My Life Next Door

By Huntley Fitzpatrick

3/5

This is a really fun, summer read that follows Samantha and her “life next door” with Jase Garrett and the rest of the Garrett family. Samantha’s mother is very strict and has very conservative views and so forbids her daughters from befriending the Garrett family. But one night, the third eldest of the siblings, 17 year old Jase, hops onto Samantha’s balcony and they form a very quick friendship.

I really enjoyed seeing Samantha interact with the Garrett siblings, especially the younger ones as she has never had to communicate with and look after children before but she steps right into the role of another big sister for them to look after. I adored Jase Garrett and I would love if every boy could be like him; thoughtful, caring and a perfect gentlemen. He really pushes Sam to question what her mother has always told her. A character I really didn’t like was Nan, Sam’s best friend, who decides towards the end of the novel that she no longer wants to be friends with Sam after years of friendship. I think Nan is utterly selfish and unnecessarily cruel. However, I did like Nan’s brother, Tim, towards the end of the novel as he becomes a good friend to both Sam and Jase. I despised Sam’s mother; she lacks any maternal instincts and only thinks about herself. I didn’t mind her until a certain occurrence in the book which really made me hate her, and as a result I lost faith in Sam.

I only gave this book a 3/5 because although it was a fun, easy summer read, I expected to enjoy it a lot more than I did because of such positive comments I had seen on Bookstagram. To be honest, the book really didn’t live up to my expectations and I expected a lot more to happen when nothing really did. However, I will probably read this book again next summer and I do recommend it to anyone who loves cheesy contemporary YA.