Amazon.com Product Description: Lane and Vivi have had it with Isabelle Hunter's boyfriend, Shawn Littig (a.k.a. Sluttig). He is the only person who can turn their smart, confident best friend into a complete mess. When Shawn Sluttig cheats on and dumps Izzy just months before the prom she's been planning since the ninth grade, Lane and Vivi decide to take action.
With a few quick keystrokes, they create a MySpace page for "Brandon," the perfect guy to get Izzy out of her revolving-door relationship with Shawn. Too bad he's totally fake. Vivi's younger brother, Marshall, who they hire to be the "man" behind the profile, is way too into being Izzy's fake boyfriend. So they turn to cute, prep-school Jonathan to be the face of Brandon. But when Vivi falls for Jonathan, and Sluttig tries to wedge his way back into Izzy's prom picture, the whole plan starts to go south faster than you can say "fake boyfriend."
With a few quick keystrokes, they create a MySpace page for "Brandon," the perfect guy to get Izzy out of her revolving-door relationship with Shawn. Too bad he's totally fake. Vivi's younger brother, Marshall, who they hire to be the "man" behind the profile, is way too into being Izzy's fake boyfriend. So they turn to cute, prep-school Jonathan to be the face of Brandon. But when Vivi falls for Jonathan, and Sluttig tries to wedge his way back into Izzy's prom picture, the whole plan starts to go south faster than you can say "fake boyfriend."
I was really attracted to the premise of this book, two friends make online fake romantic interest for third friend to get her away from her sleazy ex-boyfriend. It could have played out in a number of ways and I wanted to find out how it would.
For the most part this was a fun book! I really liked the character of Lane, who was in love with her best guy friend but couldn't tell him! I also liked the conflict that Vivi goes through in the book. I didn't really care for the character of Isabelle though, we are told she's basically perfect except when it comes to her boyfriend (when it comes to him she gets rather annoying). Maybe it was because the story was never told through her voice so as a reader all you knew was what you learned from her friends.
I would have liked to be in on a lot more of the instant message conversations between Isabelle and the fake love interest, typed by Vivi's brother Marshall. We only got a taste, but I was ready for some full conversations! I think that also would have helped develop Marshall's character a bit more and Isabelle's as well. I also wanted to see the character of Isabelle's ex-boyfriend Shawn a bit more, I believed he was bad news but I wanted to see him show it at least a few more times throughout the book!
These girls get themselves into some pretty funny situations and it's fun to see how they wiggle their way out of them! I definitely knew where the book was going but had a great time getting there. Just wish the characters were developed a bit more!
Fake Boyfriend is now available in hardcover and will be released in paperback February 24th 2009.
How do you feel about books that center around recent technologies?
3.5/5 Stars
Review copy provided by publisher
Review copy provided by publisher
That does sound like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteI usually like books that include IM conversations and emails. The only one I didn't like was TTYL. It was okay, but it wasn't as fun as I was thinking it would be.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting. I think I like the books with recent technologies :)
ReplyDeleteNice review! This does sound like fun. I would want to read it on a lazy summer day. When a story includes new technology it's often a good thing for me because I can learn more about it from the characters using it. I don't like if it goes overboard though and becomes more like a owner's manual. Ick.
ReplyDeleteI tend to shy away from books that rely on IM or texting or emails as the vehicle to tell the story, I prefer "spoken" dialogue. Although I don't really like books that use hand-written letters or journals as vehicles either (it's not just a techno-phobia), it's something else.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...if technology wasn't such a huge part of our lives, it wouldn't matter. Nowadays, if books don't have it, then it's not believable.
ReplyDeletebermudaonion- It was fun!
ReplyDeleteAmee- I'm crossing my fingers for TTYL!
Veens- Me too!
Wrighty- I think it's perfect for a lazy summer day! That's a great thought, learning about the technology via a book, a taste but not too much!
Heather- I don't know why I'm the opposite, I wonder if it's something about the way it breaks up the pages? No idea!
J. Kaye- Great point!