Tuesday 8 April 2014

Review: 16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler

16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date: March 4th 2014
My rating: 2 stars. 


Heart attacks happen to other people #thingsIthoughtweretrue When Morgan's mom gets sick, it's hard not to panic. Without her mother, she would have no one-until she finds out the dad who walked out on her as a baby isn't as far away as she thought... Adam is a stuck-up, uptight jerk #thingsIthoughtweretrue Now that they have a summer job together, Morgan's getting to know the real Adam, and he's actually pretty sweet...in a nerdy-hot kind of way. He even offers to go with her to find her dad. Road trip, anyone? 5000 Twitter followers are all the friends I need #thingsIthoughtweretrue With Adam in the back seat, a hyper chatterbox named Amy behind the wheel, and plenty of Cheetos to fuel their trip, Morgan feels ready for anything. She's not expecting a flat tire, a missed ferry, a fake girlfriend...and that these two people she barely knew before the summer started will become the people she can't imagine living without

16 Things I Thought Were True was really different to what I was expecting. I think things happened way too quickly for my liking that before I could even get a grip with what was going on, we were thrown into the next incident. Also I didn’t get the chance to form a connection with our MC Morgan either, she’d been having a tough time with a video of her being leaked by her former best friend of her dancing in boys shorts. Morgan had practically become the laughing stock, she couldn’t go anywhere without someone sniggering behind her back, or bringing up what had happened. I was fully on Morgan’s side, as she had just made that video when she and her best friend were messing around, she didn’t expect everyone to see it. Then to make matters worse, Morgan’s mum ends up being rushed to the hospital with a heart problem. Morgan’s never been so scared in her life, Morgan has twin brothers in Josh and Jake to look after her, but her mum is all that she has parent-wise, her dad walked out on her before she was born. Morgan’s mum is convinced she is going to die from a small operation, so encourages Morgan to find her dad. Morgan doesn’t want to leave her mum during such a crucial time, but every time Morgan has even tried to mention her dad, her mum just shuts her down, so with her mum actually totally behind Morgan doing this, Morgan decides to go and find her dad. 

With the entire backlash she is receiving for her video, Morgan doesn’t really have anyone to go with her to Canada to find her dad. But then she finds two unexpected friends in Amy and Alex. I absolutely adored Amy, she reminded me of myself at times with her ability to talk non-stop. And although I could see how things would go with Alex and Morgan, I wasn’t really behind it, or more especially care for it. And what really bugged me was how unrealistic this road trip to see Morgan’s dad became. Morgan literally had a couple of conversations with Alex and Amy and then all of a sudden Amy had volunteered to drive her there and Alex to accompany them. And even though this road trip was meant to be a one of a kind experience of discovery and making connections, I just didn’t get this vibe from this road trip. 

I really had the hope that I would be able to make a better connection with the characters or story but unfortunately this was not the case. The whole meeting with Morgan’s dad wasn’t an emotional one as I expected and ended way too quickly for my liking. And then we had two bombshells at the end where the heck did they come from? I’ve had luck with Gurtler’s books in the past, but this book just wasn’t my cup of tea.



21 comments:

Melanie said...

I agree, everything just happened so quickly! I thought the road trip was gonna be longer than the 2 days it actually was -.-

Lovely review, Jasprit! <33

maya said...

Wasn't sure of this one as it doesn't sound like my kind of book anyway, but I definitely won't be reading it now. I think the one thing that had me interested was the road trip (I adore road trip stories!) so it's a shame that that aspect wan't even very believable. Thanks for the review :)

Unknown said...

It a shame that you didn't connect with the book :( The title and summery looks really promising and I wish it lived up to it's expectations. I don't think I'll be trying this book out anytime soon,
Paulina @ Tangled In Pages

Jules said...

Too bad you didn't like it. I definitely agree that pacing is important for you to be connected to a book. Hope I'll like it when I read it though. I still have hope. lol :D

Jules @ Jules Bookshelf

Lauren @ Love is not a triangle said...

It sucks when you can't connect to a book. I do like road trips, but this one definitely sounds unrealistic. I feel bad for this girl and her circumstances already, but I've been very careful about the contemporaries I read lately, and I'm just going to skip this one. Thanks for your thoughts!

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

As much as I do love road trip stories, the characters really have to work well together for the whole story to work. And, maybe I'm missing something, but a girl dancing around in booty shorts doesn't seem like it would deserve all that much backlash these days. Not enough to lose friends over, anyway (others being nasty, yes, unfortunately).

Anonymous said...

I'm sad to hear that this didn't work for you, Jasprit. I was looking forward to reading this book, but I don't think I will after reading your review. It sounds pretty unrealistic and I hate it when I can't connect with main characters.
Great honest review! I hope your next book is better.

Unknown said...

I don't think this book is going to be for my liking as well, Jasprit. You're pretty awesome for sticking through it. Honestly, cringe-worthy stories are not my idea of a good time.

Wonderful review!

Jenny said...

Too bad on this one Jasprit! I always struggle with a book when I can't connect with the characters. I'm much better if the characters are strong and maybe the plot is a little weaker, but if the characters are the weak part then it's usually all over for me. I do like the sound of Amy though, I talk non-stop when I'm nervous so I can relate:)

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Sorry you didn't like this one. It seems a bit "unrealistic" in parts, so I'm not sure I'd enjoy it much either.

Siiri said...

Ohh, so sorry that you didn't connect. I can totally see not forming a connection since so much is going on. I'm glad you could relate to Amy though. However, I'm sorry you didn't care much fo the romance :( Though, road trip, yay. I'm sorry you didn't love this one, but I hope that this was just a random miss with this author and you'll love her next book more :)

Unknown said...

Hmmm...this does seem a bit frenetic. It's hard to connect when you're rushed and overwhelmed. Sorry you didn't enjoy 16 Things, Jasprit.

brandileigh2003 said...

Sorry to hear this one didn't work for you, I have liked some of her other books, but I would have a hard time if things happened too quickly to connect to the characters or the story

Unknown said...

I don't think I've read any of her books, and this one doesn't really seem like my type. I'm not a road trippy read person. Lack of emotional connection kills a book pretty fast. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.

-P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex

Unknown said...

Aw man. This sounded really good, but I hate when books are unrealistic, especially in contemporary. The fact that everything went too fast and BAM, let's go on a road trip with strangers...that doesn't sit well for me. And that you couldn't connect, especially to the "romance." Er, no. Sorry this was such a disappointment!

The Bookish Manicurist said...

It's so hard when you can't connect with the MC and it makes it even more difficult when everything happens too fast! Shame about this one because I like the look of the cover and the plot sounded promising

Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist

Keertana said...

I know I wouldn't be able to get into this if I couldn't connect with the MC, so this one definitely isn't for me. I hope your next read is far more satisfying, Jasprit!

Born Bookish said...

Sorry this one was a let down. It always stinks when you like an authors previous work and have high expectations. I still want to give this one a try, as I love road trip books and one of my friends really loved it.

Amanda @ Born Bookish

Unknown said...

Sorry you couldn't form a connection to neither the characters or the story, sounds like the book just kind of zipped through things.

Faye M. said...

This sounds like all kinds of awful, Jasprit. I know that feeling of disappointment a little too well and that crushing feeling is just horrible. I hate it when we can't connect to the characters; if the bond isn't there, we just can't feel for them, know what I mean? That ruins everything. Thankfully, you found Ask Again Later which was a more better read ;)

Faye at The Social Potato Reviews

Glass said...

Ugh, ugh... This sounds bad, really bad. :( I was looking forward to reading it, but yours is not the first disappointed review I've read so far. I don't know... I'll have to think about it.
Thank you for honest review.

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