book review: my life next door

my life next door by huntley fitzpatrick

official website

description: 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?

review: I LOVE SUMMER BOOKS. mainly because this new york winter sucked, but seriously these romantic summer books are my cup of tea lately. obviously you can tell my love of books set during this season by my adoration of the summer i turned pretty series.

i picked this book up because of its pretty cover. i liked the lighting and the typeface. and the synopsis sounded cool. i love books with "boy is from 'x' type family and girl is from 'y' type family". because i'm a slump and like stereotypical things. (lamest girl in the young adult book reviewing game).

my life next door tells the story of sam reed. sam's mom is the local senator, who lives the perfect life. her house is always neat and clean, and she prides herself on her picturesque daughters and wonderful life. this is in stark contrast to the garretts, who have 6(?) children and messy, messy lives. there's toys strewn all over the yard and there's always some commotion. samantha grew up watching the garretts, hoping to be a part of their chaotic life. this is mainly due to the fact that sam's mom hates the garretts, looking down upon mrs. garrett for having many children and pitying her. this book is about the relationship between sam and the middle garrett boy, jase.

i'm gonna be blunt. the characters had no substance for me. i didn't feel bad for them, and they were just too cookie-cutter. i got through the book solely for the fact that i wanted to know how sam would get herself out of the situation. i don't wanna spoil it for you, but it's bad. sam's mom does something stupid to a member of the garrett's and then lies about it and it's a bunch of bullshit, but it was a nice young adult fiction problem.

i went into this book thinking i was going to connect with sam on a very high level. i'm like sam in the beginning of the novel. she craves that chaos, the big family. she wants to be a part of the madness. i don't know how to say this without sounding like an over-privileged girl, but i would have loved to grow up in a huge family like that. my brother is 5 years old than i, and yeah we got into some shenanigans when we were younger, but it was nothing exciting. it was just the two of us. i would have loved to have little siblings running around and helping out my mom. and like sam, my mom created this perfect household. my room isn't lived in, because everything is in perfect place and it's just not me. and that's why i understood why sam would watch the garretts. because she wanted to just be loved by so many people. (eventually she was because she starts hanging out with jase ayo).

i didn't like how the author did not tie up the ends with nan. nan was sam's best friend, and sam learns a secret about nan and just like that, nan dropped her. and never spoke to her again. it just didn't seem natural. everything else was resolved and nan just disappeared. it seemed unnatural.

i just wasn't a fan of this one. the characters left no impact on me, but maybe it was just because i hated the mother with a passion.

the romance was nice, though. it was a very good first love, "oh my god i'm losing my virginity to this boy" story. 

overall, my life next door is for fans of first loves, corruption, and doing what's right even if it sux.

"but i'm not that watcher anymore. what jase and i have is real and alive. it has nothing to do with how things look from far away and everything to do with how they are up close. and that won't change."

-my life next door//huntley fitzpatrick