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A review by lilyantan
The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot
4.0
What Just Happened?! Yesterday night, I had just started this book and was harping on about how it's written completely in email format. So how is it that I find myself in some sort of 5 hour reading marathon from 3 pm till 8 pm occasionally taking breaks to sleep, swim and take a shower! This is book fever I tell you.
Okay! This is going to be a difficult review, because aside from the fact that I gave this book 4 stars and that I've just wasted a full day I still find some parts mildly annoying.
Now, I'm a VERY open-minded reader. I'm easy to please and not that much of a harsh critic really. I know what I'm getting into when I buy a book called "The Boy Next Door" by a mainly Y.A. writer. I'm not expecting depth and a sturdy plot! I'm just after a few laughs and a light read, which this book has delivered. Honestly, by the end I wasn't even bothered by the email format, in fact! I ended up liking that most about the book! It was interesting, and I liked seeing things written in different tones depending on the character.
What pissed me off mostly, honestly, is the mention of Dubai and the White Slaves issue. Fine, I know it's superficial, but come ON! It ticks me off when American writers mention the Middle East, Dubai in specific, since I live here, and then make a snarky comment like "Take her to Dubai and make her into a White Slave" -_-. Fine, I KNOW it's funny, and I myself make such comments about many countries to my friends and we laugh about it, heck I make such comments about Dubai too! But, I'm allowed to! Because I'm not writing this down in a book that's going to be sold internationally! So there, I'm glad I got that off my chest!
Other things that bothered me, but not so much, is how totally unrealistic the whole situation was, ok I KNOW Chick Flick is not supposed to be realistic, but come on, how can you pretend to be an acclaimed photographer, didn't she Google his name the minute she saw him? And don't tell me you don't google a hot guys name when you meet him, and then stalk him on FB, Twitter, Myspace, or whatever. And DON'T tell me the people in the story did not have internet, it was email based for god's sake. Also, how do you just barge into some ladies house and live there, no questions asked. Not any house, a CRIME scene! Where are the cops? SOME elements of reality would have been appreciated, I ignored SO many other things.
Finally, what's with the "but good" that Cabot kept inserting at the end of the sentences,Examples:
" Because from what I'm hearing, you are in the doghouse, but good."
" John Trent is about to get what's coming to him, but good."
"I still managed to botch everything, but good."
Why? Oooh Editooorrr, where are yooou?!
Ah and one more thing... The book John is writing.... sounds like a mills and boons book written by a horny and lonely woman. I found that part completely unnecessary and degrading to the character.
OK! I've bashed the book enough now I can redeem it
As if the fact that I've ate it up like a box of krispy kremes donuts, which I have been CRAVING ALL DAY LONG but no one wants to go buy any for me, isn't enough to tell you I really enjoyed this book let me highlight why I've given it 4 stars:
- Bottom line, Meg Cabot can make you laugh. Yes, she can. Images of myself laughing like a hyena is proof of that.
- I loved the emails format. At the beginning I was worried. I thought, this is going to get tiresome. But it didn't, the email format made it so easy and fast to read actually. There were no passages of description! I HATE description. Which is why I can't get into literary books. This format suited me VERY well. It was in a form of personalized emails, and it was done very cleverly stringing along the story in a very smooth way. Kudos to that Cabot.
- The characters reminded me of people in my life. Stacey reminded me of my own sister in law, and Nadine reminded of my best friend with her conviction that all men are pigs that only like supermodels. I always feel fondness towards a book that reminds me of personal things.
Well then, I'm off to finish my dinner and go downstairs for some dunkin donuts as it's closer. Meh, better than nothing!
Okay! This is going to be a difficult review, because aside from the fact that I gave this book 4 stars and that I've just wasted a full day I still find some parts mildly annoying.
Now, I'm a VERY open-minded reader. I'm easy to please and not that much of a harsh critic really. I know what I'm getting into when I buy a book called "The Boy Next Door" by a mainly Y.A. writer. I'm not expecting depth and a sturdy plot! I'm just after a few laughs and a light read, which this book has delivered. Honestly, by the end I wasn't even bothered by the email format, in fact! I ended up liking that most about the book! It was interesting, and I liked seeing things written in different tones depending on the character.
What pissed me off mostly, honestly, is the mention of Dubai and the White Slaves issue. Fine, I know it's superficial, but come ON! It ticks me off when American writers mention the Middle East, Dubai in specific, since I live here, and then make a snarky comment like "Take her to Dubai and make her into a White Slave" -_-. Fine, I KNOW it's funny, and I myself make such comments about many countries to my friends and we laugh about it, heck I make such comments about Dubai too! But, I'm allowed to! Because I'm not writing this down in a book that's going to be sold internationally! So there, I'm glad I got that off my chest!
Other things that bothered me, but not so much, is how totally unrealistic the whole situation was, ok I KNOW Chick Flick is not supposed to be realistic, but come on, how can you pretend to be an acclaimed photographer, didn't she Google his name the minute she saw him? And don't tell me you don't google a hot guys name when you meet him, and then stalk him on FB, Twitter, Myspace, or whatever. And DON'T tell me the people in the story did not have internet, it was email based for god's sake. Also, how do you just barge into some ladies house and live there, no questions asked. Not any house, a CRIME scene! Where are the cops? SOME elements of reality would have been appreciated, I ignored SO many other things.
Finally, what's with the "but good" that Cabot kept inserting at the end of the sentences,Examples:
" Because from what I'm hearing, you are in the doghouse, but good."
" John Trent is about to get what's coming to him, but good."
"I still managed to botch everything, but good."
Why? Oooh Editooorrr, where are yooou?!
Ah and one more thing... The book John is writing.... sounds like a mills and boons book written by a horny and lonely woman. I found that part completely unnecessary and degrading to the character.
OK! I've bashed the book enough now I can redeem it
As if the fact that I've ate it up like a box of krispy kremes donuts, which I have been CRAVING ALL DAY LONG but no one wants to go buy any for me, isn't enough to tell you I really enjoyed this book let me highlight why I've given it 4 stars:
- Bottom line, Meg Cabot can make you laugh. Yes, she can. Images of myself laughing like a hyena is proof of that.
- I loved the emails format. At the beginning I was worried. I thought, this is going to get tiresome. But it didn't, the email format made it so easy and fast to read actually. There were no passages of description! I HATE description. Which is why I can't get into literary books. This format suited me VERY well. It was in a form of personalized emails, and it was done very cleverly stringing along the story in a very smooth way. Kudos to that Cabot.
- The characters reminded me of people in my life. Stacey reminded me of my own sister in law, and Nadine reminded of my best friend with her conviction that all men are pigs that only like supermodels. I always feel fondness towards a book that reminds me of personal things.
Well then, I'm off to finish my dinner and go downstairs for some dunkin donuts as it's closer. Meh, better than nothing!