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r_happe's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
The Fill-In Boyfriend was not a typical Kasie West read, and I liked that about it!
Don't get me wrong, I usually love me some Kasie West, but her books can sometimes feel too surface-level and similar. This one seems to go a bit deeper into the characters and the conflicts surrounding them.
Granted, we could have delved deeper into some of the conflicts. Some things were tied up in neat little bows when they could have been messier. That being said, I loved that this book takes a deeper look into "perfection" and how we see it in ourselves and others. I liked how the characters played off one another and developed throughout the course of the book.
Of course the romance was adorable, so that's great too!
The Fill-In Boyfriend was not a typical Kasie West read, and I liked that about it!
Don't get me wrong, I usually love me some Kasie West, but her books can sometimes feel too surface-level and similar. This one seems to go a bit deeper into the characters and the conflicts surrounding them.
Granted, we could have delved deeper into some of the conflicts. Some things were tied up in neat little bows when they could have been messier. That being said, I loved that this book takes a deeper look into "perfection" and how we see it in ourselves and others. I liked how the characters played off one another and developed throughout the course of the book.
Of course the romance was adorable, so that's great too!
bookishfangirlco's review against another edition
5.0
It's official. I'm in love. With Kasie West's books and the boys in them *sighs dreamily* I loved this book so much, as I have for all three of her contemporary romances! I do see one thing consistent in all of them, other than the dreamy guys, but in all the books each girl lies and gets in trouble due to the lies. I don't really have point after noticing that fact. It just is really interesting. But despite all the lying, I still love each one. If you haven't read The Distance Between Us, On The Fence, or The Fill-In Boyfriend you seriously need to reevaluate your life and read them. They are super quick reads, I finished each in less than 24 hours on top of dealing with school, and etc. Do it now! *SPOILERS* I loved Gia, Hayden, Bec, etc. I still hate Jules. Like seriously. She sucks! I really wish we could have witnessed her make up with Claire, and I REALLY wish we could have seen the scene that must have followed the end of the book :D I love Bec.... Hmmmmm maybe Kasie will write her and Nate's story! That would be awesome! I will read any contemporary she writes from now on! So much love for her books!
lizroque's review against another edition
4.0
katie west never disappoints with an quick and fun read
practically read this in one sitting because of how easy it was to get wrapped in
the chemistry between our two love interests felt genuine and i loved the conversations they had together
practically read this in one sitting because of how easy it was to get wrapped in
the chemistry between our two love interests felt genuine and i loved the conversations they had together
wolfyreads's review against another edition
2.0
You know, I went in thinking a lot of things: that I didn't really like the last Kasie West book, this is just mindless fluff anyway, the plot seems a bit dodgy...
Turns out I was right about everything except the disliking part. I actually enjoyed this, but man is this one sketchy storyline.
I think the entire plot can be told in gif form, so here we go.
At prom night, Gia's older (illegal?) boyfriend goes
so Gia decides to haul in other fish from the sea like so
and turns out that the minnow was one hell of a fine looking shark
and Gia is now obsessed with said nameless guy.
But as usual things get in the way, like the evil girl disguised as a friend, who lives her life by ruining Gia's,
and the pretty boy's overprotective goth sister, who lives her life by butting into her brother's,
instead of the parents, who should be like this when their daughter is dating a way older dude
but are just kinda pouty.
However, we must have a happy ending, so after the evil frenemy exposes the truth, which was a ticking bomb anyway
everyone except the frenemy becomes great friends,
the parents and *bleep-bleep* brother reform at the drop of a hat,
they finally get together (donno what was holding them back earlier?), but oh, the BFF is understandably feeling betrayed.
You can't have everything, I guess.
This exercise in overwhelming you with gifs was to show that a plot that can be summed up in ten pictures is not much of a plot. I didn't hate this book, quite the opposite, I enjoyed it, but it has too many problems for it to be rated higher. The extremely convenient plot, the glossing over of some serious issues and so on. I really liked the heroine's character development, but that doesn't make up for everything, especially the mind-numbing Twenty Questions games. So read at your own risk.
Turns out I was right about everything except the disliking part. I actually enjoyed this, but man is this one sketchy storyline.
I think the entire plot can be told in gif form, so here we go.
At prom night, Gia's older (illegal?) boyfriend goes
so Gia decides to haul in other fish from the sea like so
and turns out that the minnow was one hell of a fine looking shark
and Gia is now obsessed with said nameless guy.
But as usual things get in the way, like the evil girl disguised as a friend, who lives her life by ruining Gia's,
and the pretty boy's overprotective goth sister, who lives her life by butting into her brother's,
instead of the parents, who should be like this when their daughter is dating a way older dude
but are just kinda pouty.
However, we must have a happy ending, so after the evil frenemy exposes the truth, which was a ticking bomb anyway
everyone except the frenemy becomes great friends,
the parents and *bleep-bleep* brother reform at the drop of a hat,
they finally get together (donno what was holding them back earlier?), but oh, the BFF is understandably feeling betrayed.
You can't have everything, I guess.
This exercise in overwhelming you with gifs was to show that a plot that can be summed up in ten pictures is not much of a plot. I didn't hate this book, quite the opposite, I enjoyed it, but it has too many problems for it to be rated higher. The extremely convenient plot, the glossing over of some serious issues and so on. I really liked the heroine's character development, but that doesn't make up for everything, especially the mind-numbing Twenty Questions games. So read at your own risk.
emilyatmidnight's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a fun fun time. It's a high school romance... And it plays hard into all the cliques that high school movies do, but if you can look past that, it's a really fun, sweet romcom.
raespecies's review against another edition
3.0
Ehhhh....it was not my favorite. I couldn't get behind how self centered Gia was, and how apparent it was at the very beginning, yet somehow she never realized it. And although there was drama there seemed to be a lack of any meaningful issues. Yes there were some. Gia realized how shallow she had been, great, but that's it. I waited and waited for Jules to get what was coming to here and it never happened.
I understand that sometimes that happens in life, however I know for a fact that my best friend 10 years would have been mad, but allowed me to explain myself and forgiven me. She also wouldn't have completely ignored my concerns about someone in the friend group bullying me. It just seemed like the complete lack of compassion from Claire toward Gia was kind of frustrating. I would have loved to have seen Laney swoop in and actually be more of a character/friend. It seemed like Laney was always an after thought.
Bec was probably my favorite character. I liked how quirky she was and that she put plans into action instead of just sitting on them And doing nothing.
I don't know I guess I expected more. It wasn't horrible. It was a nice quick light read, if you were looking for something that was more fluff then substance.
Overall I am giving this a 3. Some parts I did genuinely find myself enjoying, others I couldn't help but roll my eyes at. All-in-all, I don't regret reading it, because it filled my need for a cute love story.
I understand that sometimes that happens in life, however I know for a fact that my best friend 10 years would have been mad, but allowed me to explain myself and forgiven me. She also wouldn't have completely ignored my concerns about someone in the friend group bullying me. It just seemed like the complete lack of compassion from Claire toward Gia was kind of frustrating. I would have loved to have seen Laney swoop in and actually be more of a character/friend. It seemed like Laney was always an after thought.
Bec was probably my favorite character. I liked how quirky she was and that she put plans into action instead of just sitting on them And doing nothing.
I don't know I guess I expected more. It wasn't horrible. It was a nice quick light read, if you were looking for something that was more fluff then substance.
Overall I am giving this a 3. Some parts I did genuinely find myself enjoying, others I couldn't help but roll my eyes at. All-in-all, I don't regret reading it, because it filled my need for a cute love story.
nitzanschwarz's review against another edition
While I originally put it on hold, pretending I might continue this, I decided against that. The Fill-in Boyfriend has been on my shelves for literally ten years, since it came out. I used to be a pretty avid reader of Kasie West, and in all fairness, I believe I would've liked it had I read it when it came out, when I was both a heavy YA reader and much closer to the characters in age.
As it was, I am neither of these things anymore, and there were a lot of things that irked me about these dumb kids--not in the "this is not believable" kind of way, but in the "gosh, I wish kids made better choices" kind of way. Ultimately, I put it on hold because there was a major plot point that triggered me, and I went to spoil myself on how it was solved, and... it wasn't. And you know what, while that's very realistic, it certainly doesn't help my blood pressure.
Specficially, Gia has a friend who has been bad-mouthing her and turning her other friends against her for whatever reason. Probably jealousy. And her besties fall for it, which was upsetting enough. But then, finding out the friends never realize how toxic this third friend is, and it seems like only Gia had to apologize... My blood pressure could never. In this particular instance, I wanted a big moment of realization. They don't need to stay friends--but at least let Jules be equally ostracized...
Anyways, this is based on me flipping forward when I was wondering if it was worth it to continue, so it could be inaccurate. Either way, the book is not bad in any way; I just kind of outgrew it.
As it was, I am neither of these things anymore, and there were a lot of things that irked me about these dumb kids--not in the "this is not believable" kind of way, but in the "gosh, I wish kids made better choices" kind of way. Ultimately, I put it on hold because there was a major plot point that triggered me, and I went to spoil myself on how it was solved, and... it wasn't. And you know what, while that's very realistic, it certainly doesn't help my blood pressure.
Anyways, this is based on me flipping forward when I was wondering if it was worth it to continue, so it could be inaccurate. Either way, the book is not bad in any way; I just kind of outgrew it.
waywardgirls's review against another edition
3.0
This was a lot of fun and super cute, but Jules's karma houdini act pissed me off. She was a complete witch the whole book. I know RL doesn't work like that, sometimes people don't get what I deserve, but this is a book! I need satisfaction.
Gia's character development was super good but I wish she'd punched her brother at least once.
Gia's character development was super good but I wish she'd punched her brother at least once.