The Truth About Leaving: Review

Title: The Truth About Leaving
Author: Natalie Blitt
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publication Date: March 5^th, 2019
Ratings: ♥♥♥♥♥

Goodreads synopsis:

Lucy Green thought she had her senior year in the bag. Cute boyfriend? Check. College plan? Check.

But when her boyfriend dumps her the week before school starts and she literally stumbles into Dov, the new Israeli transfer student, on her first day of school, Lucy’s carefully mapped-out future crumbles.

Determined to have a good senior year, and too busy trying to hold her family together while her mom is across the country working, Lucy ignores the attraction she feels to Dov. But soon, Lucy and Dov’s connection is undeniable. Lucy begins to realize that sometimes, you have to open yourself up to chance. Even if the wrong person at the wrong time is a boy whose bravery you admire and who helps you find your way back to yourself.

Review

Guys. GUYS! I loved this book so much! We are introduced to our main character the day before her senior of high school, right after being dumped by her boyfriend before he leaves for college. All she’s left with is an overwhelmed dad, a flighty mom, and two young brothers that she is stuck babysitting at the drop of a hat. When she walks into school the next day, she never thought she would literally run into the love of her life.

Dov moved to Chicago from Israel just in time for his senior year of high school. As I’ve talked about before, I grew up in a predominately Jewish neighborhood and I was surrounded by Jewish culture for most of my adolescence. I loved hearing my friends speaking with their families in Hebrew and learning about the different holidays and traditions. And now we have an Israeli love interest.

When they are put together for partner work in poetry class, Lucy and Dov make a connection through words and poetry. There is a significant amount of Hebrew in the book—something I really loved, but may put off some readers. While Lucy is also Jewish, its much more casual—the more time she spends with Dov, the more she learns about her religion and her own family.

Another aspect that I really connected to was Lucy’s love of dance. I will read any book that features dance, more specifically ballet. As Lucy is starting to realize that she has been living her life for the people around her and not for herself, she decides to return to one of her greatest passions. I loved that we got to see her kind of rediscover her love for dance and how she can continue to feel so rewarded as she looks as to what she’ll do after graduation.

I really loved Lucy and Dov’s relationship and the passion they shared with each other, something they built towards as they formed a friendship. They pretty much stayed in their own little bubble, not interacting with hardly anyone else at school. Even Lucy’s best friend Maddie was rarely around. I wish I could have seen how they were kind of out in the world together, instead of just spending so much of their time locked up in one of their homes.

All in all, I want to shove this book into everyone’s arms so they can experience this romantic and self reflective story. I can’t wait to read more from Natalie Blitt.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.