What a vivid portrayal of what it means to “be yourself”. This reminded me of high school. Ah, the nostalgia. *sits on rocking chair*

We follow Jessie Kassis, who is Palestinian Canadian and autistic, through the course of her freshman year as she navigates love, friendship, and her passions.

If I could use one word to describe this book, it would be: authentic. This book perfectly captures the feeling of being a teenager wanting to fit in and the fear of being left behind. The portrayal of high school friendship dynamics was so realistic and authentic, unlike in other YA books. It also celebrates family and culture in such a beautiful way! As an Arab, it was super relatable.

I also found myself relating to Jessie, and I saw bits of myself reflected in her. I loved the author’s portrayal of autism. She beautifully shows how there is no set way to be autistic, despite society’s way of stereotyping certain mannerisms and traits. For example, the “but you seem normal!1!” comments that Jessie repeatedly recieved.

Jessie’s character traits were also written so amazingly. I loved how long it took her to notice certain things, despite how smart she is. It really does happen to quite a lot of autistic people!

Also, the romance was so adorable! There’s a love triangle, but it’s pretty obvious to the reader who to root for from the beginning anyway. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment at all. In fact, I usually hate love triangles, but this one was so fresh! I genuinely adored the friendships formed.

This heartwarming story manages to be relatable to everyone. The writing is so easy to follow, making it unputdownable. I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a wonderful, feel-good novel!

15-year-old Jessie is a fantastic and relatable neurodivergent teen. I had a blast following her through her freshman year of high school, the first crush who likes her back, and making new friends. It was great to able to see her thoughts as she tries to find her place - with all these new friends and within the high school setting itself - by adjusting her masking.

When she catches glimpses of herself without her mask in place, she realizes that she is growing into herself, even under all the masking. Jessie has to decide if she likes who she's becoming, as we all do.

this was a really cute read! I really liked how Jackie included the everyday problems of a teenager, worrying about her looks and how to make friends. This book was very predictable, but even guessing how it turned out didn’t stop me from being unable to put it down! The characters were the best part of the book. Timing wise, it got a little confusing with the time jumps, but the characters were extremely well thought out and each had their own unique personality.

I had a lot of feelings reading this book and I could identify with Jessie even though I don't have autism. I think we have all gone through that stage in our lives where we want to fit in, find our people and feel like we are part of something.
We see how Jessie gradually adapts better and discovers herself. How not everything is black and white, but there are shades of grey in some situations and that's a good thing.

With the love triangle I had a lot of emotions. We see how Jessie thinks she is in love with Levi, but he always made her doubt and how her "best friends" relationship with Griffin, is growing. It was so obvious what was going on and I despaired that Jessie didn't realise it, but then I understood. Levi was the first guy who had reciprocated her feelings, as well as being her first boyfriend. She had barely had any experience and was just discovering what it was like to really be in love with someone.

💫 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲💫 ⁣
𝘉𝘺 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘦 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘩⁣
𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳: 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 (𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹)⁣
𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: 𝘠𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 ⁣
⁣
“𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼. 𝗜 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻, 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂…. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲” ⁣
⁣
Jessie & Levi⁣
Jessie & Griffin⁣
⁣
The YA love triangle that felt so relatable and yet so fresh. I swear I could picture this narrative with a voiceover of Jessie and her thoughts walking down the corridors of her High School. Think Clueless thought bubbles without the ‘riches’ . More of the everyday world of a teenager trying to find her place in the halls of a High School. ⁣
⁣
One thing I loved was that Jessie is neurodiverse but autism is not the centre of focus of the book. Rather it gave voice to the same issues all young adults deal with, without focusing on one piece of her life.⁣
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I also found myself relating to her Palestinian family with its multiple siblings and the relationship dynamics. There were multiple times that I laughed or smiled with their interactions. The dialogue between them was bang on. ⁣
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𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥: 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳. 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵… 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴… 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱. ⁣
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And please read the acknowledgments. As Jackie writes, it was time for her to take real pride in her roots and her voice. ⁣

4.5 ⭐️

This was a super sweet and emotional debut from Jackie Khalileh! I adored following Jessie as an autistic and Palestinian-Canadian teen just starting high school. The coming-of-age themes of identity, family, friendship, and young love were very strong in this novel. However, I found the romance arc of the novel to be a bit repetitive one half of the love triangle and underdeveloped for the other half of the love triangle, and because this love triangle aspect took over so much of the story, it felt like a let-down for me. Thus, I rated the novel 3.5 stars rounded up. I do believe that fans of younger YA romances will adore Something More!

This is the best and most authentic-feeling YA novel I’ve read in years. The world is so immersive, and the characters and feelings and PINING are so real. The high school feels are so relatable (at times, almost uncomfortably so) to anyone who has ever fallen (and given up way too much of themself) for the wrong guy, or overlooked the right one. Such a well-done, realistic love triangle. (I’m very much in love with Griffin, and have continued to think about him daily.) And all the female friendships are equally complex and real.

I found myself relating to Jessie completely (despite her being Palestinian/neurodivergent and me being white/non-ND) more than I ever have with any protagonist. Jackie is a pro at capturing all the universal emotions of being young and confused and hungry for adventure and experience, while expertly weaving in dazzling/thought-provoking lines that will stop you dead in your tracks.

Overall, my feelings can best be described the same way John Green described Eleanor and Park: “This reminded me not just what it’s like to be young and in love with a girl(boy), but also what it’s like to be young and in love with a book.”

5 stars is not enough!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for sending me an ARC :).

Delightful, Funny ,Heartwarming

A wholesome YA romcom about the adventures of a Palestinian Canadian teen as she navigates high school ,family and tests the waters of budding romances with two cute guys . Oh and she is diagnosed with Autism .

Everyone go pick up this book . Jackie is a stunning new voice in YA Contemporary with authentic Palestinian rep.

Rep : Autism , Arab Canadian ,Palestinian Christian

Mixed feelings

/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 good boyfriend/bad 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 <spoiler>Jessie's speech after the dress rehearsal of /Little Shop of Horrors/</spoiler>, 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.

Finally, I was confused by the presentation of autism. In her Acknowledgements, Khalilieh writes,

<blockquote>People will try to relate to us by saying things like, “I’m an introvert, I get it,” but they could never begin to understand what it’s like to exist inside our minds -- our beautiful, complicated, hilarious, frustrating, typeA, know-it-all, sweet, innocent (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg) minds.*</blockquote>

This is not the first time I have read assertions like this from autistic persons, that the autistic mind is so categorically different from the neurotypical mind that a neurotypical person "could never begin to understand" an autistic person. ("Could never begin"! Think how strong a statement that is!) Yet, as I read the novel, I had no difficulty relating to Jessie. (Well done, Ms Khalilieh!) Nothing in her behavior, emotions, and motivation struck me as being outside the normal range for a teenage girl.

I don't know quite what to make of this contrast. Is the Otherness of the autistic mind being exaggerated? Or is Khalilieh's portryal of Jessie incomplete or inaccurate? Or perhaps it is written in a secret code that only autistic persons can decipher, so that when they read this book, they read a quite different book from the one I read? I am confused.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books for an advance reader copy of /Something More/. This review expresses my honest opinions. To be released 6-Jun-2023.

*Quotes are from an advance reader copy and may therefore change before publication. Any inaccuracies will be corrected on the release date, 6-Jun-2023.