Title: The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise
Release Date: April 30th 2013
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Source: Borrowed (thanks, Lyra!)
Buy: Book Depository
Summary (from Goodreads):
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?
Once popular girl turned geek Audrey McCarthy is smarter than most kids her age. Like hack into a security system kind of smart. After a painful falling out with her bestfriend Blake and the death of her father, Audrey just wants to live under the radar, happy creating programs and hanging out with her friends Mindy, Nigit and the very cute Aidan, who she secretly likes. But Blake is now out to hurt Audrey for a betrayal she didn't even do. Audrey's on her senior year, desperate to do anything to get into a prestigious college she deserves, but with no money to do so Audrey's out of options. And then the opportunity of a lifetime came, create an app and win $200,000. So Audrey created an app, one that someone like her would want, and need, and thus the Boyfriend App came into existence. But can the app really help Audrey solve her problems or create more of them?
I am very partial to this book because it just calls out to the geek in me. As an IT professional, the lines of programming code and the time Audrey takes to explain the intricacies of building an app and making it work makes the inner techy in me rejoice, because I can easily understand it. It's like Audrey was speaking to me in code and my brain just translate it naturally. The author definitely knows what she's talking about in terms of how technical building apps can get and words it in a way that even someone who has not tried cracking a code all his/her life can understand.
Audrey is one smart girl, and her creativity and quickwittedness was what made her such a fun character to read. She's had it tough ever since she lost her father, her friends shunned her and they can barely make ends meet. But what I admired about her was her perseverance to reach her goal of getting into a good school for college a reality. Although there were times where I felt she was so desperate to make her app work that it makes her so irrational, it was all for a good reason. And despite being so smart, Audrey can be so stupid and unsure when it comes to checking if the boy she's pining for likes her back. Come on, Auds!
The Boyfriend App's main conflict was the consequences such an app can give if one should exist. I do believe that love cannot be forced, but the author makes such a convincing case with such a well thought of plot that you will think that it might just work. So what happens if you can manipulate the brain to trick you into falling in love by using a certain sound? The wonders technology can make, but then you start to think, are the feelings you have then real or not? Would it be possible without the help of an app? Will you leave it to an app to create a happily ever after just for you? Readers would have to evaluate for themselves if the pros far outweighs the cons of the app Audrey made. And then you also have to question how it was made, because even in programming, certain ethics must be upheld and rules must not be broken. The story gets complicated because of that and it's this complexity that makes me love the story even more.
The world Audrey lives mirrors ours, where technology has taken over our lives in bigger ways than we thought possible. The Boyfriend App certainly is a timely novel where a lot of the teens today can learn a lesson or two from. Add a few bytes of fun, a couple of MBs of romance and teenage angst and a few chunks of overall geeky awesomeness and techy talk, The Boyfriend App is a delightfully cute, fast read that will appeal to a lot of people, techy or not, geeky or not, teenager or not. Funny, romantic with a little bit of a bite in the heart, it's one enjoyable read!
Content (plot, story flow, character):
Reading The Boyfriend App makes me want to go back to high school, though I'm pretty sure I wasn't a techy then.
Reading The Boyfriend App makes me want to go back to high school, though I'm pretty sure I wasn't a techy then.
Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!
Book Cover:
Super cute cover!
Super cute cover!
GIVEAWAY TIME!
WIN 2 SIGNED ARCS OF THE BOYFRIEND APP!
WIN 2 SIGNED ARCS OF THE BOYFRIEND APP!
Rules:
Open to PH residents only
Must be at least 13 to enter
Ends May 1st
Ends May 1st
I think it looks really cute!
ReplyDeleteIt actually is! Have you read it? If not, give it a try!~ ^^
DeleteI think it sounds really fun =)
ReplyDeleteit is! I hope you read it once it comes out. it's really cute! ^^
DeleteOops, sorry I didn't realise this was open only to PH residents! I get in the zone and forget how to read, lol.
DeleteBut yeah, it seems really cute, and I'm definitely going to be getting it at some point =)
I'm not super techy so I'm glad to know that those elements rang true-they were really interesting to read but they probably didn't make as much sense to me as they did to you.
ReplyDeleteSome terms she used can be very confusing, but I think she was able to explain some (if not all) of it and I think that helps a lot especially for non-techy people. But yeah, maybe that's just me responding to the book better since I'm a little bit familiar with the theme? I hope you get to read it soon! ^^
DeleteThis looks really interesting!! I like tech-stuff, but I don't know much about tech stuff, so a story where the author gives good info without infodumping sounds perfect.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always love a good story that asks "just because we can make an app/program/machine that does something, does that mean we *should*?"
The last sentence on your comment pretty much sums up what the book is really about. ;)
DeleteSounds really good! It really appeals to the geek in me (:
ReplyDeleteIt also sounds like something I'll be using to annoy my ex-robotics club(; I can see myself demanding an app haha
^_^
Aha! This book sounds perfect for you then ^^
DeleteAnd go for it! It wouldn't hurt to ask? Thanks for the comment!
I want to read it so bad! The concept is original; I've never read anything like this. Thanks for the giveaway. :)
ReplyDeleteLeigh
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