This YA contemporary novel follows Jessie, a ‘90s-obsessed Palestinian-Canadian teen who receives an autism diagnosis shortly before starting high school. Determined to fit in with her classmates, Jessie creates a list of goals for the school year, but the attentions of two boys make her go off script.

I’m usually a reader who needs a high concept to get interested in a contemporary novel, and I’m also not a big fan of love triangles. So imagine my surprise when this book pulled me in, made me feel every emotion under the Sun, and ultimately left me wishing I could create a time vortex back to 2015 and give this book to my younger self!

A huge reason I couldn’t stop reading was Jessie herself. She’s one of the most charming, charismatic, relatable characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The plot itself held my interest, but I’d read a book about her going grocery shopping.

This book joins the very short list of love triangle stories that don’t annoy me, and it’s largely cause it fits the themes so well. Plus, it was fun to see Griffin and Levi embarrass themselves over Jessie. I won’t spoil who Jessie ends up with, but it was who I hoped she’d choose in the end!

Fun fact: I read the last few chapters of this book on my local library’s patio, and I was so engrossed in finding out where Jessie’s story would go that I forgot the patio closed at 5pm, so I had to vault unceremoniously over a large planter in order to get free. So if that doesn’t tell you how gripping this story is, I don’t know what does.

Long story short, if you’re interested in a YA novel full of authentic teenage feelings, an engaging protagonist, and two boys being embarrassingly pathetic over said protagonist, you need to check this out!

CWs: Anti-Arab racism, ableism, toxic relationships and friendships, bullying, cheating, relationship between a minor and an adult, death of a family member, and underage alcohol and cannabis use.

Light read for when you need to turn off youe brain for a bit. It was interesting and I'm glad autistic rep is picking up, buzzwords askde. I do worry that the core message of this is a bit misguided, as Jessie's autism keeps being treated as something she has to admit (or unmask) to people to really be herself. People's treatment and manners shouldn't depend on whether or not you justify your "weirdness".
Aside from that it was a fun and engaging read so I would recommend it if you're on the hunt for a romance.

An overall wonderful book full of heart and laughs alongside tough conversations! 

Jessie is a perfect protagonist— you root for her and want her to succeed even when she makes mistakes or does things that are super frustrating! As an allistic (non-autistic) person, it was really interesting to get to see the world from Jessie’s point of view and see how she navigates the world. I loved the conversations around masking and in particular highlighting how girls struggle to get a diagnosis because they don’t fit the stereotypical model of what autism looks like. 

I loved watching Jessie grow throughout the year and not only come to terms with being autistic but also embracing her identity and the things that make her special. I loved that the 90s were her special interest and enjoyed the pop culture references. I found it so refreshing that an autistic Palestinian-Canadian girl could be seen as having not just one but two romantic interests, and felt that the handling of those relationships was done really well!

I found the depiction of high school life in the Greater Toronto Area painfully accurate and deeply relatable. The characters felt very real and lifelike, and all of their backstories and complicated drama gave a busy realness to the story that I really liked.

I have seen some reviews saying that they wished there was more racial diversity in the cast of characters, and I agree with that, however I also think it highlighted how isolating it can be as an student of colour in Canada outside of major metropolitan areas. On the note of diversity, I do also wish that even one character in Jessie’s circle had been queer or trans! 

My only other notes would be that I found there to be some unnecessary comments around weight / body appearance (such as Jessie’s mom “stuffing herself into shapewear”). I think there’s a way to appropriately address concerns like this in a YA book, but the moments felt more like unconscious anti-fat bias than actually trying to make commentary on body image issues! 

I think fans of YA romance will love this book: if you love messy teens, coming of age, girls learning how to stand up for themselves, complicated family dynamics, and a heartwarming happy ending, then I’d definitely recommend Something More!

Talk about killing me softly with words. As someone who learned of her autism status as an adult, I resonated so much with Jessie. Some of her experiences feel ripped out of my own life, her thoughts ripped out of my own mind. I felt very emotional reading about her struggles. At the same time, her triumphs, which never happened for me at that age, gave me such a feeling of wish fulfillment. 

My only complaint is that the number of characters weakened the book. I had a really hard time telling Jessie's female friends apart. When the one friend

was dating a 19-year-old and then that issue was resolved,

there was no followup or stakes or anything. Also, her family members' struggles felt like a distraction from the main plot, rather than an integral part of it. I know the author was probably trying to capture the fact that everyone has their own issues going on while you're having yours, but the execution was cluttered. The most poignant example of this was

the death of Jessie's grandmother. Because this character  was only in one scene prior to her stroke, the emotional impact that should have been in that scene wasn't there. It would've been better if this character had been developed more/if she had interacted more with Jessie. Or even if she had lived with the family.

Overall, though, listening to this was a very moving experience.