The Thing About the Truth, by Lauren Barnholdt

Release date: July 10th 2012
Published by: Simon Pulse
Genre: Contemporary (YA)
Find it on: Goodreads, Amazon

Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High.

Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change.

When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before...But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.

They say "Don't judge a book by its cover", and sometimes, that really does prove itself true. Unfortunately, The Thing About the Truth doesn't fall into this category. I've never been a fan of this cover, but the summary looked so interesting and just plain entertaining, that I decided to give it a try, regardless of the specifics. And yes, Lauren Barnholdt's newest novel is plenty of fun and very enjoyable, but... it wasn't memorable. At all.

My problems with this novel is related to the main character, Kelsey. I will be honest with you; the entire time, she looked like a brat to me. She fought with Isaac for no reason at all, only to spite him and - at least that's what it looked like - to prove how mature and sure she was of herself, when really, her actions spoke of the opposite. She mistreated Isaac over nothing - he helped her countless times, and all she did was turn her back on him, and I hated that. I hated how self-righteous she was, and most of all, I hated how she didn't care about anyone else, only her grades, in a difficult moment. If someone were crying her eyes out in the bathroom, or passing out in front of Kelsey, all she did was think about how late she'd be to her meeting with the principal. I mean, really?

Also, the big "truth" that was supposed to come out and destroy Isaac and Kelsey's relationship wasn't shocking at all. Sure, I understand why it was difficult for both of them to face this omitted truth, especially Isaac, but even then, it wasn't serious enough to do that much damage. Maybe I just never went through that sort of thing, but really - after I learned what big secret Kelsey was keeping, I was expecting a simple fight between them, not something epic like that.

The romance, however, was incredibly cute - if you forget Kelsey's ridiculous decisions - and since that's what I was looking for, basically, I was left with a feeling of satisfaction. The Thing About the Truth did its job as a light contemporary novel - it entertained me and gave a lot of swoon-worthy scenes - but as a romance book with a deeper meaning, it failed to impress.