The Boy Next Door in The Reader's Lounge

Feb 05, 2015 Stacie (Shy Book Nerd) rated it did not like it

Ugh, this was horrible! I really wished that I had liked this book as much as I wanted to. The back and forth drama between Gabe and Maddy was ridiculous and very immature. The way he kept telling Maddy that he was player would have been message enough, but he actually starts dating her and hiding her in plain view was horrible. I wish that Maddy would have gotten the hint that he's really not that into her, but no she kept running back to him. She's basically letting him know that it's okay to ...more

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Feb 04, 2015 Emma rated it liked it · review of another edition

Ice skating. Romance. Two best friends destined to be with each other. Fear. Adrenaline. What could be better, I mean ice skating, c'mon that sounds like something you don't read every day. Am I hyping you up for this book, well this is what we were all like, including me for February's chosen book of The Reader's Lounge. It sparked interest, but sadly lacked potential.

Gabe and Maddy have been best friends, ice-skating partners and neighbours for as long as they can remember. Maddy has been Gab Ice skating. Romance. Two best friends destined to be with each other. Fear. Adrenaline. What could be better, I mean ice skating, c'mon that sounds like something you don't read every day. Am I hyping you up for this book, well this is what we were all like, including me for February's chosen book of The Reader's Lounge. It sparked interest, but sadly lacked potential.

Gabe and Maddy have been best friends, ice-skating partners and neighbours for as long as they can remember. Maddy has been Gabe's friend but she also has much deeper feelings for him, however Gabe has a hard time acknowledging his feelings when he knows he can have a girlfriend for two weeks before he gets bored. So when Igor, their coach tells them to do a new routine,coincidentally named of the classic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. When they they both have an opportunity to see, feel, touch what it's like to be in love through one of their sets and routines on the ice everything spirals out of control for the both of them. Whilst you had everything that creates a perfect winter romance, the potential was certainly there it just sadly lacked the follow through. I was disappointed, I really was, like I said before, the description, the cover sounded just what you needed, but I found myself very confuddled at the end of the book. It kept you wondering til the end but it wasn't necessarily a good wondering, it just left me feeling rather downhearted sadly.

Through a dual perspective, we see both Gabe and Maddy characters unfold. Gabe, how can you describe him, well has the red Viper, girls lining up to date him. He's the one night stand or the two-week relationship status. If I'm brutally honest, he's rather a plain and little boring in places, I hate to say. Gabe was quite an awkward to character to get to know, I felt that he way too literal and didn't really have that depth of character or emotion for us as readers to really get to know. Now Maddy, well, she is fearless, if she falls she gets back up, she is determined and passionate. I really liked Maddy in the beginning, she had potential, purpose on the ice, drive...but throughout the book, I felt her character was withering around edges, I felt she was changing and wasn't her true self and I don't know why I feel like that. I felt sorry for her.

As a relationship there were so many mixed messages from Gabe that I felt that their whole relationship or lack of during the book was so hot n' cold. It certainly felt like a reader whiplash of emotions as I wasn't sure what they were doing, or what Gabe was even thinking of. Everything a skater should be, on ice they are this perfect couple, off ice they really don't know what they are. I think what got me the most was the way Gabe was acting especially to their extra training, I felt that Maddy was totally being used and then the rest of the hours, Gabe brushes her off. I mean who does that if ultimately they really do feel for them. Whilst there was some great moments, I also felt that their were moments of YA bonded with NA, so in itself it's quite a unusual and trying novel to contend with.

As one of my anticipated reads of this year, the cover, the description sounded almost perfect, and this certainly did remind me of one of my favourite Rom-com films, Chalet Girl. But the difference is, the film is a brilliant, funny, toe-curling romance film you can snuggle into. It's sad to see a book for your club being a disappointment, but it's nice to see what we thought and we alike felt the same away about the book. Whilst it was a cute read, I think it really needed to be developed a lot more and the characters to really be thought out and fulfilled more.

Rating - (Undecided) 2.5-3

This review can be found on my blog ...more

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Jan 19, 2015 Pili rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs, 105-challenge-review-books, readers-lounge-book-club

The Boy Next Door was February's book for the Reader's Lounge (the book club I'm part of) and even though I started following pace, I ended up finishing it too fast because I needed to know what happened!

I found it a fun and quick read, that kept me turning the pages because I wanted to know when Gabe would finally get his shit together, and what was going on with Maddy's dad!

I absolutely adored everything that was about ice skating in this book, the training, the choosing of a new program with ...more

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Jan 18, 2015 Glass added it

Shelves: romance, buddy-read-with-tanja-and-emma

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Oct 15, 2014 Jasprit rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley, dnf, out-2015, read-in-2015

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