August 4, 2015

The Boy Most Likely To - Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Boy Most Likely To book cover
The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Series: My Life Next Door #2
Publisher: Dial Books
Publication Date: August 18, 2015
Source/Format: NetGalley || e-galley
[I received this from the publisher. This in no way affects my review.]

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To... find the liquor cabinet blindfolded, need a liver transplant, and drive his car into a house. Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To... well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard. Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have. And Alice is caught in the middle.



Three years ago, I fell head over heels in love with My Life Next Door, a charming contemporary novel featuring a sweet, boy-next-door romance between Samantha and Jase, and the rest of the lovable Garrett clan adding even more reasons to love this written universe. When rumors of a novel about Tim began to circulate, I was simultaneously excited and hesitant. Tim had been a great secondary character, but I questioned how interesting his story would be, particularly when weighed against its predecessor.

I shouldn’t have been so nervous, because it turns out that I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Tim better in The Boy Most Likely To! The initial impression readers have of Tim is as the stereotypical bad boy, with a history of mistakes and unwise decisions. But there is more to him than meets the eye, as evidenced by his attempt to straighten his life out, take responsibility and his loyalty to the people he truly cares for. Fitzpatrick manages to showcase both the good things and bad things about Tim’s current position; she does it well enough that, while I don’t make excuses for what he’s done, I understand where he’s coming from. It was really great to be able to appreciate Tim as a main character, and to get really invested in his story.

Alice Garrett, one of Jase’s sisters, is also a narrator in this novel, telling the story of the sacrifices she needs to make and how life has changed for the Garretts after the tragedy in the previous novel. Now, I liked Alice as a character; she’s the kind of capable big sister I’d like to think I am in real life. It was also admittedly nice to spend more time with the Garrett clan, and get to see Tim through her eyes. But her story felt more like a “B” plot in this novel, not as necessary or as impressive as learning about Tim and his life and not nearly as well-developed.

Still, their two stories woven together are what make up the whole of The Boy Most Likely To, and I liked it well enough so I can’t complain. Even though a part of me wishes that it had been solely focused on Tim and his story, it was nice to see glimpses of him through someone else’s eyes every so often. And, of course, it was fun to see all the secondary characters (the other Garretts and Sam particularly) from both perspectives! Fitzpatrick has succeeded in fully engaging me in another one of her novels, and I can declare that The Boy Most Likely To is worth a read.

6 Comments:

  1. Lovely review, Alexa! I'm so happy we finally got Tim's story, but I do have to admit it was not the one I was expecting. It's so different from MLND, so my mind had to redirect. I agree that Alice's POV wasn't necessary, but I do wish we had gotten more romance. :/

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  2. I read My Life Next Door early last year and I remember enjoying it. But now, I honestly can't really remember anything about Tim, so I'm probably going to have to reread the first book before getting to this one. From what you say, though, I definitely think it will be worth it when I'm in the mood for a cute contemporary. Great review! :)

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  3. Ever since I heard about the rumours of there being a book about Tim and Alice the anticipation has been killing me. Surprised that I'm not dead from it. Kidding. *facepalm* Such a lovely review, I really can't wait to read it soon! :)

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  4. Been waiting for this sequel for what seems like forever because I really wanted to read more of Tim after MLND. So glad it's to be released soon and am relieved to hear that you liked it well enough! I'm pretty wary about reading Alice though (not really knowing what to expect) so I'm thankful to hear your insights on her. Fab review, Alexa!

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  5. I like this one, mainly because I really enjoyed Tim's point of view, but there was one plot line I couldn't get into (and it was a major one), so I can see why the plot fell into the "b" category. Can we all agree that George is the most adorable kid in the book world?

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  6. I just finished The Boy Most Likely To a few days ago and it was every bit as epic as I'd been hoping! Ever since I read My Life Next Door, I was waiting and hoping for a Tim companion novel/sequel/something! He had so much potential, and even more was revealed in this book. Sure, when facing a choice between the smart decision and the stupid one, he usually goes with the stupid one. Still, something in his demeanor, in how he cared for his sister and his friends, there was always this apologetic (yes, I'm sorry I'm a screwup) attitude behind it all, like he couldn't help himself. The extremely spoilery circumstance he found himself in was exactly the kind of "pull yourself up by your bootstraps and deal with this" thing because if he fails himself, his sister, his family, his friends, they're old enough to get over it. But this new situation? Nope. He COULDN'T fail it.

    I agree that the Alice point-of-view wasn't as interesting, but it did help fill that gap of what all was going on in Jase's family and their circumstances after the accident. I felt awful for Alice, feeling trapped by her obligation to her family and feeling trapped because if she didn't grocery shop and take the kids to soccer, with her mom pregnant and her dad in the care facility, that stuff wouldn't happen. There was no way for Alice to win until the end when things just got better, as those situations hopefully do.

    Awesome book. It wasn't what I was expecting, but in the very best way.

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