Review | Things I Can't Explain

Things I Can't Explain by Mitchell Kriegman
November 2015 Thomas Dunne Books
288 pages
Five stars



"A complete re-imagining of Clarissa Explains it All as 20-something Clarissa tries to navigate the unemployment line, mompreneurs and the collision of two people in love.

She was a smart, snappy, light-hearted girl who knew it all at fourteen. Now a woman in her late twenties, her searching blue eyes are more serious, but mostly amused by the people around her. The gap-toothed smile that made her seem younger than she really was is gone, but she still lightens up the room. Her unpredictable wardrobe rocks just like when she was a kid, but her fashion sense has evolved and it makes men and women turn their heads.

After leaving high school early, Clarissa interned at the Daily Post while attending night school. At the ripe old age of twenty- two she had it made – her own journalism beat (fashion, gender politics and crime), an affordable apartment in FiDi and a livable wage. She was so totally ahead of the game. Ah, those were the days! All three of them. Remember the Stock Market Crash of 08? Remember when people actually bought newspapers?

All of Clarissa’s charming obsessions, charts, graphs, and superstitions have survived into adulthood, but they’ve evolved into an ever-greater need to claw the world back under control. Her mid-twenties crisis has left her with a whole set of things she can’t explain: an ex-boyfriend turned stalker, her parents’ divorce, a micro relationship with the cute coffee guy, java addiction, “To-Flue Glue,” and then there’s Sam. Where’s Sam anyway?

Things I Can't Explain is about knowing it all in your teens and then feeling like you know nothing in your twenties." -Goodreads




Mitchell Kriegman is the creator of the popular 90s show, Clarissa Explains It All. As a kid, I loved Clarissa. She was edgy, cool and highly opinionated. Just like everyone else, I wanted to be just like her. Mitchell always said he didn't feel her story was over, so he wrote this novel to continue it. 

When we meet up with Clarissa Darling again she is in her mid twenties, living in New York City, and just trying to hang on after losing her job at the Daily Post. She's trying to make it as a journalist, while keeping her life together after a messy break up. Her life didn't pan out the way she thought it would.

As a Clarissa lover, I was highly interested on where the other characters from the show would be now. I don't want to give away any spoilers but it's wonderful. We get quite a bit of back story on the events of the last 10 or so years. Although her lovable best friend Sam is no longer in the picture, we do get some great flashbacks to their past relationship. As much as I love the old characters, it's the new ones that kept me interested in the story. Between her co-workers, unique ex boyfriemd Norm and her crazy relationship with Nick, I was hooked. Specifically Nick, because how could you not love him? 

This book perfectly embodies the Clarissa we knew and loved. She was well known for breaking the fourth wall. In Thing's I Can't Explain we still hear her inner monologue and she still obsessed with graphs and charts. It feels like we are once again in Clarissa's bedroom, waiting for Sam to climb up the ladder. Her same quirky personality still resonates throughout this book, but her opinions have changed. She is a little older, and her life isn't what she thought it would be. 

The strongest thing about Thing's I Can't Explain, isn't just the nostalgia. I've always had a special place for a book that pours its emotions out onto the pages. Clarissa's emotions go from high to low and I found myself feeling that too. With every awkward encounter, I cringed. I got butterflies when she spent time with Nick. I felt bittersweet about Sam. I found myself laughing out loud and even crying at times. Clarissa is honest and relatable. 

I stayed up until 3am finishing this book. I loved every minute of this book and was not ready for it to be over. The book has been marketed as (A Clarissa Novel). I hope that means her story will continue. I need to know what's in that letter!