You Better Apply Yourself Quickly

Expected Publication:  April 30th, 2013

The Boyfriend App

By: Katie Sise

Balzar + Bray

ISBN-13: 9780062195265

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?

Review

     Audrey just wants for her high school days to be a thing of the past.  Perfectly content with her geek status, Audrey is only envious of one thing - how easy it is for the popular girls to get a guy's attention.  So when a contest is announced by the biggest technology corporation Public, for a scholarship awarded to whoever creates the most popular/innovative app, Audrey gets an idea - the Boyfriend App.  It's like a cross between Match.com and instant love radar.  With the help of her cousin Lindsey, some really awesome friends and Aiden, the guy who might be something more, can she win the scholarship money?  Or will it even matter when Audrey finds out a very sinister thing happening under the surface of Public's company?  Will they be exposed or will they get away with corrupting the youth of the world through subliminal messages?  Audrey was an interesting heroine for me, because she was not AT ALL predictable for the first half of the book.  She had personality, her own sense of self and definite strength against all the bad stuff aimed at her by her former best friend.  The boy confusion was understandable at first, but got old when her confusion turned into super-unrealistic naivete.   The battle between Public and their rival, along with Public's sinister use of subliminal frequencies to extract certain behaviors from people reminded me surprisingly enough of the Josie and the Pussycats movie from 2001 with Rachel Leigh Cook.  It made me laugh inside my head for most of the book.  A lot of the plot was horribly contrived and nowhere near the realm of believability. but I absolutely adored the humor of this book and the fact that the heroine is using her smarts toward a goal other than a boy (but capitalizing on her classmates hormones at the same time).  It was hilarious to read about Lindsey (her fashion diva cousin) and nerdy friend Nigit's unexpected relationship, in which he begins dressing like Michael Jackson...WTF?  My main complaint would be the completely unbelievable, weird science type plot events, the resolution and the overall devolving of the characters.  It was a cute fluff read, but not much else and it tried too hard to be taken seriously.  The constant, obvious satire of Apple became too much even for me.

VERDICT:  2.5/5  Stars

*I received this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie. No favors or money were exchanged for this review. It will be available for purchase on April 30th, 2013.*