Remember a few weeks ago, when I talked about the books I was taking along with me for vacation? I was SO crazy excited to read Heather Vogel Frederick’s Absolutely Truly?

Well, ohhhh my word you guys, it was the best book EVER! (Let us pretend for a moment that I do not say that about practically every book by Heather Vogel Frederick.) Buuuut I did cringe a bit… But let’s talk about the awesome stuff first, okay??!

#1: Pumpkin Falls. That’s the name of the town. Pumpkin Falls! Don’t you just LOVE it?! I typically fall absolutely head over heels for books set in small towns, because I love the fact that I literally connect to the character’s whole world. I felt like in Absolutely Truly, Pumpkin Falls felt like the perfect cozy, everybody-knows-everybody, well-known town… And yet it still had a bit of mystery to it.

#2: Truly, the Main Character (MC), is also a perfect mixture: of confidence and insecurity. Truly is truly feisty, daring anyone to tease her about her name, and is quick to tell the silly boys in her class off. But she’s also conscious of her height and big feet (earning her the nickname “Truly Gigantic.”) I LOVED that Heather turned the thing that Truly disliked most about herself (and caused her many issues throughout the book), into something that, in the end, saved her.

#3: Truly’s family played a major role in the book. Truly’s father was in the army, so the family moved a lot. Her father lost his arm in Afghanistan, so the family decided to permanently move to Pumpkin Falls. The injury tore the family apart (how could it not?), and Truly wanted her old father and her family back. I could really tell how much her family meant to her, though, and I understood how Truly felt about her family at times.

Okay, so those things are all great! … but I was a little confused. (as I often am.)

#1: Spoiler alert! Don’t read if you haven’t read the book! =) the guy who left the clues that Truly and her friends pieced together wasn’t even one of the main characters. He was mentioned hanging out around the front of the store, and Truly was wondering who he was, but other than that I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HIM. I was expecting one of the more mysterious characters in Pumpkin Falls to be the one leaving the clues, and I felt like in the beginning of the book that that was what it was made out to be.  Spoiler over! … I was just disappointed with the outcome of the mystery.

#2: The ending felt too abrupt. The mystery didn’t even begin until several chapters in, and by the time I got to the last chapter I was just like “Oh. Truly found the last clue and the mystery was solved… oh.” I didn’t feel a sense of victory, or ending. It just… ended. And that was that. Like I said in the first reason I was confused, I was disappointed in the outcome.

#3: The book was a mystery, after all, but there were so many side-issues (Truly’s father having lost his arm, Truly missing her old town, Truly having to get her grade up to join the swim team), the mystery didn’t even feel like the main problem. In fact, I couldn’t even tell what was the main problem.

#4: Speaking of Truly joining the swim team… because of her low math grade, Truly’s father made her attend tutoring sessions with him everyday right after school until she raised her grade, in order to try out for the Pumpkin Falls swim team. Truly talked about how swimming was her passion, her favorite hobby, how she missed swimming and couldn’t wait to try out – but she didn’t start swimming until about 3/4 into the book! Whaaa? What was even the point of that?!

Little disclaimer: the book is supposed to be the start of the series, so I’m hoping these confusions will be cleared up in upcoming Pumpkin Falls mysteries. =)

The verdict?

4 out of 5 stars!

Have any of you read Absolutely Truly? What are your thoughts? Would you like to read it? Let me know in the comments!