The Truth About Jack – Jody Gehrman – Entangled: Crush – Published 14 April 2015
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Synopsis
Dakota McCloud has just been accepted into a prestigious art school. Soon she’ll leave behind the artists’ colony where she grew up―hippie dad, tofu since birth, yurt―and join her boyfriend and best friend on the East Coast. It was the plan…until Dakota finds out her boyfriend and best friend hooked up behind her back.
Hurt and viciously betrayed, Dakota pours out her heart on a piece of paper, places it in a bottle, and hurls it into the ocean. But it doesn’t quite go where she expects…
Jack Sauvage finds the bottle washed up on the shore and responds to Dakota’s letter. Except what if his straight-laced life doesn’t jive with the free-spirited girl he’s only seen from afar? As Jack creates a persona he believes she’ll love, they slowly fall for each other with each new letter. Now Jack is trying to find a way to make this delicate, on-paper romance happen in real life…without revealing his deception.
My thoughts
“There’s beauty out there and we’re going to find it”.
When Jack first saw the mysterious and intriguing girl in the coffee shop, he didn’t know how hard it would be to gather the courage to reach out to her. Finding her on a beach and later discovering her message in a bottle gives him the opening he needs.
As Jack romances Dakota through charmingly-penned letters as Alejandro from Barcelona Spain, he simultaneously struggles through, at first, awkward and stilling attempts at a face-to-face friendship with her as Jack, socially awkward, gifted pianist and only child of wealth parents. Soon though he find himself having to compete with his alter ego for Dakota’s attention.
I loved this book. It was refreshing and uplifting. The writing style is artistic and beautiful. I was sucked in from the very first lines. The words just flow off the page to create vibrant pictures, and I loved curling up in the beautiful world it creates. Told in alternating points of view, each voice is distinctive – Jack is charming and amusing, with a little boy-child shyness and introspection mixed in, while Dakota is a free thinking girl, eloquent, lonely and vivacious. Their chemistry, both in person and through their written communication is captivating, like soaking in the warmth of the sun on a brisk day.
While the mix up that comes from writing as someone else is inevitable, the book still feels original and the whole ‘I lied to you’ fiasco never felt dragged out or over done. Expecting a sweet romance, I was surprised that The Truth About Jack is also imaginative and totally addictive.
The publishers provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
More information
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Genre: Contemporary.
Age Guide: Ages 12 and up.
Themes: Romance. Written communication. Dating and relationships. Art and music.
Published: 14 April 2015 by Entangled: Crush
Format: Paperback, ebook.
Author’s website: Jody Gehrman.
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