Review: 16 THINGS I THOUGHT WERE TRUE by Janet Gurtler

Janet Gurtler knows how to tug at the heart strings.  This is a known fact.  She writes characters who feel real, and she writes about issues that are tough and important.  In her new book, 16 THINGS I THOUGHT WERE TRUE, Twitter-addicted Morgan is forced to confront such a plethora of mishaps that it would have been easy for this book to come off as contrived and overdone.  But this novel is complex and beautiful and exciting and even a little romantic.

Sourcebooks Fire, March 2014.

Things start to go awry before the novel even starts, when a video of Morgan hits the internet.  And it’s a video that she wishes wasn’t there.  Dumped by her bestie, her only real friends are on Twitter.  And at work at a theme park, aside from the weird girl Amy, most of her coworkers ignore her at best, but some of them aren’t afraid to laugh right to her face.  She’s pretty sure even her boss Adam, a fellow high school senior, is also a big fat jerk, until a family emergency hits, and Adam drives her to the hospital.  It’s the beginning of a domino effect that leads to 1. Morgan’s mom confessing that she knows more about Morgan’s dad than she would ever admit to before, 2. Some very unlikely friendships, and 3. A road trip of self-discovery that might just push Morgan over the edge.

16 THINGS I THOUGHT WERE TRUE is a serious page-turner, with more surprises and drama with every chapter.  Grab a box of tissues and curl up with Janet Gurtler‘s latest.  You won’t regret it.