The Boy Who Steals Houses (The Boy Who Steals Houses, #1)
C.G. Drews
Can two broken boys find their perfect home? Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he's ever known. Now Sam's trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he's caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing - each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie. But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.
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Guys, I'm so sad to have to say this...but I'm slightly disappointed :/ Look, I'm a huge fan of C.G.Drews (Paper Fury). I've been following her blog since the beginning of time and I love her style, her jokes, her attitude and everything. And I absolutely LOVED her debut - A Thousand Perfect Notes. But this one...it was just missing something, you know?
It had an insane amount of food and family vibes and sibling banter and all the cute stuff my cold heart needs from time to time, but that's about it. The plot is kind of messy and I don't understand Sam at all, but maybe that was the point? Idk. He and his brother have been surviving on their own for YEARS and yet, he makes a lot of stupid mistakes. He even says so himself "I shouldn't do it" and then he does it. Repeatedly. That's just it. His behavior is all over the place. I understand that he's tired of this type of lifestyle and just wants to take care of his brother - but it seems like his personality suddenly changed the moment we meet him. When he talks about his past - the years he spent thieving before we get to know him - he says he is very capable and knows how to get in and out without making any mistakes, can pick a lock in a matter of seconds etc. And yet, from the first page, he can't do any of those things. He constantly takes risks he knows he shouldn't (e.g. sleeping in their study room WHILE THEY'RE THERE) and he keeps saying mean stuff to his brother knowing he will take it badly. I'm not saying I expect perfection - but when an MC keeps making the same mistake over and over again, I get slightly annoyed.
Moxie and her whole family are just #goals. I loved their interactions and I loved their little fights - we get to see the good and the bad parts. This was definitely the strongest part of the book + the rare Avery/Sam moments where they're not fighting.
The ending was fine. It was definitely not HEA and I liked it, it would've been completely unrealistic if everything aligned perfectly. Although, it was still slightly weird how Moxie just let Sam back in their house and let him stay the whole summer - they barely knew each other and he did some creepy stuff
Spoiler
. I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high. This story just didn't work for me :(
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