Review: The Boy Recession

THE BOY RECESSION
Flynn Meaney
Contemporary Young Adult
256 Pages
Poppy
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
It's all about supply and demand when a high school deals with the sudden exodus of male students.

The boy recession has hit Julius P. Heil High, and the remaining boys find that their stock is on the rise: With little competition, even the most unlikely guys have a good chance at making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming, class-skipping Hunter Fahrenbach never wanted to be a hot commodity, but the popular girls can't help but notice his unconventional good looks. With a little work, he might even by boyfriend material.

But for down-to-earth Kelly Robbins, the boy recession is causing all sorts of problems. She has secretly liked her good friend Hunter for a while now, but how can she stand out in a crowd of overzealous Spandexers?

As if dating wasn't hard enough without a four-to-one ratio!

MY THOUGHTS
Light and cute, The Boy Recession is the type of story we crave when we want a quick escape into someone else’s life that won’t add weight to our shoulders or emotional scars to our psyche, instead offering a brief and humorous respite from the real world that ends as we know it will all along yet still manages to bring a smile to our faces nonetheless. Ms. Meaney has an easy fluidity to her style of writing, giving us witty dialogue and likable characters who, while not necessarily exhibiting profound depth and complexity, keep us rooting for them throughout. Easily devoured in one sitting, The Boy Recession is full of humor and teenage antics; a refreshing, palate-cleansing taste of fun before we pick up a heavier, meatier read.

This tale is presented to us through the dual perspectives of Kelly and Hunter, and it’s nothing short of entertaining to spend a few moments with each of them as they deal with the drastic change in the social structure of their tiny high school. We don’t ever come to know either Kelly or Hunter all that well – this not being a story meant to inspire an unbreakable emotional connection with its hero and heroine – but what we do know if them we can’t help but like, laughing at their interactions with their separate groups of friends and feeling the beginning rustle of butterfly wings in our bellies as their friendship starts to grow into something more.

With many a laugh out loud moment, particularly toward the end as Hunter’s friend Eugene attempts to provide “good date” instructions to a group of young men headed out to prom, The Boy Recession is the perfect pick-me-up book when our minds don't want to work too hard while reading. Conflict and drama are notably absent from this story, allowing us to just cruise along with Hunter and Kelly, content to sit back and simply wait for them to finally find their way to one another after taking a wrong turn or two. Ms. Meaney has a wonderful sense of humor, and will certainly be an author I seek out when I need a quick reminder of why reading is so much fun.

Rating: 3.5/5