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A review by esperanzareading
The Girl Next Door by Cecilia Vinesse
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).