Review: The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne

the lowdown

Kate Quinn's mother died a year ago. Since then, nothing has been the same. She was shipped off to live with her aunt and uncle in South Carolina, far away from Los Angeles where she grew up. Where her best friend Penny lives. Where her life was. Little did Kate realize, that was just the tip of the iceberg. One day after she gets home from her new school, she discovers a huge crowd of press outside her aunt and uncle's house and a Presidential candidate in her living room. What she finds out next, that this man she's seen on the news, is her father, changes everything. Kate's world is turned upside down once again upon learning that she is the product of an affair her father had with her mother, who was working on his first campaign. She decides to go live with him and his family her new family, which includes a step-mother and twin half-siblings, and work on the campaign.

I read somewhere that this was like Sarah Dessen meets Aaron Sorkin/The West Wing and I love The West Wing and Sarah Dessen is one of my favorite authors, so I was all in. This book didn't disappoint. I loved the character depth and growth in this story. This book got off to a bit of a slow start, but really picked up. I thought that the author's handling of issues in the book and the world she created were very compelling. This is a must read for any YA fan. 

the good 

• The way in which the author handled issues in the book was very well done and felt authentic.  While I've not personally spent any time as a member of a political campaign, it felt very realistic; it did not feel like a romanticized notion of what it might be like to be on a campaign. Thorne's handling of Kate's grief over the loss of he mother was also very well done. It was true to that emotion and not glossed over too much, which happens far too often in novels dealing with loss, I think, but also didn't overcome other elements of the story.
• I really loved the characters and character development. This story is first and foremost a family drama, which I really enjoyed, but I think is tricky to do well. Without well written, likable characters, this storyline could have become very annoying. I can't imagine what it must be like to find out that you were the product of an affair and that you have another family, let alone to go and live with them, but this book tackles that storyline well. It would have been easy to draw lines and make "good" and "bad" characters in this story (like an evil, calculating father who cares only about his career and not at all about his family, or an terrible step-mother unwilling to welcome in the offspring of her spouse's illicit affair). Thankfully, Thorne was smart enough not to do that, and it really made the characters come alive. Instead, what she left us with was an imperfect family struggling to make the best of an imperfect situation, and their trials and tribulations along the way...which definitely brought me to tears multiple times (full disclosure: I'm a book crier, so take that with a grain of salt). 
• The love story is another of the book's strong points. It was sweet and innocent, like many "first" relationship stories, but managed to stay away from crossing the line where it was saccharine and overdone. Additionally, despite being a YA title, the love story really wasn't the primary focus of the book, which I appreciated. I hate it when I read a story that has a great romantic interest, but nothing else of substance to back it up. That was definitely not the case with this book. 

the bad 

• While I liked the writer's writing style quite a bit, some of her phrasing was repetitive. There was a point at which I thought if another character blanched I was going to throw the book out the window. It wasn't enough to disrupt my overall enjoyment of the book, but it was enough to be noticeable.
• For all the great character development in this story, there was definitely one character that felt a little underdeveloped: the main character Kate. You get sparks of her personality at different moments throughout the book, but she never feels fully developed. Most of the other characters seem to have a better sense of who they are but I never felt that way about Kate. In some ways, that was relatable, because I often feel that way at times, but at other times it made the reading a little bland. That being said, Kate wasn't annoying, and while occasionally bland, she was a tolerable main character. 

the quote
"'No, I don’t feel ashamed.'

My voice ricocheted from the speakers, echoed by a shriek of feedback. I guess I’d spoken a little too loudly. The crowd had fallen dead silent. I saw that the senator had come back, his hand hesitating inches from the microphone, but what could he do? I was talking, he couldn’t stop me. His hand dropped.

I swallowed.

'There’s no shame in being born. I don’t have to apologize for that.'"

skip it/borrow it/buy it
Highly dependent on your tastes. For me personally, even though I got this from my local library, I intend to buy it, because the subject matter is right up my alley. I definitely recommend reading this book if you're a YA fan at all, but you may not find yourself returning to it if the political aspect doesn't interest you. Because of that, I'll put it in the borrow it category.



overall score: 8/10

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