I'm going to be so honest with this review, this book was meh for me. It just didn't stick with me and honestly, the writing wasn't that great. I wanted to love this book and the plot was one that I thought was one that I was going to love, but the execution of it wasn't there.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review. I did not finish this book, though I did try to get into it several times. There was far too much drama for me and while teens might enjoy that, I found it to be eye-rolling.

I really enjoyed reading this book! I totally didn't expect what happened, the synopsis didn't lean that way, or at least, when it hints towards that, it gives not explanation as to what was to happen! And that was pretty awesome!

Jill escapes her quiet house on her roof. And that's why she meets Daniel when she did, when he and his mom were arguing, and she threw a bottle to stop them, and that broke the window. Opps. Not the easiest ending!

There were three big threads in this book. Her relationship with Daniel, her relationship with Sean, and her relationship with her parents. She used the first as a distraction, venting her problems with the other two. Given that he's 21 and she's going to be turning 17, they couldn't form the relationship that they both wanted, which caused its own problems.

I mean, how often is it that the love interest that the lady picks isn't the one that's mentioned in the synopsis? Well, he is, but as a former interest, given what she believed had happened. Of course, there were some details that she didn't know, so that made things work out! Really enjoyed that!

Really awesome book of having a big change in your life, and moving on from it! Loved it!

Ah, If I Fix You. You are such an amazing book, and you simultaneously broke and mended my heart. If I Fix You is one of the most beautifully-written books I've read, and to this day I still feel the emotions I felt when I first read it. I may not remember exactly what transpired, but my heart constricts just a bit at the remembrance of what it made me feel.

What I loved about this book was how much I truly connected with the main character and how much I truly felt everything that happened in the book. I was so invested and I couldn't help feel what the characters were feeling. I was able to put myself in their positions, and not all authors are capable of doing that.

Another thing I loved is the friendship and the romance. I can't even say much about this for the fear of spoilers, but I truly loved it. I loved how there was no rivalry or planted hate, and how there was just acceptance and wanting the good for the person. Ugh, not sure if I made sense, but it makes sense in my head.

Overall, I loved this book and I felt all the feels. I truly recommend this one!

I was provided with an electronic copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Just wow. I originally intended on giving this book 3.5 stars, leaning on the 3-star side. But after thinking about it, I’m not sure why I wasn’t going to give it 4 stars except for the fact that I’m trying to be stingy/strict with my ratings. But I can find no glaring fault that should hold this book from getting the 4 stars. This was a freaking good book.

I went into this thinking that it was going to be another YA contemporary that hinted at real life drama but really focused on romance. And while it did have relationship drama, it didn’t have so much that it deterred from the more important other things happening in Jill’s life. And said relationship drama was so intertwined with everything else, that it felt natural and not irritating to be there. It was just more complex than that. Plus Jill is a 16 year old girl; of course she’s gonna be a bit boy crazy (even at arguably inappropriate moments).

All that being said about the absolute presence of relationship drama, this book remained grounded. Jill had so many other things going on (poor thing btw could NOT get a break!) that both she and the reader couldn’t really spend too much time thinking about the boys because freaking everything else was spinning out of control. But all of these things happening to Jill made sense timing-wise. It didn’t feel like a gimmick to have hit after hit come because things just kept happening and falling into place in the right pacing. It didn’t feel like drama for the sake of drama. It felt real, and it mattered and was not fluffy in any way. And that was actually nice.

Jill (our MC) was fully fleshed. You really get to know her thought process, insecurities, and preferences inside and out. She’s so broken, yet so strong, gah! It’s clear that she’s pretty mature for her age. And I wasn’t the only one who thought so… helloooo Daniel! But even her conversations with Daniel (next door neighbor guy) were very natural and the way they got along made me smile. They enjoyed each other’s company and it was easy for them to be around each other, which consequently made it easy for me to read their interactions and enjoy their joined company.

In fact the writing in general was just amazing. Written in a way that didn’t make it obvious that it was from the POV of a 16 yo. My favorite parts were the bits where Jill would describe her love for her father. The only thing that I think suffered were Claire and Sean’s characters, and Claire more than Sean. I don’t think this book spent enough time with Claire, which diminished how important I perceived her to be to Jill.

There were many parts of this book that I seriously did not see coming! And man was I emotionally invested! It just kept making me feel things! But I’m happy with the length of the novel, and the way everything was wrapped up.

A good contemporary story that didn’t focus too much on one thing; it had romance, family issues, identity crises, coming-of-age story, and a great tomboy MC. Would definitely recommend for fans of Sarah Dessen, Huntley Fitzpatrick, and Jennifer E. Smith.

Great read! Have already purchased it for my high school library.