Book Review: The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler

Goodreads Summary:

The truth is that Jess knows she screwed up.
She’s made mistakes, betrayed her best friend, and now she’s paying for it. Her dad is making her spend the whole summer volunteering at the local soup kitchen.

The truth is she wishes she was the care-free party-girl everyone thinks she is.
She pretends it’s all fine. That her “perfect” family is fine. But it’s not. And no one notices the lie…until she meets Flynn. He’s the only one who really sees her. The only one who listens.

The truth is that Jess is falling apart – and no one seems to care.
But Flynn is the definition of “the wrong side of the tracks.” When Jess’s parents look at him they only see the differences-not how much they need each other. They don’t get that the person who shouldn’t fit in your world… might just be the one to make you feel like you belong.

Review:

There is something about Janet Gurtler novels that just makes me binge read them. I stayed up late reading this one several nights in a row (even though I had to work early in the AM). I read #16ThingsIThoughtWereTrue a few months ago and I LOVED it. I apparently loved it so much that I went over to Kayla’s house and said READ IT. I don’t remember this, but she has it and she says it happened, so it probably did. Especially since she has my book.

I was really intrigued when I saw the synopsis of this novel. We have a boy who comes from under the poverty line, and then we have the girl who is rich. We never see the rich girl, it is always the rich boy helping out the poor girl (except in Crash Into You by Katie McGarry, but that’s a whole other story there…).

I really wanted to see how Ms. Janet would portray those who are below the poverty level, and I wanted to see if they would be accurately represented.

Throughout the novel, the issue of poverty is present and it is somewhat explored, but not enough. We barely get a glimpse of it. Yes, we have the soup kitchen, and yes we have that brief moment in Flynn’s house, but poverty isn’t described well enough for me. I do have to keep in mind though that Ms. Gurtler is from Canada and I live in the USA, so poverty will look a bit different in both countries. What I did like was Jess’ attitude towards Flynn on the whole not having money front. She didn’t discriminate, but I loved that Ms. Janet did show that Jess felt uncomfortable at times being in a place where poverty is so real. I hate it when a rich character goes into a poor area and is like, “Cool yo, no shame, I’m cool. It’s all cool.” NO IT ISN’T. That is not a normal reaction. Not believable at all.

Switching over to some less serious stuff… Really Flynn?! You were so cute and adorable until the end. I loved you. I believed in you and you crushed my heart. I forgive you, but I cannot love you as much as I did at the beginning. That ending just… ugh I’m not cool with it bro.

Overall, The Truth About Us is another great book under Janet’s belt. I enjoyed reading it immensely. I know I didn’t talk much about that, but The Truth About Us raises some very important issues and that is why I requested it on NetGalley, not because I wanted a fluffy read.

Rating: 4.50 out of 5

Disclaimer: Thank you Sourcebooks Fire and  NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book for free does not sway my opinion.