What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What are your thoughts on the cover?

Title: What I Thought Was True

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

Page count: 409 pages

Publishing year: 2014

Publisher: Penguin Group

My rating: 4/5 stars!

I had high expectations going into this book. I loved My Life Next Door and was really excited to see that Huntley Fitzpatrick had wrote a new book. While the plots of both books are completely different from one another, there was still a similar feel to each. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed What I Thought Was True just as much as I did with My Life Next Door. 

"17-year-old Gwen Castle is a working-class girl determined to escape her small island town, but when rich kid Cass Somers, with whom she has a complicated romantic history, shows up, she's forced to reassess her feelings about her loving, complex family, her lifelong best friends, her wealthy employer, the place she lives, and the boy she can't admit she loves."

Gwen hasn't had it easy. With her parents split up and her younger brother's medical problems racking up the bills, Gwen has worked for the better part of her life. While she does love her family, she can't help but yearn to live her island and experience new things. Not only this, but Gwen wants nothing more than to leave behind her complicated past- and that includes Cass. 

The characters: 

Gwen: I really enjoyed Gwen as the protagonist of this story. She's sweet, daring, and very loyal. Yet, at the same time, she has her own insecurities. She doesn't have a clue how she's going to be able to make her own life outside of her island hometown. Her reputation haunts her every waking moment, and, even if she she does act like it doesn't bother her, it does. She's real. She's human. Fitzpatrick didn't try to make her out as the perfect girl and for that I'm glad. Gwen is just a normal girl with normal problems. I could relate to her character, and I think that others could relate as well.

Cass: I had mixed feelings with him at the beginning of the book. He seemed very guarded and mysterious through a good chunk of the first few chapters, and I couldn't really get a handle on his personality. Of course, there's a reason for that. I will say that once I began to see his personality more, I started to like him better. Eventually, toward the middle of the book, I fell in love with his character. He's so dynamic. He's got so many different interesting layers to him and that's more than I can say for other love interests in the young adult contemporary genre. He's kind, sweet, and patient, but at the same time he can be rash, impulsive, and hard-headed. Like Gwen, he's not perfect. He's just a teenage guy who is learning how to be himself despite what others want for him. 

Nic: He was probably my favorite character in this book. Gwen and Nic are cousins and live in the same house together, so the reader sees a lot of Nic. He's a go-getter. He's really determined to get what he wants, and I love that about him. He can be quite compassionate and sweet to Gwen; often times seeming more as a brother than a cousin to her. 

Emory: I loved Emory. He might have problems, but he's one of the best characters in the book. The author never explains what Emory has, but the reader does know that he isn't Autistic. He has something else wrong with him. Despite his illness, he's so kind and sweet to everyone. Maybe it's because of his sickness, but he seems so innocent. Being eight years old might have something to do with that as well. Either way, he's such a sweetheart. 

Everyone else: There was Gwen's parents and her grandfather, but I don't feel like I need to mention them. They were only side characters to fill up space and to relieve the reader of asking, "Where are the characters' parents at?" That's all. Gwen's best friend, Viv, also played a minor part in the story line, although she was mentioned quite a bit as she was Nic's girlfriend. There was Gwen's employer also, but I don't think she was a major character in the story, either, despite the summary of the novel above. 

The romance:

I won't say much about the romance as it could give away major spoilers, but I will say this: the romance in this book is realistic. This isn't about rainbows and unicorns and happily-ever-afters. The love centered in this book happens between teenage girls and boys around the world. I even experienced something similar. While I do like the over-the-top, swooning, steaming romance scenes in other novels, I enjoyed this type of romance as well. It's an awkward kind of love, full of doubts and first times, full of insecurities and confusion. It was something different- something real- and I think that's a great thing for a contemporary novel. 

The writing style:

I had a few concerns regarding the style of writing. While I enjoyed the writing overall, I did feel like the dialogue between characters was rather forced and didn't seem realistic. As I read, I found myself stumbling over what the characters were saying because it was so odd and out of place. Periods didn't seem to go in the right place. It made the writing feel off to me. Other than that, I enjoyed Fitzpatrick's style. Since I'm on the writing style, I figure I'll just go ahead and mention that I didn't see any grammatical mistakes. All seemed well on that end. 

Overall thoughts?

I enjoyed this story immensely. The plot was interesting and realistic and never got boring. The characters were all intricate and flawed (which I loved), and I loved reading about their stories. My only negative remarks are the forced dialogue between characters and the not-so-sudden plot twist at the end. I saw it coming having read only 1/4 of the book. Otherwise, I thought this was a lovely read. Recommended for anyone who enjoys young adult contemporary romance!