In many books, summer seems to be the time for falling in love and having the time of your life–for adventures and new friendships. Something exciting is always bound to happen in the summer. That is definitely the case in this book, where we meet Fern, a girl just waiting for her longtime friend to see that she is girlfriend material, and move forward in all areas of her life. Then, a new girl shows up on the beautiful island that Fern calls home, and suddenly the summer begins to take a bit of a different turn.
Everything seems to be going well with Fern and Ivy’s new friendship, but sometimes just when things seem at their best, they can take a turn for the worst. For one, Ivy seems a little more dangerous than Fern thought she was, and she is beginning to suspect that Ivy is interested in her for more than just friendship. In some ways, Fern seemed to be a bit of an unreliable narrator throughout the book, as she didn’t seem in touch with reality a lot of the time. On the one hand, this gave the book a certain kind of intrigue, and yet it also made parts of the story hard to interpret.
Before I began reading this book, I had seen it compared We Were Liars (a YA book that I really enjoyed) and touted as a story similar to The Great Gatsby. So, I had some high hopes for this book before I had even read the first page. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very impressed with Tell Me My Name, although I have read and enjoyed many of the author’s previous books. All in all, this was a fun read; however, if you’re looking for a book with a little more substance, you’ll have to pick up another book to find it!
Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Dial Books
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 10 religious exclamations; 5 mild obscenities; 2 religious profanities; 5 derogatory names; 22 scatological words; 7 anatomical terms; 19 F-Word derivatives.
Violence/Gore: Skin is mentioned to be scratched and bleeding; violence and unrest among people is mentioned; a bomb is found in a parking garage; homelessness is mentioned; a cup of coffee is mentioned to be thrown at girls in a car; a referral is made to a violent act that potentially could happen; a girl punches a boy in the cheek; mentions are made of reported earthly tragedies occurring such as mass suicides, and violence; a girl is reported to have fallen down some stairs and be mildly injured; a couple fights verbally in one brief scene; a fight is reported to be brewing and a glass is broken; rape is mentioned with no detail; a mention is made that a security guard was seen carrying an unconscious man; verbal abuse is implied; a girl envisions horrible things happening to a loved one; a brief scene occurs where a bullet-ridden body is mentioned to be seen floating in a pool, blood is mentioned; a girl injures her foot and the foot is described to be swollen and infected; a girl is pulled up by her hair and fights back with scratched skin mentioned as well as some blood; a girl is mentioned to feel the desire to hurt someone; a brief description is given of a riot starting; a brief scene occurs where it is implied that a vehicle hits a body, then a passenger is mentioned to see the body in a pool of blood.
Sex/Nudity: A girl imagines that her friend is flirting with her; a minor girl is mentioned to have affairs with old men; sexual comments are made about boys and girls being attractive; a brief scene occurs where minors are seen going into a bedroom at a party and sex is implied to occur; a girl thinks about letting a boy kiss her; a conversation is had between a minor and parents where they offer sexual protection; a brief scene occurs where two boys are mentioned to kiss while their girlfriends egg them on; a mention is made of cults where members have sex with the leader; a boy is mentioned to be gazing at a girl where her thighs meet the edge of her short skirt; a scene occurs where two girls get into a hot springs nude, one girl is described to be trying to avoid looking at the other girl’s body; a brief scene occurs where a girl sits on the lap of a boy and is described to be straddling him; a boy is mentioned to be shirtless and is noticed by a girl who is attracted to him; a boy kisses a girl on the hand; a brief scene occurs where two girls are intimate with each other and touching each other; a mention is made of someone being gay; a woman is described as a “hot mama”; a minor is mentioned to have slept with a teacher and gotten pregnant; a brief scene occurs where some sort of orgy is taking place; a scene occurs where a girl wakes nude; a boy is mentioned to tug on the strap of a girls swimsuit; a boy and a girl embrace in a brief scene, the boy is mentioned to be on top of the girl with no other explicit detail; a girl is described to kiss another girl’s neck and collarbone and to run her lips across her breasts; a boy is described to run his fingers up and down a girls leg in a brief scene.
Mature Subject Matter:
Mental illness; self-harm; racism; homosexuality; mention of characters being victims of abuse and having PTSD.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
Drugs and alcohol are mentioned to be used and abused by minors; minors are depicted taking pills and mentioned to be high; minors drink hard alcohol and wine frequently; a drug dealer is referred to; minors are described to smoke and be stoned; minors get wasted; a minor is mentioned to have a problem with drugs; a minor is described to carry a flask and drink from it; minors buy drugs; a minor is mentioned to have a coke habit; minors are depicted as drunk; minors are mentioned to have a joint and weed is mentioned; a minor is mentioned to have had a breakdown after an overdose; cigarette smoke is mentioned to be in the air.
