REVIEW: For Keeps - Natasha Friend

For Keeps - Natasha Friend

Pages: 267

For sixteen years, Josie Gardner and her mom, Kate, have been a team. It’s been the Gardner Girls against the world, and that’s how Josie likes it. Until one day, in the pet food aisle of Shop-Co, they run into the parents of Paul Tucci, Kate’s high school boyfriend—the father Josie has never met. If Mr. and Mrs. Tucci are back in town, it’s only a matter of time until Paul shows up. Suddenly Josie’s mature, capable mother regresses to the heartbroken teenager she was when Paul moved away. Meanwhile, Josie’s on the verge of having her first real boyfriend, while her free-loving best friend, Liv, begins yet another no-strings-attached fling. When Josie learns some surprising truths about Paul Tucci, she finds herself questioning what she’s always believed about her parents—and about herself. In FOR KEEPS, Natasha Friend tells a fresh, funny, smart story about what happens when a girl gets the guy she always wanted and the dad she never knew she needed. - goodreads.com


For Keeps is what I would call a stereotypical book at first glace. Girl with no dad, finds dad, finds meaningful boy, has fight with mom, blah blah blah, everyone makes up the end.
Honestly, I was expecting a lot of that. I got a pretty big jolt when I really started reading it.

Josie is 16. She is her mom's only child and her dad is MIA. Her best friend is quirky and has 2 dads for parents. He employer is a clean freak, and he's always changing her hours. Add that to soccer practice and sexy Matt Rigsby, and you got a pretty average day.
When Josie's grandparents show up, it is undeniable that her father is lurking in wait. When her mother starts to date and leaves Josie more on her own, she gets more and more distanced from her mother.
Don't forget all the pressure and maybe even the scary thought of teen pregnancy and that about sums it up.

Sounds interesting, right?

The best part of this book is the unpredictability. When Josie first mentioned Liv's parents as Pops and Dodd, I didn't think much of it. Turns out they're both Liv's dads! I was floored and astonished. WHOA. WHAT A TWIST!
Josie is also completely afraid of any commitment to a boy. She wants to get to know Rigsby, but she always holds herself back. She doesn't want to get hurt, or worse yet, pregnant.

Her mother is Josie's best friend. They've gone through ups and downs and are always there for the other. When they say her grandparents in a store, Josie comforts her mom through the breakdown. But when her mother starts dating again, Josie gets possessive and almost furious to a point of silence.

Add in the impending doom of meeting her father, because it seems bound to happen, and I think I'm about ready to get off this emotional roller coaster. Honestly, its so down to earth and believable, that I could imagine myself doing these things on a daily basic.

It is written from first person point, narrated by Josie, and thus you get the feeling just as she gets it: Shocked, Angered, Confused.

My fave character is Liv. She's so quirky and fun. I wish I could be like her. (:

I loved this book. It's a great read for those of us with struggles and insanely twisty (yeah, take it as you will). I recommend it to you all out there!

RATING: 9 of 10

until next time,
Addy