My Thoughts
This is a character-driven coming of age story that touches on the topics of grief, duty, responsibility, education, family, and love. But at its heart, this is a story about growing up. It is about figuring out what you want to do with your life rather than just doing what others want for you. It is about learning and making tough decisions. I felt this book was a very realistic and highly emotional portrayal of the issues and stresses that many high school students experience as they prepare to embark on life as adults. Here are my Pros and Cons:

Pros:
1. I definitely fell in love with Lucy and Dov. I thought it was a touching and realistic romance between two mature young adults. I love how they bonded over their shared love of poetry. I felt the book at quite an intellectual slant to it and I really appreciated that.

2. I loved seeing Israel through Dov’s eyes. It was clear he loved where he was from and it wasn’t just from a superficial level. I also loved that the author put plenty of Hebrew in the book – I learned some vocabulary!

3. Lucy and Dov were both really relatable characters. The reader easily becomes emotionally connected to both and will ultimately root for them! Their maturity and growth throughout the book was a joy to read. I think a lot of teens/young adults will feel an instant connection to Lucy in particular.

4. The book has a storyline that addresses grief and loss of a loved one. I thought the topic was respectfully and realistically incorporated into the story, without making the story overly sad or depressing.

5. Lucy had some tough discussions with her parents. I thought those were handled extremely well. I thought Lucy’s final confrontation with her parents about her college decision was particularly well written. Lucy and her parents were at odds over her decision. There was anger and confusion and the discussion was tense, but it was also civil. It was nice to see a confrontation that didn’t end up just being a screaming match between participants.

6. I think this would be a great book for parents of high school seniors to read. It might remind of them that mapping out a future is hard and super stressful… particularly at such a young age. Support and encouragement can be way more beneficial than providing a specific roadmap that may not match the desires of their child. On the flip side, I hope that young adults reading this book will understand that not all parents will discourage your dreams (even if they don’t understand them) and that you need to have a dialogue with your parents so they understand what you want and need for your future. Both sides needs to LISTEN and LEARN and UNDERSTAND. The best decisions are made when those three things occur!

7. I kind of wanted to see/read Lucy’s walls!

8. Amy (a.k.a. Grandma) was an awesome character – definitely not a typical grandma! I became a step-grandma (Grammy) myself at age 32, so I am not your typical grandmother figure either. I totally related to Amy in this book because I try to communicate (talk and listen) to my granddaughter (who is 15 now) the way Amy communicates with Lucy in the book. I REALLY loved Amy! There is a line in the book that actually says something like “Everyone needs an Amy in their lives!” and I couldn’t agree more!

9. The ending wasn’t what I anticipated and that is a good thing. I thought the ending was appropriate and very satisfying.

Cons
1. I hated how much responsibility the parents put on Lucy. I know it was a plot point and necessary for the story, but jeez! They sure expected a lot from her!

2. Lucy’s mom was super selfish in my opinion. I did not like the mom character one bit.

YA romances can sometimes seem a little silly and overly dramatic to me. They are often written with some kind of contrived misunderstanding that everyone has to overcome for the “happily ever after” to happen. This book was totally different in my opinion. While this story also had a conflict to overcome, the conflict was authentic and serious… it felt realistic and not at all contrived. The romance between Lucy and Dov was really organic and genuine. Although their connection was quick, it really felt honest to me – and that is coming from an old, married reader!! 

This is definitely a book I will recommend highly to mature young adult readers. I think a lot of young adults will relate to this story and enjoy it thoroughly.

Thank you NetGalley and Amberjack Publishing for a free electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I haven’t read a book that’s kept me this engrossed for a while. I’ve devoured it on my breaks at work today, and have just finished it tonight because I couldn’t wait until my breaks tomorrow to find out how it finished!

Lucy is going into her Senior year and everything has changed - her boyfriend has dumped her, her mother has moved across the country, she’s given up something she loves & she has so much extra responsibility, but she’s determined to enjoy the last year of school. Then she meets Dov, a transfer student from Israel who’s set to turn her world upside down.

This is not your usual simple love story. The complicated relationship between Lucy and her Mom (& the rest of her family to an extent) is very real, and more than you usually get to see in a stand-alone novel. The character development is also great, and I would have loved to see more of Amy and Maddie. The only thing I could say is that the ending feels a little rushed or cut short, but the path to that point & where Lucy ends up is more than satisfying.

I really enjoyed it! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

*I received this E-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review*

I will start by saying I really liked that the book included a Jewish aspect. I have no idea how accurate the representation is but I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the indecisiveness if the main character about her future (which is very relatable). My major issue is I felt like I couldn’t completely connnect to the characters, and I just wasnted a little more for the book that was given. Overall I really enjoyed the characters, and the romance tugged at my heart stings for sure!

Lucy is a 17-year old girl that has it all on the surface. A good student, a sassy best friend, and a perfect boyfriend that her parents approve. But when Scott, her boyfriend, decides to go to off to college early, Lucy is left a sore heart at the very beginning of her senior year of high school, of course. That is...until she meets Dov -- the new kid from Israel that just moved to town. Dov is moody and quiet and seemingly temperamental, but underneath the surface, there's a lot of suffering that he'd rather forget about.

Their relationship starts off rocky, but their friendship blossoms throughout the book so beautifully that, as a reader, I couldn't help but feel butterflies all the way through. Here are two kids in the throes of what feels like the biggest moments of their lives, trying to decide whether to follow their hearts or to follow what's right.

The book was such a cozy read this winter. The character of Lucy reminded me so much of myself when I was in high school. As an adult, we often forget all the angst that comes with being a teenager trying to decide a future that is unimaginable and overwhelming. This is exactly why I love young adult novels so much. We forget what it's like to have all of those jumbled feelings for the first time.

I will say though, it took me a little longer to read this than I thought. The first half of the book is a little slow and sort of reads a little amateurish but once it gets going, it was hard to put down. It's one of those books that you can't help but get involved with the main characters.

Thank you Netgalley/Publisher for an early copy

A well-done YA novel that hooked me. I will be reading more from this author. I recommend this to fans of YA Contemporary.

When I read the blurb for Natalie Blitt's novel, The Truth About Leaving, I was reminded that there are no new ideas. The book opens with Lucy, the main character, getting dumped by her long-time boyfriend right as senior year was about to begin. I had a similar idea for National Novel Writing Month nine years ago. So I was very interested in reading this book.

Lucy's life is complicated. Her mother is a college professor and working in California, leaving Lucy, her dad, and two younger brothers home in Illinois. Lucy has had to pick up the slack for her missing mother, resulting in a life not her own.

On the first day of school, Lucy literally collides with new transfer student Dov, an Israeli boy with issues of his own. Though Lucy originally declares she has no interest in Dov other than friendship, as their friendship develops, so do deeper feelings.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the immersion in Jewishness, and how Dov schools Lucy on what it means to be Israeli. Lucy is Jewish but non-practicing, though she does take her little brothers to Hebrew school and has been Bat Mitzvahed. It's nice to see Jewish characters who are just Jewish.

Blitt's book is a great blend of love story and finding oneself - as Lucy develops throughout the text, she realizes how much of herself she's lost in putting others first, and when she finally stands up to her parents in asking for what SHE wants, it's a stand up and cheer kind of moment. Well worth the read.

There are a lot of books that deal with the turmoil of senior year, but none so deftly, I think, as The Truth About Leaving. Blitt beautifully balances Lucy's parental and societal expectations about college with her own assumptions and fears, and offers a view of life post–high school that I think is largely missing from media. Blitt also brilliantly handles a bunch of important threads, from Lucy's complex relationship with her parents, to her history with her ex-boyfriend.

Dov and Lucy's relationship is both unbelievably romantic and fully believable, and I adore them. Lucy is loving, bighearted, and determined, but that doesn't mean she has all the answers. Dov is broken and sometimes angry, but is much more than the broken boy trope—he is complex, soft, and doesn't make excuses for bad behavior. These characters have quickly found a way into my heart.

Delightful side characters abound—I would love this book for Lucy's grandmother alone—but they don't overwhelm the main plot.

As the ending approached, I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't know how I could possibly not be disappointed. But I should have trusted Blitt, who had handled all these delicate threads so beautifully this far, and who gave this book the ending it needed.

Utterly delightful in every sense of the world. Be prepared to be swept up in this story and these characters. Very unique young adult story.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book absolutely blew me away. From the premise itself I knew it was going to be fantastic and heartfelt, but what I experienced was so, so much more than I expected. I finished this in one sitting (it’s 02:08 as I write this), within a couple of hours and I’m still reeling from the beautiful reading experience.

Following Lucy through such a pivotal time of her life when she’s attempting to pick a college and finding a path that is really going to make her happy. Throughout the story she makes choices and breaks out of the boxes that society/her parents have made her construct. She smashes through the expectations and follows her own path and I truly found that element massively beautiful; the story discusses the importance of forging your own path and how to begin doing that. The growth that Lucy goes through is absolutely astronomical and she grew from a high schooler excited for senior activities to an adult excited for new experiences — experiences that she wasn’t afraid to shout about and be excited for. She is a character I massively admire.

Dov was also a character that my heart warmed to immediately. He is a sweetheart with a heart of gold and so much love to give. His character development was also fantastic throughout — and he expressed the importance of sticking to what is important to you and what matters to you no matter what anyone else says. He also brings forward the importance of compromise, family connections, friends, relationships, and the importance of not being alone. Dov & Lucy’s relationship was absolutely mind blowing. I loved the chemistry and the poetry aspect, and loved that they began to open up to each other using poetry as a device.

Following a young adult learning a new country after moving from war ridden Israel was so profound. The misconceptions that people have and how it can feel for the person relocating were written exquisitely, so much so that you felt as if you were actually nestled in Dov’s heart, feeling what he felt.

I loved the cultural/religious aspects throughout this, also, and the Hebrew elements throughout. I adored that it was a primary element in the story. I loved reading about different cultural experiences, different religions and the acceptance that was shown — particularly between Lucy & Dov’s families.

This just felt so real. From the family conflicts, to the stroppy teenage moments, to the powerful romance — I felt like I was dunked in head first into a beautiful story, and I loved every single minute of it.

This book was fantastically well written, incredibly moving, massively powerful and astounding. It is a voice that has needed to be heard in the YA genre for a long time and to have something such as this pop up is amazing. This would be a perfect read for any person, particularly those who are Jewish. I’m so happy that I got to read this book and I recommend it to every single person whom this book appeals to. It ticks all of the boxes, every single one of them, and even made me weep a little!

It must be noted that there is also LGBTQ+ representation in this book through Lucy’s grandmother who is absolutely ADORABLE and one of my favourite characters.

tl; dr: Teenage love causes young girl to reconsider her plans after high school.

Review:
This book was a surprise. I requested it for the cover. But, I am so glad that I did. It was exceptionally good. In the story, an American Jewish girl meets an Israeli Jewish boy at a high school in suburban Chicago. Having lived in Chicago, I found the descriptions strong. But, the strength of this book for me was the way that it dealt with the ways that teens deal with faith and nationality, particularly Jewish kids. I grew up around Jewish kids, both Israelis and American Jews of all denominations. I don't know if I've ever read a book that explains the relationship between faith and Israel for American Jews today quite like this book.

Now, I am making this sound like a heavy tome. It isn't. It is basically a YA romance but with an important underlying story. It doesn't hurt that the Dov, the boy in this boy-girl romance, sounded pretty hot.

Overall, perfect YA for anyone, but definitely for Jewish tweens and anyone interested in Judaism for contemporary Jews.

4.5

You know those books that leave you feeling so impacted by them, even though you can't put your finger on why? This is one of those books.

I felt so deeply while reading this book. My eyes stung with tears, my stomach twinged, my heart clenched... This book will stay with me for awhile.

I related to Lucy with her love for words and analyzing lyrics (and other works).

I'm truly going to miss Lucy and Dov.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC!

I think I wanted to like this book more than I did. I'm always on the lookout for good Jewish rep and I'd seen this mentioned, so I was looking forward to it. In that respect, it was a decent choice. But as an overall book...less so.

My main issue was that the love story didn't hold up for me. Dov didn't seem to have much personality, and the whole shy/surly guy who has Something Hard In His Past but is really sensitive and into poetry thing doesn't seem tremendously original. The Dov/Lucy falling in love process practically goes down a YA novel checklist: main character is clumsy and awkward in front of the broody new guy - check, trapped outside together in a rainstorm - check, "Do you know how hard it is to keep my hands to myself?!" conversation - check. I just didn't feel a particular chemistry between the two of them, so a large chunk of the book rang hollow and uninteresting for me.

It's especially a shame because there were elements that seemed to be new territory. The discussions of not being inspired by a particular college or subject, the pressure to balance school, home responsibilities, romance, friendship, and having a senior year experience - those had some juice to them. I liked that there wasn't a clean wrapup on the story with Lucy's mother. Most often situations like that don't get suddenly resolved, and her father admitting that they were just muddling through a little was refreshingly realistic. (Although I do wish there had been a further exploration of what seems to have been a depressive period lasting several years, followed by Lucy's mother apparently leaving that whole thing behind and kinda ignoring her daughter.) It was also nice to read a YA book where the main character does ballet without the cutthroat attitudes, eating disorders, and stress over a professional career. But I was disappointed by the treatment of Lucy's best friend Maggie, who basically existed to either say, "You loooooove him!" and "He sucks!" like a romcom best friend algorithm, and the romance plot, which was a driving force for the book, mostly left me shrugging.

This book is a fine read. The writing is solid, with occasional flashes of loveliness. The descriptions of Israel and Israeli culture brought back fond memories of my own year in Jerusalem. I'm always up for new, different, and authentic portrayals of Jewish characters in YA, and especially when it's better integrated than just a casual mention of a bar or bat mitzvah. But I wish there had been better character work done: I think the book would have been stronger for it.

A YA book with not only a hot new guy from Israel, but a Jewish-American family in the forefront. Israel and its beauty and the complex relationship not only between these two teens, but with this beautiful country that holds a sacred meaning to each of them to varying degrees. The parent-child relationship that is also explored and how Lucy doesn’t leave her best friend behind for s boy. This book is different than a lot of TA books for so many reasons—most of them great. Lucy does get annoying at times, but I think it’s her anxiety we really get to feel through the strong character development. This was a good story with romance in the mix of a very crazy, hectic, stressful and important time for high schoolers and this book doesn’t just focus on the romance, which was nice.

Lucy has just come out of a relationship that to her wasn't everything she wanted but to her parents was the perfect fit. Lucy is about to start senior year and has some big decisions ahead of her and has no idea where she is going or what she is going to do, the only thing she resolves to do is not to get involved with anyone and just to enjoy senior year with her best friend Maddie. That is until she literally falls into Dov, an Israeli student who has just joined the school for his last year.

I made a note instantly in my Kindle when Lucy fell into Dov's arms that it was very cliche but most of what follows isn't. We gradually learn more and more about who Dov really is, his family life, the tragedy he's faced but also how living in Israel isn't necessarily like living in a war torn desert. Lucy gets a wake up call in this when she often says things that are quite offensive and prejudice, without really realising, and Dov gets defensive.

There's a passage where Dov relates a poem in their English class and it's called "The Diameter of a Bomb." It's about how a bomb that can fit in your hands can cause much wider spread destruction once it detonates. How the lives of the people around who deal with the wreckage are affected, and then the people directly affected by the bomb and then further how this devastation has a ripple effect onto other countries even. This book is filled with little life lessons that both Dov and Lucy learn throughout and I found them very enjoyable, to see how they grow and mature throughout the novel.

Dov and Lucy are both well rounded out characters. We learn lots about their families and not just enough to keep the story ticking over but more than enough, plenty to really envelope us in the story. Lucy's mum works away from home. At first it was only meant to be 3 days a week but has recently turned into barely being home for 2 days at the weekend. Lucy has to assume a mother like role to her younger brothers, sacrificing the things she would like to do because she needs to take them or pick them up from school or because they need someone to mediate their current fight.
We also learn about Lucy's previous relationship with Scott, how he pressured her into sex and how she always felt like she was fighting for her own consent.

"I can't believe I thought I was in love with a guy who made me feel like I needed to rationalize why I didn't want to sleep with him."
With Scott, I practically felt like I had to keep a chart of when I said yes and when I said no. If I said yes on a Monday, I remember thinking all the time, it would probably buy me a few dates when I could say no."

Reading the above quotes were quite startling to me. It should never be the case in a relationship that if you aren't ready that you should feel bad or be made to rationalize why you aren't ready.

We learn of Dov's family, even his family history in Israel all the way back to his grandparents. The tragedy his family has been through and how that has rippled into the future with the way Dov is treated by his parents, how he perceives their strict rules and how they see Dov.

I enjoyed this novel very much. As it's a YA novel you can expect much of what you normally would but you might also be surprised by what else is in this book.

[4 STARS] - Arc provided through NetGalley in change of an honest review

This was a lovely and cute book, a perfect read for when you're in need of a story about a genuine and true love.

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars" - Og Mandino

Lucy is going through a lot of stuff in one year. She has just ended a relationship, her mother has accepted a job on the other side of the country, leaving her and her dad to take care of her brothers. On top of all that, it's her last year of school, hence she has to decide which college she will go to the next year.

In the middle of it all, a new guy has arrived from Israel and is now her classmate and partner in a poetry class: Dov. Soon they begin to open up to each other and a true friendship ignites between them.

There were so many things I liked about this book: first, since Dov was from Israel, there were a lot of references to the country and to some poets and singers from there, which I found amazing, because I got to learn something new every chapter. Also, the book was filled with poems and quotes that supported and added depth to some of the problems Lucy was going through. On the course of the book, she thinks a lot about the decision she has to take, and while she ponders through her options, she made me realize and think about my own life.

"I need to do what's right for me, as hard as it is to figure out what that is"

It was a slow paced book, the relationship between Lucy and Dov developing slowly. That's the thing I missed most, maybe if some of the dramas were better developed, or more thrill and depth were added to the book, I would've enjoyed it more.

I really recommend it and I hope you fall in love with Dov and Lucy as much as I did. <3

This was a lovely romantic read! Lucy and Dov meet at the beginning of their senior year and both are carrying baggage from past relationships and loss in their lives. Dov and Lucy find each other and as their relationship devlopes, the reader learns more and more about their lives and their families. This is a lovely book because of the growth of character that the reader sees in Lucy. She changes dramatically from the beginning of the story to the end and in a way that many seniors in high school may be feeling. Her journey is a true and believable one. Dov is also a character who goes through a significant growth. His story is just as beautiful as Lucy's and the incorporation of his culture to the story makes it even stronger. I really enjoyed this novel and the way the author deals with family, friends, growth and loss. I look forward to reading more YA by Natalie Blitt. Thank you netgalley for an arc of this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Lucy Green is entering her senior year of high school with a world of possibilities at her feet...as long as that world and all of those possibilities remain in the Chicago metro area. With responsibilties coming in the form of two younger brothers, a dad doing his best to keep them reined in, and a mom across the country, Lucy’s life has been all but figured out for her.

Enter Dov - a transfer student from Israel who makes his feelings very clear that he would rather be anywhere else than spending his senior year at Wilmette Academy.

While Blitt’s story has all of the elements of a young adult romance that can warm your soul and make you gush that internal “AWW,” she brings us characters that are so much more than your typical YA tropes. Dov’s complex background, intricately woven and delicate relationships with his family, as well as the feelings and thoughts he can only express in Hebrew come together to form a character that you long to dive deeper into, to get to know just as much as Lucy does. Lucy’s own complex relationship with her family and her struggle to make the decisions that shape her life after graduation are scenes that feel like they are plucked from a teen’s life.

While the pacing of the story left me feeling like I was tearing through pages just to make it to some kind of plot movement forward, Lucy and Dov’s stories of self-discovery, healing and setting out for life after high school make Blitt’s novel a perfect read when you want a little something more than a lighthearted beach read.

Also, planner friends, bujo addicts and memory keepers everywhere will find a little bit of themselves in Lucy - a collector of scraps of writing, poetry, song lyrics, and anything that speaks to her. The cover of this edition of the novel is sure to draw in anyone who has one of these collections of meaningful little bits of life pasted into a journal, taped to a wall, or simply held in a shoebox ready to be thumbed through.

https://www.letteringandlibraries.com/blog/the-one-with-poetry-high-school-seniors-and-important-life-decisions

The Truth About Leaving tells us Lucy Green's story. Lucy is about to start her senior year when her boyfriend breaks up with her out of the blue. She feels lost in every area of her life and doesn't know what to do with herself anymore. It doesn't help that her mother just left for a job across the country and barely keeps in touch and that it means that she has to help around the house sacrificing her social life and extracurricular activities, like her dancing. When she meets Dov, a transfer student from Israel, she realizes her priorities need to change.

I mostly liked this. Lucy was interesting and so was her family situation. What I had trouble with was her relationship with Dov. The insta-love thing really doesn't work for me. There was also a lot of army talk and glorifying the fact that 18 year old kids have to enlist and I just can't agree with that. I felt for Dov but I didn't fall for him. I enjoyed Lucy's character development but I didn't fall for her either. I guess I didn't really relate to any of them.
Still, it was a pretty interesting book and I'm sure lots of people would enjoy it.

Lucy's mother takes a job that sends her out of state, leaving Lucy to take care of her younger brothers and the home while juggling her senior year of high school. Her perfect plan for her future is interrupted when her boyfriend doesn't want a long distance relationship and breaks up with her right before he leaves for college. School starts with Lucy quite literally running into the new transfer student Dov. They form a friendship and bond over a shared culture and family expectations, and loss. The Romance is a main focus, but it is not the only focus, which I greatly appreciated. The book has a slow pace but tells a good story. A great coming of age for any reader.

Lucy is still reeling from Scott breaking up with her when she bumps into Dov. Literally bumps into him and knocks him down. Who is this new student from Israel and why is he so moody. Lucy finds herself wanting to find the answers to these questions and so many more as she begins a rollercoaster relationship with Dov and tries to find herself in the process. Should she go to the college that her parents want her to go to so she can "help out" at home or should she go somewhere far away to get away from it all? So many decisions for her to make during her senior year of high school. The Truth About Leaving is a realistic look at the decisions and stress that many high school seniors feel as they prepare to leave their parents' home to attend college.