Scan barcode
lpcoolgirl's review
5.0
This was such a great read, I loved watching these characters in this situation!
jhna04's review against another edition
2.5
The reader is atrocious and kinda ruined the book. But the story is okey.
But there’s no homophobia what so ever, which is great
But there’s no homophobia what so ever, which is great
esperanzareading's review against another edition
4.0
So heartwarming!
This book takes place over the course of Cleo's senior year. Being the film nerd she is, she's got her whole year planned, storyboarded, and ready to shoot. That is, until her boyfriend Daniel cheats on her and dumps her for the head cheerleader, Kiki, over summer break. Trying not to appear phased by any of it, Cleo is still ready to roll. Cue Marianne... estranged childhood best friend, next door neighbor, AND Kiki's ex. But, they both know what plot twist to throw into this story. THEY'LL start dating! That'll show them, because fake dating always turns out good, right?
I'd like to personally thank the author for a.) no queerbaiting, b.) no "bi-curiosity" (which isn't wrong, but does get tiring), and especially c.) not making one character who's queer pine after the other that's maybe, maybe not queer but stringing the other along. THANK YOU.
Besides the love story that blossoms, I just really loved seeing Cleo and Marianne be able to be FRIENDS again. I think they were both mourning the loss of their friendship without really knowing it. To see them share things moments of being best friends again was so cute. I think because I'm past high school now, I yearned for a smidge more adventure/romance/angst, but the FMC is a high-schooler so I did like that things were kept realistic between high-schoolers (AKA not the grandiose of t.v. high-schoolers where they all look and act like 20-somethings with outrageous events LOL).
This book takes place over the course of Cleo's senior year. Being the film nerd she is, she's got her whole year planned, storyboarded, and ready to shoot. That is, until her boyfriend Daniel cheats on her and dumps her for the head cheerleader, Kiki, over summer break. Trying not to appear phased by any of it, Cleo is still ready to roll. Cue Marianne... estranged childhood best friend, next door neighbor, AND Kiki's ex. But, they both know what plot twist to throw into this story. THEY'LL start dating! That'll show them, because fake dating always turns out good, right?
I'd like to personally thank the author for a.) no queerbaiting, b.) no "bi-curiosity" (which isn't wrong, but does get tiring), and especially c.) not making one character who's queer pine after the other that's maybe, maybe not queer but stringing the other along. THANK YOU.
Besides the love story that blossoms, I just really loved seeing Cleo and Marianne be able to be FRIENDS again. I think they were both mourning the loss of their friendship without really knowing it. To see them share things moments of being best friends again was so cute. I think because I'm past high school now, I yearned for a smidge more adventure/romance/angst, but the FMC is a high-schooler so I did like that things were kept realistic between high-schoolers (AKA not the grandiose of t.v. high-schoolers where they all look and act like 20-somethings with outrageous events LOL).
biblioberry's review against another edition
this was so booooooring fake dating my beloathed dnf @ 50%
i see ex-best-friends-to-lovers and i forget everything else
i see ex-best-friends-to-lovers and i forget everything else
gingerbread_void's review against another edition
3.0
This was a great queer romance! I am a sucker for the fake dating trope and this book did it so well. I loved the relationship between the main character.
btokasey's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
audreyet's review against another edition
4.0
The Girl Next Door is a sweet coming of age story from the point of view of a high school senior who finds her dream senior year threatened when her boyfriend cheats on her with one of the most popular girls in school, and breaks up with her. She finds herself in a fake dating situation with the popular girl's ex girlfriend, who is also her neighbor and childhood friends. I enjoyed the author's use of the fake dating trope, and thought it was smart to include the childhood friends aspect, because I felt like it built their relationship up faster than it otherwise might've.
It did take me about a quarter of the book to really get into the main character's monologuing, especially because she so often thinks of things in terms of movie making, especially horror films, something I have little interest in. But Cleo was very likable to me, and she had flaws that were realistic, and she acknowledged them which sometimes doesn't happen with YA romances. Loved seeing her really grow as a person regardless of the romantic subplots. Her relationship with her dad was lovely.
I do wish that the 'Girl Next Door' herself Marianne, was explored just a bit more, especially because the ex boyfriend gets quite a bit of character exploration, but she was a dreamy love interest.
There are a bunch of side characters, who though they didn't monopolize much of the writing, were all fun to get to know and I was actually able to remember most of them easily which I sometimes have trouble with when reading YA books that take place in high school. There's a lot of queer rep in this, but in an organic way. Sometimes I feel like representation can be forced in just for the sake of representation, but not in this case. There is no closeting or homophobia present in this story.
The plots were fairly predictable, but that's not always a bad thing, and I recommend this for people who enjoy high school queer romances. It's a quick and fun read.
Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC
It did take me about a quarter of the book to really get into the main character's monologuing, especially because she so often thinks of things in terms of movie making, especially horror films, something I have little interest in. But Cleo was very likable to me, and she had flaws that were realistic, and she acknowledged them which sometimes doesn't happen with YA romances. Loved seeing her really grow as a person regardless of the romantic subplots. Her relationship with her dad was lovely.
I do wish that the 'Girl Next Door' herself Marianne, was explored just a bit more, especially because the ex boyfriend gets quite a bit of character exploration, but she was a dreamy love interest.
There are a bunch of side characters, who though they didn't monopolize much of the writing, were all fun to get to know and I was actually able to remember most of them easily which I sometimes have trouble with when reading YA books that take place in high school. There's a lot of queer rep in this, but in an organic way. Sometimes I feel like representation can be forced in just for the sake of representation, but not in this case. There is no closeting or homophobia present in this story.
The plots were fairly predictable, but that's not always a bad thing, and I recommend this for people who enjoy high school queer romances. It's a quick and fun read.
Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC
readwithatlas's review against another edition
3.0
“The Girl Next Door” is a solid YA romance that includes many popular tropes with a sapphic twist! This is similar to “Heartstopper” in that way of taking simple stories and making them queer. There were many things I liked in this and some things I wasn’t as fond as.
The relationships were all so complicated in this book and I just felt like? That got quite annoying quite quick. Despite that I did mostly enjoy this. There were plenty of sweet moments between our main pair that will have you cheering for them. This is a very sweet coming of age story overall full of fluff, angst, and general girl next door love.
The relationships were all so complicated in this book and I just felt like? That got quite annoying quite quick. Despite that I did mostly enjoy this. There were plenty of sweet moments between our main pair that will have you cheering for them. This is a very sweet coming of age story overall full of fluff, angst, and general girl next door love.