A review by ambscray
The New Neighbor by Leah Stewart

4.0

“We do bad things and yet think of ourselves as good. Fundamentally good, you see, despite a slipup or two. Other people, though. When they do a bad thing, we tend to think they're bad.”

I started this book on a whim and at first it didn't really catch my attention very well. At one point I even forgot I was reading it and started on a completely separate book only to pick it back up a few months later. I'm extremely glad I finished it though because it got so much more interesting. I received the ebook for free courtesy of Jellybooks as a research project they were doing so I didn't have knowledge of it prior to reading it and therefore wasn't sure what to expect; and it did a great job at keeping me guessing throughout.

Rating: 4/5

It almost got a full five but I had to cut a point off because it started to feel a little bit rushed toward the end. Other than that I have no real complaints.

Things I didn't like:

As mentioned above, things began to feel rushed toward the end of the book. It seemed like the author was crunched for time or possibly even just really ready to wrap it all up.

Things I did like:

I chose the quote I did because the best part of this book for me was that none of the characters were "good." They all had decent qualities but they were also all flawed, a few more than others but it was so real and I loved that. They were all "morally ambiguous," as Milo would say.

I'm usually iffy about books that have dialogue for young children but this one didn't seem awkward or unrealistic. Milo, Ben, and young Jennifer all had distinct voices and all said things I can imagine a child saying.

The portrayals of characters, their development, and the concept of things hardly ever being what they seem like on the outside. I really enjoyed that this book showed how flawed and messy love can be when in the beginning it's nothing but ignorant bliss. I enjoyed every single character even when I got annoyed with them.

In other words...

This book covered an array of things from love to war, from old age to the innocence of childhood. In some moments it was intense, in others sad, and in others it was very sweet. All in all it was a great read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone 16 and up. I'll definitely be buying a hard copy in the near future.