The Boyfriend App

This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been more conflicted on what to rate a book as I am with The Boyfriend App. On one hand, it was a cute and charming read with a fresh premise and a technology-focused female lead–all things I love. On the other, there’s a serious ethical issue in They Boyfriend App that is never addressed, and I would have given almost any other book 1 star for that alone. So let’s talk about the good first, shall we?

Audrey is a fantastic main character. She’s smart, capable, and interesting. She really does have the hacking and technology skills she claims to have, because we see evidence of her using these skills throughout the story. Audrey’s cousin, Lindsay, is a show more bit of a cliche as a fashion-focus almost-hipster, but I didn’t mind because Lindsay is super great at social media, which I loved, and also they have a wonderful friendship. Friendship in books is always a huge plus for me.
I sighed over the love interest in The Boyfriend App. The actual app definitely proved to set up a road block to relationships, and this made the main love story move nice and slowly. We really got to see the character development before the characters every got together. At this point, The Boyfriend App would have received a solid 4 stars. I mean, great romance, friendship, and a main character? Yes please!

However, about halfway through the book, Audrey realizes she needs to take the app to the next level. So she launches the Boyfriend app 2.0. Girls can use their phones to make boys fall instantly in love–or lust–with them. This sounds weird, but it’s actually explained in The Boyfriend App pretty well, so I didn’t have a problem with the reasoning behind how this technology worked.

The problem is, however, that the girls are completely in control of the app, and once it’s activated, the guys have no control over whether to deny it or not. The girls can just press a button–IT’S ON–and the boy will instantly be head-over-heels in love, happy to make-out or kiss or do ANYTHING for the girl. The girl can stop the app by pressing a button saying IT’S OVER, and everything apparently goes back to normal.

This is totally not okay. The app doesn’t just make a guy look in the direction of the girl who turned the app on–he’s completely infatuated. When Audrey tests the app out in the cafeteria, the guy she uses it on starts kissing her, lifts her up, and lays her down on a cafeteria table. It’s a heavy make-out session, and he had no say in it. At one point, Audrey uses the app to get a guy to do what she wants because she promises if he does, she’ll kiss him. That’s not as bad was what could have happened–the app basically gives girls complete control over the boys.

If the genders were reversed in this situation, it would have NEVER gone over. I mean, can you imagine a book in which a male main character invented an app that men could use to make girls instantly attracted and in lust with them? The lack of agency would be addressed immediately. When this plot element came up in the book, I went along with it because I was certain the ethical issues would be addressed. If this had been clearly shown as wrong and Audrey felt even the tinniest bit of remorse, I could have been fine. But the issue–this huge ethical issue–was never even acknowledged in The Boyfriend App. And frankly, that made me mad and totally ruined a book I loved otherwise. show less

It has been quite some time since I have read a funny, smart, romantic, and thrilling contemporary ya book. It's hard to find all four of those in one binding, but The Boyfriend App delivers!

Audrey is really cool and I'd love to spend a day with her and her friends (they're kinda like my friends, except with the coding and what not).

The story line is a first for me. An app building contest for an overrated phone cooperation (ahem, Apple). So. Freaking. Awesome. Honestly, it's an app that I wouldn't mind giving a shot actually (for Android, please!)

I loved that Audrey is smart as hell and didn't underplay that for anyone. Aidan is so sweet! Lindsey reminded me of the closeness that my cousin and I share. Nigit and Mindy are GREAT show more supporting characters.

Sise knows how to surprise and I was down for the ride the entire way. I was laughing, shocked, and at one point, crying.

I really don't have a single thing to complain about. show less

Guys, I am writing this as a zombie blogger, because I died of cute. Seriously, this book is so fun and sweet and humorous and delightful. I picked The Boyfriend App at just the right time, when I was in the mood for a lighter read, for a contemporary novel, and this hit the spot so perfectly. To me, the best books are the ones that can make me feel, and The Boyfriend App delivered, making me actually laugh aloud and grin like an idiot pretty much the whole way through. As I sit here writing this, I still have the foolish grin on my face, because this book is that adorable.

For those who don't know, my day job involves working at a software company, so I hear a lot of talk about programming and apps and all of this stuff. I feel so show more brilliant when I understand those conversations, and that was a fun aspect of The Boyfriend App. It doesn't get super technical, but one of my best friends is super into app design and hearing all of the ideas and seeing the passion these kids have is so uplifting. Also, it's awesome that there's such a focus on technology in The Boyfriend App, because fiction tends to lag behind on the technological curve, but everything in here is very timely.

Audrey McCarthy loves hacking and programming, taught by her father, who perished in a mysterious accident, for which he was, likely, wrongfully blamed. Audrey and her mother, who is a lunch lady at her school, struggle to make ends meet. Unable to keep herself in the latest fashions, Audrey's not popular at school, but she's totally okay with that, because she has some of the best friends ever, insultingly referred to as "trogs" by her ex-best friend Blake and her cronies.

The characters in The Boyfriend App really shine. Of course, I've got a weak spot for geeky bands of misfits. I love how diverse the kids in this group and in the school as a whole are; this felt a lot more like my high school than most of the ones depicted in YA fiction. Going off on a slight tangent, Sise not only includes characters of various diversities, but she's also not hetero-normative, referencing both lesbian and gay couples.

Anyway, back to Audrey's little group. Nigit and Aidan are programmers like Audrey, and she's crushing on Aidan hard secretly. Mindy, though lovely, is teased mercilessly for her speech impediment. Lindsay, Audrey's cousin, is a fashionista who runs an enormously popular fashion blog. The dialog between all of them is so realistic and engaging. They all feel so real to me. Plus, they're so supportive of one another, and I love seeing a young adult novel with such a strong depiction of friendship, and one where it's a group and not a singular best friend is even rarer.

Okay, so the plot of The Boyfriend App is that Public, a technology company that's totally a parody of Apple runs a contest for high school students to design an app. The two winners will receive $200,000, and Audrey wants to win badly, because this is her only chance to go to a good school and not leave seriously in debt, since she and her mother have a total of $2000 dollars saved. Audrey designs this app intended to help girls find boyfriends, and hijinks totally ensue. There's this one scene in the cafeteria that just killed me, thus why I'm now a zombie. It's over the top in just the right way. Just don't take this book too seriously, because this is comedy and it is good.

At the very end, the book does go in a slightly weird direction. Yes, Sise makes it work, but the plot felt a bit more meandering once the app contest ended. Though a bit more trite of an ending, closing shortly after the announcement might have been more effective, since things got a trifle too serious for the tone thereafter. I also have a few questions about how the Boyfriend App gets information on boys, and a few other niggling questions like that about the app, but that's totally not the point, so I'm going to try to tell my nit-picky self to shut the hell up.

With a sweet romance, laugh out loud humor, and lots and lots of kissing, Katie Sise's The Boyfriend App is a must read for fans of light contemporary fiction. With such a strong debut, you can bet I'll be reading whatever Sise writes next! show less

Quick & Dirty: A charming contemporary romance that I really enjoyed. It is filled with adorable romance, fun characters, and lots of drama!

Opening Sentence: It was lunchtime in the social battleground known as Harrison’s upperclassman cafeteria, and I was staring at Aidan Bailey.

The Review:

Audrey McCarthy is a senior at Harrison high school. She was once very popular and confident, but that all changed when her father was killed in a terrible accident. After the accident she became awkward and all of her so-called friends abandoned her for better prospects. Now her once best friend, Blake is the “Queen B” at school and she isn’t a very nice person, especially with how she treats Audrey. Audrey has managed to make a new group of show more friends with the smart kids, but she can’t wait to start her life over in college. The only problem is that college is very expensive and paying for it is going to be a problem. Then an answer comes in the form of a competition to create an app.

Public Corporation is a huge company that sells all sorts of tech savvy things like phones, computers and things like that. They have decided to hold a competition where they will give $200,000 to the one person that comes up with the most popular app. Audrey has major computer skills so creating the app is no problem, but coming up with a unique idea is not as easy. Then all of the sudden it hits her, she should create a boyfriend app. She puts together a complex survey that will match you with someone you are compatible with. At first the app does amazing, but the competition is very competitive and Audrey will have to do more if she wants to win!

Audrey was a likeable character that was easy to connect with. Her tragic past has shaped her into a person she doesn’t want to be and she feels the only way to change is to get away. She planned to wait until college to break out of her shell, but the competition forces her to do it earlier. I loved watching her grow into a stronger person. She still struggles with many things, but at least she is tiring to do better. In many ways I can relate to Audrey because I was also awkward in high school. I wasn’t really made of fun of like Audrey is, but I felt out of place and lonely at times. I imagine that most high school girls have felt like this at one point or another so it is something that makes Audrey an easy character to understand. There were a few times that her voice got on my nerves because she would start to pity herself, but for the most part I really loved her character.

If you have read many of my reviews you will know that the boys tend to be my favorite part of a story and Aidan was no exception to this. He is this super shy guy that is very intelligent, but he is also really good looking. He tends to be awkward around people he doesn’t know, and that has made him kind of an outcast at Harrison High. His relationship with Audrey is so sweet and I loved watching them try to figure things out. It’s pretty obvious that they like each other, but neither one of them want to ruin their friendship so they haven’t ever done anything about it. I have always been a sucker for best friend romances and theirs was done really well. Aidan is a great book boyfriend and he was very easy to swoon over!

The Boyfriend App was an adorable and unique contemporary romance that totally took me by surprise. This book has actually been sitting on my shelf for quite a while now, but after reading the synopsis for the first time I just didn’t really want to pick it up. But I was feeling in the mood for a contemporary read and I saw this one and thought I would give it a try. I am so glad that I did, it was way better then I was expecting. There were a few things that bugged me, but overall this was an extremely entertaining story. I loved the whole nerdy atmosphere that Sise created with the characters; it made this go from an average contemporary to something unique. The romance was so cute and really well done. The plot was slightly predictable, but still interesting enough to keep me hooked. But there were a few flaws, mostly in the villain of the story. I just thought that the whole mean girl thing was overdone and it started to annoy me. The only other thing that I would have liked was to maybe have had just a tad bit more romantic moments. I loved the ones that were in the book, but I would have liked to have seen just a few more. Even though it had a few flaws I thought that this was a great read and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for a fun, cute contemporary romance!

Notable Scene:

And then I had it. I knew what the simple, sweet idea was. I knew what my MIT-winning app would be. Everyone in the world would want it. It would make my mom and me millionaires. I’d be on talk shows with Mark Zuckerberg. I’d have the universe in the palm of my hand.

Everything that went wrong would be right again.

Introducing: the Boyfriend App.

Get the app. Get the guy. It would work—even for me. It had to.

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Boyfriend App. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

The Boyfriend App is a quick, enjoyable read. I had a little trouble getting into it because the beginning of the book had one of my top ten hated YA book cliches, but once we moved past the first few chapters, the book had more than recovered.

Let’s start with where I had problems with this book: mean girls. Mean, popular girls. The kind that are so mean, I have trouble believing they would ever actually exist. I also really hate when people are supposed to be mean just because they’re popular and the entire popular crowd in this novel was just heinous.

But then, the book starts to pay way less attention to the under-developed, over-cliched cool kids and focuses on Audrey’s quest to build The Boyfriend App and it turns into show more something really special. I actually work in the technology field, so it was really fun to see coding and programing featured so prominently in a book. I loved Audrey’s determination and ambition. Her quest to build this app and the reasons that motivated her made her such a great character and it made me love the story.

Aside from Audrey’s brilliance, though, The Boyfriend App also boasts a fantastic team of supporting characters. A fashion-blogging cousin who has a very successful future in both fashion and PR, two brilliant and cute fellow programers, and a supportive best friend. There were multiple really sweet love stories throughout the novel, and even a few crushing ones. The sense of friendship and family also added a lot to the story and makes the reader feel more connected to the characters.

Even though The Boyfriend App had a rocky start, it has a brilliant plot and an excellent cast of characters. Exciting and fast-paced, readers will fall in love with both Audrey and her friends - especially the brains and ambition they add to the story. show less

I saw the Boyfriend App on Wattpad once but it didn't really appeal to me, so when I got the book I was very cautious at first. But after a couple of chapters I was absolutely hooked. I loved Audrey and all her friends and family. The Boyfriend App was completely unpredictable. I could have never seen the plot twist coming. At first I was really confused and hesitant to see where it was going, but Katie Sise did a fantastic job with writing it and explaining it. Overall, I would most definitely recommend this book to my friends and people who like futuristic, tech-y, teen romance novels.

Cannot contain my smile where it comes to this book. It was geeky, funny, cute, teen-swoon-inducing and all around a fun read.
Audrey is a senior in high school, a coder/programmer and a single child who's lost her father in a work accident. Her best friend turned on her and she became the computer nerd with a close and incredibly small group of friends.
Aiden is in her computer class and is secretly crazy about her.
A big computer company is holding an app designing contest and the grand prize is a full scholarship to the winner's desired college.
And that's when things are going out of hand, and if I add another word I'll ruin everything.
Suffice it to say that if you are even miniscule-y part geek and enjoys YA fiction, this is a show more great book to add to your to-read shelf. The top of the shelf.

I'm looking forward to more from Katie Sise. show less