Review: 16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler

Title: 16 Things I Thought Were True

Author: Janet Gurtler
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire 
Publication date: March 4th, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Realistic Fiction)

Source: NetGalley

Format: e-ARC

Pages: 283

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Heart attacks happen to other people #thingsIthoughtweretrue

When Morgan's mom gets sick, it's hard not to panic. Without her mother, she would have no one—until she finds out the dad who walked out on her as a baby isn't as far away as she thought...

Adam is a stuck-up, uptight jerk #thingsIthoughtweretrue

Now that they have a summer job together, Morgan's getting to know the real Adam, and he's actually pretty sweet...in a nerdy-hot kind of way. He even offers to go with her to find her dad. Road trip, anyone?

5000 Twitter followers are all the friends I need #thingsIthoughtweretrue

With Adam in the back seat, a hyper chatterbox named Amy behind the wheel, and plenty of Cheetos to fuel their trip, Morgan feels ready for anything. She's not expecting a flat tire, a missed ferry, a fake girlfriend...and that these two people she barely knew before the summer started will become the people she can't imagine living without.

Having read some of Janet Gurtler's previous books, 16 Things I Thought Were True is probably by far my favorite one out of the bunch.  16 Things I Thought Were True talks about a twitter maniac, whose name is Morgan. When her mom gets sick, she starts to panic, especially since her mother is single. Morgan has two older brothers, but Morgan has always felt like she still needed to find out who her father is. After an embarrassing video that went viral, Morgan doesn't really have real friends anymore. Despite having no real friends, Morgan says that her "twitter" friends are as real as they can be. During her summer job, she meets a very enthusiastic girl named Amy, and their very mean boss, Adam. They have all been stressed out for various reasons, so the three of them suddenly decide to go on a roadtrip, and are determined to find Morgan's birth father. 

Plot wise, the story may not have been as unique, because I remember reading something like that in some previous young adult books. Despite that, I can't say that the story wasn't enjoyable or was even predictable. The characters were all very diverse, unique, and very funny. It was also a very sad book at times. Many moments where the characters were put in tough positions. We also got to learn a lot about each of the characters. There were a few "roll your eyes" moments that I just couldn't deal with, but leaving those aside, it was a very well written book!

Overall, if you're looking for a contemporary book that has a bit of romance, humor, and friendship, then 16 Things I Thought Were True is the book for you! I will definitely be looking forward to future books by Janet Gurtler, and I really hope she delivers a very different book in the near future!