I told you it wouldn’t be long before I read another one of Julie Buxbaum’s books! When looking at other people talking about What to Say Next, an older book of Buxbaum’s, Tell Me Three Things, was mentioned often and in a glowing light. So I knew I had to check it out!
Jessie’s life feels like it’s in a free fall. Just a little over two years ago her mother died of cancer, and since then her father remarried and moved them halfway across the country from Chicago to Los Angeles without giving her much choice. Her new family is pretty loaded and she doesn’t quite know how to fit in at her new school, Wood Valley. In a series of misfires, she soon is messaged by a mysterious boy on the internet who goes by “NA.” At first she ignores his offer of guidance and confidant, but soon she finds herself messaging him constantly.
Through their conversations, he helps her make her first friend, feel better about things, and is just most importantly there to listen to her. Of course, it’s not long before she wants to know who he is because they’ve connected, but Jessie’s also got to contend with a crush she has on the closed-off Ethan, and perhaps fight off the advances of her cute co-worker, Liam. Man, I wish I’d had three boys vying for my attention in high school! It’s that sort of thing that makes you want to pull your hair in frustration because not only does she have three crushes and new friends, she’s also starting to connect with her stepbrother. Things seem to be going alright for her, but loneliness is a feeling that some people just can’t take away for you.
It doesn’t help that she’s felt totally isolated from her dad since moving to LA. He’s almost never around and hasn’t really checked in with her. Aside from confiding in “NA,” Jessie’s obviously been in close contact with her best friend from home, Scarlett, although their conversations have been somewhat one-sided. Scarlett is a sounding board for Jessie, which is fine until it isn’t. Everything seems to come to a head all at once in Jessie’s life until she finally starts to realize that yes, these life changes are big and hard for her, but they’ve been hard for everyone else, too.
I won’t spoil who she ends up with in the end, but I understand why this book is such a crowd-pleaser. Everyone has felt lonely at some point in their life even if a traumatic event didn’t trigger it. We’ve all felt like Jessie has felt and when you’re so close to the isolation it’s hard to see everything clearly. Luckily for Jessie, and hopefully all of us, she’s got a lot of good people in her life who are rooting for her. I think it took some time for Jessie to get enough confidence in herself, but when she got there life started to look a little less bleak. In finishing this one up, I think there are plenty of other Julie Buxbaum books to add to my must-read list!