My Life Next Door

by Huntley Fitzpatrick

[Rowena]

I’ve been itching to read since before it came out so when my BBB got it for me, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to dig right in and I was happy that Fitzpatrick didn’t disappoint. This book follows Samantha Reed as she grows close to the family that lives next door to her, without her mother knowing. Her mother is not a fan of the Garretts from next door because they’re loud, messy and there are so many of them. Compared to the colorful family next door, Samantha has known a very strict upbringing. Her mother is a single mother, in politics. She’s got goals to go national with her politics and her new boyfriend, Clay, is helping her get there.

Her mother is turning into a completely different person and the more she changes, the more Sam clings to Jase and his family. With the influence of the Garretts, Sam finds herself changing but she likes the changes she starts to see in herself. The Garretts are good people and she has totally fallen in love with the whole lot of them, from the parents, all the way down to young George. Most especially with Jase Garrett. As the story progressed, you saw the relationship between Jase and Sam grow until it was bursting with love and I totally loved it.

I really enjoyed getting to know both Sam and Jase. Sam was one the people that grew the most throughout this book and I really liked the person she grew to be. The person that grew the most was Tim (a friend of Sam’s) and man, the transformation in him was both believable and adorable. I loved the person that he grew to be as well. Who knew that the total douche in the beginning of the book would turn out to be one of the best friends that Sam could have ever had in her corner. The way that the Garretts took the both of them into their fold was great and I really enjoyed getting to know each character in this book.

I thought Fitzpatrick did a great job of fleshing each character out and even though we only get Sam’s point of view, she did a great job of making the other characters in the story just as three dimensional as Sam was.

Sam’s Mom needed a swift kick to her throat with how dumb she was but alls well that ends well. I couldn’t believe that Grace let Clay control her the way that he did, for as long as he did. After everything happens and she just let Clay tell Sam what to do, threatened Sam the way that he did, I wanted to karate chop her in the neck and choke her the heck out. How dare she let anyone talk to her flesh and blood like that. But aside from Sam’s Mom being a poopy head, I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed Sam going through all of her imperfect moments to get to the ending that she deserved and I really enjoyed seeing her blossom into that happy girl at the end. Her journey was an emotional one but one that I enjoyed.

I definitely recommend this book to fans of contemporary YA and to fans of Sarah Dessen, Jennifer Echols and Susane Colasanti. This was a good one.