On the Fence

by Kasie West

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door. With three older brothers, Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, has always been more comfortable calling the shots on a basketball court than flirting with the opposite sex. So when her police officer dad demands she get a summer job to pay for the latest in a long line of speeding tickets, she's more than a little surprised to find herself working at a chichi boutique and going out with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game. Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with her neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden, sitting back-to-back against the fence that separates them. Braden may know her better than anyone. But there's a secret Charlie's keeping that even he hasn't figured out-she's fallen for him. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high. On the Fence is a sweet and satisfying read about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect it.

• ISBN10: 0062235672
• ISBN13: 9780062235671
• Publish Date: 31 July 2014 (first published 1 July 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperTeen
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[lizarodz]

4.5 stars

I LOVED The Distance Between Us and I couldn’t wait to read On the Fence. Kasie West can do no wrong in my eyes, she is a genius creating memorable couples that stay with you for a long time.

Charlie is a tomboy out of necessity. With three older brothers and a single father, she just learned to survive in an environment that nurtured competition and sports, until those became an integral part of her own personality. Since her dad felt so uncomfortable with anything related to her being a ‘girl’, she just tried to minimize reference to them and figure most of the stuff on her own. I felt sad that she felt as if she couldn’t be more feminine without facing ridicule from her brothers.

In many aspects this is a book about Charlie’s growth as a young adult, about relationships between siblings, parents, and best friends. Of course, On the Fence is also a sweet romance. She did a lot of figuring out things and facing difficult events in her past related to the death of her mom. I also love Charlie’s first experiences with having boys notice her, with her first work, and friends that were girls. It was sad and endearing at the same time that she felt so lost in a big new world that was ripe with possibilities.

Braden is the boy-next-door and Charlie’s and Gage’s best friend. He is so sweet, and felt so real. He was a bit insecure, a bit of a bully in anything related to Charlie, and a great friend. I loved that he loved Charlie as is, for who she was, and never tried to change her, but wanted her to embrace who she really was.

Everything that happened after Charlie and Braden get together felt rushed. I wish we could get to read more about them as a couple, and more ‘on the fence’ moments.

Jerom, Nathan and Gage were so much fun (Charlie’s brothers in case you can’t tell.) They all very different, except for two things, the love sports and they love Charlie. They are extremely protective of her, which is not always a bad thing. Charlie’s father is also a great guy, he did a great job considering he was a single dad. I just hoped that he would have included a female figure in the family (a family friend, an aunt?) to help Charlie along.

The characters were all amazing, the writing supreme and the story awesome. What can I say? It was a great read!

Overall, I loved On the Fence, just not as much as I did The Distance Between Us. I’m not sure that I can pinpoint exactly why, but it may have to do with how I felt that Branden and Charlie didn’t get enough time together. I still loved it and will keep Kasie West in my favorite author shortlist for sure!

Some quotes for you:

“…Then he sniffed my hair and neck. “What’s that smell?”

For a second I couldn’t answer him. My breath seemed caught in my throat. Then I help up my wrist, between our too-close faces, “It’s a spray from work…” My voice came out tight and I let my hands fall back to my side.”



“I slipped off my shoes so I could be stealthier, hooked my arm in his, and crept along the wall. “We are so winning.”

Branden smiled big. “I knew I made the right choice holdin’ out for you to get home.”

“Darn straight.”

“Let’s kick some butt”, he said, in his horrible imitation of me.”



“Today was boring,” he said. “Don’t work all day again.”

My heart did a flip and I chastised it…”Good night, Branden.”

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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This is my first time reading a book by Kasie West - and I have to say, I think I started with a winner! When it comes to fictional relationships, I have a HUGE soft spot for the whole best-friends-become-something-more thing, so really, I was never going to resist this book in the first place. And the fact that it's by Kasie West, an author I've been meaning to read for a long while, was just icing on the cake. And she's now earned a new fan in me. :D

On the Fence did take me a little while to get into. I went into it expecting cute shippy feels from the start, and that's not exactly what's presented. The romance takes a while to build up, I think because that's not the only point of this book. There are lots of shippy feels (I'll talk about those in a second), but my favorite thing about On the Fence was the main character, Charlie, and her growth throughout the book - closely followed by the amazing family dynamics of Charlie and her dad and her three brothers.

Charlie isn't just a tomboy... She has grown up around boys, her best friend is a boy, and she totally acts like one of the guys. Charlie's dad makes her get a job after she gets (yet another) speeding ticket, and Charlie finds work at a small clothing boutique at the mall. Here, she finally has the opportunity (or more like, is forced) to hang out with girls her own age, and get out of her comfort zone - a lot.

To be completely honest, I had my doubts that Charlie's character could be pulled off in a way that I would believe. I sometimes feel like "tomboys" aren't always portrayed in a genuine way, and end up as characters who starts off as a tomboy only to be magically transformed into a girly princess by the end (you know what I mean). But Charlie felt real to me, and her growth wasn't from "tomboy" to "girly", it was more a growth from irresponsible, to more compassionate, self-aware, and much more accepting of others. I went from not much liking her attitude, to really appreciating the person she was becoming by the end of the book. (My feelings towards Charlie actually reminded me a lot of my feelings toward Lainey in The Art of Lainey.)

I also loved Charlie's relationship with her three brothers - the family dynamics in this book were amazing, from the start. Charlie is super close with her brothers, and I totally believed the siblings' banter and sense of loyalty to each other. Charlie's dad was also a favorite - often in books, when single dads are raising a daughter, some of the more, uhm, awkward conversations are played for laughs, and that's fine - but those don't always come across as feeling genuine. Charlie's dad cares deeply about her, and wants to be the best parent possible, so I appreciated that West was able to pull off these funnier, awkward moments and ALSO make them feel real and genuine and not just something to lighten the mood.

Finally, Charlie and Braden... <33 Charlie and Braden have basically grown up together, and in On the Fence, Charlie finally comes to realize that, Oh, hello, Braden is is boy. Like, boyfriend-material sort of boy. This comes about through many nights when Charlie and Braden couldn't sleep, so they met at their fence to talk, and they end up playing a game of "who-knows-who-better?" So, one person says a fact about the other person, and then that person has to respond with a matching fact about the first person. It's adorable. But they have a lot of really great heart-to-hearts in the relative safety of this "fence-chat" bubble (as they don't talk about their fence-chats during the day), and it was just... incredibly sweet and sort of wonderful. While their romantic chemistry did take a little bit to develop, I totally loved their friendship, and the development of their "something more" was really perfect.

In conclusion...

I really, really enjoyed this book. All of the characters were so wonderfully developed, the family dynamics were probably some of the best I've ever read, and the romance was super sweet. If you're looking for a summer read that's not just fun, but also has a lot of heart, pick up On the Fence. You won't be disappointed.

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There were books involved...

[Amber]

I say this every time I review a Kasie West book, but she has done it again! There is a reason why she is on my autobuy list, and On the Fence is a great example of that reason. After reading The Distance Between Us last year, I was excited to see that West was writing another contemporary novel, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.


I didn’t go into this review wanting to make comparisons between Caymen and Charlie, or between The Distance Between Us and On the Fence, but I think it’s kind of hard not to. Both books follow a similar formula: they start with introducing us to the characters, to the love interests, and then there’s a slight mysterious undercurrent throughout before the big reveal towards the end of the book. That said, I don’t think On the Fence becomes stale at any point. The same formula was used, yes, but the fresh batch of characters combined with Kasie West’s writing made for a compelling read.

Read the full review on Books of Amber

[Ashley]

Nose Graze — Book reviews & blogging tips

I liked On the Fence, but I think it was shallower and fluffier than I expected/hoped it would be. Here are the different elements of the story:

* Charlie's dead mom, and struggling to grow up without a mother figure
* Charlie trying to find her identity
* Charlie struggling between who she's always been (sporty tomboy) and who she thinks a normal girl is supposed to be (girly, feminine)
* The romance
* The family dynamics

You can see that On the Fence had a lot of different parts to it, but I felt like it only scratched the surface of everything, rather than digging deeper. I do not think this is the book to read if you want something really emotionally gripping, draining, or intense. It's more of a fun, cute, fluffy, teenage crush kind of read. And that's perfectly fine—I just think I was hoping for the more intense, all consuming kind of romance, and that isn't what this was.

I feel like the issue with Charlie's mom was half explored, the romance was half developed, and the whole identity thing was a bit confusing. Charlie clearly loved being a sporty tomboy, but then she was introduced into the world of femininity, girlfriends, and makeup. At first it soooo wasn't her, but then she slowly started adapting to it. I think I was confused by it because I was never quite sure if Charlie actually enjoyed the feminine, girly stuff or not. O_O

One of the things that irked me was how the romance came out of nowhere. Charlie and Braden have a friendship from the very beginning, and it's clear that there may be an underlying crush there. But the one night, Charlie literally jolts up and thinks, "I love Braden". And that's how the romance really starts. I think the foundation for a crush was there, but not the foundation for love. When I looked at Charlie and Braden, I didn't really see love. Maybe a friendship love—sure. But not a romantic love. Then it just jumped out and I wasn't quite ready for it! It was so sudden!

I think the best part of this book by far was the family dynamics. I loved Charlie's whole family! Her crazy, prankster brothers, and her single dad. I thought her dad was a great character. I could really feel how hard it was for him to try to raise a daughter on his own, when he knew nothing about what it's like to be a girl. So reading flashbacks of him explaining periods and bras to Charlie was hilarious! I just loved how her dad struggled with how to raise a daughter, but it was clear that he tried so hard to be a great dad to Charlie.

Overall, On the Fence wasn't a bad book. It was cute, light, and fun. Just go into the book expecting something really light and fluffy. It's not a serious, intense, emotional read. It's just light entertainment.

[Rowena]

4.5 Stars

Read this in one sitting and thought it was super cute. It was my kind of read. I adored Braden and really came to love Charlie. Now I need to go and read all of the other books by West that I have and haven't touched.

[KitsuneBae]

Two words: Cute and fluffy.