Book Review: What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What I Thought Was True
Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: April 15th 2014
Review Source: Dial Books for Young Readers

From the author of My Life Next Door comes a swoony summertime romance full of expectation and regret, humor and hard questions.

Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it as a yard boy on her Nantucket-esque island this summer. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

A magnetic, push-me-pull-me romance with depth, this is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Deb Caletti.

I was one of the few people that didn’t enjoy My Life Next Door and seeing this amazing beach cover, I wanted to give What I Thought Was True a try. I know many of my bookish friends loved My Life Next Door and well I started this book open-minded. I mean, I really wanted to like this one. And to be honest with you, this one felt short too.

What I Thought Was True is a tale of Gwen Castle and her working class family. They live close an island, homes of the rich and wealthy people. While you may think she may be happy to live close to this exotic island, Gwen does not want to do anything with it. All she wants to do is leave it behind. With her family struggling financially, Gwen is to take a summer job. “A working-for-the-summer-people job. And I’ve promised myself I won’t do that”. Taking this job, Gwen comes across many times with Cassidy, a boy that lives the wealthy life of this island.

It is hard to come up with word to explain this book. So here is nothing - First, I had a hard time getting into this book. I felt lost right from the beginning. And trying to sum up all the information that was provided, somewhat made difficult to understand what was going on. It felt like this was a continuation of another book and I needed to catch up. I was truly disappointed at this. Also, the class division. This book constantly repeated this topic over and over again. (It was all over). I was trying my best to ignore this but it kept popping up.

Although Gwen’s father was a bit of a gold digger – I liked how Gwen knew better. Gwen is dedicated to her family but she knew that taking someone else’s properties is not the way to live your life. Knowing that life is not easy, Gwen learned how to cope with her financial situation. While I struggled with this story, I loved Fitzpatick’s writing style – very poetic. She certainly can write about real life situations such as family struggles.