Tell Me Three Things: a book review
Calling all young adult readers! Tell Me Three Things is a book that will keep you on your toes page after page. Even as a 22-year-old, I enjoyed this book, however, I definitely felt as if it was targeted at a younger audience. The book follows 16-year-old Jessie, a witty highschooler who recently lost her mother to cancer. While Jesse is still dealing with her mother's sudden death, she is thrown for a curve ball: her father has already remarried and is moving them from Chicago to Los Angeles. Thrown into a brand new school, a brand new family, and pretty much a brand new lifestyle and world, Jesse struggles to make new friends and find her identity. She is homesick and longing for her old life when SN (Somebody Nobody) enters stage left.
SN, a mysterious person, starts reaching out to Jessie online promising to help her tackle this new life she has been given. Think a fairy godmother! Of course, Jessie is skeptical at first but over time she starts to feel a real connection with SN. They talk about everything from their favorite foods to what experiences they have encountered in life. Through IMs, she feels safe to ask SN questions about what to wear to parties, who to befriend, and who to stay the heck away from. SN is her lifeline into this new tumultuous world she is living in. Because of SN, she starts to get along with the stepbrother who constantly ignores her, rebuilds a relationship with her estranged father, and make connections with her new stepmother.
Jessie is a character that you can absolutely relate to as she encounters the crazy world that is high school. (Think the high school on Mean Girls or Pretty Little Liars though!) She doesn't fit in at Wood Valley and only a few people actually care to reach out and get to know the real her. She is someone you find rooting for and hoping her and SN's relationship comes to a happy end and isn't some hoax.
The only downside to SN is that they won't disclose who they are and Jessie can't help but wonder who it may be. Is it Adri, her only in-person friend at Wood Valley? Could it be Theo, her moody new step-brother? Liam, her co-worker? Or Ethan, her English partner? The options are endless! And, it may take a few errors to figure it out, but in the end you can't help but be happy with the person Julie Buxbaum chose for SN's identity.
Buxbaum writes eloquently in a teenager's point of view, disclosing that she desired to write this book after she also lost her mother. Jessie is relatable, real and genuinely intriguing. Buxbaum makes her readers second guess everything as they encounter issues like death, marriage, family, change and self-identity. The book seems as if it would be predictable, but it isn't! Sure, you are rooting for a certain character to be SN but then Buxbaum throws you for a loop! You are never quite sure where the book is going to go, which makes this novel a quick page-turner as you struggle to find out who SN is. The book is funny, witty and sad at times, but I promise you, it will absolutely fly by. (Especially when an entire page is taken up with IM messages).
I invite you to take an adventure as Jessie and SN form an online connection and discover “three things” about each other each time they communicate. This book will leave you with a smile on your face and wishing for a sequel! I am dying to know what happens after the big reveal! And just so you know, Buxbaum doesn't go easy on you. She will leave you second guessing and confused until the final few pages, so get ready to be stumped and pleasantly surprised!
I will say I found some of the male characters in the book a little hard to keep track of. They all kind of blended together. That being said, pay special attention when they are introduced and remember their different quirks and stories. It may just help you figure out who SN is before the last chapter reveals it! ;)
Has anyone else read this yet? What were your thoughts with the ending? Plus, if you have any book recommendations, please comment below! (I am running low on my to-read list!)