I enjoyed this book and look forward to purchasing it for my library. There are enough twists and turns to keep young adults interested while tackling important issues.

I was very surprised by this (cleverly-titled) book.
Having read the synopsis and the first few chapters, I was sure I knew the direction the story would take. I was wrong.

Relative Strangers is a story about family (and all the forms they can take), grief, friendship, and growing up. And it's a damn good one.

I cried about 5 times, but some of them were happy tears. Because in the midst of the drama, Relative Strangers offers you some truly magical moments that make the story so well-balanced.

Jules is the best kind of main character: she makes the wrong choices for the right reasons (well, she's a teenager whose life has been turned upside down, can you blame her?)

This book was an absolute beautiful and emotional story about friendships and family, I loved Jules as the main character, I felt like I really connected with her, from her insecurities to her love of food, it was a great story to read.

I only really had one problem with this story, which was the romance, I was a little disappointed to say the least, I just felt like the idea of the growing relationship and romance with Jules and Luke was a little crushing and unexpected in my case at the end. Majority of the story was so focussed on Jules crush on Luke and the ending for them wasn't what I was expecting at all.

When I was accepted to review this book on Netgalley I honestly was not sure what to expect exactly. I knew it was about a girl who finds out that she had a foster family for a little while when she was younger, but that was it. Honestly, though this book ended up being so much more than that. I got to see into these character's world and develop emotion based on their lives. I wanted to know more about all of the characters and what would happen to them. I was so sad to see that the book ended so quickly (even though it was a few hundred pages long) because I really did enjoy my experience reading this book. 

Jules is a high school senior who discovers something strange about her lack of baby pictures or at least the time jump between the photos she can find. After confronting her mother about this Julie learns that when she was very little she lived with a foster family for a while until her mother was deemed fit to be able to take care of Jules again. As Jules tries to find her former foster family she may learn and gain more out of it than she originally expected. 

First off I need to talk about the characters. I love that these characters were all very unique and had personalities and backstories that made them three dimensional. I really loved the character development we got from not only Jules, but her mother, her friends, and other people in her life. 

Another thing I enjoyed about the book was the unique storyline. I have read books about children who were adopted or in foster care, but nothing like this. I really appreciated that the author, Paula Garner, decided to go this route. I think the concept opened up for a lot of possibilities that she took advantage of. 

The last thing I really loved about the book is what happens at the end. Without giving too much away in a average contemporary YA novel you would think this storyline would end up going a certain way, but I am happy to say that it was not like that. I really enjoyed that sort of twist or step away from the trope that I expected. I think Gardner made a very good choice in that. 

So I don't actually have much of an explanation for why I gave this book 4 stars. It may have been because while I liked the book I did not love it or think it would be insanely memorable to me. This isn't to say that this is not a good book, just that it is a book that I read and enjoyed though I probably will not remember it much or feel it is a book that will ever be in my top favorite. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book on a lot of levels including the characters and separation from a typical trope. I believe a lot of readers will enjoy this book and that if you are even thinking about taking the time to read it I would at least give it a chance. I am happy to say I did.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of RELATIVE STRANGERS in exchange for my honest review.***

Paula Garner is one of those writers whose realistic young adult fiction is guaranteed to be unique, brave and worthy of multiple reads, so I was excited to score an ARC of RELATIVE STRANGERS.

Jules’ honest, heart-felt narration had me following her quest for answers from page one. Always on the outs, she partially resented her single mom for not giving her the life like her best friends’. Jules’ mom was short on details, so when Jules discovered she spent two years in foster care, she wants more. Her quest for answers gives her more than she ever expected. Her doting older brother Luke never got over losing the sister he hoped his family would adopt. Then Jules’ feelings become more complicated and soon she questions all her relationships.

Without giving away spoilers, I was certain RELATIVE STRANGERS would be a five star read, but the plot lost some of its steam after a Big Event and fizzled some as the pace slowed. The themes of family, friendship and coming of age resounded strongly throughout the pages. I can’t wait to see what Garner writes next.

Finally a book that is so simple and beautiful. It's wasn't cliche or teenage angst.