Good morning, good afternoon, good evening friends! For this reviewing day I’m back once again with the mini-reviews format. Okay maybe they’re not that short but…sorry not sorry. I LOVED these books.
There are no spoilers in these reviews.
Tell Me Three Things, Julie Buxbaum
I’m all for sweet contemporaries you can read in one go, and Tell Me Three Things certainly is that kind of book. Sweet, funny, yet with important topics such as grief, moving on and life changes, this book manages to have everything that makes me happy about a contemporary book. If the plot wasn’t too original, with a teenager exchanging emails with someone from her school she does not know, I really enjoyed how it was brought up and especially how it was dealt with all along the book, because it felt so real. How easy it is to talk by writing instead of actually talking. How important this exchange is to Jessie, the main character, in her everyday life. How means of communication are so different yet so important nowadays in this generation.
Jessie, the narrator, is a teenager, and I was grateful to feel that age jumping off the page. With every doubt, every question, every preoccupation she has, Jessie definitely was a character to root for, one that’s still trying to find herself at that age, especially with all the challenges she has to face. She wasn’t the only character I rooted for in this book: I was grateful to see how much attention the author brought to some of the other characters. If some of them were a bit stereotypical, I easily brushed this off because it was easy to fall in love with this book. Really easy.
Tell Me Three Things also deals with a theme I don’t hear about too often, which is moving out, moving on. When life suddenly changes and you’re moving across the country, old friendships change, evolve, life-happenings aren’t the same and ways to talk about it aren’t, either. I really enjoyed how that topic was approached in this book, something that could have easily been brushed off for the main plot of the book, which was obviously the cute romance. One that did not overshadow the importance of friendship or family.
“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.”
My rating : 4 drops !
KEY WORDS
Swoon-worthy romance, friendships, music, bookworm, penpals.
TO READ IF
You’re looking for a quick contemporary read, love penpal romances, don’t mind a bit of stereotypical characters and overall just want to have fun.
Everything Leads to You, Nina LaCour
Everything Leads To You takes you into the heart of Hollywood, and the life of Emi, 18 years old and brilliant intern as a production designer on set of movies. You know, like it happens in L.A. Probably. If the plot isn’t entirely all about what she is doing, everything in the story is built for us to understand, to get this particular atmosphere of actually being part of this place a lot of people are dreaming of. Clearly there were lots of research about production designing, which made this book way more real to read about, and I loved it.
This is not the sole reason why this book made me happy: Everything Leads To You is a contemporary with a mystery at its heart. It all starts when Emi and Charlotte, her best friend, find a letter and are off to discover the heir of a famous Hollywood actor. There is mystery, a bit of suspense, and there are so many shadows at the beginning of the book that are slowly uncovered, which was beautiful to read.
Because the shadows were the characters, each and everyone its own and developed within their own time. We slowly got to know them better and fall in love with them, as the mystery unravels and the relationships develop, deepens. I just loved how naturally diverse this book was, without need to mention it every single second as if to prove that it is. It’s just life, it’s there, characters are from different background, with their own sexuality. Emi loves girls, and if that’s part of the story, it’s not entirely about it. It’s about love, purely and simply and not about coming out or anything like that. I loved following Emi’s journey and growth from beginning to end.
“The best things aren’t perfectly constructed. They aren’t illusions. they aren’t larger than life. They are life.”
My rating : 4 drops!
KEYWORDS
f/f romance, supportive friendships and family, Hollywood-vibe, mystery.
TO READ IF
You enjoy great characters growth with a side of mystery, cute and well-developed romance and a little bit of that behind-the-scenes feeling of it all. Whatever, just READ IT.
Reblogged this on The Book Nerd.
Tell Me Three Things has been on my to-read list for a while now. Your review makes me want to read it very soon, it sounds really good!
Ohh this makes me so happy. I hope you’ll be able to read it soon, it’s such a sweet story 🙂 Hope you’ll love it! Thank you 🙂
I already wanted to read Everything Leads to You badly, but I hadn’t heard of Tell Me Three Things. It sounds adorable and fun. Definitely adding it to my tbr!
Yaaay! This makes me so happy, I hope you’ll LOVE both of these books 😀
Me too! 😀
Great review for both of these books Marie. 🙂 I’ve had Everything Leads to You on my to-read list for a while now, along with every other book Nina LaCour has released so far, so I’m really hoping to get around to it soon. The fact that you enjoyed it has convinced me to move it up my to-read list a little so the second I’m out of my contemporary slump it will be a book I pick up. Also I love the sound of Tell Me Three Things, that’s going to be one I add to my to-read list as well, especially after seeing how much you enjoyed it! Again, great reviews. 😀 <3
Thank you so, so much Beth <3 I'm glad to hear you'll read Everything Leads To You soon and hope you will love it as much as I did, it was such a wonderful story <3 Thank you! Can't wait to hear your thoughts about this book 🙂
That’s all right! <3 I've heard a lot of good things about that one, and Nina LaCour's other books as well, so I need to get around to it soon. I'll try and add it to my next months TBR! 😀 <3
Can’t wait to know if you enjoyed them! 😀
Ooh, lovely reviews Marie! I really want to read Everything Leads to You, but it’s not available at my library’s ebook database. *sobs* I hope they’ll buy it soon though because I’ve heard wonderful things about it. <3
Oh thank you! <3 I hope you'll be able to read Everything Leads To You soon, it was such a lovely book, I loved it so much! <3
Tell Me Three Things made me think: SIMON VS SIMON VS SIMON VS BRAM MY LIFE HELLO MY CHILD MY LOVE AAAAGGHHHHH <3 XD I love that book so much. XD And ooh, let's go LGBT+ and cute fluffy contemporaries! Everything Leads to You sounds really good for those reasons. XD
Haha YES Everything Leads To You was sooooo good, I hope you’ll want to read it 🙂 Also, Tell me Three Things was SUPER CUTE, right?! <3 <3
I love these mini reviews!! I’m glad you enjoyed the books too! I added the two of them on my tbr ?
Awww thank you, Trang! Hope you’ll love both <3 < 3
I’ve been eyeing Tell Me Three Things on audible for a while now. I like to listen to an easy read when I walk my dog! Thank you for sharing, I think I will give it a try 🙂
Oh yay, happy to hear it! I hope you’ll love it 😀
Ooh I love the format for these reviews and both of these sound right up my street- especially Tell Me Three Things 🙂
Ohh thank you! I hope you’ll want to give TMTT a try, it was such a lovely book 🙂
You’re welcome!! Brilliant!!
Reblogged this on BOOKS & BLOGGING! and commented:
Woah! These books doesn’t actually fit in my shelf, but still after your review I definitely want to take a look at this. May be I will order them tonight!
I really hope you’ll read and love both of these 😀
Tell Me Three Things was quite cute but for me, it was ultimately unmemorable! Nothing really stood out to me and I didn’t really love it because it was an overused idea. However I liked how the penpal was called ‘SN’ rather than some other cliche name and it was a little difficult to guess who it was! I have yet to read Everything Leads To You but I look forward to it!
Yeah I agree with you that the idea was a bit overused, but it was fun to read 🙂 I hope you will love Everything Leads To You, it was such a great book 🙂 Thank you so much, Anisha <3
This is the first I’ve heard of Tell Me Three Things and you’ve just convinced me to add it to my TBR. I love contemporaries that explore grief and moving on. Plus, I’m a sucker for the whole email exchanges with someone the main protagonist doesn’t know. As for, Everything Leads to You I’ve had that one on my TBR for a while. I love how it has a mystery aspect and is naturally diverse. Hopefully I have the chance to get around to both sometime soon! Great reviews as always, Marie!! ?♥
Oh yay, this makes me really happy, I hope you will be able to read and love both of these books soon 😀
Everything Leads to You sounds like a great book! I have it on my TBR and I can’t wait to read it. I did read, Tell Me Three Things and totally agree with your mini review! Oh my gosh, it was just the cutest thing ever and I loved it so much. <3 Great post, Marie!
Oh yes, Everything Leads To You is such a lovely book, I feel like you could really fall in love with it. I hope you’ll read it soon! <3 Thank you!! <3
I’m currently reading Tell Me Three Things and so far I really like it! It’s very cute I also like that it’s not all fluff and that the part of the story about moving on isn’t getting overshadowed by the romance.
Yay, so happy to hear it! Tell me Three Things is such a great story and YES. I loved that it wasn’t just centered on the romance 🙂
I absolutely ADORED Tell Me Three Things so I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it! It’s true that some of the characters are a bit stereotypical, but overall it was such a cute, fun romance – and well, I can never say no to the penpal mystery trope 🙂
I haven’t read Everything Leads To You yet, but it sounds like a nice read, and I do love character growth and a bit of mystery!
YES ahah, it was such a cute book, I agree, and even if there were some stereotypes, I still had a LOT of fun while reading it <3
I hope you'll read Everything Leads To You, I feel like you could really love it! 🙂 Thank you so much <3