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A review by zanybibliophile
On the Fence by Kasie West
3.0
Another cute novel from Kasey West with a strong sporty versus girly focus and midnight chats at the fence with a side of lies, misunderstandings and disrespect.
Charlotte Reynolds, a.k.a. Charlie, is a tomboy and has no respect for her father, the law or any other human being. She is rude, heartless and thinks her father making her get a job to pay off her multiple speeding fines is the most unfair thing in the world. When she gets a job in a clothing store, she is embarrassed by the girly outfits and the makeup her boss wants her to wear so she hides it from her family. When Charlie attracts a boy while dressed up, she thinks the fact she is all made up is the reason she received the attention and decides to dumb herself down to fit the image.
Charlie has three brothers - Jerom, Nathan and Gage - who are all sporty but are otherwise quite different from each other. The one thing they do have in common is they are all overly protective of Charlie and one of the main reasons appeared to be because their mother was dead. Gage is the brother Charlie is closest to in age and the one that seems to have the most influence on Charlie, but their relationship has just as many secrets as any other in this novel.
The next door neighbour and honorary brother is Braden Lewis. He has a dismal home life and has basically grown up in the Reynolds house. Thanks to his abusive alcoholic father, Braden finds himself at the back fence one night with Charlie on the other side. They begin to talk about life and how well they know each other and, well, I think you all see where this is going.
However, the story became overly complicated with the addition of another guy, another girl and Charlie's discovery of information regarding her mother that every member of her family, including Braden, has kept secret. Combine this with my dislike of Charlie's character and, for me, this book was just okay with some cute moments.
Two elements of this book I really liked.
1. The father stood up to his irresponsible daughter and made her get a job! This is not the first book to do it, but I love it when I see things like this in books.
2. Skye and Henry from The Distance Between Us are in this book and Skye actually has a somewhat significant roll in the book.
Charlotte Reynolds, a.k.a. Charlie, is a tomboy and has no respect for her father, the law or any other human being. She is rude, heartless and thinks her father making her get a job to pay off her multiple speeding fines is the most unfair thing in the world. When she gets a job in a clothing store, she is embarrassed by the girly outfits and the makeup her boss wants her to wear so she hides it from her family. When Charlie attracts a boy while dressed up, she thinks the fact she is all made up is the reason she received the attention and decides to dumb herself down to fit the image.
Charlie has three brothers - Jerom, Nathan and Gage - who are all sporty but are otherwise quite different from each other. The one thing they do have in common is they are all overly protective of Charlie and one of the main reasons appeared to be because their mother was dead. Gage is the brother Charlie is closest to in age and the one that seems to have the most influence on Charlie, but their relationship has just as many secrets as any other in this novel.
The next door neighbour and honorary brother is Braden Lewis. He has a dismal home life and has basically grown up in the Reynolds house. Thanks to his abusive alcoholic father, Braden finds himself at the back fence one night with Charlie on the other side. They begin to talk about life and how well they know each other and, well, I think you all see where this is going.
However, the story became overly complicated with the addition of another guy, another girl and Charlie's discovery of information regarding her mother that every member of her family, including Braden, has kept secret. Combine this with my dislike of Charlie's character and, for me, this book was just okay with some cute moments.
Two elements of this book I really liked.
1. The father stood up to his irresponsible daughter and made her get a job! This is not the first book to do it, but I love it when I see things like this in books.
2. Skye and Henry from The Distance Between Us are in this book and Skye actually has a somewhat significant roll in the book.