Title: My Life Next Door
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Rating: 2 out of 5
Thoughts:
Samantha has a very neat and orderly life. Contrary to the Garett’s who stay next door and have a huge, loud and messy family. Samantha has grown up watching the Garett family from her rooftop until one day one of the Garett boys, Jase, climbs on her roof to talk to her. It’s the start of a summer romance in spite of the differences in their status and the kind of life they lead. Samantha’s mother is rich and is looking forward to winning the election in her hometown. Jase’s dad is a hardworking guy who runs a barely surviving hardware store. The difference is stark but that doesn’t stop their romance from blooming. Things happen and Samantha has to make a difficult choice. Thats the plot.
I don’t get it. This book is everywhere.
There are rave reviews and dream cast and all kind of stuff. My problem with the book is that the choice Samantha has to make doesn’t come up until the last 50 pages of the book. The rest of the book feels like a slow lazy and boring summer day. Neither Samantha’s, nor Jase’s characters are very interesting. There was nothing quirky, different about either of them, which makes them kind of forgettable in my opinion. Tim and Nan (Samantha’s friend) on the other hand are complex characters and I would have rather enjoyed their story more.
I kind of felt my mind drifting away while reading the book and that is definitely not a good thing. It was an easy and fast read but that can be said about most YA books. Read it at your own risk.
February 6, 2015 at 4:27 am
Sounds like a light, easy read. I suppose this is the kind of book I’d turn to should I be in that kind of mood.
February 6, 2015 at 5:15 am
I am sorry this one didn’t work well for you. I don’t read a lot of contemporary YA novels, and I am not sure this is one I would pick up to read regardless. It sounds like it has a strong audience though, and that’s good.We all aren’t drawn to the same books, are we?
February 8, 2015 at 7:13 am
I agree. But I do like YA contemporary, this one just wasn’t for me.
February 6, 2015 at 1:55 pm
That slow build up would drive me crazy.
February 9, 2015 at 6:02 am
Hum. I haven’t read this one (it’s on my shelves though), but I did read the author’s second book (What I thought was true). It also was a roaring success among my Goodreads friends, and yet, I felt the same way about it that you felt about this one! And so, I am not sure whether I want to read this one, after all. Any time I pick it up, I just can’t get past page 10.
Sorry to hear it didn’t work for you though. ;-/
February 10, 2015 at 4:06 am
I didn’t know she had a second book out. I’l probably skip it since we seem to have similar opinions on her books.
February 17, 2015 at 8:26 am
These days I find most YA like this, where I don’t quite get the fuss. And I used to be such a YA fan, but the past couple of years, it seems like I have grown out of this genre.