REVIEW: If I Fix You by Abigail Johnson

INFORMATION:

Title/Author: If I Fix You by Abigail Johnson

Series: Standalone

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: October 25, 2016

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance

ISBN: 9780373212408

SYNOPSIS:

When sixteen-year-old Jill Whitaker’s mom walks out—with a sticky note as a goodbye—only Jill knows the real reason she’s gone. But how can she tell her father? Jill can hardly believe the truth herself.

Suddenly, the girl who likes to fix things—cars, relationships, romances, people—is all broken up. Used to be, her best friend, tall, blond and hot flirt Sean Addison, could make her smile in seconds. But not anymore. They don’t even talk.

With nothing making sense, Jill tries to pick up the pieces of her life. But when a new guy moves in next door, intense, seriously cute, but with scars—on the inside and out—that he thinks don’t show, Jill finds herself trying to make things better for Daniel. But over one long, hot Arizona summer, she realizes she can’t fix anyone’s life until she fixes her own. And she knows just where to start.

MY THOUGHTS:

I actually had never heard of this book before I picked it up at a used book sale. I saw a lady pick up this book and all I was saying in my head was “OMG! That cover is beautiful! I need it!” I was praying to all the book gods that a miracle would happen and the lady would put the book back. AND SHE DID!! So I rushed around the tables, grabbed the book and put it in my bag of books. I didn’t even read the synopsis. But, when I got home that evening, I stared at the cover, fell in love with the synopsis, and even found out that I grabbed an ARC of it!

After reading this, I can highly recommend it to anyone who needs a break from fantasy novels! I have been reaching for SO many fantasy novels lately that I never realized I was in need of a fresh contemporary. And I never expected to love this one as much as I did! It was light, summery and perfect for hot weather! So be sure to grab those virgin pina coladas and get straight to this novel!

I really loved Jill throughout this novel. She’s not that girly girl that you expect to read about in a contemporary. But, she is actually quite the tomboy who loves to get her hand dirty in oil and dirt. She reminded me a lot of Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles! Don’t worry, Jill isn’t a cyborg. But, the two of them are mechanics who love to fix things!

Something I really love in YA contemporaries is love triangles, and this one definitely had an intense one! Sean had been Jill’s best friend since they were young. But, the moment Sean committed a wrong tragedy, they were DONE. Then came Daniel, who was introduced after Jill smashed a pop can through his window. Daniel lives a troublesome life, but quickly befriends Jill after learning that her life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In my opinion, I really wished that Jill ended up with Daniel but, I am still happy with Jill and Sean! #sill? #jean?

The main concept of this story is that Jill wanted to fix everyone’s problem. But she didn’t even truly start off with herself. She wanted to fix Daniel, she wanted to fix her father, she wanted to fix Sean, she wanted to fix Claire, but she truly wanted to fix her life. She wanted to fix Daniel’s problematic household featuring an abusive father and a loving mother. She wanted to fix her father’s life and make him happy again. She wanted to fix Sean, and make sure that he didn’t spend every night dreading his mistake. She wanted to fix Claire and make sure that she didn’t overdo her diets. But throughout the whole story, she truly needed to fix herself. But she was too blind to notice how much she needed to do it.

I didn’t really notice how much the caption on the cover stood true to the story. It says “Are some things meant to stay broken?” In reality, nothing should stay broken. Some relationships maybe, but nothing else. Jill’s need to fix things is incredible, but I thought that it overwhelmed her. She didn’t quite realize that YOU come first. That you need to fix your problems before you fix someone else’s

Overall, I decided to give this book 4/5 stars. I really enjoyed it and would highly suggest it to anyone who likes the works of Morgan Matson and Sarah Dessen! If you are in the mood for a summery novel, definitely run to your bookstore and grab this one!

THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! Thank you so much for reading my review and I hope you enjoyed it! Don’t forget to like, comment and follow for more posts!

Happy Reading!

~Alaina