Sam@WLABB
Written on Mar 1, 2016
Again, overall good impression. Fun and entertaining read.
Seeking to win a scholarship offered by global computing corporation Public, programming genius Audrey McCarthy writes a matchmaking app but discovers her results may be skewed by a program Public is secretly using to influence teens.
- ISBN10 0062285025
- ISBN13 9780062285027
- Publish Date 30 April 2013
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
- Imprint Balzer and Bray
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Audiobook (MP3)
- Duration 7 hours and 31 minutes
- Language English
Reviews
Again, overall good impression. Fun and entertaining read.
Briana @ Pages Unbound
Written on Dec 30, 2013
The product did not live up to it. I actually have a few complaints about The Boyfriend App. First, the writing is choppy and sporadic. Sise will often be describing a scene, only to take a break to make a random observation, usually about a character’s appearance. Nothing is more anticlimactic than reading about an interesting conversation or exploit, only for it be interrupted for a completely irrelevant notice that some character is wearing glasses or has a tattoo.
Second, the technological aspects are not handled well. Audrey is apparently a computer science genius and hacker extraordinaire, but I got that sense mostly from the narrative voice hammering it into my brain, not from the story itself. Sure, Audrey does some pretty techy stuff (like designing an app!), but the actual actions come so easily and quickly to her that they seem more like magic than real accomplishments. On the other end of the spectrum, Sise throws in some technological explanations for the enlightenment of her readers, but they are incredibly basic. I do not code at all. I cannot make a computer program or an app, and I could not hack into a completely unprotected program—yet almost nothing that was explained to me in this book was new to me. Sise’s intended audience, teenagers, has grown up on technology unlike any other generation. I imagine many of them will find Sise’s explanations rather basic, as well, and I wish she would have delved a little deeper.
Third, I was disoriented by The Boyfriend App because, going into it, I assumed it was supposed to be a realistic contemporary novel. Reading it, I found it to be closer to some type of contemporary daydream. This is fine, except I have no idea whether Sise intended it to smack a bit of fantasy, or if she is just very disconnected from how high schools work. For instance, once the Boyfriend App starts gaining national popularity, Audrey becomes an instant celebrity. When she goes to school the next morning, dozens of students are waiting outside for her arrival, chanting her name, maybe even waving signs (I don’t remember). The point is…the other students are acting as if Audrey is Jennifer Lawrence or something, which would never happen in a real high school. Halfway through the book, I sincerely suspected that Audrey was going to wake up at the end and realize she had dreamed the entire thing.
However, all these faults pale in comparison with the fact that book shines a positive light on rape. I can only assume it does so unintentionally, but this book got through a lot of people—the author, test readers, an agent, editors and a publisher—and no one found it problematic. That in itself is problematic to me.
Audrey creates two versions of the Boyfriend App in the book. The first bears similarities to a mobile dating site. Users fill out a personality questionnaire, and then the app finds potential romantic matches. When a girl is within 100 yards of a match, she gets a notification from her phone telling her the name and location of her match. She can then decide to approach him, or pass. (The app is also supposed to work for girls seeking girls and guys seeking guys, and who gets the notification in these cases is never explained.) This is slightly stalkerish, in my opinion, but both parties signed up for the app knowing how it works, so power to them.
The real problem is the Boyfriend App 2.0. Audrey hacks into the app contest’s host company’s system and discovers they are using inaudible sound waves to persuade their products’ users to buy even more of their products. Audrey modifies this technology and creates an app with which girls can point their phones at an intended target and force them to lust after them—then act on their lust. That’s right; girls can use their phones to force guys to hug them, kiss them, grope them, and presumably go farther (though the book is kept PG-13 and no intercourse is mentioned).
No one in the book has a problem with this. Not Audrey, or her friends, or the male victims, or any news sources or government agencies who release articles about Audrey and her app. In fact, the moral issue of the story is framed to be Audrey’s hacking and theft of the sound wave technology. People are more concerned that Audrey stole the technology that enables rape, than they are that she is enabling rape. (Incidentally, no one seems overly concerned that the same technology is being used by a large corporation to force people to buy their products either.)
I do not dismiss many books on moral grounds. I enjoy a number of stories that include or even encourage actions I object to, and I like a lot of books that go so far as to directly attack my personal beliefs. However, I found the attitude towards rape in The Boyfriend App absolutely appalling, and I am frankly surprised that so few other readers/reviewers have objected to it. I am disgusted and offended, and I am sure public reaction to this story would be entirely different if it included a “Girlfriend App” that allowed guys to force girls to hook up with them. I would not in good conscience recommend this book to anyone.
Kelly
Written on Sep 4, 2013
http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-boyfriend-app-by-katie-sise.html
The Boyfriend App was cute. It was a light, fluffy and fun read that will appeal to computer nerds, teens and those who have ever been at the mercy of a mean girl. The technical terms were overwhelming, but luckily it didn't venture any further than a few paragraphs, or The Boyfriend App may have read as though it were a manual, rather than a novel. Audrey is an intelligent girl with no self esteem, battling bullies and a crush on fellow computer enthusiast Aiden. Readers will follow her journey from the shy meek girl, to corporate hunter.
Entertaining and great for teens.
Rowena
Written on Apr 30, 2013
Audrey’s father died and he plays a big part of her life because she had a really good relationship with her father and she misses him dearly. She strives each day to live by the words of advice her father left her and she struggles with that, especially when she wants answers from people that are not giving her the answers.
There was a bunch of drama that I wasn’t expecting when I started this book but overall, I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t a fan of Blake and I wasn’t a fan of Xander but I was a huge fan of Aidan. I loved that he was a programmer just like Audrey and not the most popular boy that is the captain of the football team. I liked that he was a normal kid with a huge crush on the main character but was too shy to approach her the way that he wanted to. I really, really liked the romance that blossomed between Audrey and Aidan. They were too cute.
Some things that I didn’t understand was how all of those adults that worked at Public got away with threatening minors the way that they did. The asshole-ishness of Blake’s Dad and even Blake’s complete turn on Audrey. It didn’t seem like there was a discussion about what Blake’s Dad told Blake but I guess that’s the way of teenagers.
The whole story was interesting and I really enjoyed the computer geekery from all of the trogs. I adored Lindsay’s character and her relationship with Nigit was too cute for words. The friendships that Audrey had with Aidan, Mindy and Nigit was cute too. Nerds rule and I wish my daughter was a nerd but I think she’s a jock. *sigh* Either way, this was an enjoyable contemporary read that I breezed right through. Sise did a great job of sucking me into the programming world of Audrey and her friends and I thought Audrey’s voice was very easy to follow along with and her character was easy to connect to. It’s a great summer read, you guys should definitely give it a go. =)
Ashley
Written on Apr 16, 2013
Fluffy, quirky, a bit unrealistic, and totally unexpected—all words that describe The Boyfriend App. None of those are necessarily bad things, but I think they pretty accurately fit this book.
There are some very specific things I liked about this book, and some things I didn't like. So I'm going to break it down list-style:
Likes
* For the most part I liked Audrey. She was nerdy and imperfect. She wasn't always the smartest person (which I'll get to in the dislikes), but I mostly enjoyed her voice and attitude.
* I really liked the coding parts! When Audrey was building the app, I was geeking out over the programming and the language. I LOVED it!
* I like how The Boyfriend App version 1.0 was realistic. At first I thought it was actually going to work properly and legitimately match you with your perfect boyfriend, but then it kind of backfired, which I thought was a realistic approach, and more along the lines of what I was expecting.
* There were some really funny moments in the book; mostly just small sentences here and there that made me chuckle, but I really enjoyed them! Just random things like this:
I rolled over and stared at the current love of my life: Hector, my custom-rig desktop I built myself. Hector was like the best kind of boyfriend: smart, trustworthy, and always there when I needed him. I watched his green light blink and listened to the purr of his fans as though he were trying to signal he felt the same way about me.
—The Boyfriend App by Kasie Sise
Dislikes
* I really didn't like the technology substitutes. Instead of this book talking about Facebook, iPhones, iPods, iTunes, and Apple/Samsung rivalry, it made up alternatives. We got:
Public Party (a social networking site), buyJams (music-for-purchase website), the buyPlayer (handheld device to play said music), and then, of course, the buyPhone, the Beast (a handheld computer), and the Fiend (a laptop).
—The Boyfriend App by Katie Sise
Is it just me or are those the most lame names ever. buyPhone? No thanks. At first I was annoyed that the author used alternatives at all... especially when "real" things like Twitter are mentioned. So why have a substitute for Facebook? And instead of talking about the real Apple/Samsung rivalry, we had whole new companies called Public and Infinitum. When something is being marketed as a contemporary book, I just don't like it to have all kinds of fake, made up companies and technologies. But once it got to the end, I think I understood why the author chose to make up companies instead of using real ones. Portraying Apple as some kind of company that illegally brainwashes teenagers into buying its products might be a bit awkward.
* I was REALLY confused by the romance. At the beginning of the book, Audrey tells us she's obsessed with Xander, the unobtainable, super hot boyfriend of the queen bee bitch. But then whenever she looks at Aidan she gets all girly and blushy. It took me so long to figure out what the heck was going on. Does she like Xander or Aidan? Or both? Who the heck knows.
* Audrey was always going on about how she needed to start waitressing so she could help pay for college. WHAT? Waitressing is crap money. Audrey is supposedly an AMAZING programmer. Why would she not seek out programming freelance jobs, which actually pay a decent amount of money (unlike the laughable minimum wage that is waitressing)? You can easily find freelance jobs online.
* When Audrey decided to make The Boyfriend App 2.0 and utilize Public's big brainwashing software thing, I assumed she knew exactly what would happen. Since she's submitting the app to Public, they would obviously look at the code and immediately know that she knows their big secret. And since she already knew they were capable of blackmail, they were obviously going to try to blackmail her too. But when we actually got to that part, it almost seemed like she was SURPRISED that they found out, and then so unsure of what they would do to her. I thought it was super obvious.
Summing It Up
At about the 50% mark, this book took a very different turn. It went from being cute, funny, and fluffy, to having darker undertones and a lot less realism. The story became extremely unbelievable. It was still fun and enjoyable, but just be warned: it does start to border on kind of ridiculous.
I'm pretty confident that The Boyfriend App won't be a good book for everyone. Some people will hate the programming technical stuff, others probably won't like Audrey, some will be caught up with the absolute bitch that is Blake (Audrey's ex-best friend), and I'm sure a lot of people will snicker and roll their eyes as the plot progresses. That being said, I enjoyed this book. It was a bit quirky and it certainly wasn't perfect, but it called to my nerdy side. I actually wish that there was more programming in the book. The actual creation of the app—the bulk of the programming—was over in a heartbeat.
I think the book definitely did fizzle out at the end. It never felt fully resolved. Audrey gets some closure with her father, but we never actually get closer with Public, which is the big central conflict. But overall, this book was entertaining and it made me laugh. I'm glad I read it!