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desiree930 's review for:
Můj život u sousedů
by Huntley Fitzpatrick
This book was, for the most part, cute and fun and very readable. There were a few things that kept me from rating it higher.
What I liked:
1. The relationship between Jase and Samantha. It was very sweet and fun, although I wouldn’t have minded if they’d been ‘just friends’ for awhile longer.
2. Tim. I really liked his character a lot. I loved his growth and that it felt realistic. He wasn’t ‘fixed’ by the end of the book. He was still battling with his demons, but the important thing was that he was still battling.
3. George. I loved George and all his little factoids and sensitivities. It kind of reminds me of my own son.
4. Tim and Jase’s friendship. I wish we’d gotten more of this, because the scene near the end where Tim calls out Samantha was probably one of my favorites in the entire book. I love that they go from being a little antagonistic toward each other to being good friends who are there for each other.
What I didn’t like:
1. Some of the side characters were under-developed. Not every character needs to be this fully fleshed-out, deep, complex person. That being said, some of the side characters ended up just being a little one-dimensional. Nan is an over-achiever with self-esteem and jealousy issues. Joel is the older, flirty, broody brother. Clay is the oily two-faced politician. All of the younger Garrett kids (with the exception of George) are just kind of there in order to illustrate the vast differences between Samantha’s family and Jase’s. Tracy is the rebellious older child. There just isn’t much under the surface of any of them.
2. Samantha’s mother. She was probably one of the most snotty, snobby, hypocritical, piece-of-garbage characters I’ve ever read about. I hated her from beginning to end, and I didn’t buy her ‘redemption arc’ in the slightest. It got to the point where she began to feel like a caricature instead of a well-written character.
3. The ending. I was going through this book generally happy, with the exception of how much I hated Samantha’s mom and her mom’s boyfriend, until the even happens near the end of the book. Not only did I hate the way Samantha dealt with the situation, I also hated that there were almost no real repercussions. It was a figurative slap on the wrist that felt very unrealistic to me. I don’t care how decent a human being you are, you don’t let things like that go.
4. The length. This book could’ve been much shorter than it was. The end became very repetitive. The same conversation was had several times. The same thoughts and concerns were stated over and over again. I wish it had been pared down a bit.
I saw that there is a companion book following Tim and I am all over it. I did like a lot of things about this book, even if it felt like it lost its way near the end.
What I liked:
1. The relationship between Jase and Samantha. It was very sweet and fun, although I wouldn’t have minded if they’d been ‘just friends’ for awhile longer.
2. Tim. I really liked his character a lot. I loved his growth and that it felt realistic. He wasn’t ‘fixed’ by the end of the book. He was still battling with his demons, but the important thing was that he was still battling.
3. George. I loved George and all his little factoids and sensitivities. It kind of reminds me of my own son.
4. Tim and Jase’s friendship. I wish we’d gotten more of this, because the scene near the end where Tim calls out Samantha was probably one of my favorites in the entire book. I love that they go from being a little antagonistic toward each other to being good friends who are there for each other.
What I didn’t like:
1. Some of the side characters were under-developed. Not every character needs to be this fully fleshed-out, deep, complex person. That being said, some of the side characters ended up just being a little one-dimensional. Nan is an over-achiever with self-esteem and jealousy issues. Joel is the older, flirty, broody brother. Clay is the oily two-faced politician. All of the younger Garrett kids (with the exception of George) are just kind of there in order to illustrate the vast differences between Samantha’s family and Jase’s. Tracy is the rebellious older child. There just isn’t much under the surface of any of them.
2. Samantha’s mother. She was probably one of the most snotty, snobby, hypocritical, piece-of-garbage characters I’ve ever read about. I hated her from beginning to end, and I didn’t buy her ‘redemption arc’ in the slightest. It got to the point where she began to feel like a caricature instead of a well-written character.
3. The ending. I was going through this book generally happy, with the exception of how much I hated Samantha’s mom and her mom’s boyfriend, until the even happens near the end of the book. Not only did I hate the way Samantha dealt with the situation, I also hated that there were almost no real repercussions. It was a figurative slap on the wrist that felt very unrealistic to me. I don’t care how decent a human being you are, you don’t let things like that go.
4. The length. This book could’ve been much shorter than it was. The end became very repetitive. The same conversation was had several times. The same thoughts and concerns were stated over and over again. I wish it had been pared down a bit.
I saw that there is a companion book following Tim and I am all over it. I did like a lot of things about this book, even if it felt like it lost its way near the end.