My Life Next Door

My Life Next Door

by Huntley Fitzpatrick

SYNOPSIS:

“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.

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

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4.5

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).

I really like stories like this, that get you through every stage of a young relationship; that make you hold your breath for the romantic moments, for the first kiss; that make you smile at all the silliness and cuteness of the couple; that make you ache for them when they are in trouble and fall apart; that make you love them more when they get back together, much stronger as a couple, much more in love, knowing themselves better, accepting each other with the good and the bad, feeling their love grow with every page, with every word…

I guess what I mean is that this is a very sweet romantic story that went straight to my heart and doesn’t plan to leave too soon!
There were so many emotions radiating through these pages, with all that drama and those tangled situations that I almost didn’t see a way to end the story well. It was all so full of substance – there was so much to laugh about, to smile about, to care about… So much to enjoy, so much to love.

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 savour this love-story forever.

The characters were amazing as well.
I loved the main character, Samantha. There was something about her dreamy way of being, about the way she thought about and watched from afar the family next door so opposed to her own, the way she started to feel so loved by some people that she barely knew, the way she needed to live for once after all that watching-other-people-live-their-lives thing she’s been doing.

Also, I liked how she always wanted to help, how she worked even though she didn’t need to, how she tried to stick to the truth even thoug it was supposed to break her.
I am not sure what would i have done in her place. I love my family and I guess i would stick to them no matter what, but I definitely hope not to find out this on my own.

Then we have Jace.
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.
There’s only one thing that I missed – I wanted him to play a song for Sam, as i love guys paying guitar.

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.

And as we’re still at it, there was one more character that I loved –  Tim.
He was troubled, but he was such a nice guy. I didn’t know he was supposed to have so much impact in this story, so it was a great surprise and I loved all the moments with him. He was such a good friend (when he was not being a jerk and when he was sober).

This brings me somehow back to his sister, Nan – the very opposite of him. We didn’t get to know how things eneded with her, but things like this happen all the time. You have friends until one day you don’t have them anymore.
Things like ‘best friends forever’ are easier to say than do, and the truth is that you don’t need to work on keeping close a friend, you just have to be there, to enjoy the friendship.

This being said, this book was awesome. I loved it and i can’t wait to read more from this author. I still wonder what would I do in Sam’s shoes. I am definitely not sure.
I know that when you fell in love you think that you deserve happiness (and you probably do), and when something so dark comes upon your love you need to have all the luck on your side to make things right again. Again not sure if this was the way to do it. I agree that these things can be handled privately – scandals and fights are so not my thing, but anyways it is a shame that someone might need to get to something like that, that someone might suffer (not only one person, but many more; not only one family, but two).

So, let’s welcome Huntley Fitzpatrick in this fabulous world of books!
I really can’t wait for more awesomeness written by her, so…
Happy writing Huntley and happy reading you guys!

Favorite quote:

Oh well, this makes sense only if you’ve read the book.

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