Friday 24 August 2012

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

  • Hardcover: 394 pages
  • Publisher: Dial Books (14 Jun 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0803736991
  • ISBN-13: 978-0803736993
  • A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

    “One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

    The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? 

    A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.
Cover:  I love this cover.  A beautiful, romantic and relevant image.  I also love the font.

I really enjoyed this book but at first I thought it was going to be a light, fluffy contemporary romance read, but it was a lot more than that.  The first half is very typical YA contemporary romance-the-boy-next-door kind of thing,but it takes a more serious turn when Jase's father is the victim of a hit and run accident.
There was a lot I enjoyed in this book- Sam and Jase's romance, Jase's younger brothers and sisters were hilarious.
But Sam irritated me a little.  She didn't have a spine!  She let people walk all over her and didn't fight her corner, didn't stand up for herself, even when it turned serious.  At the end when I finally thought 'Yes, you did the right thing!' she still found herself justifying Jase's little sister to her mother like she was ashamed of them.
Also, Sam fell out with her best friend Nan, but this was never really resolved by the end of the book so I was left feeling that the added friend drama was...redundant.
Overall I did like this book.  It was a great, fast paced read but it didn't quite live up to the hype or to other YA contemporary reads I've read recently, Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry and Unlovable by Sherry Gammon.
I still give My Life Nex Door 4/5 stars and think it's worth trying for fans of YA contemporary.

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