Title: On the Fence
Author: Kasie West
Genre: YA contemporary
Published by: HarperTeen
Release date: 1st July 2014
Source: received in exchange for review (thanks SO much, HarperTeen Australia! You rock!)
Blurb:
She’s a tomboy. He’s the boy next door…
Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn’t know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she’s got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she’s falling for Braden. 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.
^^^ Me when On the Fence arrived in the mail. Basically.
While reading it:
But how to review it?
Okay, let’s start with
PLOT
Awesome things include:
– Charlie’s brothers chucking her into a mud puddle
– Awesome trivia games over the fence
– Glimpses of characters from The Distance Between Us
– Guys trying to come up with four items of make-up (hilarious)
CHARACTERS
Charlie’s brothers are awesome. In fact, they were the highlight of the book. They’re always teasing her and are really sweet and funny. Gage is my favourite.
Our main character is also great. She’s a tomboy and that becomes a bit of an issue for her, with the whole struggling to be a girl without her mother thing. She’s a really well-written character.
Braden, I feel, we could have seen more of. Despite his and Charlie’s “fence chats,” I didn’t know that much about him.
OTHER STUFF
If I was smarter I could probably categorise this stuff, but I don’t want to because I just want to fangirllllll.
Loved how protective her dad was. Loved the added family dilemmas. Loved her part-time job and Linda’s reading of her aura. It’s a beautiful story about family and friends and love, right up there with Anna and the French Kiss. This is only the second book I’ve read of Kasie West’s, but MAN. I am HOOKED. I simply must read Split Second and Pivot Point now (did I do those in the wrong order??).
The romance was pretty light, actually, and I loved how much the family played a part. My favourite bits were those with all of her brothers, goofing around and generally being idiots. The beginning is a perfect example of this.
ONLY COMPLAINTS were that the whole thing with her Mum felt kind of like it came from nowhere. And Braden became a bit jealous. But hey, I can ignore those things. I mean, I have complaints about Harry Potter too (*cough*19yearslater*cough*).
I’m totally up for a reread.
I couldn’t wait to review this. I just HAD to share with everyone how awesome it was.
Rating: 5/5 Wonderkitties
AHHHHH! I need this book! So glad you enjoyed it and great review!
I can’t believe it doesn’t come out til July! So glad I snagged an ARC 🙂
Hey girl! Haha I miss commenting on your fantastic blog, been crazy hectic with Italy coming up. Less than 12 hours before I go to the airport OMG. But now I’m done packing and feel odd. I’m in a strange mood where I feel like I should be doing something for Italy but I’m not. Therefore here I am on your blog for the first time in agessss.
YAY! I’M SO GLAD YOU LOVED THIS ONE AND I’M SO EXCITED FOR IT (:
^^^ Can you tell I want this book like crazy?
I love all of Kasie’s other works and I’m glad this one didn’t disappoint. The fact you ranked On the Fence on the same level of Anna and The French Kiss is setting my expectations through the roof since I adored Anna. Also we get to see Caymen and Xander again!?! YAY. The whole trivia games thing also sounds super cute (:
On the Fence sounds like it has wonderfully realistic family dynamics (: Sometimes in YA you see the absent parent(s) syndrome and it’s just so dumb. Like I’m sure your parent(s) would have something to say if you suddenly went gallivanting in the underworld.
Lovely review <33
I miss seeing you on my blog! Italy, though, that’s super exciting 😀
I’m sure you won’t be disappointed (although saying that, maybe I shouldn’t hype it too much…but I can’t help it!).
Absent parent syndrome really annoys me. It seems to be in a lot of paranormal books, and parents can add such a great dynamic. And siblings! I’d love to see more sibling relationships in books!
Thanks, Larissa, have fun in Italy!
Lovely review! I probably wouldn’t read a book with this title (or this cover), but your review has made me interested. 🙂
I’m a book blogger, too, and I’m just wondering, how can you request ARC books?
It’s the author I’m interested in, really – Kasie West is awesome ❤
It depends where you're from. If you're from Australia I can help you out, but otherwise I don't know much, sorry!
I have actually never heard of Kasie West…. It might be because I’m from the United States, I’m not sure.
Unfortunately I’m not from Australia, but I’d love to visit some day! Thanks for the review and the help!
Nice work managed to translate your fangirlingess into sense 🙂 Sounds like a great book. I’ve heard of Kasie West but not read any of her books. I think I’ll have to remedy that!
Thanks, Kate! Kasie West is quickly becoming one of my fave YA contemporary authors, so I definitely recommend her 🙂
AHHH THIS BOOK OMG. I’ve already re-read it 3 times since I got the book a few months ago. I still yet to review it though o,o perhaps closer to the release date. Kasie West does so well at romances, I can’t wait for her next book!
Lovely review, Emily! <33
Wow dude, that is IMPRESSIVE. And yeah, I thought I’d better not review it yet, but I couldn’t resist! It says Kasie West is releasing another book in 2015 so I’m really excited for that! God I love contemporary YA.
Thanks, Mel 🙂
Yay, this makes me super excited to read my ARC now! I know Mel @ Midnight reads and some others are huge fans of Kasie West and I actually haven’t read any bad reviews on her stuff. Lovely review Emily!
Mel had it back in January, lucky duck 🙂 but yeah, I haven’t seen any negative reviews yet. How can you hate such a fluffy, lovely book? Hope you enjoy!
Pingback: What Happened This Week: Stacking the Shelves (4) and School Stuff | The Loony Teen Writer