Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Review: The Boy Next Door

THE BOY NEXT DOOR
Katie Van Ark
Contemporary Young Adult
368 pages
Swoon Reads
Available January 6th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Maddy Spier has been in love with the boy next door forever. As his figure skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she’s also seen his arms around other girls—lots of other girls.

Gabe can't imagine skating with anyone but Maddy, and together they have a real chance at winning some serious gold medals. So, he’s determined to keep thinking of her like a sister. After all, he’s never had a romantic relationship that lasted for more than two weeks.

But when their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy’s been hoping for or the big breakup that Gabe has always feared?


MY THOUGHTS

The Boy Next Door is the type of story that has us periodically peering out our windows in the hope that a moving truck will magically appear across the street, bringing with it a cute boy our age whom we can admire from afar until we work up the courage to actually speak to him. Maddy and Gabe have it a little easier (relatively speaking) in that they’ve lived next door to one another their entire lives, but their longtime familiarity causes its own set of problems, the stakes if things don't work out quite a bit higher than awkward conversation or possible mortification.

Maddy has loved Gabe for as long as she can remember, but their skating partnership sees her firmly relegated to the friend category, forced to watch as Gabe tires of one girl after another in rapid succession without ever looking in her direction. Based on the synopsis, we can’t help but expect a rather slow build-up of tension, Maddy’s feelings gradually escaping the death grip she’s had on them for years and changing the nature of her relationship with Gabe both on and off the ice. Instead what we find is Maddy, thanks to a change in the program they skate, readily admitting her feelings early on and trying a variety of methods to encourage Gabe to take a chance on them, an action that results in an unexpected push and pull for nearly all of the first half.

Much of the push and pull is thanks to Gabe’s–not unfounded–fear that he’ll hurt Maddy if they try and make things work, his experience in communicating physically rather than verbally with most of his girlfriends coming back to bite him at the worst possible time. He wants to keep things with Maddy secret, something she understandably agrees to given the depth of her feelings, and we find ourselves both frustrated and hopeful in turn as the two of them struggle to deal with the emotional Pandora’s box they’ve opened. Gabe makes it difficult for us to really support his secretive bid to win Maddy over in the first half, his interest seemingly more physical than anything else despite his reassurances that he wants things with Maddy to be different, but in the second half he thankfully brings word and action into alignment and finally makes us believe in him.

Overall, The Boy Next Door is a bit of a messy read, things with Gabe and Maddy all over the place for majority of the book and their skating careers perhaps more on the periphery than we might like, but at the same time the messiness of their friendship and budding romance feels a whole lot like real life, and we can’t help but be drawn in by their many triumphs and failures.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review
I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

36 comments:

  1. sound like a good book ,, I love every book has something to do with a boy next door ,, the best form of romance :D

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    1. I do love a good boy next door romance as well Alreem:)

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  2. Your review makes me want to stare out the window hoping for a cute boy to move in next door. That's normal, right?

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    1. Totally. I'm staring out the window right now...

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  3. It must be sad to see what Maddy had to go through.. I didn't know about the book but the story sounds interesting, I think I could like it as well.

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    1. Luckily we don't have to see much of Gabe with his harem of girlfriends, so that made things a little easier:) We hear about them, but they aren't flaunted throughout the story which was nice.

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  4. This sounds like a cute read…I've never read a book with figure skating in it, but I would have loved this in high school when I was sort of obsessed haha. I'm definitely adding this to my TBR list. Happy New Year, Jenny!

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    1. I loved the skating aspect! I wished it was even more prominent, but I was happy with what we did get to see of their on-ice relationship:)

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  5. I've long since given up the chance on a cute boy moving across the street from us; we've had the worst luck with neighbours, plus it would probably make DH jealous. Still, it's a great fantasy, messy or not.

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    1. I feel like a cute neighbor boy would probably make my husband jealous as well. Dammit.

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  6. I have this one on my wishlist because it sounded cute. I was kind of expecting a push and pull type of romance so this one seems just about what I'd expect. I'll give this one a try, Jenny, just because I haven't read any novels about figure skating (which I used to enjoy watching).

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    1. I'll be interested to see what you think Z! I was happy with Gabe and Maddy in the end:)

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  7. Oh dear. I hope I can manage to be patient enough throughout the first half so I can get to the better version of Gabe in the second half! Still, I'm a curious about this one so I might give it a shot. Lovely review, Jenny!

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    1. Thanks Aimee! Gabe is a bit of a trial throughout, but I ended up liking them together when all was said and done:)

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  8. I was really excited about this book but the more reviews I read, the more convinced I am that I probably wouldn't like it as much.
    I thought it would be more of a cuter and fluffier book but there seems to be many dramatic issues between the two of them. I'm also put off by Gabe's character from your description, Jenny.
    Thanks for the lovely review! :)

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    1. There was a bit more push and pull than I would have liked, even if I did understand why Gabe was so hesitant. They both had a lot at stake if things didn't work out, but it was still frustrating to see them take one step forward and then two giant ones back.

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  9. This kind of sounds like the movie THE CUTTING EDGE (which I love). I'll have to check it out. Jenny, you are so bad for my book budget. LOL.

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    1. THE CUTTING EDGE!!! Yesssss. "Toe piiiiiicccckkkkk"

      Such a good movie. These two don't have quite the same hostility which is a shame (I love antagonistic relationships), but even with my issues it was still a solid read.

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  10. My review goes up for this next wek, and I had many of the same issues that you did. I was expecting sweet and fluffy and I was disappointed that it wasn't. I liked the skating, but the romance was a bit of a miss for me. I really wanted to love thi sone, but I didn't.

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    1. Exactly! I was expecting the skating to detract from the story since I'm all about the romance, but the skating was a highlight for sure. The romance I had hoped would be a little stronger:)

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  11. I hadn't heard of this one yet but it sounds mostly appealing to me. I think that maybe the back and forth in getting a relationship going might a tad annoying though.

    Sorry I haven't been by for awhile! I'll try to do some catching up now. :)

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    1. It did get frustrating after a while. I was just expecting their relationship to unfold a little differently, so I was caught off guard when they talked about getting together very early on. I thought there would be more tension and build-up, but instead it was more about them being together but keeping it a secret.

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  12. I actually love the push and pull this stories create even though we know they will end happily because they usually do, there is just something about the journey that it takes to get there that can be magical.

    Wonderful review Jenny!

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    1. Then I think you'll be a big fan of this one Ali!

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  13. No cute boys where I lived when young, so sad lol

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  14. This one sounds like a cute read, but not one that I feel like it's the right kind of read for me! Happy to hear you enjoyed it anyways!

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    1. It had some really cute moments Pili and I enjoyed the skating aspect quite a bit, it just took me longer than I wanted to really warm up to Gabe.

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  15. I'm not a huge fan of messy reads, particularly messy contemporary romances which feel as if the drama is the entirety of the plot. This is definitely not for me but I'm glad you found something to love, regardless, Jenny. Wonderful review!

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    1. There was definitely some unnecessary drama here, but it wasn't so off the charts as to make me want to tear my hair out. I was happy for the two of them by the time I turned the last page:)

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  16. Heh. I had a guy bff living across the street when I was younger. Then they moved. -sigh- This sounds good. I think I'd be okay with the messiness as long as it doesn't get ridiculous.

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    1. Was he completely swoon-worthy? In my head he was because I always dreamed of cute boy next door:)

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  17. I have an arc of this one, but I'm not sure I can force myself to read it! Wahhhh! This just sounds like too much drama for me. I like that Maddy is clear about her feelings, but Gabe is already on my ugh list. But it does sound like he eventually turns it around. Glad you were rooting for them at the end!

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  18. This is one of the books I have won in a giveaway. It's a shame that you found it too messy and all over the place, like it was over drama-tised. I don't like books like this, so maybe I will save it for later.

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  19. I'm just about half way through this one and have to say that I'm pretty disappointed. Gabe is really, really annoying me with how he's acting towards Maddy and I'm really not swooning over him at all :/ I'm also not connecting with either of the characters, which makes things worse. Hopefully things will pick up in the second half like you said. Nice review :)

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