Review: What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What I Thought Was True
by Huntley Fitzpatrick
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Publication Date: April 15th 2014
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Pages: 422
ISBN: 9780803739093
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary
Source: Own

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From the acclaimed author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.

Gwen Castle has never so badly wanted to say good-bye to her island home till now: the summer her Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, takes a job there as the local yard boy. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

A magnetic, push-you-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti. (Goodreads)

At the beginning of the summer, I set a goal to finally read ALL of Huntley Fitzpatrick’s books. What better time to read summer themed books than in the summer, right?! Having just recently finished reading My Life Next Door and The Boy Most Likely To, I absolutely couldn’t wait to get started on What I Thought Was True. I found it to be a very enjoyable summer read.

What I Thought Was True is the story about Gwen and Cass; two teens who live on the same island, but who are also from completely different worlds. Gwen comes from a family full of fishermen and house-cleaners. Cass is from a rich family that lives across the bridge, who never wants for anything. The two had known each other for forever, but have drifted apart after a night gone wrong.  Both Gwen and Cass were pretty headstrong and both more than a bit stubborn, and they spend most of the book walking circles around each other, but then, they have some moments where everything clicks, and it is perfection. Also, Cass is kind of swoon-worthy. Wink.

There were also a lot of interesting secondary characters in the book as well; especially a few that you will really come to love over the course of the story. I especially love Mrs. Ellington, Gwen’s brother, Emory, and her grandfather as well. Something that I’ve noticed in all of Fitzpatrick’s books so far is that she writes really great families, and Gwen’s family is no exception. I loved how really involved the whole family was, even though it wasn’t a perfect family. They were really great.

I really enjoyed that the book has the same setting as the other books by Fitzpatrick. I love the setting, at the beach, in the summertime. This atmosphere makes for a really good summer read. The storyline, while fun and swoon-worthy in some places, also has a lot of sensitive issues in it as well, and because of that the book had a bit of a different feel than My Life Next Door had. That’s not saying that I didn’t like it, just not quite as upbeat as the previous book.

Overall; I enjoyed reading What I Thought Was True.  Of course, My Life Next Door will always be my favorite Fitzpatrick read, but I What I Thought Was True was very enjoyable as well. I am beyond thrilled that I was able to fit these books into my summer reading schedule.  I really can’t wait to see what Mrs. Fitzpatrick has in store for us next, as she is quickly earning a spot on my favorite authors list!

Review: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Boy Most Likely To
by Huntley Fitzpatrick
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Publication Date: August 18th 2015
Publisher: Dial Books
Pages: 432
ISBN: 9780803741423
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary
Source: First To Read

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Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
- find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
- need a liver transplant
- drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
- well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more. (Goodreads)

The Boy Most Likely To is the much anticipated follow-up to My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. Having read and adored My Life Next Door recently, I couldn’t wait to dive right into The Boy Most Likely To. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been completely sucked in by a book, and that’s exactly what happened once I started these books. I absolutely couldn’t put them down, and now that I’m finished with them, I have the best book hangover!

The two main characters in The Boy Most Likely To are Alice and Tim, who we originally met in My Life Next Door. To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect from these two characters, as I knew they were so completely different than Samantha and Jase, who I absolutely love. Alice is really a badass in most ways, but I love how much she loves her family. Her devotion to her parents and siblings was really inspiring; even when life was chaotic and so overwhelming, she still did what she had to do for the ones that she loved. As for Tim, I was a little worried about him when starting the book. He didn’t get off to the best start in the first book, even though he completely turned his life around. I was really hoping that he could stick with it in this book, and he totally did. I really, really love how much his character grew over the course of these two books, the transformation was really amazing, and you honestly can’t help but to fall in love with this boy.

I love that all of the secondary characters that I fell in love with in My Life Next Door were in this book as well, especially the Garrett family. I seriously love this family, I think they are one of my favorite YA families of all time. There’s just something about them that is absolutely wonderful, and if Ms. Fitzpatrick decided to keep writing stories about them, I’d totally keep reading them.

The storyline for the book, while about different characters, follows much of the same storyline for the previous book. While the book had lots of fun, flirty moments in it, it definitely dealt with more issues than what were in the first book. My Life Next Door was definitely my favorite book of the two. Not saying that I didn’t enjoy the book, I just liked it in a different way than I did the first book. Both books were really great, however.

Overall; I really enjoyed both My Life Next Door and The Boy Most Likely To! I can’t believe I waited so long to start reading these books, as I absolutely love them, and I’m now a fan of Ms. Fitzpatrick for life. I still have one more book left of hers to read, What I Thought Was True, and I will be diving into that book ASAP, and I absolutely can’t wait.

Review: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

My Life Next Door
by Huntley Fitzpatrick
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Publication Date: June 14th 2012
Publisher: Dial Books For Young Readers
Pages: 394
ISBN: 9780803736993
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary
Source: Own

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"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, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything.

As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A transporting debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another. (Goodreads)

I’ve had My Life Next Door sitting on my bookshelf for forever, and now that I’ve read the book, I’m kicking myself for not having read it sooner. I am a huge fan of contemporary books; it’s my favorite genre. I’d seen so many rave reviews for My Life Next Door everywhere I looked, and I figured with the release of The Boy Most Likely To coming up, it would be a great time to read ALL the Huntley Fitzpatrick books back-to-back, and feature them all on the blog. So far, this has been the absolutely best thing ever, and I’m thrilled to add this book to my favorite list!

It seems like Samantha has the perfect life. She’s a good girl, she gets good grades, she listens to her mom and never does anything wrong. But her life is far from perfect, with her busy mom who is painfully strict, living in a house that’s too big and cold. Samantha has watched the family next door for years; they are wild and disorganized and so very different from her own. Samantha has always wished she could be one of them, and then one night, her wish finally comes true.

Samantha was an easy character to like. I empathized for a lot of the things that she went through in the book, especially with her family life. It was great watching her grow as a character though, especially after Jase and his family comes into her life. There were a lot of times throughout the book where I really wished that she would just stand up for herself, especially when it came to her mom. Luckily she does finally find the courage to do so, and that made me like her even more.

Can I tell you how much I absolutely adore the Garrett family?? I adore all ten of them, from the awesome parents to the eight wonderful kids who are all different in so many ways. You’d think having so many characters in a novel would be confusing, but it totally wasn’t. I love that each character is so different from the others, they were all so well written. This family is loud and chaotic, but so full of love and affection; it really made me want to just be a part of this huge, awesome family. Jase, of course, is my absolute favorite of the bunch, (is this boy perfection, or what?), followed closely by George.

While the storyline for the book has a really fun, sweet feel to it, it also touches bases on a lot of different issues that young adults face today, like sex, drugs, and even consequences that come with lying and not being true to yourself. I really love the way these issues were wrote into the story. The story came together really well at the end; the only issue that I had with the book was about something that I felt was left unresolved between Samantha and her best friend. 

Overall; I really enjoyed My Life Next Door so much more than I expected to. I really do wish that I had read the book sooner, but now I’m looking forward to starting the next book, The Boy Most Likely To, and I can’t wait for Alice and Tim’s story!

Waiting on Wednesday #194 - The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Boy Most Likely To
by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Website | Twitter | Facebook

Publication Date: August 18th 2015
Publisher: Dial Books
ISBN: 9780803741423



Available for Purchase:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

A surprising, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door—great for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han 

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To find the liquor cabinet blindfolded, need a liver transplant, and drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To . . . well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this novel is for readers of The Spectacular Now, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Paper Towns. (Goodreads)

Confession: I own two Huntley Fitzpatrick books already that I've not yet read.
I've heard they are great books, so I don't know what's stopping me,
other than my insane TBR pile. Haha!

This companion novel to My Life Next Door sounds pretty awesome,
and I can't wait to add it to my growing collection!!

**"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine,
that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.**

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Summer TBR List

June 16th 2014 :
Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR list

1. That Summer by Sarah Dessen - I've been trying to get to this book for a long while now, and I'm hoping to read not only it, but the rest of the Sarah Dessen books that I haven't read as well this summer.

2. Paper Towns by John Green - I can't wait to read Paper Towns! I've only read The Fault in Our Stars by Green so far, so I'm really hoping to read the rest of his books this summer as well.

3. What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick - I love the cover for this book! And I'm dying to read something by this author already. I've heard great things.

4. To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Hann - This book sounds like it is going to be a fun book to read. I can't wait to check it out!

5. The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson - I'm going to be starting this book soon, and I can't wait to read it! I also have Tiger Lily by Anderson to read soon for my next book club meeting. Super excited to start both!

6. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson - This book sounds like a great summer read, and after reading Since You've Been Gone, I've been dying to start it.

7. Amy & Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - Yes, another Morgan Matson book. I've heard so many great things about this book. I'm super excited to check it out.

8. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick - Yes, another Huntley Fitzpatrick novel on my list. I've heard great things about this book as well!

9. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares - The girls in my book club recently turned me on to the Sisterhood series, and after reading the first book, I've been dying to get back into this series. Hopefully I can do that this summer.

10. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan- This is another book that I've had on my to-read list for quite a while now. My daughter is wanting to watch the movie this summer, so I have to read the book asap!

What's on your Top Ten list this week?
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!