Book Review: The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler

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The Truth About Us
Author: Janet Gurtler
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: April 7th 2015
Review Source: NetGalley | Sourcebooks Fire

A powerful and gripping contemporary YA from the author of I'm Not Her that's "Just right for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jodi Picoult."-Booklist

The truth is that Jess knows she screwed up.
She's made mistakes, betrayed her best friend, and now she's paying for it. Her dad is making her spend the whole summer volunteering at the local soup kitchen.

The truth is she wishes she was the care-free party-girl everyone thinks she is.
She pretends it's all fine. That her "perfect" family is fine. But it's not. And no one notices the lie...until she meets Flynn. He's the only one who really sees her. The only one who listens.

The truth is that Jess is falling apart – and no one seems to care.
But Flynn is the definition of "the wrong side of the tracks." When Jess's parents look at him they only see the differences-not how much they need each other. They don't get that the person who shouldn't fit in your world... might just be the one to make you feel like you belong.

Right from the beginning, I’d questioned myself if I made the right decision. I had a mixed feeling towards Jess. The girl that has everything yet screws up. I really didn’t like her character right off the bat. I am glad I kept reading. She transformed for the better.

The Truth About Us is the story of Jess, a careless party-girl. Everyone thinks her life is easy - well that is what it looks like from the outside. Her parents doesn’t really pay much attention to her doings. But in reality, her mother, has gone through a near-death experience. This event changed her family. Now her mother spends her time locked in her room, leaving Jess’ father do all the work. With this freedom, Jess likes to party, do immature things and makes many mistakes. Until one day, her father makes her volunteer at a local soup kitchen. This is when we will see Jess transformed for the better. A place where she will find true love. A place in which she will face many obstacles in which she will need to fight for her believes.

This is a well written and gripping story. A journey of full of emotions. It was nice to see Jess transformation. She has made many mistakes but did this not let her defined her future. She took control of her life, even if people, like her father tried to tell her otherwise. Not only did she learned but she taught us all a life lesson story.

Though I enjoyed the story, I did feel the story was a bit slow at points – it dragged a bit. This is the only thing that kept me from rating it higher. Even given this, The Truth About Us is worth the read.