My Life Next Door: Huntley Fitzpatrick

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In addition to the Garretts though, another family that played a huge part in this novel was Sam’s best friend Nan and her brother Tim. Sam has grown up with these two since childhood and I loved how realistically their relationships were portrayed – well, in the first half of the novel. Usually, authors never give too much emphasis to the best friend, but Nan was given a lot of importance in this story, which I liked – especially because a friend’s problems, their life, and their struggles impact your life as well. Furthermore, Tim, Nan’s older brother, undergoes immense growth and change throughout this novel as well as being one hell of an intelligent, sassy, and funny guy – all qualities which instantaneously made him my favorite character. Although I loved Jase, the main love interest, Tim was simply so much more. Jase is kind, polite, and perfect to the point where he has no flaws. He is an attentive boyfriend, a doting son, an inspirting brother, and an adoring child in general. Sam’s relationship with Jase was cute, fun, and likeable. They had their awkward moments, their gradual growth, and their eventual path to love. I liked all of these things, but somewhere after the half-way point of this book, everything began to go downhill. Throughout the course of the novel, Sam struggles to make her own decisions and pull away from the person her mother is trying to make her be to become herself. Her relationship with Jase helps her grow into a person that is more aware of the world and less reluctant to make mistakes. By the end of the novel, she is more concerned with doing what she believes is right rather than what she thinks is expected of her. And that Samantha kept quite about the whole 'accident' instead of saying something like she should have. I dislike the fact that the "unexpected event" was so obviously implemented there with no connection whatsoever with the story line, just to try to mix things up a little. And the ending was so perfectly convenient for everybody I still feel like throwing up.

It is basically a clean romance; however Jase and Sam do explore their sexuality. The author was very responsible by making them responsible. Jase and Sam take their time with this life-changing event, and the author injected some humor to lighten the mood. The condom conversation was priceless. Even though I was dissatisfied with the ending myself, I would still recommend this book. BUT if you are someone who needs the ending to wrap up nicely, beware! Jase and Sam get their HEA, but so many questions remain unanswered. He was the best first boyfriend you could have. Smart, cute, funny, and patient. I liked how open he was and honest, how he treated Sam so well even when things got rough. Also I loved how he was there for his siblings, for his parents, and I loved how he kept fighting for his dreams (figuratively speaking) even though there were such slim chances for them to come true. I’m not going to lie – I was quite impressed by this story at first. Samantha was an interesting protagonist, one who was suffering underneath her perfect disguise, yet she never let that get in the way of her interactions with others. She constantly tried to be the perfect daughter, the perfect neighbor, the perfect best friend, the perfect girlfriend, and I think that is something everyone can relate to. Yet, Samantha paled in comparison to the Garretts. In some ways, this novel reminded me of Cheaper by the Dozen – two loving parents with a large family of children do their best to make it work. Furthermore, these kids, despite their vastly different personalities, all love one another and seem to mesh perfectly as siblings. Seeing Samantha fit into this equation was nothing short of entertaining and only increased my respect for her. Where can I even start with how much I loved this book? How much it took me surprise, grabbed my heart, and wouldn't let go? This is NOTHING like your average contemporary read! It's still sweet and romantic and funny and brilliant. But I thought I had a good guess to what the huge plot twist would be, and boy was I wrong! I didn't expect it at all, which doesn't happen with me and contemporaries very often.

And yes, the romance is absolutely lovely: This is how first love feels like: a bit clumsy, out of place, unpredictable (and supposedly world-shattering), but also damn cute. It made me smile, scratch that, it made me giggle like a child. I like their sweetness and their cuteness and i could savor this love-story forever. I hated Sam's best friend Nan and I loathed Nan's brother Tim. Although, he did get better toward the end. Five YA novels that inspire author Lauren Morrill". Happy Ever After. 2012-12-12 . Retrieved 2019-05-16.

But I can't forget mentioning the entire Garrett family! Made up of eight totally individual children and two adoring parents, the Garretts are my dream family. Loud, fun, hilarious, affectionate. Obviously Jase is my favourite, but George — Jase's adorable 4-year-old brother who watches too much Discovery Channel for his own good — was a close favourite! :') Sam’s mom was… AGH! I don’t even have words, not to mention her boyfriend and all that happened with the accidentyear old Samantha Reeds spent half her life watching the Garrets next door. They were everything she and her family were not - loud, happy, messy, loving. She wished she would be one of them. My favorite character is probably little George. I mean, how could you not love him? He is the cutest boy ever!! He is smart and sweet and so damn lovely; I wanted to kiss him, to hug him, to take him home and adopt him. He made me laugh so damn much and he deserves all the love and the fans he can get.

The Garrett's are everything Samantha's mother is not: unorganized, noisy, messy, and genuinely unconcerned with the opinions of others. This just felt way too heavy and dramatic in a way that seemed very pointless. Also, I did not care for the characters much at all, so it was a slog to get through it.This is why I read YA books - to get this feeling of joy, of happiness, of love.. Because I simply LOVE feeling my head so light and having my heart skip a beat remembering how it felt to fall in love for the first time (and every time after that).