Book Review: The Boy Recession By: Flynn Meaney

"Slimeball Kings: How Julius Slackers Rose to the Top of the Heap" (140).

Title: The Boy Recession
Author: Flynn Meaney
HARDBACK
Amount of Pages: 246
Publisher: Poppy
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Geared Towards: Teens/Rom-Com Lovers
From: Publisher (Review Copy)
Extra Info: Flynn Meaney is also the author of BLOODTHIRSTY 


Summary (From Front Flap): The population of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, is shrinking as families move to cities and towns with greener pastures, and the local high school is hurting: Nearly all of the area's most eligible guys have moved or transferred schools.

With little competition, the remaining boys find their stocks on the rise, and eve nthe most unlikely candidates have a good chance of making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming slacker Hunter Fahrenbach has made an art of blending into the background, but now desperate coaches are recruiting him and popular girls are noticing his scruffy good looks. With a little help, Hunter might even be boyfriend material..

Down-to-earth Kelly Robbins has a simple wish for her junior year: "one normal, nice boy to crush on." Kelly and Hunter have always been friends, but is there something more to their platonic relationship? And can Kelly overcome to odds? After all, dating is hard enough without a four-to-one ratio. 

Wdebo's Review: When I first heard about this book, I briefly read over the synopsis and for some reason, the only part of the plot I was able to absorb was the fact that all the "attractive" guys were gone. I personally thought that it was some sort of zombie virus that had attacked their town and created a catastrophe in which only the dorky guys were able to survive because of their geeky and/or nerdy knowledge. Sadly, the story was not like that at all. Instead it was only because two apparently very desirable family of guys moved out. Which isn't as exciting as zombie viruses. But whatever. I was a little disappointed by that.

However, that isn't the main thing I want to complain about. A bigger issue here is the fact that after the hot guys leave, the school still has around sixty guys left. This fact is flippantly pointed out once but later disregarded. The girls then prepare to act like famished ship wrecked pirates who just discovered an innocent cow or some other meat bearing animal meandering through their line of vision as if there are only six guys left in the whole school. I guess that half of them are underclassman but based on the crazy way the girls are acting I don't really think that small piece of detail matters very much. Also, it's not like their school is isolated on some kind of deserted island, there are plenty of schools around theirs which is evident at the end of the story. And yeah, most of them are in private school, but as stated above they seem desperate enough that it probably wouldn't matter to them, they would just work harder. But now that I have that off my chest, we can continue on with the rest of the review!

The beginning took me a bit to get into. I like alternating point-of-view books especially when it consists of a "she-said/he-said" version. However, even though I love books like that, it takes a lot for me to be satisfied by them because it is very difficult for authors to get the voices to sound just right. That was how Hunter's voice was in here. It just felt too trying for my taste. Just because someone cusses a few times and talks about getting high does not make someone instantly a guy. I would like to point out that there are plenty of girls out there that talk about that. And this just gets into a whole gender stereotype argument that we can leave for another day.

I was also kind of iffy about the fact that the writing just tried too hard to sound like a teenager. This not only applied to Hunter but also to Kelly. Meaney tried too hard to MAKE her characters into teenagers that it was hard to be believable it just didn't seem very natural, which is one of the main reasons it was so hard for me to get into. However, after a while I did start to get used to the writing and began to enjoy the book a lot more.

However, my review just seems like a load of bad comments about the book, but the novel actually was quite a lot of fun. It was cliche, yes. But it was fun and cute and did help me spend a few enjoyable hours. Its lightness helped me truly get into mindless summer mode. Even though it did go down a predictable path, I still liked the growth of affection between the two protagonists. Though some parts of that journey did bother and annoy me though, but it was still a smooth read and I finished it rather quickly. I admit there were a few mishaps throughout the book; however, overall it was able to keep me entertained for a bit. And that's all that matters.

Cafe Cover Chat: I actually really do like the cover, but that may just be because of my weakness for blue/pink color combinations. It looks cute. (B+)

All in all, though not the best book to hit the YA shelves, it was cute and an enjoyable read for a few mellow hours. However, now that I'm done, I'm pretty sure it was a cliche enough plot that I might forget the details in a few weeks.

Grade: B

Wdebo :)

"Unlikely heartthrobs: The Shy Guy, the Slacker, and the Video Game God" (103).