The Boyfriend App

Cover image and 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?

I think I was drawn to this book because of the cover. I loved it!

This book started out okay. I was really interested in the technological aspect of the story, where Audrey would provide some information about coding and hacking and building her app.

I really liked Audrey and her friends. I have major affection for ‘geeky’ characters, who talk about technology and video games, and the kinds of things that Audrey and her friends were into. However, some of the characters and events in the book were over the top and kind of cartoony to me, and felt out of place with the rest of the tone of the story.

The story moved along quickly, but I do wish it had taken more time with some aspects. For example, I wanted more of an explanation at the end about Audrey’s dad and what really happened. I was also hoping for more between Audrey and Blake. I wasn’t necessarily hoping for a major showdown or a tearful reconciliation, but I got the impression that they had suddenly come to some sort of understanding rather quickly.

Overall, this was a light, fluffy read. I finished reading it in October on a long train ride to Toronto, and while it was a fine book to pass the time, my feelings about it are kind of average and I don’t think it’s going to be one that really stays with me.