Review -- The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise

Title: The Boyfriend App
Author: Katie Sise
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: 30 April 2013
Date Read: April 2013
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

In The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise, super-smart, somewhat geeky Audrey McCarthy can’t wait to get out of high school. Her father’s death and the transformation of her one-time BFF, Blake Dawkins, into her worst nightmare have her longing for the new start college will bring.

But college takes money. So Audrey decides she has to win the competition for the best app designed by a high schooler—and the $200,000 that comes with it. She develops something she calls the Boyfriend App, and suddenly she’s the talk of the school and getting kissed by the hottest boys around. But can the Boyfriend App bring Audrey true love?

The Boyfriend App was, for the most part, a fresh read with a fun, modern premise. Audrey creates The Boyfriend App as an entry to a competition that promises a college scholarship for the winners. She must win this if she wants to have further education because it's hard enough to make ends meet ever since the accident that led to her father's death. Audrey is an entertaining character and the easy narration made for a quick pace and an enjoyable story.

Obviously, technology plays a big part in the novel. It works as a companion to the story telling.The author spends time explaining, in terms super easy to understand, the inner workings of coding and app building. Audrey has to work hard networking as well to spread the word about her app. I just had fun reading about it because, hey, that's what bloggers do, too!

Aiden, the love interest, was nice, sweet and most importantly, a hot geek. He wasn't one of those overbearing dickwads that currently plague the YA love interest area. But, that he didn't really do anything for me. I, as a reader, didn't feel any attraction not did I swoon as a result to anything Aiden said or did. Nothing. It's not like you can't make girls swoon with nice guys. It's not impossible. There's Augustus, Mal, Po and a bajillion others. So what do they have that Aiden didn't? I hate to say it but, a personality. To be fair, the romance wasn't the main focus of the novel (which is a great) but that doesn't mean you can excuse the lack of character development, with Aiden, Audrey and everyone else.

Halfway through The Boyfriend App, the plot took a turn towards the bizarre and unlikely and that's when I started getting problems with the novel.

Audrey develops her app into The Boyfriend App 2.0. Instead of just matching users as potential couples, the girl is guaranteed to get the guy. No more of those uncertain, relationship problems and just straight to the make out sesions. Only girls are able to download the app, and to put it to use, they must simply point their phone towards the phone of their desired hottie, press the button, and the guy literally would not be able to get his hands off of you. The phone emits a string of notes that triggers the area responsible for love, or lust, in the brain.

Let's pretend that premise is not totally ridiculous, that there is actually a possibility of that happening. Teenagers are portrayed as animals basically unable to control their primal sex drives and would go as far as controlling someone so they could have a make out session. That's probably true for most teenagers- heck, for anyone. Who's going to say no to a chance to make out with Ryan Gosling ? But, call me old-fashioned, but I'd rather have my make out session where both participants have actually given consent to everything that's happening. The app takes away a person's control over their actions and forces them to do something they may not want to do. No one spoke up and said, "Hey, you know what, you're app is wrong and is borderline rape". Are we all supposed to be ok with that? There was a scene in the cafeteria that was just insane. Girls went crazy, competing and attacking each other to covet their dream guys. The guys don't even get a say in all of this. Way to be unique and objectify the guys this time. No one else seems to be bothered by this as much as I am, so maybe I'm just looking too much into it.

It's not a bad book. It's nice and cute (for the most part) but I guess, afterwards, I just felt kinda empty, you know? It didn't leave me with anything, apart from anger towards the second half of the novel. 


An ARC was received from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.