Great coming of age story. Captures those teen years so many of us experience as we come into our own lives. Characters are authentically portrayed and believeable. Teens and adults will enjoy this book. Good read.

Lovely coming of age tale to begin with but then it turned into a Christian story, fine if that’s what you want but just not for me, sorry

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a free copy for an honest opinion

I had to really sit with this book before I could write out this review because I didn't know how I felt about this book at first. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the main characters Matt and Lia. However, I feel like they were one dimensional. This book was not for me, although again I did enjoy it. I just felt like it was lacking in some places. I will say that I recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick read that has a bit of everything - race, love, lgbtq+, coming of age and acceptance. It follows a shy boy who has befriended the new girl on the street who's a bit different in the stuck in the past American town. Through her, he begins to see that things aren't moving forward in town, that people are unaccepting of different or mainstream. This book brings up important issues that need to be discussed. This book leaves the reader with hope that things can change.

This book was sent to me as an ARC on NetGalley. However all opinions are of my own.
We follow a teenager during his summer time before he enters high school, where he meets a person, who quite frankly changes his world. Such a beautiful story and it had me brimming with tears.

This is a beautiful little novella. I can thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick read that has a bit of everything - race, love, lgbtq+, coming of age and acceptance.
It follows a shy boy who has befriended the new girl on the street who's a bit different in the stuck in the past American town. Through her, he begins to see that things aren't moving forward in town, that people are unaccepting of different or mainstream.
And her openness gives him the courage to stand up and call people out. To be friends with whoever he wants and tell people NO!
This length of this story didn't stop the author, Peter Fanning, from doing an amazing job at world and character building.
This was a wonderful, wholesome story, that made me cry....twice. Rude!

It was an OK book to read.. I do recommend this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Net Galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A beautiful, bittersweet book about friendships and first love. Standing up for yourself, and figuring yourself out. A town that's not ready for change, acceptance and accepting anyone or anything whose even a little different.
This was an amazing read and one everyone should read at least once.

"The Girl in My Treehouse" by S.A. Fanning

Fourteen year old Matt Crosby has one summer left standing between him and his high school year and friends are hard to come by since quitting baseball. When new girl Lia moves in with her fiery spirit Matt finds himself taking new risks and revealing a side of himself he usually keeps hidden.

"Lia was pure energy in a bottle, and when she left, the bottle was empty".

Lia sees the world differently than Matthew does. She sees it for what it is and makes no qualms about it. She understands the trio (Cory, Ethan, and Josh) aren't really Matthew's friends and Preacher Higgins preaches with personal sorrow. Lia is unlike anything Maycomb has ever seen and sometimes she spends the night in Matthew Crosby's treehouse.

I wasn't really sure how to feel about this book as I read it. I enjoyed it once I completed it but the tone was confusing for me. The characters also felt older to me than the age they were which caused some confusion at times for me as well. I enjoyed the main characters Matt and Lia but they stayed a little one dimensional in my opinion. This book needed something more but I can't place my finger on what it needed. Overall it was a 3 🌟 I didn't hate it but I can't say I loved it either.

#TheGirlinMyTreehouse
#NetGalley

What a beautiful book - but so bittersweet. It's a book about so many things - teenage friendship, first love, standing up for yourself and figuring yourself out, but at the same time - about a town that's not ready for change, for acceptance, for accepting people who are even a little different. And it's about change - how it happens at a very personal level, one day at a time.

If you already read this book and loved it and are looking for more similar reads, I thought Angie had a similar vibe to this one.

This was a very slow book, which is what many readers mention in their reviews, but I absolutely loved it being that way. To me, it felt like that one summer we've all probably had, when we were at the border between childhood and adulthood, when time moved ever so slowly and everything that happened made an indelible impression on you, made you who you are. For the main character, that's meeting a girl named Lia. A girl so special, so different, yet unafraid to be who she is, that she shakes his entire worldview and helps him discover his true self.

As a love story, it's very casual and chill. Since the main characters are both young teens (14-15ish), it's really innocent, and it focuses more on the emotional, formative experience that our first romance usually becomes for us. But the romance is not the only thing the story centers on.

Another core thing is values - changing values, acceptance of others in communities, religion, despite small town conservatism. Matthew's town isn't quite ready for the things that happen, but the story is one of progress, and it's hopeful. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, so I won't explain more - but it's definitely worth a read.

This book ever so gently and ever so subtly celebrates diversity and tries to open your eyes to how the times are, or should be, changing. The love story is incredibly bittersweet, and once you finish it, you'll realize you've always known that this was how the story would go. But it's a good story. And it leaves you with a full heart, and a hopeful mood. I greatly enjoyed it.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

At first, I was really drawn in to this book ai loved the chemistry between Matt and Lia. I enjoyed the ending. This book missed the opportunity to get to know Lia and what goes on in her head.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the arc of The Girl in My Treehouse.

Matt has always been on the sidelines. No matter how much he practiced baseball he never got any better, no matter how many times his 'friends' teased him he never said anything back, no matter how many times his dad insisted he do something he never said no. That changes when Matt meets Lia, he learned the importance of having his own confidence and standing up for what is right.
I really like how this book doesn't even mention Lia's skin colour until a different character notices it, Matt doesn't consider Lia any different from him until his 'friends' mention it. I also really enjoyed Matt's growth in this book, you can really see him coming into his own which can be so dangerous in small town America. Higgins also proves to be a great character, showing just how much grief can change a person, and for the better not just the worse.

This book brings up important issues that need to be discussed and I think it does so in a way that makes sense for teen readers, it's perfectly on track for someone around Matt's age to read. If a bit hopeful with how quickly some of the character's change but it leaves the reader with hope that things can change.

I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I was drawn in by the blurb about the MC who finds a girl staying in his treehouse due to family troubles. Unfortunately, for me, the story fell flat and didn’t live up to my expectations based on the description. I kept waiting for the action. It was lots of little moments but several chapters in I felt bored, waiting for more and it lost my attention at that point. I bet there are many readers both teens and adults. It felt like there was so much focus on bible camp and a wedding and it veered away from the MCs. The concepts seemed to lack depth and there were some hard hitting topics that could have had a way bigger impact on readers, such as parent drug use and parents in jail as well as a teen trying to escape home life, finding oneself and more. They just seemed to be background details in comparison to the misadventures of the two together. I feel like the author placed so much focus on the young love, coming of age story that it missed an opportunity to really make an emotional impact on a reader. I wanted to have more emotion reading this story but I didn’t feel much for Lia at all, when she should have been a very sympathetic character. Instead, she came off as a little reckless and frankly a little annoying. There is a big difference between making a character quirky and unique versus making decisions that don’t make sense. Lia’s sudden fascination with baptism seemed really out of place for her character and didn’t fit in the plot. I did appreciate the untraditional happy ending. I think for YA novels it is critical to show a character happy on their own and finding happiness outside of a relationship. It just wish there had been more. More action, more drama. Every time I read I kept anticipating something more that never quite happened. But again, there might be many readers out there who would enjoy this book. I always say just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be beloved by hundreds of others.

Matthew is just an ordinary boy enjoying his summer then Lia comes along and they share a magical summer! They do all kinds of things. Swim in the pond. Take a canoe from Mr. Higgans and take it to the middle of the pond. Then they participate in a lesbian wedding. I give the book 4 stars. I’d definitely kept my interest and it was a quick read. Enjoyed the book!

The Girl In The Treehouse is a coming of age romance novel for young adults. The central  character is Matt and it is the summer before he is due to start high school.
Matt has a new friend Kia, whom his old friends don't approve of as they say she is weird. However Matt claims "in the month ive know Kia, I hadn't yet found a way to say no to her even when she was so full of ridiculous notions she couldn't say them without giggling".
They both befriend Preacher Higgings, a ageing preacher who the townsfolk think is on the cusp of dementia and needs to stand down from his position in their church.

Matt's farther also has great control over his son, he is a correctional officer in a prison and very stern. He was always in his high school football and baseball team and expects the same from his son. But this is not Matt's strength and I think he feels he is letting his father down.
While Matt contemplates what to do he says " i know my life would be easier i stuck out the summer with Cory and Ethan" but when Lia comes along something changed in him " she was just a good friend, but other times like now, I was so aware she was a girl- an extremely pretty girl".
There is a big wedding at the pastors house in which he asks Matt and Lia to be a part of, and all I can say this is a very big turning point in the book! 
I like this book as it explores a wide range of themes.

Thank to Netgallery for giving me copy of this novel in exchange for my fall frank and honest review.

Beautiful coming of age story, although I wasn’t always fond of Lia’s behaviour, the lessons learned about the difficulties of life in a small town helps Matt grow into a more confident young man.. Great characters for teens to relate to.

A beautiful piece of work. This reminded me of John Green's earlier work in that it is generic in style and location but that really helps you feel as though you're there and part of what's going on.
Coming of age story well told, and the gentle tale of love having no boundaries was beautifully told
5 solid stars

As I started reading this book, I thought, this is moving kind of slow but I kept turning the pages and I began to fall in love with characters, Matthew, Lia and Higgins. Then, I swiped and realized the book had ended. No, I wanted more. I wanted my relationship with the folks I’d met in the story to go on.I realized the author Fanning, is allowing the future of the characters to play out in my mind. I’m so glad the author’s writing prompt evolved into such a beautiful love story. . .
Love between two young people, parental love, love between two brides snd then the love for a wife now gone from the earth. Life is too short to judge others. This is a beautiful story of acceptance.

Middle school is over and now it’s one summer away from when Matt Crosby will walk the halls of high school.. Why does it feel as if his middle school friends are leaving him behind. That summer he meets a town newbie named Lia who is a bit of a spitfire. Through his friendship with Lia, Matt discovers a side of himself that he didn’t know existed inside him allowing him to try something new.

Lia looks right past his shyness and awkward stammer and they become close friends. Together, they have adventures from scavenger hunts at the grocery store to midnight canoeing under the moon at Preacher Higgins' pond. Oh my was the preacher naked out there?! An adventure sometimes is simply staring at the sky and feeling completely comfortable in each other’s presence. But in a small town like Maycomb, a girl like Lia and her family doesn't go unnoticed.

Matt's old friends make jokes about the way Lia dresses, her hair, even her darker skin. As a correctional officer, Matt's father has already run into Lia's mother at the jail and wants Matt to have nothing do do with Lia. After Matt discovers Lia sleeping in his treehouse the realizes things might be worse in her home life than she's letting on.
The story is written so realistically, I felt it actually happened and I want to search for the characters.
The ending left me with an ache in my heart.

I received this book for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Fun yet very deep and meaningful in certain areas. Definitely going to recommend.

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review

Ooh boy. I have some thoughts. This started off really great. Exactly the kind of cute/sweet contemporary read I was wanting. then around the 50% mark, it changed into something else.

First of all. I think Lia was pretty awful. She started out okay, but she was getting Matt into trouble a lot. That was no big deal at first, but then she started being mean to him and it bothered me. At one point there's an interaction with Matt's "friends". She refuses to tell Matt the awful things they were saying behind his back, but when Matt mentions they've said things about her too, she gets angry with him for not telling her. I don't like that kind of hypocrisy.

Then she goes to a party with these "friends" doing the whole pretty girl makeover trope and flirting with one of the boys to purposely make a point of hurting Matt's feelings. She later tells Matt that is was her way of teaching him a lesson. She's supposed to be his friend, not his mother. She shouldn't be teaching him any lessons, and the way she went about it was cruel.

Also in the last 50%, this turned more into a Christian fiction story with a focus on a wedding between two women and the preacher getting run out of the church for officiating it. Look, there's nothing wrong with Christian fiction, but it's not my cup of tea. I don't like feeling preached to while I'm reading, and I feel like that's what this book started to do towards the end.

Then there's the ending. It felt quite rushed and it was so unsatisfying and open ended. All these problems were brought up with this bigoted town, and there was no resolution to that. And Matt deserved better than the ending Lia left him with.

“The Girl in My Treehouse”, by S.A. Fanning, is a sweet coming-of-age story, featuring a shy, awkward and very endearing boy and the brave girl who awakens him to his identity.
I loved Matt’s voice, his shyness and how he matures through the friendship with Lia. Some episodes related to Matt’s personality are almost painful to read but so vivid.
Lia is an “old soul”, perhaps too mature sometimes for her age, but her vitality is contagious. She’s a brave girl, the sad picture of parental neglect.
The joy and sense of adventure and discovery with the incursions to the pond and through the woods, living in the treehouse, and the wedding party are all part of Matt’s maturity process and are wonderful to watch, as are his tense interactions with the other boys and his father.
The relationship between Matt and his mother is endearing; preacher Higgins is a great character, too.
I read this captivating story pretty quickly because I was so excited to see how things would turn out for Matt and Lia. I didn’t mind the open ending – as a matter of fact, I loved it – but it would be great if there was a sequel so that we could see what happens with now confident Matt.