{"id":316888,"date":"2026-04-17T11:28:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T09:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/?p=316888"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:07:26","slug":"on-the-fence-review-a-clean-teen-romance-that-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/on-the-fence-review-a-clean-teen-romance-that-surprises\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Fence review: A clean teen romance that surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-book-on-the-fence\">Book: <em>On the Fence<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-author-kasie-west\">Author: Kasie West<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"679\" height=\"1024\" data-attachment-id=\"316889\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/on-the-fence-review-a-clean-teen-romance-that-surprises\/on-the-fence-5_73030\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1200,1810\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"on-the-fence-5_73030\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030-679x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030-679x1024.jpg\" alt=\"book cover\" class=\"wp-image-316889\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030-679x1024.jpg 679w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030-768x1158.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030-1018x1536.jpg 1018w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/on-the-fence-5_73030.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 679px) 100vw, 679px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This sweet, clean teen romance is a breath of fresh air. As a regular reader of young adult romances \u2014 to screen them for inappropriate content before I allow my daughters to read them of course \u2014 I\u2019ve seen a growing and disturbing trend: an increase in raunchiness in books written for teens. But this cute romcom is an exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-synopsis\">Synopsis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Charlie is the youngest of four and the only daughter in a single-parent family. She\u2019s grown up in an overprotective testosterone-fuelled circle of sports, pranks and rough-housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She has no clue about things such as make-up and fashion, until she gets a job at a boutique with a quirky, mother-to-all boss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her new job interferes with her exercise-&#8217;til-she-is-exhausted strategy, which causes her recurring nightmares to return. During her middle-of-the-night walks, she finds an ally and confidante in the boy-next-door, Braden, who grew up as another of the brothers in her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reviewer-s-thoughts\">Reviewer\u2019s thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/harpercollins.co.uk\/products\/on-the-fence-kasie-west?variant=55779856187771\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/harpercollins.co.uk\/products\/on-the-fence-kasie-west?variant=55779856187771\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">On the Fence<\/a><\/em> has some pretty dark twists for a light romcom, but I like that it touched on edgier subjects despite remaining clean and simple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Considering most romances have a scripted formula, I like the fact that this book was able to surprise me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those who like to know going in; this book has tomboy, boy-next-door, best-friends-to-\u201clovers\u201d, new-friendships-with-girls tropes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-enduring-popularity\">Enduring popularity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I was also surprised to learn that the book was first published in 2014 but is still in print, that&#8217;s why it was included among this year&#8217;s lists of recommended books by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jonathanball.co.za\/publishers\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.jonathanball.co.za\/publishers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jonathan Ball.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spice level: Salty<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>:<a href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/holiday-reads-for-every-age-and-interest\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/holiday-reads-for-every-age-and-interest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Beat the summer heat with holiday reads for every age and interest<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;On the Fence&#8217; by Kasie West is a refreshing clean teen romance. Tomboy Charlie discovers friendship and love while dealing with family trauma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":300243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"72","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"2","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"28","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"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text","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"Lauren O'Connor-Maylauren.oconnor-may@novusmedia.co.za","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"On the Fence review: A refreshingly clean teen romance that surprises despite familiar 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they\u2019re both written by South African authors, both feature Indian characters and both books have strong friendships at their core.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lifestyle&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lifestyle","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/lifestyle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Next Level Love by Shameez Patel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nextlevellove_70178.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nextlevellove_70178.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nextlevellove_70178.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nextlevellove_70178.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/nextlevellove_70178.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":318441,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/book-review-royal-spin-a-smooth-ride-that-lacks-tension-and-climax\/","url_meta":{"origin":316888,"position":3},"title":"Book review: Royal Spin \u2014 a smooth ride that lacks tension and climax","author":"Lauren O\u2019Connor May","date":"29 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Scobie and Benway's Royal Spin is escapist royal romance with White House intrigue, but lacks tension and delivers an anticlimactic ending.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lifestyle&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lifestyle","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/lifestyle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"file image of books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bookreviewlogojpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bookreviewlogojpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bookreviewlogojpg.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bookreviewlogojpg.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"TygerBurger","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316888"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=316888"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=316888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}