What to Say Next - Julie Buxbaum

What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): Two struggling teenagers find an unexpected connection just when they need it most.
Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.
KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.
DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her. 
When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

MY OPINION: ***

I had such high hopes for this book! I was really excited to read it after loving Tell Me Three Things, Buxbaum's debut novel. However, it let me down. I still liked it and enjoyed it well enough but it wasn't as grappling as her other book.

I know I shouldn't compare books to each other because each book an author writes is separate and different but I couldn't help but feel disappointed.

This was a poignant novel about a boy named David, who is on the autism spectrum, and a girl named Kit, whose father just died in a car accident.

David was a kind boy who was very perceptive and noticed the little things about people that most authors and real people seem to forget. He noticed things about other people that made them unique in their own way. He had a notebook full of those thoughts and observations but through a series of events, that notebook only got him in trouble. He's incredibly smart and knows things that only geniuses could know. He's that one quiet boy with headphones who sits alone in the cafeteria.

Until one day.

Kit comes over to sit next to him almost randomly. Her dad just died in a car accident and she needs a break from her friends and her normal life. She sits with David without really expecting much out of him and finds herself surprised. He's different than he expected, blunt, honest, refreshing. She can talk to him about things that she can't say to her friends.

There were a few things about this book that REALLY ticked me off and I know a lot of you may feel the same way if you've read the book.

—David is severely bullied.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. However, let's talk about this. He has memories of being given a "swirlie" and being called "shithead" after being forced to stick his head in the toilet because of this kid Justin. His notebook gets stolen from him and is posted on Tumblr and goes viral. At one point in the book, he's given death threats and suicide askings. So yeah.

—THEN HE GETS A MAKEOVER AND EVERYONE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM.
He gets a haircut (he had that shaggy hair that is common in "quiet book boys" these days). He gets "cool clothes" and suddenly EVERYONE LOVES HIM. Kit's friends even say things like "So lucky... Did you always know he was so cute? That's why you sat with him, right?" Like, it's not only looks that matter. That aggravated me and I know a ton of you feel the same.

—I cannot believe I'm saying this but we didn't need any romance in this book.
I LOVE ROMANCE. Lemme be the first to say that I HAVE TO HAVE romance in a book to make it good. However, in this particular book, I just CANNOT believe how much it felt WRONG. They should have just STAYED friends. I don't know. I feel like I'm committing a crime by saying this but no romance. It just wasn't needed and it felt forced or something.

—The ending.
Kit is the one driving the car. David laughs and screams a lot. IT IS NOT HIS FAULT. However, Kit just gets angry at him for his reaction. I realize that she feels guilty and sad and everything but there's no need to take it all out on him. I also did not see that coming and yes, it was a good plottwist.

I did love David's self-defense skills.

I would recommend this book to people looking for a lighter read!

Main Character: Kit, David
Sidekick(s): Violet, Annie, etc
Villain(s): Death, accidents, misunderstandings, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This is all very real to life.