Review: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: The Boy Most Likely To
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Dial Books
Release date: August 18th 2015
Pages: 425
Genre: Young Adult contemporary
Source: Bought
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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.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Like everyone else, I loved My Life Next Door and was super excited for its companion. And while The Boy Most Likely To is very different from My Life Next Door, I still very much enjoyed it. Instead of the swoony romance of My Life Next Door, we get a darker story more focused on the characters' individual issues. So if you're expecting another romance like My Life Next Door, you might be disappointed, but if you're open to The Boy Most Likely To being a darker novel more driven by character growth and serious issues, you will love The Boy Most Likely To just as much as the first book.

Tim's story was, by far, my favorite part of the book. Tim is such an intriguing character and unusual narrator in YA, and I loved getting to know him. I wish we could have gotten a little more background info on how he first got into drinking and all of that, but other than that, he is a fully-developed and complex character. His voice is compelling and distinct: his self-deprecating sense of humor shines through his parts of the novel, making even the more emotional elements funny and entertaining. His story takes a surprising twist that I can't really talk about without spoiling anything, and I really loved the whole story that develops from there on. This unexpected situation forces Tim to grow up a lot, and it provides a lot of emotional as well as funny scenes. The plot twists keep on coming in this storyline, making the novel a lot more suspenseful than I was expecting it to be.

Alice's parts weren't quite as surprising and unique as Tim's, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Alice has been stepping in for her mother and taking care of the younger kids and everything around the house while her mother takes care of her father, which really shows the impact of what had happened in My Life Next Door. To me, Alice's story mainly seemed like a continuation of My Life Next Door, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it lets readers return to the characters they loved and the storyline that fascinated them in My Life Next Door, but it does mean that Alice's voice isn't quite as strong as Tim's.

The romance, like I said, does not play as big a role in The Boy Most Likely To as one might expect from a companion to My Life Next Door. Tim and Alice already know each other in the beginning, but they slowly transition from their teasing semi-friendship to something more. I liked how this made it more of a slow-burn romance, with the attraction and chemistry building up while the main characters take forever to finally get together. But their relationship did bother me a little in the beginning, when it mainly consists of Tim continuously jokingly hitting on Alice, which just didn't sit right with me, and Alice finally admitting that she likes Tim too, without any deeper exploration of her feelings for him. But since the romance isn't the main focus of the book, this didn't bother me too much; I was mainly just enjoying both of their stories regardless of the romance.

I feel like The Boy Most Likely To was kind of falsely marketed as a romance; then again, I'm not sure how else you could market it considering the main storyline isn't revealed until later on. But if you're willing to accept that The Boy Most Likely To focuses on much darker issues and is very different in writing and in content from what we saw in My Life Next Door, it's a really great novel. I'm impressed by the versatility in Huntley Fitzpatrick's writing and can't wait to read what she publishes next!

Review: What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: What I Thought Was True
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Release date: April 15th 2014
Pages: 416
Genre: Young Adult contemporary romance
Source: Bought
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From the author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.
Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it as a yard boy on her Nantucket-esque island this summer. 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.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Huntley Fitzpatrick's debut, My Life Next Door, was one of my favorite books of last year, so I was beyond excited when I heard she had another book coming out, and set on the same summer island, too. And while I didn't love What I Thought Was True quite as much as My Life Next Door, I still really enjoyed Huntley Fitzpatrick's sophomore novel.

I absolutely loved our main character Gwen. I've read a couple of reviews that weren't happy with Gwen and her decision-making, but I found her to be  realistic and relatable, and I felt for her throughout the novel. I'm always happy when we get a variation from the stereotypical shy, good-girl character, so I really appreciated that Gwen had a bit of a history when it comes to guys. I wish that aspect had been explored more, though; her reputation and the slut-shaming affected Gwen a lot at the beginning of the novel but weren't really mentioned anymore later on. Also, I wish Cass's and her irresponsibility during their earlier hookup hadn't been glossed over like it was, because the whole sex-with-a-random-person-without-a-condom-is-okay-as-long-as-you're-on-birth-control thing didn't sit right with me.

The family storyline was probably my favorite part of the novel. I love that Gwen comes from a working-class background where money actually is an issue, unlike so many YA contemporaries. And the parents play a pretty important rule in the story, too! I really enjoyed the family atmosphere, Gwen's relationship with her cousin Nic, and of course her little brother Em. And while she's not technically part of the family, I loved reading about Gwen's best friend Viv too. I really appreciated that the romance didn't always take center stage and that we got to read about Gwen's other relationships and the stories of other people as well.

The romance, sadly, was the only storyline I didn't love. The set-up, with the flashbacks to Cass's and Gwen's earlier hookup, in between the story today, didn't really work for me. I never got a clear sense of what their relationship was like before that first time, which made me kind of suspicious of Cass's claims that he had had feelings for Gwen all along. But maybe I just didn't get it because it took me a looong time to get through What I Thought Was True. (I don't know why I thought starting a book right before finals was a good idea.) But because I never really got a sense of their past involvement, the story now seemed a little too insta-love-y to me: I didn't really feel the chemistry between them, they developed too strong feelings for each other within such a short period of time, and their relationship seemed a little too perfect (except for the obligatory drama right before the ending, of course). The whole second half of the novel seemed a little rushed to me: the pace at the beginning is very slow, and towards the end, there's a million things happening at once, so I wish that been balanced a little better.

Despite my problems with the romance, I really enjoyed What I Thought Was True. Huntley Fitzpatrick's writing is great, and I loved the summer feeling she conveyed throughout this novel. I can't wait t read more by this author!

Review: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Title: My Life Next Door
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Release date: June 14th 2012
Pages: 395
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
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The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen year old Samantha wishes she was one of them… until the day Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. Jase can sense that his beautiful neighbor is missing something in her sterile home, and as the two fall fiercely in love, his family makes her one of their own. But when the bottom drops out of Sam's world, which perfect family will save her–and will her perfect love survive?

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Ever since I first heard about it, I just knew this book would be fabulous. I'm not even sure why, since the description doesn't sound that special, but I'd been getting "Read me! I'm awesome!" vibes from My Life Next Door. Add to that the gorgeous cover and all the swooning reviews it's been getting, and I was sure I was in for something special when I opened the book. And while I did have a few smaller problems with the story, the characters and everything the book ensure My Life Next Door is going straight to the favorites shelf.

Huntley Fitzpatrick's style is great. It's not overly ornate or the most beautiful writing I've ever read, but it's perfect for this story. Her writing made it so easy to get lost in the story; it made the characters come to life. It's the kind of writing that reads incredibly quickly; you don't even notice the time passing while you're reading because you're so absorbed in the story. If I hadn't been reading together with Racquel, I probably would have read My Life Next Door in one sitting - it's that kind of book.

The characters are what make this book so special. The cast of supporting characters is relatively large, but that doesn't mean any of them are underdeveloped. With 8 kids, I thought I'd have trouble telling the Garretts apart, but that is not the case at all. Jase is swoonworthy, the perfect love interest. Racquel criticized that Jase is too perfect, but I didn't really see it that way - I couldn't get over how much I loved him. And George - oh, George. He is the single most adorable kid the (fictional) world has ever seen. I know it's easy to get a lot of people to love little kids as book characters, so me loving George might not mean that much. But even though I'm not always convinced by little-kid-cuteness, Huntely Fitzpatrick totally got me with George. Those two characters are the obvious choices, the ones everyone will love, but that doesn't mean the rest of the Garretts are any less interesting. Alice, Andy and Patsy are all made of awesome, and I would have loved to see even more of Joel. Each member of the Garrett family, including the parents, has a distinct personality - they feel less like fictional characters and more like people I know in real life. Then there's the non-Garrett secondary characters, out of which my favorite would have to be Tim. In the beginning, I was fearing him to be some kind of stock character, the necessary bad-boy-ish, "show the kids how drugs can mess up your life" kind of character, but that is so not the case. Tim has his own story to tell, and I love that he got to play such an important role in My Life Next Door because he is complex and awesome and I just loved reading about him.

The only character I wasn't completely in love with, sadly, was Samantha. She's not a bad character, but she felt a little flat to me. I wanted her to show more emotion, more personality, in quite a few scenes. I get that's kind of the point, but her Little Miss Perfect attitude annoyed me a little. Sam is beautiful, smart, always does the right thing, and has an endless number of talents, including being a great swimmer, knowing everything there is to know about astrology, and having a way with the younger Garretts. I want characters to have flaws, to show weaknesses and insecurities, and I didn't get that from Samantha. That's not to say I didn't like her at all - I didn't have huge issues with her, and it didn't take much from my overall reading experience. But I didn't love Sam like I wanted to.

I've heard a few people say they didn't like the big twist, but I for one loved it. I did not see it coming at all, and the set-up is definitely original. I love how this twist put all of Sam's relationships to the test - it was great to read about how each storyline was affected by this. I especially liked Sam's relationship with her mom during this time - it had felt a little flat to me in the beginning, but the problems they have towards the end of the book really made me understand their relationship.

One storyline I did not like as much is Sam's friendship with Nan. I can't say too much about that without spoiling anything, but I really wish that would have been developed more. The changes in their relationship felt drastic and a little unrealistic to me, and I would have preferred a more subtle and nuanced way of developing the issues these two have.

But despite all those other storylines, My Life Next Door is, at its heart, a romance. I hadn't read a straight-up romance for a while, and this book definitely filled that void. In the beginning, I was fearing insta-love - I found it a little strange how Jase and Sam had been neighbors for so long without ever seeing each other, and how suddenly, when the story starts, they see each other all the time. But once I got over that, I loved Sam and Jase together - I was so wrong for thinking it was insta-love in the beginning. The way the author developed Sam and Jase's relationship is honest and real, and I loved watching their feelings for each other grow.

I know I said quite a few negative things in this review, but really, that's not really what I felt while reading. What I felt was that super-awesome-book-feeling - you know, the one where you're just so happy while reading because a book is exactly the way you want it to be? That feeling is what really stuck with me and made this book so special. I'm sad to have to say goodbye to these characters - I keep hoping for an announcement that there will be companions to My Life Next Door, that Alice, Joel, Andy, Tim, and all the rest of them will get their own stories. But either way, I loved this book, and I'll be reading whatever Huntley Fitzpatrick publishes next, whether it includes these characters or not.

This or That with Alice from My Life Next Door (My Life Next Door Blog Tour)

Today we have Alice from My Life Next Door here for a this or that interview! This post is part of The Teen Book Scene's blog tour for My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick.You can find out all about the tour here. Make sure to visit all the other stops if you'd like to know more about My Life Next Door!

Sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise. Things always look better at the beginning.

Vanilla or chocolate?

Chocolate is always good. Coming upon a good vanilla is harder.

Half-empty or half-full?

They are the same thing.

Summer or winter?

Summer. Winter and having to get up in the dark and clear off the car before school and then leave it running while you go back into the house to get something and then wind up spending twenty minutes searching for one of your brother’s lost boots or your sister’s mittens or whatever—Blah. Summer.

Jeans or sweats?

Jeans. I wear scrubs often enough as it is, and you can’t LIVE in things with elastic waists.

Cats or dogs?

Cats. They keep their own secrets.

Coffee or tea?

Both. Coffee during the day when I really need to keep going and tea when I’m trying to relax.

Polka-dots or stripes?

Neither. I like things solid. My first bikini was polka dotted—pink, of all things—and I loved it, but that is so embarrassing now.

Being in a crowd or being alone?

Being in a crowd or being alone? Both. I love being in a crowd with my family or my friends, but sometimes you need to regroup.

Being able to change the past or living with your mistakes?

Living with your mistakes. What else can you do? Although I did have this one boyfriend sophomore year who I really wish I could just delete from my memory bank.

Superpower: being invisible or flying?

Flying. I would never want to be invisible.

Make sure to visit all the other stops of the tour, and keep your eye out for My Life Next Door, which releases today!


My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
(Amazon | Goodreads)

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen year old Samantha wishes she was one of them… until the day Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. Jase can sense that his beautiful neighbor is missing something in her sterile home, and as the two fall fiercely in love, his family makes her one of their own. But when the bottom drops out of Sam's world, which perfect family will save er–and will her perfect love survive?