The Boy Is Back

this book was alright I guess. The storyline and concept were good but I did not enjoy the delivery. I also took away from the character studies as well as the one on one conversations and descriptions of the situation and atmosphere. while I could not get what I wanted from the book here I I acknowledge that a lot of effort had to be put into the crafting of the emails, text and newspaper articles to create a well-flowing story which was done in this book. but seeing that I almost DNF this book I would advise that new readers should take caution and test out the first few pages if you enjoy it before you purchase the book. because realistically it cannot be the cup of tea for everyone

The lightest, easiest read you'll probably ever find. Cute story, told in Meg Cabot's typical epistolary form. If you've had a bad day/week/month and you need a sweet read that takes as little concentration as possible, this one's for you.

I'm a newbie to the “The Boy” series, which I honestly feel may have contributed to why this book and I didn't click as much as I wanted it to. I fully admit that I didn't do my research to find out that this book was the fourth in a series so, although Meg Cabot does do a valiant job of trying to bring new readers in, I spent the first few chapters feeling a little bit lost. Becky and Reed's story took off right from the beginning, which I'm certain is going to make fans of this series extremely happy. There isn't a moment to waste, as Meg Cabot dives into these characters and their own particular brands of quirkiness.

Now let me say that Meg Cabot's writing always shines, no matter what book she is writing. She has this uncanny ability to write stories that are equal parts melodramatic and heartbreaking. This book was no exception. Although a majority of this story is written through text messages, email threads, online reviews and journal entries, I could still feel the personalities of the characters shining through. They were funny, a bit cliche at times, but always felt like real, genuinely flawed people. I admit, it made me want to go back and read the first books in this series. My need to know their backstory is strong.

On the flip side, my gripe with this method of story telling is that the scenes themselves didn't get as much love. While Cabot was able to show the personalities of the characters through their digital banter, the important scenes in this story didn't get the same benefit. These exchanges were short, and flew by, making it so that there wasn't as much depth as I would have liked. The idea here was wonderful. Two old flames, rediscovering one another. I'm a sucker for that type of story. Unfortunately, although I loved their exchanges, I didn't feel the same kind of love for their actual physical relationship. I wanted that sappy, descriptive kind of writing that makes you want to swoon. I missed that here.

So, The Boy Is Back fell right on that middle line for me. I enjoyed the characters, despite feeling lost at first, but I really wanted more from the overall story. I've heard that the first books in this series were more focused on emails, versus today's use of social media, and that makes me want to go back and compare. I feel like the difference is in the amount of emotion that can be poured into a more lengthy exchange, like an email, versus a short text. So I'm definitely wanting to go out and see if I'm right.

If you're a fan of this series though, I'm sure you'll love this installment! Like I said above, it takes off instantly, so you won't have to wait long to see what your favorite characters are up to now.

Amo a Meg <3

Extremely cute and clever albeit without any real depth or substance. Cabot had to update her “modern epistolary novel” platforms since the last “Boy” book was published in 2004, as I don't think smart phones were quite as ubiquitous when it was released, so we now have text messages and Facebook events instead of just emails. Wonder what she will use if she tries this again in another ten years - screen shots of the messages that come from the chips embedded in our brains at birth? Luckily, handwritten and typed letters may evolve into emails and texts, but boy meets girl hijinks will endure forever.