On the Fence by Kasie West

Synopsis:
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.
(Synopsis from Goodreads). 

My Thoughts:
I have heard a lot of great things about Kasie West's books. I have owned a lot of them for a while, but never picked them up because I have to be in the right mood to read contemporary books. Around Valentine's Day, I decided to read some contemporary to get into the spirit of the holiday. Therefore, I decided to pick up her book On the Fence. I thought it was just an okay book.

On the Fence was a cute, fluffy contemporary. There wasn't a real depth to it, which drove me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I did like the book. However, it was a bit too predictable for me. I think how fluffy the book was made it a little too hard to be believed. Certain scenes, like the one between the main character and her boss Linda, were resolved too quickly for my liking. I think there should have been a more in-depth conversation about what the main character did to Linda. Instead, she brushed it aside like nothing happened. When the book finally did get some depth towards the end, it went really dark, which I appreciated. What is revealed towards the end was completely unpredictable. I didn't see it coming at all, which is one of the things I really did like about the book.

I think the thing that I disliked the most about the book was that the main character was unlikable. She was a complete jerk to everyone around her. In fact, I almost dnf'd the book at the beginning after she said something terrible to her friend. I couldn't believe she said it. Towards the end of the book, she started to get a different attitude and became much more tolerable. However, I never really did end up liking her. Even after she became more tolerable, it seemed like she didn't learn her lesson. She still had a crappy attitude towards a few people around her.

Even though I didn't enjoy everything about On the Fence, I did think it was an okay book. It was one of Kasie West's first contemporaries. I have several of her other books. Even though this book wasn't one of my favorite contemporaries, I hope to read her other books soon. It should be interesting to see how her writing has evolved. I hope the books that she has written recently have more likable main characters than this book did. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read to get a couple hours of entertainment.

I give On the Fence: 3/5. 

Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://www.kasiewest.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kasiewest
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5027236.Kasie_West

I received this book from the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.