Name: Kim's review of My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak
Item: My Life with the Walter Boys
Rating: 4
Author: Kim

Ali Novak

Jackie Howard has always been prim, proper, and perfect. But when her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again. Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades—the perfect daughter. And then... Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident. Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters—her new guardians. Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway) Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy—loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring—no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

My Life with the Walter Boys

Femke

So I won’t lie. I got bored one day and decided to binge this show on Netflix. And like any normal thought process I decided I had to read this book and get prepared for the second one when it releases. I liked both versions and while yes there were differences and I liked them for what they were too. Now I won’t reveal which one I liked more but I am excited for the second book and of course the second season for the show. And the compare and contrast this will have. I just feel for those who read this book when it came out a decade ago. That’s wild and I feel for y’all because I think I would have crashed out not getting some kind of answers or a real conclusion after all this time. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4/5⭐️

So I won’t lie. I got bored one day and decided to binge this show on Netflix. And like any normal thought process I decided I had to read this book and get prepared for the second one when it releases. I liked both versions and while yes there were differences and I liked them for what they were too. Now I won’t reveal which one I liked more but I am excited for the second book and of course the second season for the show. And the compare and contrast this will have. I just feel for those who read this book when it came out a decade ago. That’s wild and I feel for y’all because I think I would have crashed out not getting some kind of answers or a real conclusion after all this time. 

A simple and easy read about a girl name Jackie who lost all her family members in a car accident and was forced to lived with the the Walter. 

ReadwithZanariah 

Zahra

2.5 stars

I finished it in one sitting, it was such a quick read. Truthfully, I expected a lot more from this book. The drama was tiring and the insta-lust was just........ ugh. However, the Walters were just so fun to read. A family with twelve children and all of them are boys? It was pure chaos yet heart-warming to read. 

I heard the author wrote this when she was only fifteen and I think that's amazing.

Will this cliffhanger ever be resolved on page or tv?

Annabella

Devastated when her parents are killed in a car accident, sixteen-year old Jackie moves from New York City to Colorado to live with her mother's best friend, who has twelve children, including two boys who start to show an interest in Jackie that goes beyond brotherly.

brianna

i feel like 3 stars is a little generous but 2 stars wouldnt be enough. this took me like 5 months to read lol yikes. it was exactly what i needed tonight though. there was so much drama and i grew so attached to alex like i will actually die for this boy i am in love with him. anyway this isnt something super serious. its a fun, crazy ass, drama filled, angsty love triangle mess and i am here for it.

From a fresh new voice on the contemporary YA scene, My Life with the Walter Boys centers on the prim, proper, and always perfect Jackie Howard. When her world is turned upside down by tragedy, Jackie must learn to cut loose and be part of a family again. Jackie does not like surprises. Chaos is the enemy! The best way to get her successful, busy parents to notice her is to be perfect. The perfect look, the perfect grades-the perfect daughter. And then... Surprise #1: Jackie's family dies in a freak car accident. Surprise #2: Jackie has to move cross-country to live with the Walters-her new guardians. Surprise #3: The Walters have twelve sons. (Well, eleven, but Parker acts like a boy anyway) Now Jackie must trade in her Type A personality and New York City apartment for a Colorado ranch and all the wild Walter boys who come with it. Jackie is surrounded by the enemy-loud, dirty, annoying boys who have no concept of personal space. Okay, several of the oldest guys are flat-out gorgeous. But still annoying. She's not stuck-up or boring-no matter what they say. But proving it is another matter. How can she fit in and move on when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect? Ali Novak wrote My Life with the Walter Boys when she was just 15 years old. First a hit on the online community Wattpad, this debut novel has already been read over 33 million times and is loved by readers around the world.

Amelia 

I honestly really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t perfect. But I couldn’t put it down. 

Also, does anyone know if there’s a sequel I need moreeee.

Callisone Dozier

This story was okay. It had some really cute parts, but wasn't as consistent with the facts and story. It's adorable, and would be a perfect hit for high school freshmen. Jackie is a boring MC, but the Walter's were fun, although some of their decisions were not very realistic.

Sarah Crouse

The first time I ever read My Life With the Walter Boys was probably three years ago on Wattpad. Honestly, it was my favorite ebook I had ever read at the time. As soon as I found out that it was published, I just had to buy it and read it again. 

Although I love the story, and I love the characters, there are things that bother me about it. Jackie Howard is a girl from the upper east side in New York City, and when her life takes a turn and her famous parents and her model sister are killed in a car crash while she's sick at home, she is left to be looked after by a family member- who is never home. It's then decided that she is going to move all the way to Colorado with Katherine Walter- a woman who was good friends with her mother. 

 But wait, that's not all. Katherine has kids. A bunch of kids. Twelve, to be exact. Twelve BOYS and of course, they're all gorgeous. But wait... one of these boys is actually a girl, who acts like a boy. The real issue here is who are these people? There are so many characters in this novel that it's hard to keep track. Half the boys in the novel hardly make appearances, so when they do, we're left looking at the first chapter where she lists out each boy, how old they are, and what they like to do (another problem that I will be addressing soon). On top of the twelve boys, Katherine, her husband, Jackie, her group of friends, the boy's friends, and family, it's just overwhelming sometimes to keep track of them all. 

Now, addressing the issue above, the book has a serious 'show, don't tell issue'. Ali Novak does a whole lot of telling us how things are, rather than showing. Jackie tells us how she feels about her family dying, but yet she doesn't really have the actions to prove it. In the first chapter, there is a scene where she and Katherine are on the plane going to Colorado, where Katherine tells Jackie everything she needs to know about the boys... and girl, who Jackie doesn't even find out is a girl until they all meet- you'd think that Katherine would tell her that she had a girl too rather than addressing her too as a boy. Jackie takes out a pen and paper and writes the twelve names down, and then writes how old they are and what they like to do. Specifics. What's the fun in being told what they like? Why not have Jackie meet the boys (and girl) and THEN find out about them? This fact is only heightened by the fact that Jackie spends most of the book trying to get to know them. 

There's also Jackie's character. She had lost her whole entire family, and yet she seems to get over it pretty fast, only having blips of hating herself and being sad. She relives the accident a couple times, but not a significant amount. She's a girl from the upper east side with a good head on her shoulders, but yet half the time she acts like a girl from well, Colorado. The first sentence of the whole book was about how she didn't ever own a single pair of jeans- her mom was a fashion designer, and she believed in making an impact and dressing up. 

If that's what she believed in though, what did she wear while she was in Colorado? There was only a couple of times where she addressed what she changed into, and it was all designer, and if I remember right, each time they were destroyed. Yet there are scenes where she's climbing trees like she's a natural. I think that if I was from the Upper East Side and had lived there my whole life, I would have an issue with living on a ranch and climbing trees and getting muddy. I mean I love that kind of thing, but city life is a whole lot different than a life on a ranch. 

There are lots of different stories about the Upper East Side. It Girl, The Ivy, and my personal favorite, Gossip Girl. In all of these, there are snobby girls with hidden agendas and even the nicest girls make mistakes and befriend the wrong person. Yet Jackie's life seems... boring. She had one friend that we really know of, and brief love interests, and went to the ballet more than ever having a social life. She lived on the top floor of an amazing hotel. Both her parents were famous. Her mother, a famous fashion designer. Yet the only time we really ever hear about her moms fashion shows and her life are when she's talking about how she doesn't wear jeans, but her mom used them a lot in her fashion shows, and when Cole sees the picture of her model sister in her room and asks about her. 

The love triangle. Ugh. I have a love-hate relationship with them. They can be entertaining when done well, and just... bad sometimes. This one was somewhere in between. It was okay, I guess, but for some reason I didn't forgive Alex, one of the Walter boys, as easily as Jackie did. But I can't get into it that much without spoiling it. 

Why is every single boy popular and gorgeous? Even the Geeky Alex, who spends most of his time playing a game online, and Danny, Cole's fraternal twin who loves drama and is in the school's production of Romeo and Juliette as Romeo. I'm not trying to say that a geek is supposed to look like a geek or anything, but if Alex spends every waking moment in his room with this moldy pizzas and crusty socks playing this online game, and he's never in lunch because he's always in the library playing, how is he one of the most popular guys in school? 

The Walter boys are treated like gods, and the love triangle between Jackie, Cole and Alex is somewhat awkward, especially because the one she is meant to be with isn't even concentrated on, making us ask about a second book, which could even be the whole idea. 

Other than all the issues in the book I've talked about, the book is actually really good. We fall in love with the characters that are highlighted, it's just a lot of the main problems that make the book what it is is kind of... lost. There is just something magical about it, though, that has kept me hooked and made me want to read it and not put it down. 


I would recommend this book to teens and anyone who loves a funny, light hearted tale of romance.

Nedu

Nicole Lambert

Okay so this book was definitely better than After by Anna Todd. With that being said, however, this book was still cliche as all balls. Also, if Jackie was a real person, she and I would never get along because horror...is...my life.

Moving in with twelve boys was not part of her plan. Jackie's goal is perfection--perfect grades, the perfect look, getting into the perfect school. If she can achieve that, then maybe her too-busy mom and dad will take notice. But when her parents die in a tragic accident, Jackie is shipped off across the country to live with the Walters, her new guardians...who just happen to have twelve sons (well, eleven, but theirdaughter, Parker, is basically one of the boys). The Walter boys are loud, dirty, annoying--and, okay, some of the older boys might be Greek god level hot, but they don't think a city girl belongs on their horse ranch. How is Jackie supposed to fit into their chaotic world when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect? But as Jackie spends more time the Walter boys, she begins to wonder if the perfection she's always strived for isn't the only way to find love after all.

Hailey Atkinson

I love this book! I remember reading it forever ago and decided to read it again and loved it.

Addison Degginger

Why I chose this book: I noticed this was a book that originated on Wattpad; a website my co-author Amanda has a popular following on. I know that a few books have become popular on Wattpad and later received publishing deals, so I wanted to see what the hype was about. I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

4 Things You Need to Know:

1. Hot boys galore. While the twentysomething in me saw how exhausting it must be to raise twelve boys my inner 17-year-old was eating it up. What teenage girl would turn down living with a house full of hot boys? Apparently Jackie Howard! I loved that the author allowed Jackie to have a clear and level head in the midst of the Walter boy craziness. While the boys try to vie for her affection, she remains true to herself with the slight occasional swooning here and there.

Camila 

Resulta ser que este libro ERA una historia publicada en Wattpad.
Yo digo, teniendo tantas fanfictions, tantas historias y tan grandes escritores publicando en Internet ¿Por qué no publicar fanfictions que estén realmente bien escritas, que tengan un buen giro argumental y un trasfondo? ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué?
En esta historia nos encontramos un cliché tras otro. Jackie es estresante. No conocemos mucho a la familia y todo parece ser presentado de forma repentina y desordenada. 
El final para qué decir, tanta pelea y drama ¿Para nada? 
No recomiendo este libro, lo terminé simplemente porque esperaba que se pusiera bueno en algún minuto. 
Le doy 2 estrellas porque dentro de todo, la forma de escribir no era un desastre, al contrario, aceptable en comparación a algunas novelas escritas en internet. 

Gente con verdaderas fanfcitions y buen desarrollo de personajes debería ganarse la oportunidad que esta chica ganó para publicar su libro.

Cindy Lee

*A copy was provided by Raincoast Books for review*

My Life with the Walter Boys is now one of the two best books of 2014 I've read so far (the other being Cress by Marissa Meyer if you're wondering). I don't know if it was because I was in need of a light and cute contemporary, but the book just pulled me in from the first page.

Jackie Howard, the main character, had a natural voice that just pulled me into the story. I quickly got used to her situation. Her whole family died in an accident and now she's moving to Colorado to live with her mom's best friend. Yeah, one fun fact: she has twelve boys.

At first, I was overwhelmed by the twelve boys. I didn't know how I could possibly keep them all straight and recognize who is who. Amazingly, I actually knew every single one of them really well by the middle of the story. They were all distinctly different and all had different traits. As one of Jackie's best friend said, "With all of the different Walter Boys, they got all different types of desirable boys there." (I didn't quote that exactly, but that's the idea).

The two love interests were Cole and Alex. Cole is the typical golden boy while Alex is the typical cute nerdy boy. (I loved Alex more and I'm not sorry). Things were hectic as the tension between the three rose but that made everything a whole lot more interesting. Other boys worth mentioning are Nathan (a great brotherly figure) and Danny (Cole's twin brother who loves drama). I just can't express my love for all of the boys! I even love the annoying twins, Zack and Benny!

My Life with the Walter Boys is a fun and light contemporary. It's one of the best contemporaries I've read in a while. I just gotta say, you need to prepare yourself for the unpredictable life with the amazing Walter boys.

Rating: A

Tera West

Jackie and Alex simply just got on my nerves, the whole time. I wish there had been more of Cole.

Amanda Furlan

I cant believe this has such a high rating. This wasn’t good

Helena Cristina Nogueira Pereira

Eu li este livro pela primeira vez no wattpad, e lembro-me que tinha adorado. Após fazer esta re-leitura, não é difícil perceber porquê. Adorei voltar a ler esta história e sou team Cole para sempre. Alex, simplemente irritou-me durante a maior parte do livro! Foi muito divertido também conhecer os outros walter boys, só tenho um irmão e já é o suficiente para me enlouquecer, nem quero imaginar viver com mais 11.

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads
.

I want to get all gushy over this book, but I'm going to try to restrain myself. Did you know the author wrote this book when she was 15 years old? 15?! If you're looking for a young adult novel with an authentic teenage voice, look no further. It doesn't get much better than this. 

There was so much to love about this book. The writing was fantastic, and as I said about, authentic. Jackie's inner dialogue was perfect and her interactions with the other characters felt so real. I adored Jackie immediately. I found her easy to connect with. And the Walter boys? Oh. My. God. Talk about a cast of interesting characters. From the standoffish to the swoony and everything in between, they were were absolute perfection. They weren't carbon copies of each other. They each had a unique personality – good or bad – and there was more to all of them than met the eye. Watching Jackie navigate her new life in Colorado, both with and away from the boys, warmed my heart. 

The only thing about this book that bothered me was the ending. I wanted more. Of course, at the time I finished, I didn't realize there was a sequel coming, so I was distraught that it ended like it did. But now I can anxiously await that sequel and see where life takes these characters next. I read the first couple pages on Wattpad and I neeeeeeeeed this book, like, now. 

My Life With the Walter Boys was neither light and fluffy nor overly deep. It dealt with the hard truth of grieving not only the loss of loved ones, but of the life you once knew, but did it in a way that I never found to be particularly difficult to handle. I definitely felt some emotions and my heart broke for the loss Jackie was dealing with. I laughed and cried. But mostly I smiled. There was just something about these characters that made me happy. I can see why this book got so much attention on Wattpad. It has quickly moved up my list of favorite young adult contemporaries. I can't wait for the sequel. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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My Life with the Walter Boys by Ali Novak

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