Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

I love Paula Garner. After reading Phantom Limbs I'm eager to get my hands on anything. She's an exceptional writer with this incredible ability to make you fall into the pages. Just like Phantom Limbs, Relative Strangers will have you soaking up every word until they run out.

A lot of this story and the characters interactions felt forced and not very realistic. I didn't find myself caring about them much.

Jules' life is tough. She is still very young to be discovering these old family secrets on her own, in particular about the first couple years of her life. The book is very well written and flows well with good character development.

I can honestly say I liked this book, but I didn't love it the way I did some of Garner's other titles.

Per her usual style. the writing is emotionally heavy. The characters and their feelings take center stage and that sets the tone.

The book starts out strong, but loses steam somewhere near the halfway point. Maybe it's just too much emotions? Like a bit of overkill? I definitely wanted MORE of the romance and didn't feel I got enough.

I had really high hopes for this book and unfortunately, while this book wasn't as amazing as I hoped, it was still really good and interesting. <b>Relative Strangers</b> follows Jules, who's just searching for a baby picture when she stumbles along a long-held secret: she was in foster care. What follows is Jules' search for her foster family, and once they've connected, her getting to know them. Its a book about family, about alcohol addiction and how it affects relationships, and friendships.

I did really enjoy this book because of the different topics it covered. I don't think a parent's previous alcohol addiction is addressed enough, and foster care is almost never addressed. I really felt for Jules when she met this family and found out they wanted to adopt her, because she felt wanted for the first time in a long time. I think Jules found a place to belong when she really needed it.

I also really liked the friendships in this, which were described as being very supportive but with a person who felt a bit on the outside. I've often felt like that, and I'm sure that will be reassuring to a teenager who gets to see herself in that dynamic. Jules had a lot of supportive, loving friends around her and were surprisingly not the source of the "drama" in this book, which I really appreciated. Yes to more strong friendships, especially female ones.

One plot point that I felt was not very strong and was very uncomfortable was Jules' falling in love with Luke. It was very uncomfortable and while I understood he was an attractive man and that she grew up without siblings, it is not impossible for only children to understand brotherly love. If she could be friends with Eli, she could be friends with Luke without problem. Especially since Luke was VERY CLEARLY looking for a sister. Not only that, but she took advantage of him at a vulnerable moment which was very cringe-y. I think the way the aftermath was handled was very good and interesting, but this plot point made me uncomfortable and I felt the story could have taken another direction.

That being said, I don't know how realistic or unrealistic it is. I could see it happening, which is maybe why it made me so uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is okay too, I just wanted to put it out there that it was why I docked this book a star. I don't feel like this is a subject matter everyone will like and wanted to put it out there just in case.

After that spoiler, I docked another star because I felt like there were points where Jules was unnecessarily rude, especially to her mom, or blamed other people for things that were her fault. Like, if you're not as close as you want to be with your friends, then maybe mention that and work on it together? Or work on it in secret? They're your friends so hopefully they want to be around you anyway. I just felt like some of Jules' problems were her own fault but she didn't have the insight to see that and fix it herself.

Overall, I thought this book was very well done and handled a lot of topics in interesting ways. I love that there are books coming out about things like foster care and alcohol addiction and hope that this is just one of many to come!

This book started off very strong, and I loved the main character. I loved her complicated life and how she was going through all these emotions. The only thing I didn’t really like was how the author described all these and how in depth it got. It felt like too much sometimes. It was a cute story about finding yourself and just being a teenager and I really liked it!

The concept of this book is fantastic - however, I think the romance felt superfluous, forced, and unnecessary addition to what could have been a beautiful book about family and self-discovery. I understand the author's intention in terms of adding drama but it just didn't feel like it added anything to the context of the story and actually ended up taking something away from it. I really enjoyed Garner's debut, so it is with great disappointment that her sophomore novel didn't have the same impact. Still, it is worthy of a place on YA shelves and could be an excellent choice for teens looking to learn more about their own histories.

Relative Strangers by Paula Garner is a YA book about finding one's self and finding one's family. When 18-year-old Jules goes looking for a baby picture, she's surprised to find that all of her childhood photos start at age 2. What she discovers is that she actually lived in foster care up until she was 2. What follows is a journey to discover the missing pieces of the early years of her childhood and to learn about her first family.

What a great read full with characters you can't help but love. Fantastic book everyone will love!!!!

I liked the cover for RELATIVE STRANGERS by local author Paula Garner, but after starting to read it, I do not think that I will be recommending this title. It is the story of Jules, just turned 18 and on the yearbook staff in her last year of high school. She needs a baby picture and discovers one – with some foster care papers - hidden away by her Mom. Supported by her high school friends, Gab (entitled and confident) and Leila (lovingly adopted), Jules finds and meets with her foster brother, Luke. The characters, especially Jules, are appealing, but honestly it all feels a little forced, including the use of the “f” word as well as references to viewing porn online. Is any of that (or a sudden crush on her foster brother) really necessary to the story about what ultimately makes a family? School Library Journal called RELATIVE STRANGERS “a must-have for YA shelves,” while I tend to agree more with Kirkus who characterized it as flawed, but moving.

This was an interesting read. There was never much of a dull moment until the end of the book where it entered a phase of trying to wrap up loose ends. Relative Strangers is a story about a 17 year old girl whose mother has kept a secret from her. She learns that for almost two years of her life she was living with a foster family and could have been adopted and living another life. Its a story about coming of age, finding ones identity, sexuality, and overall growth. I think that some of the taboos that were tackled in this book were done really well. I think overall it was an interesting read and I was always intrigued to see what happened next. A lot of the ways that Jules was able to find and connect with her long lost possible brother were a bit far fetched, but I think the overall messages were quite interesting. If I could sum this book up in one word I believe it would be interesting. I don't want to discuss any spoilers, but this book does tackle some topics that people could find uncomfortable.

I picked this book up for review without know really anything about. It looked pretty, sounded heart warming with a littel bit of family drama. I figured why not. I enjoyed this book greatly. It was cute and sweet. Heartwarming. I enjoyed the characters and the story.



Jules needs a baby picture for her senior year book. After her mother takes forever in getting her one she decides to look for one herself, only to find there are no pictures from shortly after she was born until she was about 2 years. What she finds is her mother was hiding a secret of her past from Jules and now Jules is apart of a whole new world and a past of lies. Her mother did know who her father was, she was in foster care, and there are people out there that love her other than her mother. This discovery leads Jules to explore herself, what family really means, and forgiveness.


I enjoyed this book. It was full of some very cute moments, great friendships, secrets, drama, family, moments of self discovery and so much more. There were a few things I didn't feel or understand but for the most part it was cute and fun. I expected a little on the deeper side I think and got more light, but there was some deep issues that were explored. I enjoyed how these issues didn't drown the book. they were added in to explore but the book, for the most part, stayed light.

What I loved about the book, which would be in any realistic fiction book I read and enjoy, is the relationship dynamics. The relationship between Jules and her mother, Jules and her best friends, Jules and a co-worker, Jules and her best friends family, Jules and her foster family, Jules and her foster family. Jules life was filled with so many relationships and types of love and she didn't seem to see it. At moments I didn't really like Jules. She was a bit of a whiner. Not all the time and it did get better towards the end... But at times I felt she was a little poor me and didn't need to be.

Jules and her mother weren't close but she never took the time to see what she really had, she liked to focus on the negative. I mean her mother is an ex addict, she became sober after a very hard time in her life I might add, to make sure she was the one to raise Jules. I think that says love and commitment. Jules mother wasn't a touchy feel share your emotions kind of person and for some reason, this equated to "you don't love me enough" I get it. I was a pretty needy child myself, but as an adult... I am a little over it. That wasn't a big part of the story though and Jules does grow. She is brought to light but more than one person that her life isn't that bad and she is clueless at times to what others are going through or have been through.

The relationship she has with the different people in her life all teach her something important. I dont' want to go through every one because there is too many but I do want to mention the relationship with the foster family and the foster brother.

The relationship Jules had with the foster family was sweet. I wish there was more of it in the book. They seemed so sweet in sincere. I think Jules sees what the other side of the fence is like. After years of wondering what it would be liked to be adored, she finds out. What I really liked was this did not make her see her mother negatively but in the end helped her repair her relationship with her mother.

Jules and the foster brother. I didn't much like this relationship. I mean I think if they would have kept the feelings of falling for you out of it I would have loved it. Or if they would have kept it ,falling for you, on both sides I would have liked it. I didn't find it strange that she was falling for him. She hasn't seen him since she was two. so he wasn't really like a brother to her. But he was a little bit older like 4 years older. She he remembers more of her. Its still been 16 years though. I feel like I would of been good either way. Romance or sibling relationship. I didn't like the drama of it.

It didn't end all perfect and shiny and new in the end. It was a realistic ending with some happy and some tears and some things left unknown about the future. I was okay with the ending, but really it was all the feelings in between, the journey that made my heart glow.




Really good feel good story.

This book was beyond amaazzing. If you enjoy t.v shows like the fosters. This book must be on your TBR. I loved jules as a lead character and loved the whole story from start to end. I loved how this book handled the relationship between her and luke and really became emotional invested. Even the sometimes predictable nature of the book was made unique by the how the story was told. I loved the growth of the characters in the books so much changed in this short novel. I love the cast of characters and you felt immediacy connected to them all. I would def rec. this book for upper teens to sex and language used. It was super fast pace read! I def need to check out more by this author it made me laugh and cry and that is hard to do in a novel! I really rec. this book if you are looking for emotional but solid cont. novel!

After loving the author's debut, Phantom Limbs , I knew I had to get my hands on this book. And yay, it did not disappoint! Let us talk about why!

Paula Garner does an amazing job of getting the feels into her books. This is the second time that I have felt more empathy and love for characters than I ever assumed I would, and I love it. I cried and frankly, tears are the mark of a good book to me.

I found Jules so, so relatable. Our life situations had zero things in common, but I could relate to her on such a human level. On the level of someone who just wanted to be loved and accepted, as we all do. She had amazing friendships, and an often difficult relationship with her mom, but she genuinely cared about the people in her life. She made plenty of mistakes, and she often took the hits hard, and I guess she just seemed so well fleshed-out, so very human.

The plot was quite family-focused. Of course, you may have gathered this from the synopsis, but it made for quite a powerful story. Hence the tears and such. I loved that Jules was reconnected with loving people from her past, and that it forced some honest, real talk with her mother.

Now, the matter of Jules's crush is... hard to talk about without being spoilery. I will say, it was written (and as we are reading from Jules's POV, it could be just projection, but I don't think so) as though her thinking that Luke's feelings for her were more than a quasi-foster brother's would be. I will also say that Luke wasn't my fave. If you've read the book... (view spoiler) That didn't make me not like the book but it did leave me with some questions.

Bottom Line: Lovely and full of feels, this book was one of my most anticipated of the year, and I am quite glad that it lived up to my own self-hype!

2.5 Stars

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I really struggled with this book. A major issue for me was that I found the main character, Jules, so young sounding. I kept imagining her as a freshmen or sophomore in high school as oppose to a senior.

I also had a hard time believing that having a gap in pictures would cause such a shock and crises. There are plenty of age gaps in my family photos and I've never once thought anything of it.

However, plenty of other reviewers are completely in love with Relative Strangers so I'm chalking this up to a case of "it's not you, it's me."

So far the book is completely average the main character is upset with her mother for hiding the fact that she lived in foster care from her and is honestly treating her horrible and it makes me uncomfortable especially since while her mother isn't the best, in fact, she is kind of bad. But that's still her mother and she is not being manipulative or abusive so the way she treats her mom just rubs me the wrong way.
Her relationship with her friends is much better they support her and she supports them in fact away from her mother she is a rather nice girl.
Her relationship with her - brother?- Brother! Her relationship with her brother is also awkward mostly because at the moment from what I can tell

2.5 stars

What I liked:
-The Jewishness. I bet you a thousand dollars Paula Garner is Jewish. There aren't any observant families but both the main character's best friend's family and her old foster family are Jewish and how the culture is just slipped in there is very nice (also a non-Jew wouldn't have any idea of what even a mezuza is).
-I did like that her mom wasn't blamed for becoming an addict and Jules having to go into foster care, and there wasn't anything of that it would have been better for her to stay in foster care after her mom recovered.
-Eli. I just liked his angsty, slightly annoying self. I also liked how it wasn't really a *big deal* that he's gay. It was just there, along with Jules being straight, part of their lives.
-Also, Gabbie is bi. :D

What I didn't like:
-Jules falling in love with her old foster brother who she doesn't remember. For me personally any kind of 'siblings' falling in love, even just kids who grew up together and considered each other siblings until they hit puberty, is a squick. But I do feel like it was dealt with very well, and I was actually pretty comfortable with how it turned out in the end.
-Inseparable teenage friends. I don't know why, but this trope just annoys me. It seems unrealistic to me. What that says about me... but the truth is they're in high school, they have jobs, they're applying for college-how do they still manage to meet up so often or as often as the book makes it seem? (Okay, it's true that in America there's a two-day weekend and they can drive on it so that probably accounts for it.)
-The very Aesop's fables ending. The last few pages of the book every other paragraph has a clear message or moral and obviously that's annoying. I found it really took my enjoyment away from what otherwise could have been an okay ending.

Jules has never met her father and lives with her estranged and closed off mother, desperately wishing for a close knit family others take for granted. When she's asked to find a baby picture for her school's senior yearbook, she discovers that there's a very noticeable gap in her baby albums, which leads her to making a shocking discovery. She actually spent the majority of her first two years of life in foster care, which was kept a secret from her until now. The clues she manages to uncover lead her to a loving family who never wanted to give her up and planned on adopting her but, never had the chance to do so. They are overjoyed to see her and their now adult son couldn't have been happier for getting his foster sister back after so many years. But, as she starts to develop feelings for him, she loses sight of what's important and finds herself on the brink of losing everything.

I went into Relative Strangers having a quite vague idea of its premise and not wanting to spoil myself by reading reviews, since I feel like it's just one of those books you better go into without doing so. Which is pretty ironic since I just dedicated a paragraph to explaining the story but, I think I kept it pretty spoiler free since it's just information you're already aware of if you've read the synopsis of the novel! I really enjoyed the story itself and found the idea of it very unique and different from anything I've personally read before. Which is what drew me to it in the first place!

The writing was also great and focused on giving us the best perspective for the story itself, with introspective descriptions that made it easy to get a glimpse into what the characters were feeling. It got a bit repetitive at times though and I have to say that I actually liked the beginning so much more than the ending. It started out being extremely interesting and well thought out, since I just had to keep reading in order to see what would happen next and what action Jules would choose to take after the truth was revealed. It was quite engaging and kind of suspenseful, something you don't really come across that often in Contemporary novels of this nature. Seeing the author's take on such a sensitive topic was definitely thought provoking and I couldn't help but imagine myself in the main character's shoes, while wondering what choices I would've made in her place.

My biggest problem with this novel were the characters themselves. I did like Jules, even though I couldn't really relate to her since sometimes, I didn't really agree with her way of thinking and overall behavior. The rest of the characters were quite inconsequential and didn't really matter to me that much throughout the novel. I sincerely hope that doesn't make me a bad person. Luke was an okay main interest but, didn't really add much to the romance aspect with his personality because he just lacked that certain depth that makes readers ship couples and crust on fictional characters. Their romantic relationship, if there ever was one, was there one minute and then it just wasn't, which was quite frustrating.

There was so much more potential into the story that wasn't taken advantage of, something that became even more obvious with the ending. Even though Luke wasn't my ideal male character, I can't help but admit that I wasn't really satisfied with how things progressed with him and Jules. I feel like he could've been a bit more understanding and determined in helping her navigate through all these new discoveries and figure things out.

Overall, Relative Strangers was a good coming of age story that could've been much better with some slight changes! I loved the beginning but, after the initial shock of the unpredictability surrounding the whole family drama wore off, nothing managed to get me back on my toes and make things interesting again.

I absolutely adored Phantom Limbs, and just had to read this book. I was so intrigued by this premise of Jules discovering this whole missing part of her life, and was quite moved by Jules' journey.

•Pro: I was glued to the this book for the first half of the book. Fully rapt by Jules and her story, I could not put the book down.

•Con: BUT the story took a few turns in the middle there that I was not too pleased about.

•Pro: HOWEVER the ending was really strong.

•Pro: This was a pretty thought provoking look at how complex relationships can be, between both family and friends.

•Pro: Jules was a really interesting character. She loved old things and making ramen based meals in under 15 minutes. She didn't get the emotional support at home that she needed, but she was able to find a surrogate family through her friends. It contributed greatly to who she was and how she turned out the way she did.

•Con: The alcohol and drug use would not have bothered me so much, if Jules did not directly question her predisposition to addiction given that she was the product of an addict. Garner's treatment of that issue was a little to cavalier for me, and all the drug use seemed wholly unnecessary for the story.

•Pro: Garner didn't hide Jules' mom's flaws, however, she did help me understand why she was the way she was, and sort of let her redeem herself in her own way. I feel like she grew along with Jules over the course of the story, and I was really pleased with the ending Garner gave to each of them.

•Pro: That cameo!!!! I think I squealed there towards the end when an old friend made an appearance. Well done, Ms. Garner.

•Pro: At its heart, this is a story of family and what makes a family. I really enjoyed the exploration of all the different "familial" relationships Jules had, and how they all contributed to the woman she became.

Overall: A beautiful and emotional story that examines intricacies of families and friendships and how they mold and shape us.