Customer Reviews

I Can't Tell You

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jake makes the decision to stop talking after he has fight with his best friend. During the fight he said some awful things that he can't take back. Jake thinks if he starts communicating in writing instead of talking, he will have more control of his words.

I couldn't put this book down. I wondered what it would be like to communicate with written words only. Would Jake be able to survive in college with only written communication?

This was a very interesting premise for a story and I enjoyed it very much.

I CAN'T TELL YOU by Hillary Frank may be one of the best young adult books I've read in quite some time. It's funny, heartbreaking, and easy to relate to...and it doesn't try to glorify being a young adult or falling in love.

After a huge fight with his best friend Sean, Jake decides that he can't ever get into any trouble if he just stops talking altogether. As his friendship with Sean is dying, he becomes closer to his friends Paul, Roger, and Xandra. But when Jake realizes that he doesn't just want to be friends with Xandra, things start getting a bit messy. He doesn't know how to explain himself and he doesn't know what do about it, so...he decides to do nothing.

Told entirely through notes passed back and forth, I CAN'T TELL YOU is an interesting and original story. The friendships between Jake and Paul, Roger, and Xandra are all incredibly realistic, and the course of a friendship turning into unrequieted love is scarily accurate.

Highly recommended.

Overall grade: A+

Inventive, touching, witty and just plain REAL! I work with teenagers everyday and this book does a remarkably good job of capturing their honest emotions and "speech" patterns... Usually YA lit falls short when trying to be "hip" to the current teenage culture but this one hits it right on the money. Terribly original yet a story that everyone will relate to. Keep it up, Hillary!

I am writing this the morning after reading I Can't Tell You, the entire thing, front to back, etc. etc. Once I got used to the clever all-journal style of writing it was easy to just breeze by and get 190-something pages done in three hours.
I liked it, as a boy who considers himself *very* masculine I find it hard to admit but, "I liked the love story" I was sweet, and largely original.
But it's more than that, as a Senior in High School who keeps a journal (like the narrator), has a seething disdain for my peers (the narrator gets there around page 30) I really saw an authentic portrayal of my situation. Crazy that a woman author could do that huh?
Why did I give it four stars? Because I never trust five star reviews, and you shouldn't either.
Oh and the English Proffessor in the book 'speaks' exactly like mine, so while being cool, thats creepy to have Mr. S talking to me through a book I'm reading in bed.
END RAMBLING

"i can't tell you" by Hillary Frank is a wonderfully delicious story that will draw the reader in from the very first page. Jake is just a normal college student who after opening his big mouth in a fight with his best friend, decides that talking altogether is dangerous and a waste of time. From then all of the communication between him and his friends is through notes and messages. We then follow Jake on his hilarious journey to win the heart of Xandra and discovers the true meaning of "just friends". Highly recomended!

I bought this book and read it all that day. it was really very good. I didnt even look at the cover. I just got and read it immediatly. It grabbed my attention and it was hard to put down. One of my now favorite books.

"I Can't Tell You" by Hillary Frank is an interesting approach to a great story. The novel does a great job creating the atmosphere of actually reading the main character's notes without getting too cheesy. Notes remain realistic and the story flows nicely. A great light read.

I absolutely devoured this unique book. "I Can't Tell You" is an excellent read. It is filled with humor and emotion and I felt an incredibly strong connection to the main character, Jake, and his "relationship" with his friend, Xandra. I felt and related to Jake's desperation to tell Xandra he's in love with her, and his struggle to hold her at arm's length as not to ruin their close friendship. Jake's despair over watching Xandra be with someone else and losing his best friend, Sean, is entirely realistic.

Frank uses realistic teenage language, and does not try too hard to sound like a college student - in my opinion, she is right on target. The format of this novel is a little difficult to adjust to at first, but I had no problem with it later on. At times, however, I wished this book could have been written as a "regular" novel, as I strived for some details that could not be explained through Jake and Xandra writing on napkins, dry erase boards, etc. The ending of this book was also a disappointment, which is why I only give this four stars. I desperately wanted Xandra and Jake to end up together - when they didn't, I felt as if all the hope I had for them diminished, even if it seems both characters are going to be all right without each other.

All in all, this was a great read and I highly suggest it.

I first read this book when I was 14, I am now 19, and read it about 15 times since, and it has been in the hands of about 10 of my friends. I love this book. It is interesting how it is all threw passed notes. I love the game, I used to play it all the time with friends, I just do it by myself now. I truly love this book and recommend it, and I wish Hillary Frank wrote more books.

"Talking + me = trouble." Though it's simple and to the point, the statement of main character, Jake Jacobson, describes most of the events in I Can't Tell You, by Hillary Frank. The novel, however short, is full of realistic occurrences, like the loss of close friends, relationships gone wrong, and learning how to cope with your mistakes. The story's ability to relate to high school and college students makes it a spectacular page turner for teens of all ages that are just looking to escape the fantasy world and unravel a realistic, relatively simple, yet enjoyable read.
The plot, though basic and easy to follow is very likable and readable. Jake Jacobson, a college student, and his best friend, Sean have a falling out over a few things Jake said about Sean's previous relationship. To protect himself from losing anymore friends or making any other mistakes through speaking, Jake decides to write notes instead. Through his note writing he gets closer to his friend, Xandra, and soon he begins to think of her as more than a friend to wrestle and joke with, but as a girl he might actually love.
Interesting and unique writing techniques are used by Hillary Frank in I Can't Tell You. Written entirely through notes to his friends, and to his unborn sister, it's easy to get an insight on how Jake might be feeling at any given time and therefore it's easy to become attached and to keep reading to find out if Jake will ever open his mouth again.
I Can't Tell You is a quick and interesting read that I suggest all young adults pick up from their local bookstore or library, curl up in a comfortable chair and read to the end. Through romance, college life, and "the funny" I've come to find that this novel is one I've wanted to read on more than one occasion, and I highly recommend it.