Tell Me Three Things

Actual rating: 4.5 stars I'm going to write this review a bit differently than I normally do, by telling you three things: 1. I am definitely reading more from Julie Buxbaum in the future. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I truly enjoyed this novel. There was so much to love about it, and while the underlying story wasn't revolutionary, I loved the unique way Julie Buxbaum navigated the topic of high school and feeling out of place. There was just something special about her writing style, as well as the characters she created. You will easily fall in love with the story and the characters, especially Jessie (our MC). I never got tired of reading this book, in fact, I actually didn't want to stop reading it! Julie Buxbaum managed to tell a story that was filled with sadness and depth, mixed with humor and fun. Yes, I figured out who S.N. was pretty early on (as I suspect most other readers will too), but this certainly didn't detract from the story in any way. In fact, it keeps you reading because you want to see how Jessie and S.N.'s story unfolds. 2. This book is incredibly real and raw, and that's the reason I loved it so much. “Just because you're strong doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for help sometimes. Remember that.”> Tell Me Three Things leaves you with a whole bunch of emotions all at once. The story instantly transports you back to when you were 16 and in high school (if you're an older reader like myself that is). And honestly, Julie Buxbaum just gets it. She captures exactly how it feels to be on the outside looking in, when you have multiple fears of not only the future but just how you're going to survive in this world where it seems like no one wants to be your friend. She captures just what it means when you hesitate being yourself because your insecure about who you are and you're not quite sure of anything or anyone. “He's more like me, I think: burdened with the realization that what goes on his mind is somehow different from what goes on everyone else's. Even those close to us. And how you can't think about that for too long, because that thought- the truth of your own isolation- is too much to bear.” Countless readers will be able to relate to Jessie because she is you and me and pretty much everyone trying to navigate the crazy world that is high school. Ultimately, Julie Buxbaum created very human characters that show what it means to be a teenager today. It also makes you wonder what if you had someone like S.N. to help you out during your experience. Would things have been different? I wish I had this book when I was 16 because this book would have probably been my lifeline in many ways. But the one excellent thing about this novel is that it reminds all of us to sometimes just let it all go, and let things happen the way they are supposed to. Trust the journey because you never know who might reach out and come into your life. 3. You need to read this book now! I high recommend adding this book to your TBR right away, and the reading it as soon as possible. There is so much to love about this book and I think everyone will have a different experience while reading. Some might not like it, but if you're like me, you'll find something to take away from Jessie's character. It was a quick-read that will appeal to many contemporary fans. This is a story of love, friendship, and finding yourself. But it is also a story of acceptance. Happy reading :)

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum 4.5 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…”

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! ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Our story starts with Jessie, who's just moved to California from Chicago because her dad remarried after her mom died, receiving an email from Somebody Nobody (or SN for short) offering her help and advice to settle into her new school. SN is sweet, thoughtful, and intriguing, and soon they leave their email conversation behind and begin IMing. SN knows who Jessie is, but Jessie has no idea who SN is. As she deals with coping with her mom's death, moving across the country, her new stepmother and brother, and dealing with being the new kid, she also tries to discover the identity of SN. Will the identity be obvious to you, the reader? Yes. Of course. This is YA, not rocket science. And if you have an issue with knowing the ending before it happens, then this genre isn't for you. Just like if you have issues with "lots of girl-on-girl hate" as multiple reviews called it, then YA probably isn't the genre for you. She's 16. And has runs in with mean girls who call her names in class and trip her so hard she bruises her face. So yeah, Jessie isn't Gem's biggest fan. Shock-er. I loved how real the issues were in this book, and how well written the teens were as they dealt with them. It seems to be a trend in YA to have more explicit scenes (which I am so not a fan of), but the way that sex was handled in this book was more realistic (still not 100% necessary for the plot, but whatevs). It was raw, it was confusing, it was... everything it would be if 2 16 year olds are discussing it - which, fyi it's Jessie and her best friend Scarlett discussing if Scarlett should have sex with her new boyfriend, and one of Jessie's new friends discussing her experience. Jessie seemed to have this air of maturity about her as she discussed sex with the various friends and in how she handled coping with her mother's death. It's definitely a tear jerker topic, but the author handles it oh-so-perfectly. I adored the character development. On Jessie's quest to discover SN's identity and adjust to new life in CA, she meets 2 new girlfriends (one, per SN's suggestion) and 3 boys. Unlike other reviewers have suggested, there really isn't a love triangle here. Jessie begins to fall for SN, thinks rando Caleb could be SN, starts to like Ethan after they pair up for an English assignment, and starts to maybe, kind of, sort of form an awkward friendship with Liam. She obviously sees SN in everyone, and uses any small clue to try and guess his identity. So again, yes the identity of SN is obvious to the reader (or at least, it's obvious that it's not Caleb), but that's not really the point. The point is to follow a girl through her story, and the author does a brilliant job at steering us through it. The characters, the insecurities, the texting and emailing, it was all just so good! I loved the three things SN and Jessie would share back and forth! Such a cute way to get to know someone new (and then fall for them). I loved the bond that was forged between SN and Jessie, Jessie and her new friends, and Jessie and the new boys. I loved the back and forth of Jessie's feelings as she tried to discover who SN really is. I even loved the awkwardness of all three of the potential SNs showing up when she was finally meeting him. I felt Jessie's nerves as she's trying to get out of answering Liam's question and graple with disappointment thinking he's the SN she's been falling for. I felt Ethan's panic as he realizes what took place right before he arrived and tries to save the situation before Jessie answers. I loved it. It was done so well. Pretty much the only thing I did not love about this book was the ending. It was poetic and perfect, and exactly what the story called for. I just happen to be very selfish and would like more. Like, a lot more. An epilogue would've been nice, but another 2 or so chapters would've been better. I want to know more! I want to see more! I want to see Jessie and Ethan both get a happy ending beyond just their first, sweet kiss. What's the real beef the boys have? What happens to Ethan's mom? How does the meeting of the parents go? What about school? Do things get better for Jessie now that she's with Ethan and officially not interested in Liam? Can I just get a liiiiiitle bit more time with them as a couple? Pretty, pretty puh-leaseeeee? I swear I would still walk away with a satisfied smile on my face. (As a side note, her English teacher really bothered me as a young teacher myself. Everyone can hear Gem coughing her insults and the teacher never once says, "Enough"? Like... okay...? It made me cringe. Some obviously gets tripped in her class, and she asks not the tripper, but the trip to stay behind and talk to her? No, no, no, no. No. And then the way she talked to Jessie the first time... ugh. I'm glad she apologized, but like, lady, come on.) Bottom line is this: it's a story that deals with some heavy topics, and it handles them really well. It's also a book that just plain nails being YA literature. It is sweet, and raw, and authentic. I highly recommend it. To you, to my girlfriends, and to my students.

The story is typical YA. It is written from Jessie’s POV, the lead character. Her dad remarried and they ended up moving to sunny LA where her rich stepmom and stepbrother lives. She left her bestfriend Scar and the rest of her life in Chicago. New school (entirely different from her old one). New people (full of rich kids). New friends? Hopefully. Pretty girl who doesn’t think she’s hot. Has issues with her dad for moving to LA without consulting her. Then come the knight and shining armor to save the day, or should I say knights since there are two of them? One anonymous and one irl (in real life for you). The guesswork on who SN is is not really much of a work for the reader. I think the moment Jessie tried to guess and guessed miserably wrongly is the moment I closed the book (or turned off my Kindle to be precise) and decided to sleep (just so you know, I started reading this before going to sleep and I ended up sleeping at around 60% of the book). It is too cliche for me. Nevertheless, I must go on and finish the book the next day because while the plot is not really a surprise, the writing is really good. Plus I really want Jessie to know SN already and for them to have a happily ever after (I’m a sucker for HEAs). Similar with Jessie, I also prefer writing over talking, so the emails/IMs/texts between the characters are so fun to read. I find re-reading the conversations again and again and again. The use of uncommon words are effortlessly molded in the conversations and I did really look up the meaning a number of times (innuendo, trope, equivocally?, etc.). The poetry discussions – while I don’t really get it, is interesting. I might read The Waste Land one of these days even if just the first paragraph and really try to understand what it means. I may even read a book by Gertrude Stein. A rose is a rose is a rose. The friendships, the relationships, the dad/daughter issues, are all nicely closed and solved in the book (HEAs, yey!). I can imagine them going on with their lives after the book stronger, together and braver. The characters are also so well developed that I understand why Ethan acts strange or why Jessie is insecure, the same with the rest of the characters – Theo, Scar, dad, stepmom. How it made me feel: Overall, this book pulls the right strings and leaves me feeling happy and giddy for them and congratulating them for a life well lived. For letting kismet take over. For taking chances. For knowing who they are and not caring what other people think. For getting to know and being comfortable with each other before actually falling in love. For experiencing death of a loved one but powering through it. For accepting the pain and moving on. For knowing when to say sorry and to speak up even if it is uncomfortable. Jessie is Jessie is Jessie. Ethan is Ethan is Ethan. Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (5/5) Comparisons: Tell Me Three Things (TMTT) is much like Anna and the French Kiss (ATFK) but with a deeper issue to deal with since there is death or maybe not since Etienne’s mom is also suffering from cancer in ATFK. I find TMTT more believable or relatable since Etienne’s father is just impossibly worst in ATFK and there’s no such character in TMTT. Jessie and Anna are a bit the same in the sense that they both don’t know they’re hot although come to think of it, Jessie doesn’t have that one passion in life unlike Anna who wants to be a film critic. Etienne and Ethan are both contender for the best book boyfriends but we didn’t see much from Ethan since he is mostly on the behind the scenes life of Jessie. ATFK gave me more butterflies in my stomach while TMTT gave me peace, satisfaction and hope. I’m not sure if I am saying this because TMTT is the latest book I read or not but in any case, I love both books and both of them will be here in my heart of hearts.

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.

So far I’m on chapter 11 of Tell Me Three Things and from what I’ve read it is a really good book. But I will say one thing that isn’t an deal breaker but still caught my eye. The book is about two teenagers and in it you can tell the author doesn’t necessarily get the language teenagers use, I guess. But with an absolutely horrifying “cool beans” in the book it’s still amazing and something I can get past. Anyways the only reason I haven’t given it a 5 star is cause the book came dirty which I knew was possible cause I saw another review just like this one but I can easily wipe down the book so that doesn’t really bother me.

Actual rating 3.5 stars. I really got a kick out of ‘Tell Me Three Things,’ it weaves poetry, pop culture, and social media neatly into the narrative. Though I did feel like the pacing was somewhat slow. The truth is not a lot happens in this book, however I wasn’t bored by any means. It has that type of quirkiness that I’ve come to like from titles by David Levithan. Imperfect characters, big city sarcasm, and witty dialogue. The whole SN (Somebody Nobody) thing was a little trite. I liked it having an anonymous person to chat to as a story telling device – a Cinderella story in reverse of sorts, but in a world of social media awareness and predators, something was screaming in the back of my head that our protagonist Jessie was being gullible. I related to Jessie and got all the feels. I’ve lost a large number of family members in the last three years, and the grief is still raw, so there were times I had to put this book down because I couldn’t breathe. Many of her words rang so true. It’s not something anyone can understand unless it’s happened to them. I related to her quiet bookishness, her nerdiness, but I felt like she should’ve had more of a backbone. Especially when dealing with her Father. I know I would have totally lost it much earlier, and had a major meltdown at his feet and blame him for everything. That’s what grief can do to you. It also makes you numb. Maybe it’s my own experience colouring my views on Jessie and how she handled everything. I wanted her to be a little more prickly, fragile, volatile… maybe to validate how I handled my own grief and loss. 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.’ 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. I also liked how I was kept guessing about the identity of SN. I kept trying to sleuth it out myself – like who would have access to her private contact details (this fact alone which threw me in the wrong direction – and to which I’m still wondering about how SN got them in the first place). Buxbaum does a very good job at swaying opinion from one person to another through Jessie’s narrative. I finished the whole book in a day, even with many rests to pull my emotions back together, it’s a touching contemporary about finding yourself through the loss of a loved one and re-defining what it is when you are You, who is You, who is You. And I totally mis-guessed who SN was. Doh! The ending was cute. I guess this book on a whole, although adorkable, had a tone of the uncomfortable. The grief and loss thing, the internet predator issue that was ignored, the feeling lost and out of place… it was hard for me to get engrossed in the romance when these issues were like the elephant in the room. It could have been so much more intense and angsty, but I appreciated the light nature of the narrative - it let me live in the fantasy. Like I mentioned earlier, I found the pacing a little slow, but the writing style is easy to read and littered with pop culture acronyms (some of which I had to look up) and random references (which I Googled too): all of which I love. It sounds lame, but I always get a kick about learning something new from a book, no matter how obscure the reference. A big two thumbs up from me.

It all started with an email. So this is actually the first contemporary novel that I listened to as an audiobook because I’m not built for audiobooks but I really really enjoyed listening. And then just a few days earlier, this book went on sale on Amazon so I had to buy it and reread. I’m sure when the time comes, I’ll be buying a hard copy to reread it over again because it’s definitely one of my favorite contemporaries to date. Jessie is the new girl in school. She transferred from Chicago to California with her father to live with her stepmom, Rachel, and stepbrother, Theo. And then, during her first week at school, she received an email from Somebody Nobody (or SN) offering help in navigating Wood Valley High. I really love Jessie’s character because she’s so genuine. She’s frustrating at times and naive but at the same time, adorable and smart which made her character arc stand out. She loves books too! I also enjoyed the other characters like Theo, I just wish we had more Theo in the book. Agnes and Dri too! They’re Jessie’s friends in her new school. Scarlett was Jessie’s best friend back from Chicago and I really loved their funny banter and sweet conversations from time to time. Especially during that time when Jessie went back to Chicago to visit and they had this conflict resolved, it was such a step-up. Of course, the contenders as to whom SN might be. Liam, Caleb, or Ethan. I quite enjoyed all three of them, each to their own personalities. Liam and Ethan are both musicians and from the same band. Caleb and Liam are close friends, so it was sort of implied that there might be a geometry with love here somewhere but actually there wasn’t. And I’m glad that SN turned out to be who I wanted it to be, although at first, I wasn’t really sure if it was going to be him. The mystery of SN’s true identity was really exciting, especially when it all went down to the moment of truth, where Jessie found out who SN really was. It was super fun to read, and more fun to hear because the emotions were really genuine! Mad props to Jorjeana Marie for her wonderful narration! Another thing I enjoyed about this book was not only it celebrated love, it also dealt with friendships, families, and of course grief. Moving on is such an easy concept but it’s definitely hard to do. This concept made the whole book so damn relatable. This book just hit the homerun with me. It’s utterly impossible not to feel and just explode with emotions with this book. It’s just so real and genuine and the author didn’t even really try. Julie Buxbaum just managed to capture it perfectly. With that said, I’m really looking forward to her future books!

My 13 yo daughter read the book in a few days and said it was one of the best books she has ever read

A ideia de ter comprado esse livro foi para treinar a leitura na língua inglesa. Ainda não finalizei a história, mas aprendi muuuito, a leitura é fácil mas ajuda bastante aos que vem tentando aprimorar a compreensão, possui dialogos entre os personagens. A leitura te prende o enredo é envolvente,e surpreende. considero o livro como um romance adolescente, é uma leitura bem gostosa.

The packaging was amazing. Outstanding condition

SUCH A CUTE BOOK OML i dont like the size of it tho

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