The Boyfriend App - Katie Sise
Published: 30/04/13
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pages: 320
Now, if you read my blog a lot you will know that I am a cover junkie. I love a book that has a stunning cover and as soon as I saw this one I quickly contacted Katie to ask for a review copy.
Katie and her agent Jess were wonderful in getting me a copy sent half way around the world (!) and it arrived this week. I started this book on Thursday evening and finished it by Friday evening.
Firstly, I am going to be honest. This book was a little bit slow to get started for me, the beginning was good, the characters were well developed, but I started to get a tiny little bit bored because the pace was so slow. However, about half/two-thirds of the way in, the pace rapidly increased and I was gripped until the end. So, if you buy this book, don’t give up, persevere because the rest of the book is awesome!
We are introduced to Audrey who used to be one of the popular girls, she was friends with the ‘Queen Bee’ called Blake and she seemed to have it all. However things changed after a horrific incident and now Audrey is a ‘geek’ who loves nothing more than playing with computers and hacking into things. She has a small group of lovely friends, including Aidan and Nigit. Audrey is not sure what she is going to do with her life after school because she cannot afford to go to college however her luck could be about to change. A large computer software company (think Apple) have started a competition for people to design an ‘App’ for mobile phones, the prize is loads of goodies and a $200,000 scholarship. Audrey quickly starts working on her app which (if you hadn’t already guessed) is called The Boyfriend App.
The rest of the book follows Audrey on her quest to build this app and win the competition, but there are some more than interesting obstacles along her way.
There have been some criticisms of this book saying that it is unrealistic and, if you read my blog, you will know I normally hate books that are a bit far fetched BUT in this book I was so busy enjoying the story that I didn’t once stop to think it was unrealistic. (A pretty impressive achievement from Katie!)
I fell in love with the protagonist, Audrey, and desperately wanted her life to turn out the way she wanted it to. I did send Katie some tweets telling her I would hate her if the book didn’t have a happy ending!! I also enjoyed the characters of Aidan and Nigit; I love a geek and these boys were so down to earth. They were not fueled by getting as many girls as they could and going to the gym, they just loved computers and were honest about their feelings (my type of guy!). Blake was also the typical ‘mean girl’ and I hated her straight away although over the course of the book my feelings did start to change a little.
Overall this is a fascinating look into the world of modern technology seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. It’s a modern coming of age tale about growing up, falling in love and accepting yourself for who you are.
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pages: 320
Now, if you read my blog a lot you will know that I am a cover junkie. I love a book that has a stunning cover and as soon as I saw this one I quickly contacted Katie to ask for a review copy.
Katie and her agent Jess were wonderful in getting me a copy sent half way around the world (!) and it arrived this week. I started this book on Thursday evening and finished it by Friday evening.
Firstly, I am going to be honest. This book was a little bit slow to get started for me, the beginning was good, the characters were well developed, but I started to get a tiny little bit bored because the pace was so slow. However, about half/two-thirds of the way in, the pace rapidly increased and I was gripped until the end. So, if you buy this book, don’t give up, persevere because the rest of the book is awesome!
We are introduced to Audrey who used to be one of the popular girls, she was friends with the ‘Queen Bee’ called Blake and she seemed to have it all. However things changed after a horrific incident and now Audrey is a ‘geek’ who loves nothing more than playing with computers and hacking into things. She has a small group of lovely friends, including Aidan and Nigit. Audrey is not sure what she is going to do with her life after school because she cannot afford to go to college however her luck could be about to change. A large computer software company (think Apple) have started a competition for people to design an ‘App’ for mobile phones, the prize is loads of goodies and a $200,000 scholarship. Audrey quickly starts working on her app which (if you hadn’t already guessed) is called The Boyfriend App.
The rest of the book follows Audrey on her quest to build this app and win the competition, but there are some more than interesting obstacles along her way.
There have been some criticisms of this book saying that it is unrealistic and, if you read my blog, you will know I normally hate books that are a bit far fetched BUT in this book I was so busy enjoying the story that I didn’t once stop to think it was unrealistic. (A pretty impressive achievement from Katie!)
I fell in love with the protagonist, Audrey, and desperately wanted her life to turn out the way she wanted it to. I did send Katie some tweets telling her I would hate her if the book didn’t have a happy ending!! I also enjoyed the characters of Aidan and Nigit; I love a geek and these boys were so down to earth. They were not fueled by getting as many girls as they could and going to the gym, they just loved computers and were honest about their feelings (my type of guy!). Blake was also the typical ‘mean girl’ and I hated her straight away although over the course of the book my feelings did start to change a little.
Overall this is a fascinating look into the world of modern technology seen through the eyes of a teenage girl. It’s a modern coming of age tale about growing up, falling in love and accepting yourself for who you are.
Laura