Review: "On the Fence" by Kasie West

For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can out-run, out-score, and outwit every boy she knows--including her long-time neighbor, and honorary fourth brother, Braden. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chi-chi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world of makeup, lacy skirts, and bedazzlers. Even stranger, she's spending time with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pick-up game. To cope with the stress of faking her way through this new reality, Charlie seeks late night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with Braden by the fence that separates them. But their Fence Chats can't solve Charlie's biggest problem: she's falling for Braden. Hard. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

My thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

One of my top reads of the year!  This was my first Kasie West book and I absolutely loved it!

The characters were fantastic!  I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to like Charlie in the beginning because of how she acted, but I quickly came to adore her.  Braden was the perfect mix of friend and something more - I loved him!  And Charlie's brothers - also awesome!  I hereby vote for Gage to get his own book!

Of course, there was more to this book than just the fabulous characters.  The plot was perfectly paced - I was never bored or wanting to skim.  And I was really surprised at how deep things got at the end.  I definitely wasn't expecting that and maybe shed a tear or two!  It was also so much fun to see Charlie getting in touch with her more feminine side - definitely a few laugh out loud snorts from me!

So I've used 8 exclamation marks in this review so far, which normally I would think is too many, but in this case doesn't feel like nearly enough.  If you haven't got the gist of what I'm trying to say so far, then here it is in a nutshell - awesome book, go buy it and read it now! (!!!)

My rating: 4.5 stars