Aug 63 min read

Something New. The new YA Fiction by Jackie Khalilieh. Review by Gillian Young - Author 📚

Today’s review is Something More by Jackie Khalilieh. As most of you know, I love books. I love reading them and writing them. I enjoy many genres - I think a bit of a mixed bag is a good thing. I enjoy children’s books, supernatural, horror, thriller and crime fiction, along with self-help, wellbeing, biographies and books about the craft of writing - basically, the list goes on and on ... However, reading Something More was like a breath of fresh air for me. I not only found the story engaging, but also the main character’s autism diagnosis. Autism plays a big part in my life, what with having someone very close to me diagnosed just a couple of years before starting high school. So, I was especially interested in this book.

Have you ever deliberately taken your time to read a book simply because you didn’t want it to end? Well, that was me when reading Something More.

I enjoyed it so much that I’d love to read more books like this. If you have any suggestions then please let me know. Before I start my review, here is a little background information on the author, Jackie Khalilieh and her book, Something More.

AUTHOR BIO

JACKIE KHALILIEH is a Palestinian-Canadian writer with a penchant for Samoyed’s, to-do lists and staying up way too late.

After a blink-and-you-miss-it career as a journalist and eight years as an elementary school teacher, she spent six glorious years as a stay-at-home mom to her two daughters.

The spark to write again returned with a vengeance when both her children were in school full-time. After reading her high school journals in her attic one day, she got the idea to write a story that would be filled with the same amount of angst, longing, dramatics and a rollercoaster of emotions.

Her main female characters are always Palestinian-Canadian, like herself, and more often than not, autistic. Her books lean heavily on romance and tend to be character-driven while tackling coming-of-age in a funny, light-hearted and hopefully, relatable way.

She is passionate about positive representation within her writing.

Something More, her debut YA novel, was shortlisted for the Ruth & Sylvia Shwartz Award, as well as the Snow Willow Award, and was selected for several Best of 2023 lists, including the New York Public Library and Audible Books Canada, among others.

She resides just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband and two daughters. When she isn’t writing, reading or walking her Samoyed, Pearl, you can find her in her suburban kitchen, headphones on, tuning out her family while preparing them their multiple meals a day.

BOOK BLURB

Diagnosed as autistic just before joining a new school, 90s-obsessed Jessie is determined to make a fresh start. She plans to keep her diagnosis a secret and creates a list of goals to keep her on track– from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss. But when two very different boys steal her heart, Jessie finds herself re-writing her plans.

MY REVIEW

Reading this book made me feel like a teenager again! I could relate to Jessie. Reading her story brought back many memories of friendships and schoolgirl crushes. Unfortunately, my first kiss wasn’t as wonderful as Jessie’s – in fact, it was pretty disappointing 😀Jessie Kassis is diagnosed autistic just before starting high school. Her story is told through her point of view. We are with her as she faces not only the challenges many teenagers face with friendships, starting a new school and experiencing the physical changes that come with puberty but also the challenges of living with autism. I particularly found chapter two interesting, when Jessie learns more about her changing world during an appointment with her psychologist, Dr Cassidy. Life with autism.

I think Jessie is a wonderful character; she’s funny, relatable, down-to-earth, and someone I’d have been happy to be a friend with. Her sense of humour had me smiling and giggling throughout the story. Then there’s Levi. Oh my gosh. Levi. He’s like Something More’s version of Danny Zuko from Grease! Levi reminded me of my high school crush, even down to the long hair! And as for Cat, well, we’ve all had a character like that in our lives, haven’t we?

I really enjoyed reading Something More and hope to find other titles like this to devour. If you have any recommendations, then I’d love to hear them. Thank you so much, @literallyPR, @HashtagBlak and @JackieKhalilieh, for inviting me on the Book Review Tour and for my Author Review Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!