Published January 24, 2012 by Candlewick
Hardcover, 336 pages
Borrowed from library
So in Getting Over Garrett Delaney, Sadie has a massive crush on Garrett whom she's known for two years and has quickly become her best friend. She loves him but the problem is he doesn't love her back and when he goes off to camp without her and falls in love, Sadie decides once and for all that she can't continue being hurt and hung up over him. As a result, Sadie concocts a master twelve step plan to help her finally get over Garrett. But what is a plan to help her mend her broken heart turns out to be something larger: a path of self-discovery and a chance for her to break free from the confines of who she made herself to be with Garrett.
This book has been on my TBR for such a long time so when I found out in my school library, I think I did a little jig of joy. Plus, it's by Abby McDonald who, if I'm not mistaken, also wrote one of my favourite books Dangerous Girls (which there is a sequel to!) under the name Abigail Haas. I was pretty excited to start this book, to say the least.
But when I got into it, it was just kind of...bleh. I don't what's gotten into me lately because usually, I get lucky and hit a lot of really good books that I enjoy a lot and now it just seems like every single book I read is a meh or a total miss. And while Getting Over Garrett Delaney is not a bad book by any means, it's just a bit boring. Like there was just no excitement about it. It was a very sweet book but it wasn't outstanding and the story isn't something that I'd likely remember over an extended period of time.
However, I did really relate to Sadie's predicament. I mean, come on, who here hasn't been totally hung up on someone who doesn't like them back? To be honest, I'm kind of going through that right now and I'm finding myself in Sadie's position as well, where it's just gotten so big that I'm just looking to get rid of it desperately. I actually think I might need to follow in Sadie's footsteps with the plan. My totally non-existent love life aside, I really was rooting for Sadie to rise from the whole Garrett situation all along! At first, it appeared that Sadie and Garrett were really good together but McDonald slowly reveals more details about their relationship and it's totally clear that Sadie has changed herself to impress this guy and if there's anything I know about love it's that you should NEVER EVER change yourself for anyone. Like if they can't accept you the way you are, are they really worth it? Golden advice, kids. Live it and learn it.
Getting Over Garrett Delaney also had a great cast of secondary characters who I really enjoyed reading about. The only thing was that with the secondary characters, they all had their own stories which I liked but also deterred a bit from the actual story. Like I was interested in the Sadie's story but also in everyone else's story and McDonald didn't really provide much explanation on them so I was part wishing for them and part glad that they weren't there. I don't know if that makes any sense but basically, while I did rather like the individual stories, I think I would have preferred them not to have been there at all.
Good but not memorable or exciting. Getting Over Garrett Delaney was a sweet book with a good cast of characters and a highly relatable message. Like most of us have probably experienced an unrequited love and I know I certainly have so it was interesting to read about someone going through a similar thing. But even so, I couldn't help but feel bored through it all. Getting Over Garrett Delaney was a book that I had been looking forward to for a very long time and while it didn't meet my expectations, it wasn't a total disappointment either.
you if you're looking for a light and sweet contemporary that is very relatable.
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