Name: Mel 's review of On the Fence by Kasie West
Item: On the Fence
Rating: 3
Author: Mel

Kasie West

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door. With three older brothers, Charlotte Reynolds, aka Charlie, has always been more comfortable calling the shots on a basketball court than flirting with the opposite sex. So when her police officer dad demands she get a summer job to pay for the latest in a long line of speeding tickets, she's more than a little surprised to find herself working at a chichi boutique and going out with a boy who has never seen her tear it up in a pickup game. Charlie seeks late-night refuge in her backyard, talking out her problems with her neighbor and honorary fourth brother, Braden, sitting back-to-back against the fence that separates them. Braden may know her better than anyone. But there's a secret Charlie's keeping that even he hasn't figured out—she's fallen for him. 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. On the Fence is a sweet and satisfying read about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect it.

On the Fence

"Sixteen-year-old Charlie has always been a tomboy, but when she accidentally becomes a makeup model, her newfound feminity draws her into an unknown social world, complete with guy troubles she's never had before"--

Sixteen-year-old Charlie has always been a tomboy, but when she accidentally becomes a makeup model, her newfound femininity draws her into an unknown social world, complete with guy troubles she's never had before. The plot contains violence.

On the fence

Chloe

Sarah Baker

Mel 

3.5 stars 

Cute bordering on melodramatic at times. 
Perfect for getting over my Clockwork Princess hangover.

alexandra

this book is absolutely adorable and i could not put it down. kasie west's books never fail to make my heart flutter and stomach clench (aka FEELS – LOTS OF FEELS). i adore ON THE FENCE.

the biggest reason as to why i rated it four instead of five stars is that there were times when the characters felt a little too artificial and the relationships escalading too quickly. i'd pause and think, "uh, sure. that's definitely going to happen in real life. *suspicious glance*"

other than that, i love this book. i love the family dynamic and character developments – despite the moments they felt paper-thin. the plot isn't solely focused on the romance and has unique elements to it as well. all that aside, this book is SO FREAKING CUTE and exactly what i needed at the time, exactly what i was craving. this is a light, adorable contemporary that i adoreeeee. <333

Victoria

1.5

Nope. For 85% of the book, I was completely annoyed at Charlie. The remaining 15% that was half-decent, couldn’t makeup for the ridiculousness of the attitude of that girl. She needs some reality check.

Rachel Kanyid

Very cutesy, and not a lot else. I enjoyed it but it won't stick with me. It touched briefly on grief and depression, but not enough to really have it be a part of the storyline.

Nicole Goldstein

If I wasn't already head-over-heels in love with anything Kasie West writes, this would have done it for me. There is something about her writing style and storytelling ability that draws you in, captures you in this vice grip and makes you fall in love with not just every character she puts on the page, but with falling in love itself. Not only did this book make my heart expand, burst, and repeat, it gave me just the right amount of realness and hope combined. So instead of doing my regular gushing about this book, I'm going to list all the reasons why this story works and why it is awesome. (There are many reasons)

Reason 1: Best friend Romance
Who doesn't love a best friend romance? I think we've all had that fleeting thought that maybe the person who knows us the best is Mr. or Mrs. Right. Throughout, I felt like I was rooting for Charlie to get a clue and realize that the boy she considers a brother is probably the best guy for her. 



Reason 2: Likeable female protagonist
Time after time I find myself frustrated with female main characters. There is something about them that irk me in one way or another. However, with Charlie, I immediately liked her. Maybe it was the fact that she was a tomboy or maybe because she didn't know everything off the bat, but there was this likeable quality about her. I wanted to be her friend.

Reason 3: Even more loveable secondary characters
Each and every one of Charlie's brothers were amazing. Gage, Jerom, and Nathan were so developed and each had their own unique personality. Being an only child, reading about Charlie and her brothers sucked me in and gave me a sense of belonging. Not to mention that Gage was hilarious! 



Reason 4: Slight angst
There are times when books have sad things happen to characters for the sake of it, with no real purpose other than having angst. What Kasie does is give her characters obstacles without having it over shadow the whole story. 



I could go on and on and on about this book, but then you wouldn't have to read it and what fun would that be? Read this book and everything else Kasie West has written. I seriously love her stories.

Fátima

Me encantan los libros de Kasie West, pero para ser totalmente honestos, este no es de sus mejores trabajos. De hecho, creo que es la primera vez que uno de sus libros no me acaba de encantar.

En primer lugar, la protagonista era demasiado insensible y no me terminaba de gustar... creo que hasta el final medio lo logró. Era poco empática y no me gustaba mucho su forma de ser. Y el interés amoroso simplemente no me gustaba, no me acabé de creer su relación y la verdad es que tampoco me gustaba mucho. Y es una lástima porque el hecho de que fuesen amigos desde la infancia me daba muchas esperanzas (es de mis clichés favoritos). 

De todos modos la historia es bonita y súper entretenida y rápida de leer. Y quitando toda la masculinidad poco positiva que encontré ("no puedo creer que una chica tan bonita como tú también pueda... blablabla) y el "yo no soy como las otras chicas", logré disfrutarlo.

Also, me emocioné mucho porque hay un cameo de los personajes de The distance between us, y esa es de mis historias favoritas de K.W.

Ashley Wendt

This was a cute YA Contemporary Romance. Nothing earth shattering. It did give me a few tears towards the end, but overall it was a pretty anti-climatic cute romance.

Menna Khaled

my rating is 4 stars.the book actually is good almostly great 
my least favorite of kasie's books however i added one more star for the intelligence of kasie west as she amazingly has connected 2 of her books together(the distance between us and on the fence)without being an actuall series.
a simple connection both happened in the same town so one of the characters in the distance between us (skye) is a friend of the main character of on the fence.
reallllly intelligent.

Tia Malt 

first 1/2 : 2 stars
1/2 to 3/4: 3 stars
3/4 to right before end: 4 stars
end: 3 stars

Quick thoughts because I'm running out of time - will probably update at some point

- Braden was my favourite character by far
- Charlie whines too much
- Story line was so overused
- Loved their midnight garden talks
- Loved Mama Lou
- Ending was dull in comparison to the rest of the 2nd half of the book, it really let it down.
- Cute book, but i probably wont ever reread.

Lauren Tabor

Sophie

I love childhood friends-to-lovers and I love Kasie West’s books. So I knew I would like this book. And I did. I can’t express my feelings about this book, but I know that I love it. You should read it!

Samantha 

4.5 STARS!!

This is the third book by this author that I've read in the past3 days. I think it's safe to say I love this author :p

Elaine

This was the first romance book I read. No spice, young characters, super cute. Perfect for a younger reader, or for someone who is just looking for a cute, relaxing quick read.
I don't feel comfortable giving an in-depth review because I haven't read it in years, but it is very cute and I definitely recommend!

Kathryn 

HeyBiblio Fam Club

Sofie

As a fan of all other Kasie West books, I was really excited to read On The Fence. And it was worth the read.

Tomboy Charlie Reynolds has grown up in a a house full of boys. She begins spending her nights talking to her neighbour Braden through the fence between their houses. As she begins to rely on those nightly chats, she realizes she has an even bigger problems than the ones she's been talking over with Braden - She's falling in love with him.

This novel had the cheese factor. To quote another reviewer on here, I was a little "on the fence" myself in the beginning. I found it a little difficult to get started - the first 10 pages or so - but after that, it was a quick, fun read. Similar to another novel of Kasie's, The Distance Between Us, it had the charm and romance to be just the kind of flirty summer novel you want to read. 

One of the main problems I had with this book was Charlie. To be honest, I found her a little entitled and naive, at least in the beginning. I get she doesn't have a mother figure around, and that's obviously going to have some affects on her character, but her tomboy attitude came across almost like a superiority complex. She rolls her eyes at girls who wear a ton of make-up and nicer clothes, and scowls at anything remotely girly. Granted, I'll give Kasie credit here because Charlie's view on all this stuff does change as the novel goes on - once she gets a motherly figure in her life, once she actually gets to know a few of the girls she used to look down on, Charlie became much more enjoyable to read about. The problem for me was that, in the beginning, she wasn't a character I rooted for. I think there was a way to make her a tomboy struggling with her femininity without making her unlikable.

All that being said, I really likes her progressing relationship with Braden. Kasie has a knack for writing really great male characters (seriously), and she didn't let me down. Even the brothers (whose names I cannot remember) all had distinct personalities that were easy to tell apart. I think with side characters, it's really easy to make them one-dimensional and cliche, and, while still a little cliche, I felt the brother's love for their sister, and I felt everyone's role in the family. 

The one other thing I'll mention is that it did feel like things were just thrown into the novel to add drama. Some events felt orchestrated in a way that maximizes the novel's conflict. To be honest, I always find dream sequences a little ridiculous, because they are almost always setting up something traumatic or symbolic later in the book - and there were plenty of dream sequences in this one. Seeing as the dreams are what made Charlie and Braden start talking between their fences in the first place, I understand why Kasie wrote them in. That being said, they felt a little manufactured and unnecessary to the plot. The big "woah" moment could have been revealed without Charlie having dreams about it first.

Still, after all the small issues I had with this novel, I would still recommend it to anyone who wanted a quick summer read, and I will continue to read Kasie West's future work.

Camila 

Me gustó mucho la relación que tenía la familia de Charlie. No me gustó para nada como hacían que Charlie no pareciera una chica normal, no por ser una tomboy no lo era, estaba demasiado estereotipado. Me hubiera gustado que este libro se hubiese extendido un poco, muchas cosas pasaron muy rápido y todas al mismo tiempo. Aún así me reí y lo disfruté.

Kendra Jones

A low 4.5
(view spoiler)[ TW: depression, suicide and abuse  (hide spoiler)]
I loved this book, though something is stopping me from giving it the full 5 stars...
In this story, Charlotte, or Charlie, has been raised around four boys: three brothers and one neighbour who is essentially another brother, this led to her being very tom-boy-like, enjoying sports, wearing more "masculine" clothing and seeing herself as separate from other girls who present more "girly". The story opens as Charlie is caught speeding and is given a ticket. Once her father finds out, her punishment is that she has to get a job and pay of the fine. So, Charlie gets a job at an eclectic clothes shop with an even more eccentric owner, Linda. Here, she finds friends and learns that she can still be herself whilst wearing more "feminine" clothing. Obviously there's a romance, as this is a Kasie West book.
Charlie was absolutely precious and her character arc throughout this book was refreshing and sweet. Her brothers, Jerom, Gage and Nathan were the overly protective brothers that I kind of relate to. Each brother was distinct, even though they had so much in common (mostly sports), and they all had different relationships with Charlie that were endearing. Braden, the boy who is so close to the family he is practically part of it, had a loving relationship with not only Charlie, but her brothers as well. Whilst at points his jealousy got on my nerve, he soon got over himself and we were fine.
Charlie's new friends took a back seat to Charlie and her family, but they were pivotal, especially Amber, in aiding Charlie grow as a person and accept things about herself and the world that she had had misconceptions about.

ashley hopkins

I think I will forever love kasie west books. I'm about to just go buy the ones I don't have from her.

Jessica Williamson

4.25 

Cover **** Gets the point across and it's super cute!

Characters **** Charlie is one of those characters who is so different from me that I'm not sure if she's believeable or not, but I'm hoping she is. She was great. And I loved, loved, LOVED her family dynamic and they way her and her brothers co-habited. I basically smiled every time they were on the page.

Plot *** While the plot was decent for a YA Contemporary Romance, it did feel like it was missing something. It had a few cliche moves and there just felt like there was something off. I read mostly high fantasy so take that as you will.

Pace **** I know this is a pretty short book but I thought the pace was great! I don't feel like it dragged anywhere nor did it skip over anything that I thought was important. 

Writing **** I didn't find any issues with the writing and I liked Kasie's style. Simplistic and fun, I really enjoyed the read.

Enjoyment ***** This is exactly what I was looking for during my "Summer of Love" romance reads for June. Light, fun, exciting, cute boys. Yeah. It was great.

Bonus - this is a new category that I'm adding to my reviews and I'll explain it more in an upcoming blog post, but yes, I am not including a bonus question worth 1 star. It will not effect the number of categories, just add and extra star to be averaged. The question is . . . did it make me cry? And for ON THE FENCE, the answer is yes. So, 1 star for a bonus.

Destiny J Tamayo

I literally read this in one sitting. I definitely loved this book more than the Distance Between Us. I loved the main character she was strong and rational. The only thing I didn't like is that we didn't really get to know the side characters as much despite the fact that they played a major role.

laura

I really did like this book. It is def not my favorite book by this author. I really did like how this book had such a wide cast of characters. I really like the boy next door romance focus and also how this book had so many elements of self discovery and really was invested in the story. I found this book to be a super fast pace read. I also liked how this books and subtle hints of mysteries as well in reference to charlie mother. I liked the how this book really tackled how different relationships can bring out the difference types of people. I overall enjoyed this book and really liked charlie as a main character.

Anna Agarwal

Sophie Elaina 

I have to say this is probably one of the cutest books I’ve read in a while. So enjoyable! I’d definitely recommend it if you’re in a bit of a slump, I’m sure this will pull you right out of it; or if you just love a good old cute contemporary.

Sarah Baker &
On the Fence by Kasie West

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