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A review by zanybibliophile
The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
3.0
This is the cringe-worthy story of a girl who was so desperate to prove to a girl at her school that her college-age boyfriend existed that when he dumped her just before prom, she decided the best method was to get a fill-in boyfriend for the night.
Gia Montgomery is the problem girl. Her friendship group has recently had a new addition - Juels, who really dislikes Gia and is ready to poke holes in all her stories. Trying to prove that Jules is wrong and her boyfriend Bradley really does exist, she walks herself into a very difficult web of lies. For example, Gia has no idea what fill-in-Bradley's real name is. She does, however, know his sister.
Bec is fill-in-Bradley's sister and she refuses to give Gia any information about him because she knows her brother deserves more than the skin-deep personality of Gia. Bec is an amazing character - saying what she means and being unapologetically herself. Bec is one of the two characters I like, the other being her artistic mother, Olivia. The two of them are open about their thoughts and feelings and do not withhold information from eachother. That is what all mother-daughter relationships should be like.
The plot really starts when Bec enlists Gia's help to return the favour and pose as her brother's date to his ex-girlfriend's graduation party. Things become more complicated as Gia gets to know and grows to like the fill-in-Bradley. Just to keep up the drama and tension, throw in a brother using her superficial and social media driven life as a school project for a film class.
I will say that I liked Gia's personal growth over the story and she did become a somewhat decent character by the end, but I just felt her character created way too much idiotic drama. I also like that fill-in-Bradley was not all about Gia. He had his own story and issues that allowed him to seem real, even if he was stupid enough to pretend to be someone else so a high school girl would not look dumb in front of her friends on Prom night.
Regardless of the plot, the characters were all written into the story well and the story itself did flow well. I can see this is a cute teen romance and I did enjoy elements of the story, but I think the idea and the characters that went through with the fill-in boyfriend plan are idiots.
Gia Montgomery is the problem girl. Her friendship group has recently had a new addition - Juels, who really dislikes Gia and is ready to poke holes in all her stories. Trying to prove that Jules is wrong and her boyfriend Bradley really does exist, she walks herself into a very difficult web of lies. For example, Gia has no idea what fill-in-Bradley's real name is. She does, however, know his sister.
Bec is fill-in-Bradley's sister and she refuses to give Gia any information about him because she knows her brother deserves more than the skin-deep personality of Gia. Bec is an amazing character - saying what she means and being unapologetically herself. Bec is one of the two characters I like, the other being her artistic mother, Olivia. The two of them are open about their thoughts and feelings and do not withhold information from eachother. That is what all mother-daughter relationships should be like.
The plot really starts when Bec enlists Gia's help to return the favour and pose as her brother's date to his ex-girlfriend's graduation party. Things become more complicated as Gia gets to know and grows to like the fill-in-Bradley. Just to keep up the drama and tension, throw in a brother using her superficial and social media driven life as a school project for a film class.
I will say that I liked Gia's personal growth over the story and she did become a somewhat decent character by the end, but I just felt her character created way too much idiotic drama. I also like that fill-in-Bradley was not all about Gia. He had his own story and issues that allowed him to seem real, even if he was stupid enough to pretend to be someone else so a high school girl would not look dumb in front of her friends on Prom night.
Regardless of the plot, the characters were all written into the story well and the story itself did flow well. I can see this is a cute teen romance and I did enjoy elements of the story, but I think the idea and the characters that went through with the fill-in boyfriend plan are idiots.