What I Thought Was True, by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What I Thought Was True, by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Chick-lit, Romance

Rating: 3.5/5 stars










Goodreads Summary: 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.

A magnetic, push-me-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.

Review:


   So I originally read a sample for this before it released, and I was totally hooked in after reading 5 chapters or so. Meaning that Cass already took my breath away! Just kidding, okay maybe not. But seriously, once you begin reading this book, you'll be hooked in onto it from the first page.

   I was anticipating a fantastic summery contemporary novel from the amazing one and only Huntley Fitzpatrick. After reading her debut novel, My Life Next Door, I couldn't wait to read more from this awesome author. Although this book had its ups and downs, I'd recommend it for any teenager considering to read a light, quick novel.

   First I may say that Mrs. Fitzpatrick has a serious talent in hooking readers in and getting them to stay hooked in. I mean seriously, this book was so long and I never felt like I doubted reading this. I feel like this was written naturally, if you know what I mean. (Natural talent)

   This book confused me because I seriously didn't get what the point was. I completely understand that this was a romance-contemporary book, and the main point was supposed to be the romance, but what? Like I didn't know where this was going halfway through the book, and by the end, I felt like I was just reading an ordinary teenager's life story, with a few (okay maybe more than a few) plot twists in between that will possibly make readers suffer. To me, that kind of was everything that it was about.

    Now this is supposed to be about Gwen Castle, daughter of a "cleaning lady" and a restaurant owner. She can't wait to leave the island that she lives on, and go into the real world, but this summer, she is still stuck being a babysitter for an elderly woman, and next thing you know, she bumps into gorgeous Cassidy Somers, who is the yard boy for the woman. It's love at first sight (it was during a faithful moment in the Spring) and Gwen has to find out who she is and what she wants to do.

    Yeah, the idea is kind of cheesy, I know what you're thinking. I wish that the idea was bigger and brighter. In every contemporary novel we find a female heroine who falls in love with a hot guy who may or may not be particularly nice as a person (but secretly likes her on the inside). The girl needs to find who she is and needs to find out what she wants in life. There's only one author who can accomplish this kind of plot and totally make it rock, and that is Sarah Dessen. She's done this with all of her novels and most of them ended up being amazing. So credits to Sarah for this idea, basically. This kind of was the good cheesy, though.

     But on the inside, I'm thinking that there's something about this book that pulled me in. Was it the characters? Probably. They are the most realistic and smokin' hot (CASS) characters that I've read about in a long time. It's difficult to create realistic characters that speak to readers, but Huntley Fitzpatrick created them with a snap, just like that.

     Seriously, the romance dragged me into reading this book. It was so beautiful, and I WANT SOMETHING LIKE THAT, ESPECIALLY CASS. He was so dreamy and like I can't even (tumblr much?) talk about him because I just feel like I die when I think about him. (Die on the inside)

       Gwen was a very relatable protagonist. Her words got stuck in my head, and I felt everything that she felt. Her intimate struggles and worries made me see her as a better character. She's the type of person who felt everything on the inside, and since this was told in her perspective, you will feel everything, and that will cause you to think more, and about the surrounding characters.

      Although this had its flaws (the idea,) I'd seriously recommend getting it, maybe you'll enjoy it even more than I did. All that matters is that you should give this a try, because this is written by a fantastic author.