Rating: 
It’s rare to read a book you love through and through, from beginning to end. My Life Next Door was that book for me. Sometimes when I love a book so much as I did this one, it’s hard for me to put my feelings into words, so bear with me.
My Life Next Door is the kind of story that you expect to be light and fluffy . . . but then it surprises you.
I thought this book would be very cliché: little rich girl falls for the boy next door; gets a whole new perspective on life through the eyes of a financially-strained, but very happy — unlike her own — family; and learns something big about herself over the course of one short summer. In a lot of ways, that is what this book is about. But, in truth, it is about so much more.
Samantha has lived a sheltered life and you could say she comes from the ‘right side of the fence’. She has a sister who is just a bit older than she is and they live with their Mom, Grace. Their father walked out when Grace was pregnant with Samantha. To say that Samantha’s mom has issues is a bit of an understatement. For example, she is obsessed with the vacuum cleaner. When they leave the house she goes behind them to ensure that the carpet is vacuumed (the lines of a freshly vacuumed carpet must always be viable) and this is repeated several times a day. However even with these little ‘quirks’ her mom has managed to become pretty successful, the help of her own trust fund helped tremendously I would assume. She entered into politics and managed to become a Senator in their state of Connecticut. Grace likes things controlled, orderly and neat.
Enter the Garretts. They move into the house next door when Samantha is seven. From the moment they move in it is clear to Samantha that she is not to socialize with them. They are a large family and her mom wants her and her sister to have nothing to do with them and she is always making rude and snide comments about them. However, Samantha finds them fascinating and has always found herself watching them.
The 2 oh-so different houses next door set a fabulous backdrop for Jase to rescue Samantha from drowning in the quiet and order as her mom is further consumed with her political career while dating her campaign manager. For years, Samantha has wondered and dreamed what it would be like to be a Garrett from the little ledge outside her room. Little did she know, Jase was wondering the same.
The bulk of this novel is about Samantha getting to know — and fall for — both Jase and his family. But towards the end, as the publisher synopsis says, there is a big obstacle that is dropped on Sam’s and the Garrett’s heads, an obstacle that is not overcome easily. I wish there could have been a bit more resolution at the end with it, but as a whole I think the climax was handled well.
And, on a side note, can I just say how utterly sexy some of this book is? I wasn’t expecting that, either, but I love surprises.
The first thing that stands out with this book is how realistic it is, especially in terms of first love and sex—especially sex. I’m going to be completely honest and say I have never read a book that dealt with teen sex so well. Ever. (Spoiler alert: Samantha and Jase have sex, in case you hadn’t gathered that.) The two romantic interests discuss having sex beforehand, Samantha mulls it over in her head and is understandably nervous, they buy condoms together beforehand, and when they do have sex after (having discussed it and thought it over for a while), it’s awkward and messy and not, you know, butterflies and rainbows, etc. I was unbelievably impressed with that aspect of My Life Next Door. Actually, I think it was the best part; young adult fiction needs more portrayals of sexuality like this one. Bravo, Ms Fitzpatrick. Bravo!
Truly, I don’t feel that my words can properly describe how much I loved this book, or how much I got out of it, or how much I wish more people would discover it and feel for it what I did. Does that mean this book was perfect? No, because no book is. But honestly, it was perfect for me. I’m extraordinarily pleased with it — so much so that I plan to reread it this summer — and will certainly be reading more from Fitzpatrick in future.
Ana
Books, I Love you. 