This book felt super real, you don't always agree with what choices our MC makes but she is still figuring a lot out. Overall it felt relatable to being a teenager and understanding yourself in relation to the people you surround yourself with.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me early access to this book! There's so much to love and appreciate in these pages.

The pining, the teenage angst, the 90s references! This book was a great easy read. There were a couple of things that made me cringe but I would recommend it if you want something cute and quick to read.

A light romantic young adult with such a great representation. Had a great time getting to know the main character and seeing her development. Definitely recommend for an own voices read.

Something More is a story about an autistic Palestinian-Canadian teenager, Jessie, starting high school and having to deal with daily life-changing events [to a teen] and navigate the world after her diagnosis. I'm starting to move away from books that are targeted more towards younger teens, but just because *I* am, as someone's who is well into their 20s, that doesn't mean stories like these aren't needed or important. Because they are. There were many moments where Jessie and her friends handle situations in ways that I definitely would at their age. But it's also a testament to how times have changed as well, because teens now have so much information at their fingertips and are better informed about things like autism and Palestine then when I was a kid. This is a perfect book for teens, in my opinion, and I hope that more people pick it up and give it the love it deserves. *Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*

great book! Loved the characters and world building. Everything flowed so naturally I read it in one sitting

A truly enjoyable coming of age teen book! I enjoyed the characters very much and it was easy to follow, and found the plot interesting. I look forward to reading more from this author.

An adorable coming of age story about an autistic Palestinian girl navigating her first year of high school: making new friends, figuring out her love life, and ultimately becoming more comfortable and confident in who she is.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this book!

I requested this about two years ago when I rarely saw Autistic rep within my books but when I started it, I couldn't get into the writing style and then dnfed it then. But more recently, I had reread the synopsis and saw that there was also Palestinian representation in there and really wanted to give it another shot. So I did.

I was mostly frustrated with the people surrounding Jess, but it was also sadly realistic within people's views of others when notified of an autism diagnosis. Levi using her trust in him to delay parts of their relationship and string her along, Griffin assuming that she knew about his feelings and blamed her for not reciprocating fast enough. Her friends constantly ignoring her concerns about one of them being in a toxic relationship. Like it felt that everyone was messy except for her and she was so overwhelmed with other people's troubles, that it was almost impossible to really know Jess herself without being attached to somebody (which was a point of the story).

But because of that way of telling the story, the personal moments with Jess and her siblings or just talking about family often felt misplaced or just added to give an end date/goal for things to start to wrap up. The pacing felt rushed a lot of the time which I would attribute to Jess never getting a breather but as a reader, it was little hard to keep up.

Jessie is a teen just starting high school and learning to understand herself as someone who’s recently been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. For Jess, someone who’s always felt like an outsider and someone who’s always been a little bit different than all those in her life, the diagnosis is like two puzzle pieces fitting together. Suddenly, so many things in her life make sense, but it’s definitely NOT what she wants to hear as she’s about to begin her high school career. Everyone wants to belong in high school and this throws a wrench into the idea she held for herself.

Despite everything going on in her life, Jessie is able to set and accomplish goals. She finds a friend group for herself (though not all of the friends might be as welcoming as she initially things), she develops her first crush, and she seems to carve out a niche for herself in a way she didn’t even imagine.

I think a lot of young readers will really identify with Jessie. She’s quirky and fun. She overthinks, but always tries to do what feels right. She can be the most observant and the most oblivious all at the same time. And ultimately, she’s just trying to make her way in her new high school without making a complete fool of herself. It’s all anyone can ask for, really. She’s an incredibly likeable character, made all the more endearing for her socially awkward mannerism. Plus, her awesome affinity for all things Nineties instantly makes her incredibly joyful.

I will say, I waffled about giving this a 3 or a 4 star rating. I ultimately gave it a 4 because it’s certainly an endearing read. I did find the writing style to be a bit difficult to get into. It took a good 50 pages before I really found myself in the flow. Keeping in mind that I was reading an unedited advanced copy, this could very well change by publication. I think the strong characterization and endearing narrative are enough to carry this book through.

Overall though, I think this book has a ton of potential. The protagonist is a standout from the rest of the books dotting the YA landscape today and this story will be relevant and relatable to a vast array of young readers out there.

Welcome Back!

So today we are going to be talking about another DNF. I am really trying to DNF books I am not enjoying more and more each year instead of forcing myself to get through them. Not every book is for every person and sometimes you just do not click with a book. I was really excited to give this book a try and I even pre-ordered a copy. I saw so many good things in other reviews about it so when my Libby showed me that there was an audiobook copy available I thought it might be time to give this book a read! I did not get super far into the story but I will give my thoughts below.

SPOILERS AHEAD (I am not going to be too spoilery as I did not read the whole book)!

I started out interested in what this story was going to look like. We meet Jessie (our main character) right away and learn a little about her life. Jessie is struggling for many reasons in high school but she still has the desire to be her best and make high school into the best experience possible for herself. My interest quickly fell off and I am honestly not sure why. I was listening to the audiobook and I just found myself losing parts of the story despite being focused. At this point, I made the choice to DNF. I think I was just not clicking with this book. I do think this story has great potential but I am going to be selling it in my Pango store! I will mark it as a DNF on Goodreads and have since moved on to some other reads! So stay tuned for a new review very soon!

Goodreads Rating: 1 Star (Marked DNF)

This was such an enjoyable read. Honestly, I couldn't put this book down at all. Jessie was a great character to follow, and I loved seeing her growth throughout the novel. It felt very organic, and realistic. I also really liked the friend group. I mean, there's one not that great friend in the group but I liked her part in the story. I feel like she was a great and real example of semi toxic friends, and I think it's great that it was portrayed in a story like this because I can imagine several teenagers reading this book, seeing that side plot, and realising their friend migth not be worth the trouble anymore. The two other girls in the friend group are absolutely incredible as well.
This book is extremely high school though. I know, it's a YA book, and it definitely reads like it. There's a lot of high drama about things that don't matter that much. A lot of focus on things that don't actually matter, but as a teenager are your entire world and more. It did get on my nerves a little bit at times, and I wanted to scream at the characters because they couldn't see the easy solution to their problems. That being said, that's all very realistic behaviour for a group of 15 year olds, just starting high school. I also know I would have absolutely ADORED this book, and related to so much of it if I read this when I was 15. It's just my experience as a 22 year old right now.
The romance was quite decent as well. It's actually one of the best love triangles I have ever read. It definitely felt very believable and real. There were some small icks in the two romances though, that I wish would have gotten a bit better adressed throughout the novel, but for the rest I did quite like it. Love triangles are so easy to do wrong, and I truly think this book did a really well, and knocked it out of the park. So yeah, I really enjoyed this book but had some small issues with it, but I definitely recommend it, especially for readers around the same age as our main character here.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

I loved this book! Sweet and charming, and ACTUALLY funny, I found myself laughing out loud repeatedly. I adored our narrator Jessie, and loved seeing her “come of age” and come into her own. This book was beautiful, messy, complicated, and brought me back to high school in a way that few young adult books have been able to do (in a good way lol). I loved this book, and I can’t wait to read more from the author!

I was unable to open the downloaded file, and will not be giving feedback at this time. I look forward to picking up a finished copy.

This was on my TBR way before the genocide in Gaza came to light. But upon finding it out and that there wasn’t a real way for anyone to help with donations because groups were stopping them, I thought it was the perfect chance for me to buy this book (twice) and show my support that way. And in doing so, I’ve found a new author that I really loved and can’t wait to read more by her.

The only issue I had with this was it was pitched to me as a romance, but this is most definitely a coming of age book. And I’m so glad it was because Lordt knows I was so scared that she was going to end up with that one idiot. But on top of that, the entire book was about them and their romance developing. I wanted more of the actual person and I wanted her to choose earlier. Only because I wanted to see that she was treated the right way. Because that one person was not doing it. I hated seeing her treated that way. And because we only saw them in one real scene at the very, very end, I was left feeling unsatisfied by their relationship. I think had she made her choice earlier or if there was more book after it lol , I would have felt better about it.

The amount of emotion this book had me in tho was so crazy. I read this as a buddy read on Storygraph, and let me tell you we were all basically like yelling at everybody in this damn book lol I know I wanted to take ALL her friends and tell them “LEAVE KAT ASS ALONE!” She was terrible. And I wanted to give her a hug every time she realized she wasn’t #1. I’m not a teen anymore, but I know that feeling from the past and I really felt like her mom. I wanted to hug her after that. I went through happiness, I got mad, I laughed, everything. I really felt like I was like an extra in this book.

I know a lot of people had a lot to say about the way I’ve been reading only YA books to learn about what’s happening to the Palestinian people, but as a YA librarian, this is what I know how to do. And even still, there is a spot in this book where Jackie gives the history of Palestine. So yes, you CAN learn things from YA books. And sometimes they explain it in a much better way. And now, teens can also learn about it as well as maybe go back and learn more on their own. Stop saying YA books don’t matter in these conversations.

Lastly, I’m not autistic, but I have read many Own Voices reviews that have said the rep is A+. And I love that. I know it’s an own voices book, so I love that Jackie put so much of herself into these pages. I will be keeping this book in mind whenever I get recommendation requests from work.

This was a fun read and I really am looking forward to other things that Jackie writes. I hope she includes more characters like her, and I really really hope she writes a spin-off of the cousin that was an activist that was mentioned in the story. I really want her story to be told as well. (I’ll take even a novella at this point Jackie!!! lol)

Something More is the story I didn't know I needed growing up. As a member of the Palestinian diaspora, I grew up on a cultural intersection between life at home and school. I was also a dedicated reader so I found aspects of myself in different characters, creating a fictional mosaic. For example, Hermione Granger was studious and awkward like me, and Raina from Raina Telgemier's Smile got a set of braces earlier than anyone in her class just like me. However, Jessie from Something More is also growing up at a cultural intersection, I think so many children from immigrant families will be able to see a part of their lives that is rarely reflected in middle-grade books. Jackie Khalilieh has written a messy and honest coming-of-age story that will ring true for many readers.

Loved this! Such an authentic and heartfelt YA about a young teenager starting high school shortly after an autism diagnosis.

I usually hate love triangles, but the way it was handled in this story was so incredibly sweet and endearing. (I'm most certainly #teamGriffin)

I really enjoyed Jessie's story and her journey. Jessie as a character was fantastic, and this book had such a great cast of supporting characters as well.

This was a fantastic debut, and I'll be on the lookout for more by this author!

The book "Something More" is a captivating coming-of-age YA romance that follows Jessie, a Palestinian-Canadian teen, as she navigates her first year of school while also dealing with her autism diagnosis. It was incredibly relatable and cute, and I found myself rooting for Jessie throughout the entire book. The story is about a lot of firsts and how messy life can get as a teen, but it was also a comfort read. The book was very romance-heavy, and I couldn't help but squeal like a teen girl when Jessie was getting wooed!

Overall, the book is a perfect embodiment of a young adult book. It's a coming-of-age story with messy characters, and I really enjoyed that. I found Jessie's character easy to read about and relatable. Through the writing, I could tell how much Jessie's character has grown from questioning every single one of her decisions to voicing her opinions more assertively. Additionally, the book feels like a movie, and I could watch the entire story play out in my head as I read it.

This is a great ASD rep story. Jessie was so relatable and showed great character growth throughout the book. I’m so glad this exists for YA readers.