ARC Review: What I Thought Was True
08:00
By Huntley Fitzpatrick
Series: None (stand alone)
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC
Page count: 496
Published (UK): 7th April 2016 by Electric Monkey
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance,
What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?
From the acclaimed author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.
Gwen Castle has never so badly wanted to say good-bye to her island home till now: the summer her Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, takes a job there as the local yard boy. 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-you-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.
**I received a free eARC through Netgalley. This does not affect my honest opinion**
I really enjoyed Huntley Fitzpatrick’s debut book, My Life Next Door, so when I saw this was available for request on Netgalley, I was so excited! I’m really pleased all her books are being published in the UK, because I know many people will enjoy them. Sadly, I believe this is definitely her weakest one. Where My Life Next Door was easygoing and relaxing, What I Thought Was True was boring and confusing. This one highly disappointed me.
The thing that let the book down the most was the pacing. The start was really slow, which made me reluctant to read on to find out what would happen next, and I didn’t connect with the characters instantly either. This shouldn’t have been at all confusing, but the way the flashbacks were laced in the story meant I became confused to what was happening in the past. A whole array of characters were suddenly introduced, but we hadn’t seen them before, so I was at a complete loss as to who was who, and what was going on.
Gwen, the main character, made the book bearable. She had a great sense of humour, and she stood up for herself when people weren’t giving her the respect she deserved. I liked how she refused to change herself for Cass (who I definitely didn’t like) and stayed true to herself.
I wouldn’t recommend this book. If you’re looking for a light, summer contemporary romance, there’s plenty of others out there, or you could try Fitzpatrick’s other books. This one was too long and slow paced, even if the ending did give full closure. I found it too hard to get into, which is not what I’m looking for in a book like this.
Hello! I'm D - a dog-loving feminist from the UK. You'll probably find me with my nose in a book or playing my clarinet
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