Truest is one of those beautiful books that I enjoyed so much that it’s difficult for me to put it into words. Silas Hart is the type of character that will equally warm and break your heart at the same time. In fact, both he and the female protagonist West are likable, relatable, witty, and fun. I really enjoyed watching the friendship between the two grow as they spent more and more time together over the summer.
It’s the summer before Westlin Beck’s senior year and she’s stuck in Green Lake, Minnesota, the same small town she has lived in her whole life. Normally, she has the company of her best friend and boyfriend, but both of them have busy summers. West’s father is a minister and she tags along when he brings communion to the family that just moved there from Alaska. She then begins working side by side with Silas on cars together and gradually they get closer. As their bond grows, West can’t help but feel like Silas is keeping a huge secret from her about his sister.
Honestly, I didn’t like the fact that West had a boyfriend of two years at the beginning. Silas also had a girlfriend of his own back in Alaska. Luckily though, the storyline was done in such a way that it wasn’t too much. Meaning, West didn’t lead her old boyfriend on for the entire book. I felt like it wasn’t ridiculously drawn out, and the entire time it gave Silas and West a chance to bond and warm to each other. I wouldn’t exactly consider it a love triangle since it’s so obvious who she really wants to be with.
Another character that I thought was extremely well written was Laurel, Silas’s twin sister who has many secrets. The secret isn’t one that is ever all that covered up from West, she figures it out pretty early on. I don’t want to give anything away but it’s clear that Sommers did her research when it came to Laurel’s secret. The storyline was handled in a beautiful and realistic way, in my opinion.
I could write pages and pages about how perfect Silas is, but I’ll spare you guys. But I do want to talk about one particular charm of his that got to me. Silas loves books and he likes writing a little note in library books for the next reader to find. One day West reads aloud an E.E. Cummings poem from a library book. Later, West remembers it and goes to the library to find out what Silas wrote. He wrote, “To the next person who reads this poem,
I was about 99% in love with her before these words dripped off her lips. Now the access of adoration are spilling from me like blood from a wound.
Hope you are as lucky.”
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Could Silas be more perfect? I don’t think I need to say much more since that’s pretty clear evidence.
If I’m being honest, the reasons why I think people need to grab a copy of this book right away is mostly selfish. Yes, I do think you should buy it to support Jackie Lea Sommer’s debut novel. My selfish reason is so I can have people to fangirl with over the characters, the funny and sad parts, and everything in between. This is definitely one of those books that you instantly want to talk about. I could keep rambling on about how good it is, but I’ll just let you find out for yourself. Go buy it, you won’t regret it!
RATING: 10/10
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