Another endless cycle of depressing and bleak conversation and plot. Started with a promise of great reading and quickly fizzled to the same old hamster wheel of a plot going nowhere and character not very like-able. This is of course my own opinion and may not be shared by others.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed are absolutely my own.

I was happily surprised with this book. Did not think I would like it as much as I did. This is a new author for me but I will be adding her to my booklist.

Hitch lives on a rural farm and is very protected by her parents as she was born with many problems but all she wants to do is see the world.
Grayson is from the city and is sent to give a speech at a conference in the area of the farm. Grayson is "not perfect" either. He lives with an alcoholic mother who is very needy and would never let go of him.

Against all odds Hitch and Grayson see only the beauty and good in each other and try to overcome the hurdles in their way.

I would recommend this book. A very heartfelt story.

Firstly I would like to thank Amanda, Netgalley and the publisher for my free ARC.



These are the things I know -
Amanda has given the reader a wonderful protagonist called Hitch - well that is her nickname that she accepts, but her real name is Thomasina.
Hitch has been "left behind" by her brother.
Hitch wants to be in love.
Hitch would like to feel a sense of belonging instead of obligation.
Amanda gives Hitch a beautifully colourful journey.
You, dear Reader will be uplifted and delighted.
I highly recommend the new one from Amanda Prowse, a road full of hope and discovery on what looked to be a difficult journey.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Thomasina 'Hitch' loves her family, and working and living on the family farm. But like any young woman, she has dreams. She dreams of travelling the world, of falling in love, of having her own family, her own home...her own cake tins!

But she feels like an ugly duckling in a world of swans, due to a deformed lip, weak heart and crooked limbs, and feels opportunities everyone has are passing her by, that she will be stuck on the farm forever. Until Grayson Potts stays as B&B guest at the farm.

I loved Thomasina from the start - she is honest, loveable, kind to people and animals, and I wanted her to fulfil her dreams. I also related to Thomasina at times as I also have health problems, albeit "invisible illnesses" which I have felt have stopped me from achieving certain dreams.

I loved Thomasina's and Grayson's relationship, which felt heartwarming from the start. Both characters were warm and realistic and truly meant for each other - I hope Prowse can revisit both characters together in another novel?

The book was beautifully written and descriptions of the farm made me feel like I was there with Thomasina.

A perfect summer read which I struggled to put down at times!

*Book provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

I have loved Amanda Prowse’s book for years now and was really excited when I got the chance to read this book!

Thomasina has always been a bit different and special. She is used to her life on the farm, with her parents and welcoming guests into their B&B. Of course she also has dreams and wants to see the world.

One day Grayson Potts comes along as a guest and they instantly have a deep connection. Grayson has always been a bit different as well, and he is very sweet and kind. Is it too good to be true?!

Well, I think Amanda Prowse created two wonderful characters here and the atmosphere of the whole story is beautiful. It actually took me some time to properly get into it and I somehow struggled a bit with how the story progressed. It’ still a heart-warming book, but not my faveourite of her.

All in all, it was very moving and authentic. I just loved the two main characters together!

Rating: 4.5/5

Amanda Prowse is a wonderful author and her books never fail to please. The things I know is about a girl called Thomasina who lives and works on her parents' farm. Despite having a lovely name, everyone calls her Hitch, after the scar left behind when her cleft palate was fixed as a baby. In addition, she has a deformed hand and foot, none of which stop her from doing anything. Throughout her life people have had very little expectations for her and she has never been able to rise about the over protection, stifling affection of her parents. Hitch knows that no one thinks she can leave the farm and live on her own, hold down a proper job or anything that her family assumes her brother will do. But Hitch is not going to let anyone stop her dreaming of more. Even her cruel, thoughtless cousin Emery is not going to get the better of her. One morning a new guest arrives to stay at the family bed and breakfast, Grayson Potts. Grayson is also a little out of the ordinary, he says exactly what he thinks and feels and he and Thomasina find they can talk about anything, with a bond forming so fast, that neither wants to think about the fact he is only staying for two nights.

Amanda Prowse has once again tackled a difficult subject with incredible understand and empathy. Cruel Emery and kind Grayson show the reader the two opposing views of the way the world looks at individuals that don't fit societies version of 'normal'.. Emery is still, after many years, calling Thomasina cruel names that cut her so deep she is often too floored by the words to stand up to him. Then there's Grayson , who in his own beguiling way cannot see anything but beauty when he looks and talks to Thomasina and this reaction awakens something inside her that turns her whole world upside down. As a reader with a child who isn't neuro-typical I could not help but fall in love with this book. The Things I know shows the world that everyone has value and worth and that who you are and how you live your life, is far more important than what you look like on the outside.

Amanda Prowse always delivers heartwarming and engaging stories, including her latest book The Things I Know. Thomasina is a very different kind of main character and I loved everything about her. Thomasina meets Grayson and they are a perfectly imperfect couple, finding the strength in each other to stand up to those who treat them poorly or even bully them. They even give each other the courage to grow into their full potential as the adults they are meant to be. Thomasina, like many people in the real world finds comfort and companionship with animals to be much more satisfying than spending time with humans. Ms. Prowse is such a gifted author, her characters are so lovingly created that everyone can find bits and pieces of themselves on the pages. You feel real emotions, which is what great storytelling is about. Be careful where you read an Amanda Prowse book as I have been caught more than once sobbing on an airplane! I Highly recommend The Things I Know, along with anything else by Amanda Prowse.

This is the first book that I have read that was written by AManda Prowse, and I know I will be looking up her other books after falling into this story! I liked the unique way each chapter was closed by the main character making note of the things she knows.....and they are always unique to the chapter. Thomasina (Hitch) has learned a lot of hard lessons in her life due to the fact that she was born with “disabilities” that made her very self conscious, over-protected by her parents, and always feeling “less than” others. While helping her parents on their farm/bed and breakfast, she meets a young man named Grayson who has issues of his own that he has been living with. The two immediately find that they are kindred spirits, and the way that they learn and grow with each other is heartwarming. A few other characters throughout the story help to fill in details and give Thomasina and Grayson depth to their characters. The author brings the reader into the lives of the characters and makes us part of the story, with the happiness and sadness that goes with it. I received an ARc of this book in return for an honest review, which this has been. #TheThingsIKnow, #NetGalley

This is the first book of Amanda's I've read and I really hoping it wont me my last!! Highly recommended

I loved this book! The characters are so well written and memorable. Hitch/Thomasina is a unique, lovable heroine that will have you rooting for her throughout.

As a rule I love Amanda Prowse’s books. They make me laugh, cry and really think. Whilst I really enjoyed this book, I have to admit it didn’t move me in the same way as some of her others have done. However it was a good story about Thomasina and her journey to finding what she wants from life and love.

Publisher’s description: Thomasina ‘Hitch’ Waycott loves living and working on the remote family farm and B&B. But she also wants more. To see the world. To own her own home. To fall madly in love.

But those are fairy tales, and if her life is a fairy tale, then she’s the ugly duckling. Her deformed lip, her crooked limbs and her weak heart have kept her from taking chances. But that’s about to change.

When Grayson Potts comes to stay, he’s unlike anyone Thomasina has ever met. He’s aloof, eccentric and exceptionally kind. He’s also totally unconcerned with the physical flaws that have always defined Thomasina.

The two form a bond that neither has had before. It’s possible that it could become something more, but Thomasina also wonders if it’s too good to be true. By putting her heart on the line, Thomasina may open herself to heartbreak. But she may also open herself to so much more.

**********
I was really excited to read Amanda Prowse’s “The Things I Know,” but I was a bit disappointed when I really got into it. It started out feeling like a great coming of age story. Thomasina (Hitch) is the main character we’re following throughout, and this is the type of story that has to build, so I took that into consideration.

Where I struggled was that it seemed like even the author was unclear about how old her main characters were. As I read deeper into the story, Thomasina sometimes acted like a moody teenager, sometimes like a 20-something, and sometimes like early 30s. It also took sooooooooo long to get to the climax of the story, and then the whole thing was wrapped up in about three pages followed by an epilogue two years in the future. By the time I got there, I really wasn’t invested anymore.

I have liked previous books by Amanda Prowse, so I’m sure I’ll be reading future books, but this one fell kind of flat for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the charming story of Hitch (Thomasina) who feels as if the instructions had been upside down when she was made resulting in several health issues including a cleft lip, disfigurement to her hand and foot and a heart condition. She loves her family and the family farm but wants to travel and be loved rather than used and ridiculed.
Amanda Prowse has again written a novel where the main character faces adversity and finds courage and strength that she never knew she had. I totally admired Thomasina and her approach to life and how she encounters her desire for more. Amanda's style of writing is engaging and makes a story into which the reader is drawn fro the beginning.
I loved this novel and would totally recommend it

Until I received this novel from NetGalley, with the promise of an honest review, I had seen the author's name but had never read any of her books.

For me, this is a beast of two halves. The story is fine, if slight; two people, both with problems, fall in love. Not much, other than their self-belief, stops them. There’s a cousin and some boys in the village who call her names, and financial problems on the family farm. He is blessed with the mother of all mothers, who dominates his life as though he is a remote-control doll. So far, so good.

It is the prose that I have problems with. It seems to have been written in a massive hurry, presumably with little thought for editing, judging by the number of errors, and often the dialogue is laughable. Read some of it aloud and see what I mean. On the other hand, there are descriptions, particularly at the beginning of the book, and a sense of place, that I highlighted in my copy for their beauty and the images they conjured.

So, in the proverbial nutshell, a pleasant but undemanding story that I found difficult to accept because of the quality of the dialogue and some of the prose.

I was definitely not expecting this to be as good as it was. I adored Hitch and her story. It is a very heartwarming and emotional read. The writing was great and everyone at some point could relate to the characters.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt empathy with the characters and like the air of mystery that surrounded them in the first part of the book . It was maybe a little slow to get going.

A beautiful story of two people coming together in love. Thomasia has a deformed lip and limbs. She is not your typical beauty but has a beautiful soul. When an unexpected guest comes to the B&B she works at she can't help but hope something more can come from it. He is aloof and different. They form a beautiful bond that many can't imagine.

Beautifully written. I was laughing and crying. Heart warming and heartbreaking. Well written and easy to read.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a real feel good book. I seemed to really get the main character Hitch and understood everything she was feeling.
Another hit from Amanda Prowse

You know when you just sit back, and feel your heart swell a few sizes Grinch-style and you just loved every part of the book? That is how i feel, right at this moment. ARcs are very hit and miss, but sometimes you hit gold, and for me this was one of them.

"Because life was all about courage, about making the changes that would make you happy, and taking chances, recongnising oppertunities and being the kid of person who just bought the damn shoes."

This book, this book. It made me cry, it made my heart swell (Grinch-Style). I "watched" how Hitch/Thomsina grew through out the book. She is a person who has a bad cut by her lip up to her nose on one side, and one arm and foot wich isin't very good. So she feels stuck, scared and possibly a little alone util Grayson comes into her life and shows her that for him she's beautiful, she matters and that she should find courage and do what she wants.