Monday, May 23, 2016

On the Fence


Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Year Published: 2014
Pages: 296


For sixteen-year-old Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, being raised by a single dad and three older brothers has its perks. She can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows—including her longtime 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 chichi 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 pickup 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 thought:

On the Fence is such a cute but also bittersweet story about a tomboy who was clueless about how to become a girl. Charlotte Reynolds a.k.a Charlie was raised by a father and three older brothers. Her mother died when she was 6 and she could barely remember her. All of her brothers and also her neighbor, Braden were all jocks and that's why Charlie also grew up loving and doing sports. She knew anything about baseball, she played football, and she did basketball. Charlie often thought that no boys would be interested in her because of these. But finally, it all changed after she worked as a make up model and found new girl friends.

At first, On the Fence reminded me a lot of Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally and also some of Sarah Dessen's works where the main character finally found their new selves after working and meeting people in new environment. But the secret of her mother's death added extra point for this story to me. There is a reason behind her family's overprotective behavior towards her and when she finally found the secret, it was very sad and unpredictable. 

How about the romance? Hummm... Like I've said, it reminded me a lot of Catching Jordan. Falling for the guy who has always been there for the rest of your life and knows everything about you? Do you still need to question how the ending goes? Nope.. I believe you can guess it right. However, I still find Braden sweet and caring to Charlie. So, yeah, the romance is still cute although I was a bit bored when reading it :)

Last but not least, a lesson you can learn from this book is.....
You can pretend to be weak in front of the boy you like, to make him feel needed and boost his pride. But once he knows you only fake it, he would be furious and his pride will be hurt double. 

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