Novel Review: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Spoilers?: Not really.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Wishlist Thursday. Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

The Cover:

I really like this cover. I think it's adorable, much like West's other contemporary covers. It gives the right fun-loving feel that the book has. And I like that the models have clothes fitting for the couple--Gia is more dressed up, while fill-in Bradley is much more relaxed, with a loose-fitting shirt. I really like it.

Review:

“‘Tomorrow we are all going to be better people.’” (Paperback, pg. 141)

       

I was a little wary going into this, because I’d heard iffy things. Especially about the ending. But I’m glad I went in optimistic, because I loved this book. It might actually be my favorite of hers’ so far, and even I’m surprised to say that.

Gia gets dumped on prom night, in the parking lot, right before her friends were going to meet Bradley for the first time. Afraid they’re going to believe she’d lied about his existence, she convinces the closest guy in the lot to pretend to be Bradley.

Gia is selfish, using people to get what she wants, but she’d never lied until Bradley. And then she has to keep lying to cover it up. I loved the way she grew—it was slow, but it progressed smoothly, and I could see it by the end of the book. And then when everything gets revealed, about her lies, but also with this fight with fill-in Bradley, it’s crushing. I understood her feelings at that point so well, that I almost cried it was so painful.

There’s also everything with her parents and her brother. Her brother is kind of terrible and unapologetic about it; her parents try too hard to put on a good face. It’s shaped her a lot, but I liked where they were going by the end. There's also everything with her friends, to which there's a lot of drama, and the way Jules reacted to everything really got on my nerves. But it's also possible that she had real reasons because of how Gia was before the book stared.

And then there’s fill-in Bradley (I won’t spoil his name, since there’s build-up, and it’s completely fitting). He is one of my favorite boys at this point. He’s funny and super sweet, caught between her and his friends at one point, but trying so hard to be a good guy. I loved the humor from the very beginning—the way he and Gia joke around is hilarious and adorable. And the swoons between them is intense, I love their chemistry, and I’m very happy with the way they made up at the end. It was kind of perfect.

There were a few strings left unended, particularly with Gia and Claire, but that’s okay. I would also be very happy with a spin-off featuring Bec, because she was a fantastic character, and I really liked seeing her and Gia get to know each other.

This might be my favorite West book yet, and I can’t wait to read the next one, whatever it may be.

Manga Review: MeruPuri, Volume 1, by Matsuri Hino

5 of 5 Stars

Publisher: VIZ Media

Goodreads Synopsis:

On the way to school one morning, Airi loses her mirror - one that had been passed down to her through generations - and suddenly finds herself in a bizarre situation. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect Aram, a little boy from a magical kingdom, to have emerged from the mirror in the short time it took her to track it down!

Review:

I read this series a long time ago, probably around the time it came out, or a little after it did. It's one of my favorites, and I'm going to be reviewing it book by book as I re-read it. I'm not really sure if this volume is worth five stars, but I'm going to give it anyway. It's more the whole series is worth five stars, because I love all of them, and I don't know if I'll be able to rate each volume differently.

The book starts out with Aram waking up and hurrying into a mirror because Jeile is trying to put a spell on him. He goes through the mirror and into the human, or normal, world, as opposed to his magical kingdom, and into Airi's world. Airi thinks he's a weird kid but lets him stay at her house. By the end of the first chapter and into the second, we find out that Jeile, who is Aram's older half-brother, has put a spell on Aram to turn him old, only it messes up and instead he ages when in the dark. Mostly he ages into an older teen, around or older than Airi's freshmen of high school, while Aram is normally a little kid. It's not specified how old he is, but I'm going to assume it's around middle grade. Hope that it's around middle school age, because that wouldn't be too much older than Airi, even though she seems older. And the only way for him to turn back to his normal self, is by a maiden's kiss, who Aram decides is Airi.

Airi has very high standards for a boyfriend, because she's set on finding her soul mate like the one on a drama show that she's obsessed with. Even though this is ridiculous, I still quite like her. She doesn't give in to everything, and she doesn't just blubber and whine, and even though she isn't particularly strong, she isn't weak.

Nakaoji is a boy from her school that likes her, and she's just now starting to like him. He's sweet and gets embarrassed, and if the book was about him and not Aram, and if there was more focus on him, then I might like him more. But Aram wins that battle. Nakaoji has confessed to Airi, and she keeps getting interrupted from telling him her feelings.

Aram is adorable. He's still a little kid, mostly, for right now. He's a prince, and has had to deal with his older brother tormenting him all his life, so it's not too big a surprise that he's a bit more mature than most would be at his age, even if it's not specified. When he's little, he's very innocent and adorable. When he's big, he's still quite innocent and cute, but he's also very sexy, as the author put it. The age difference doesn't bother me too much. It didn't when I read it before, but that's mostly because I didn't pay any attention to it, and I was much younger then. It's kind of bothering me now that I'm thinking about it, but I'm trying not to let it, as well as trying to think of what age he is and how big of an age difference there is between them. I hope, and want to believe, that it isn't too big. And Aram has a servant, Lei. Lei doesn't say a whole lot, he's a little stoic and devious, and I like him.

Within chapter four and five, we officially meet Jeile. He's tormented Aram, and put several spells on him, and either has a hard time or won't reverse them. Upon meeting Airi, he calls her a mountain lily maiden and decides to take her as his 25^th wife, claiming her to be his first lady. She immediately objects. At the end of the fourth chapter, he kidnaps her. Jeile is very eccentric, and he is very entertaining when he argues with Aram and spews out odd things. I don't mind him, but there are other times that he bothers me. I want to say that, at least from the picture at the end of the fourth chapter, he gives me a bit of the feeling like the phantom of the opera. This isn't a very good comparison, I know, because the phantom of the opera is much more sinister and evil and creepy, and there is probably a better comparison that I can't think of, but it's the one that comes to mind. Just the way that he dresses and kidnaps her... But, whatever.

Aram fights with Jeile, and then Jeile reverses the spell, only we find out that it didn't work and so Aram gets to stay with Airi a bit longer.

There's an obvious attraction growing between Airi and Aram, and I'm excited to see it grow even more. I've already read the series, so I know where it's going, and it's only four books, so there isn't a lot of space to let things drag on into. But I'm still looking forward to reading the rest of the books and seeing all of the little moments between them all over again.