The Truth About Leaving Review

Title: The Truth About Leaving

Author: Natalie Blitt

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

Trigger Warning: 

Rating: 5 Stars

Release Date: March 5, 2019

Synopsis

Lucy Green thought she had her senior year in the bag. Cute boyfriend? Check. College plan? Check.

But when her boyfriend dumps her the week before school starts and she literally stumbles into Dov, the new Israeli transfer student, on her first day of school, Lucy’s carefully mapped-out future crumbles.

Determined to have a good senior year, and too busy trying to hold her family together while her mom is across the country working, Lucy ignores the attraction she feels to Dov. But soon, Lucy and Dov’s connection is undeniable. Lucy begins to realize that sometimes, you have to open yourself up to chance. Even if the wrong person at the wrong time is a boy whose bravery you admire and who helps you find your way back to yourself.

Review

Thanks to Netgalley and Amberjack Publishing for providing this free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Natalie Blitt's The Truth About Leaving features the relationship between Lucy and Dov, where both know that Dov is returning to Israel at the end of the school year, partially because he has to and partially because he wants to. One of the best things about this book was the diversity. Lucy's grandmother has a female partner and most of the characters are Jewish. This book could not have worked without the characters being Jewish, but it was incorporated subtlety, as none of the characters are particularly religious. While I am not Jewish, from my standpoint the representation seemed decent.

The characterization was the best part of the book for me as Lucy struggles to figure out what she wants versus what all of the other people in her life want. This includes dealing with the fact that her mother is working in California while the rest of the family stays in Illinois. While the college decision is difficult for many seniors, Lucy has no idea what it is what she personally wants before the novel takes place, and the growth is astonishing and well done. Even as she grows, she still is nervous to tell anyone the decisions that she wants to make. The character of Lucy was created extremely well, and her interactions and the relationships she changes are fascinating.

Dov is also an interesting character, as he comes from a different cultural background. I appreciate some of the explanations given to his background, particularly when it concerns Israeli culture, but I do feel like it began to go a little overboard. His parents are also enigmas that rarely show up. Some explanation is given to this, but a lot still remains up in the air.

My one big problem with this story was the length and slow pacing of it. I went into it somewhat with how culture seemed to be overexplained. I wish it was included more like the elements of dance and ballet were, with only simple explanations once rather than explaining every single element. There was just too much here, and some of it really dragged on, particularly in the beginning of the book. By the end, it does speed up and more of these unnecessary details are shed.

I really enjoyed this read though. A lot of the portrayals of concepts like grief and duty were really well discussed. The relationship between Dov and Lucy, once it starts, is really cute and they complement each other and helped the other to grow from the people they were at the beginning of the story. I loved Lucy's little brothers, especially because their lines were so accurate for a seven and a nine year old. Often, younger YA characters are too mature, but these kids were kids and the arguments were things that definitely happen. Lucy and her mother's relationship actually made me cry (in a good way!). Anyway, I would definitely recommend reading this book.


Do you have any good books with good Jewish representation? I haven't read a whole lot but I've heard that The Spy With the Red Balloon is good.

Thanks for reading!
Alyssa