Title: My Life With The Walter Boys
Author: Ali Novak
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤
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My Life With The Walter Boys
Jackie lost both of her parents and her sister in a car accident, and now she’s going to live with the Walters in Colorado. It’s a big surprise when she finds out there are actually 11 other boys living in the house, well Parker is actually a girl, but she behaves like one of the boys.
Jackie is definitely not used to this kind of chaos, and the boys aren’t exactly making it easy for her either. Everyone keeps trying to prank her. The worst one is Cole, he’s the most popular guy in town, but also the most annoying. And then there’s Alex, a quieter guy who loves gaming… and apparently has an interest in Jackie.
Review
I’ve seen My Life with the Walter Boys on Netflix, and I know season two is coming out at the end of August. But I decided to read the books. I was mostly in a reading slump and needed something easy, and I thought this would be the perfect pick.
I was surprised to find out that there are quite a lot of differences between the book and the show. I mean, Alex has blond hair in the book, which is definitely not the case on the show. But there are also bigger differences in the storyline. For example, in the book, Uncle Richard isn’t really her uncle, they’re not related. He was just a very good friend of the family. On the show, I believe Uncle Richard is actually related.
Another difference is what Jackie was doing when her family died in the car accident. On the show, she was organizing a dance or event at school. In the book, she was sick at home. And in the book, Alex plays a ball sport which was either football or baseball (sorry, I forgot!). But on the show, he rides horses.
Usually, people say the book is better than the show or movie, but in this case, I’m not sure. I think they did a great job with the show. The fact that Jackie was at school organizing things when she found out about the accident really shows her personality and that she likes to be organized and be in control. I also don’t mind that they gave Alex a different sport. I think it fits the setting better, maybe.
Honestly, I felt more chemistry in the show than in the book. On the show, the love triangle between Alex and Cole competing for Jackie was definitely clear. I didn’t get that same intensity from the book. But in case you’re wondering: I’m definitely Team Cole. It’s so obvious he really cares about her, even though he does stupid things. And I feel like Alex is only pursuing Jackie to get back at Cole for stealing Paige.
Overall, this was an okay book for me. I think I might prefer the show. But I’m going to read The Return to the Walter Boys very soon, before season two comes out on Netflix. I’d say this is a good, light YA read.