Something More
Jackie Khalilieh
Something More recounts Jessie Kassis' first year of high school. Jessie, our first-person narrator, is a fifteen-year old Palestinian-Canadian girl who has just been assessed as autistic. By a remarkable coincidence, author Jackie Khalilieh is an autistic Palestinian-Canadian woman. The publisher's blurb pretty much gives away the main plot, "Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart". So, yes, it's a bad-boyfriend good-boyfriend triangle. It's OK that the publishers reveal this, because it will in fact be obvious to you almost immediately where the plot is heading. And that's fine! There's nothing wrong with a new author putting her own stamp on an old familiar story. Every story we read is to some extent a retelling.
Jessie takes a long time to figure out the bad boyfriend/good boyfriend situation, and this leads to my only substantial criticism of the plot. Because what is going on is so obvious to the reader, this part (which is most of the book) drags. You wish that she would just get on with it. Now, to be clear, it is not implausible. We all know that when the heart is involved, it can be difficult to see what's right in front of you. Jessie's difficulty in understanding what's happening is believable. It is just a tiny bit tedious.
Only a tiny bit, though, because Jessie's feelings are powerful and vividly portrayed. In fact, to be honest, it was a bit more vivid than I personally was entirely comfortable with. It's a roller coaster ride with no seatbelt. I definitely had that too-much-information feeling at points, and in the climactic scene, Jessie's speech after the dress rehearsal of Little Shop of Horrors, I was kind of watching through my fingers, whispering, "No, Jessie. Please don't do this." But she does. It was a little too much for me, but some readers will *LOVE* it, for sure.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books for an advance reader copy of Something More. This review expresses my honest opinions.
Love Avery reviews!!!!!
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