Review: My Life Next Door

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Blurb from Goodreads: A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

I absolutely loved the first part of this book, which is all about Sam and Jase falling in love. There were many times that Sam's thoughts about their relationship and falling in love for the first time made me stop and go: "Yes! That is exactly how I felt!" It was awesome.

In the second part of the book, I feel like that relationship kind of falls to the wayside, and it focuses more on Sam's relationship with her mother instead. There were also many issues that never got resolved: what happened with her friendship with Nan? What happened to Tim? Or to Mr. Garrett? Was Jase able to go to college? It seems like some storylines were brought up and then just trailed off with no conclusion, which left me wondering what the point of them was. I really wanted more from the ending. Overall though, the wonderful first section was enough to make me overlook the issues I have with the last part.