Review - "On The Fence"

On The Fence
by Kasie West
rating: ✰✰
published: 1st July 2014
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Sometimes we expect more that people are capable of giving at the moment.

So the funny thing is, I normally like Kasie West. The other two books I've read of hers I rated both 4 stars. This one, I didn't like all that much. It was a quick and easy enough read but the characters didn't do it for me and there were some tropes included that I absolutely hate.

First of all, the "best friends to lovers" trope is easily one of my favourites, and on the face of it, that meant this book should be one that I love. The problem I had with this book, and also various other books that attempt this trope, is that it dissolved into the (male) best friend becoming jealous and getting pissed off at the girl because she gets a boyfriend that isn't him (it's like a rule of this trope that one of the main characters has to get a partner who isn't the best friend at some point, I don't know, I'm just here for the pining), and all this while not having told her that he likes her like that. How could she be expected to know that he likes her? And why is she putting up with his dickheadedness? Answers fail me.

The tropes that I hated were apparent after 4% of the book, which, let's be honest, wasn't a good start. I have no time whatsoever for the "overprotective older brothers who vet/threaten all the guys the girl might want to date" trope; it pisses me off no end. What baffled me about it in this book though was that Charlie didn't even get pissed off at them. Not even when it was revealed that they'd threatened all the members of the football team if they asked her out. I would have told them to mind their own fucking business at this point. It beats me why she didn't.

The second trope was the "no guy wants to date a tomboy" trope. And guess what? The main character was a tomboy. Halle-fucking-lujah. Can this trope die a death? I don't need this shit in my life.

Another thing that irritated me was Charlie's attitude to Amber (and other girls but mostly Amber), especially once she thought Amber was interested in Braden. I'm not here for this, Kasie West. I much preferred Skye and Caymen's relationship in The Distance Between Us. (On a related note, I did like the nod to Caymen and Xander in this book, and that Skye played a minor role too.)

For some reason, I feel like the plot of this book, and the characters, weren't as fully fleshed out as they were in West's other contemporaries. The plot appeared to be lacking much direction, and the reveal about Charlie's mum seemed to come out of nowhere. There was no precedent for it, besides a brief mention by Braden of her being upset.

Besides all the issues I had with the book, it wasn't written badly or anything, and I read it pretty quickly. For me, it's just not as good as her other contemporaries.