel summed it up perfectly in hers when she said “this book is the straight version of Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda .” She’s spot on – and she’s also 100% accurate when she says it doesn’t even matter. If you loved Simon, you should love this one too and if you’re anything like me you will have your co-workers terrified and asking . . . . .

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. Jessie has had her life flipped upside down over the last few years… the death of her mother two years ago was just the beginning. Now her father’s suddenly met someone new and married her of all things. But that’s not the only surprise. They’re selling the house she grew up in in Chicago and moving to L.A. for her junior year of high school and she gets no say in the whole mess. 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 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!Jessie’s unassimilated grief over her mother’s death makes her dad’s abrupt marriage to Rachel, a wealthy widow he met online, and their subsequent move from Chicago to her mansion in Los Angeles feel like betrayal. I really loved Jessie. Her grief for her mother is heartbreaking and having to give up everything familiar without any thought to how it will affect her had me wanting to pull her father aside and say “really?” I loved that eventually she and her father had it out and when she said she was allowed to be angry… I seriously wanted to hug her and say yes… yes you are! you make me want to know what goes on in that head of yours. I’ll be honest: I’m not usually interested in the contents of other people’s heads. my own is work enough. Tell Me Three Things is a charming YA read that has the perfect amount of friendship, humor, emotion, and a touch of romance. The women in LA all have taut skin, the kind pumped full of injectables that render them ageless, just as believably forty as seventy.” This antifeminist manifesto just wouldn't be complete if we didn't touch on some plastic surgery-shaming.

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.I was pleasantly surprised by Buxbaum’s debut YA novel and I think that a lot of people are going to fall in love with her writing and this story once it’s out. 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.

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). Being that Jessie is now in an exclusive private high school so of course I was expecting the mean girls that she experiences. I wish we had a bit more reasoning behind the way Gem and her friends all treat her so horribly. (Is it because she’s not like them?) I will say that I loved the bond she had with Dri and Scarlett and ultimately Agnes though I was sort of confused about her role in the book, possibly to show that Dri wouldn’t be replacing Scarlett in any way (I believe she says at one point that Agnes is Dri’s Scarlett?) This was my first book by this author, and I enjoyed it for the most part. The beginning and the premise of the book was quite interesting, but it became very typical YA romance after that. I need to start off by saying that I LOVE this trope. It's random, but I love the whole secret admirer plot. So I had a strong feeling I was going to love this, and I did. 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.This book is the straight version of Simon Vs. the Homo-sapiens Agenda, and while they are very similar, it actually didn't bother me that much. I enjoyed each book for different reasons. 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! I felt the ‘all the boys fall for the new girl’ thing was a little over done. Whether intended or not. Whether stated or not. It just felt that way; and it annoyed me to no end. But the relationships, be they potential romances or not, were all very cute and adorable. I actually had a lot of fun reading ‘Tell Me Three Things.’ 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.