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A review by kba76
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This was predictable in parts, but it was hard not to feel hope for Jessie that things would turn out as she/we hoped.
When we first meet Jessie her life has been turned upside down. It’s over 700 days since her mother died, her father has remarried and she is having to start at a new school in LA. She is, naturally, not feeling wholly at ease with things, so when she gets a mysterious email from someone calling themselves SN offering her inside information on her new school she soon comes to rely on these exchanges.
Interspersed with her messages we follow Jessie as she navigates this new school. There’s the expected bitchy girls, the hot guy she develops a crush on and the inevitable ‘honest’ moment with her old best friend. There’s her developing friendship with Ethan, the boy she’s partnered with for an English assignment, and there’s the focus on the developing relationships between the new family.
It’s hard not to like Jessie, though she is quite self-absorbed. As the book goes on we get some confusion as she tries to work out the identity of her mysterious email contact. From quite early on it seemed to be heading in one direction, and it didn’t disappoint when we eventually got to the big reveal. It felt rather nice to have things ending on a positive for Jessie.
When we first meet Jessie her life has been turned upside down. It’s over 700 days since her mother died, her father has remarried and she is having to start at a new school in LA. She is, naturally, not feeling wholly at ease with things, so when she gets a mysterious email from someone calling themselves SN offering her inside information on her new school she soon comes to rely on these exchanges.
Interspersed with her messages we follow Jessie as she navigates this new school. There’s the expected bitchy girls, the hot guy she develops a crush on and the inevitable ‘honest’ moment with her old best friend. There’s her developing friendship with Ethan, the boy she’s partnered with for an English assignment, and there’s the focus on the developing relationships between the new family.
It’s hard not to like Jessie, though she is quite self-absorbed. As the book goes on we get some confusion as she tries to work out the identity of her mysterious email contact. From quite early on it seemed to be heading in one direction, and it didn’t disappoint when we eventually got to the big reveal. It felt rather nice to have things ending on a positive for Jessie.