Book Review: Tell Me Three Things

Rating: Fire

Oh. My. God. I think I’m in love. This book blew me away. Julie Buxbaum has such an amazing writing style. Everything she writes is perfectly witty and flows and really sounded like the inside of a teenage girl’s mind. AND it’s only her first YA book. She completely nailed it! Also, I absolutely love the cover and title. It’s one of those things that didn’t make sense until I read the book, but now I understand how completely adorable this 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.”

Jessie

Jessie’s mom died a little over two years ago, and her dad has decided to move their family halfway across the country to California, and live with his new wife and her son. Coincidentally, his new wife lost her husband, so both Jessie and her stepbrother, Theo, are half-orphaned. They live where the upper 1% live: think Gossip Girl, but in LA instead of NYC. Like Beverly Hills, 90210. A couple weeks into Jessie’s junior year, she receives an anonymous Somebody Nobody. Somebody Nobody, or SN as she likes to call him, has graciously offered Jessie help navigating Woods Valley. What starts off as friendly assistance turns into more as they text each other 24/7 and divulge secrets to each other, but there’s just one problem. Jessie still has no idea who he is. As she’s falling in love with SN, she’s also getting close in the non-digital life with a couple of boys, and has to choose who she’s going to trust.

Jessie’s voice is so fresh and witty, and the read was just so easy. It flowed like water, and was just a light a pleasant read, peppered with appropriate repetition and motifs. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the anonymous love, I think Jessie and SN’s relationship is very sweet and real. Also the SN reveal was so funny. It’s honestly something straight out of a movie.

“But sometimes a kiss is not a kiss is not a kiss. Sometimes it’s a poetry.”

Jessie

I also really enjoyed the friendships in this story. Jessie and Scar are the epitome of best friends. Even when they fight they love each other and let it be known, and they’re really fighting because they miss each other. Jessie and Dri were super cute, especially because they were new friends, so to watch their friendship grow was really special. I even enjoyed Jessie and Theo, her stepbrother. In the beginning they didn’t get along, but overall their relationship grew to a healthy sibling relationship where they teased each other but looked out for each other.

Overall, this nice book about friendship, relationships, and family is a must read!

Have you read this book? What did you think? Are you a fan of when people fall in love anonymously?