★★★★★ 5
This book belongs to the top, right up there with Anna and the French Kiss, in my heart of hearts.
Format: Kindle
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.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2016


