I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book was a cute romantic story for teens and who doesn't love the name, Tobias. Great writing and an excellent addition to the collection.

This book was so cute!!!!

First of all, though it *is* technically a standalone, our MC is the sister of the MC of the first Bookish Boyfriends novel, A DATE WITH DARCY - a cute little connection that I didn't expect!

Even better, their sibling relationship was not only beautifully written (and I love BOTH sisters), but it was SO relatable. A sister myself (albeit an older one), I loved seeing things from Rory's younger point of view, and connected with Merri during every one of her appearances.

Toby is also just so... adorable!!!! And oblivious! But that just makes him even more adorable!!! *Swoon*

Similar to what other reviewers have said, A THE BOY NEXT STORY had me smiling literally ALL the way through, from page 1 to the very end. It's a lighthearted, adorable rom-com read inspired by some of history's greatest pieces of literature (including one of my all-time favourites, LITTLE WOMEN!!). I can't wait for the next instalment of the series!

What are some of your favorite reads from 2019? One of mine is definitely BOY NEXT STORY by Tiffany Schmidt! I feel head over heels when I read this book back in January - even though it made me cry in public!! Which I totally wasn’t expecting but this is just how much this book made me feel!! 💖


BOY NEXT STORY is the story of Rory, younger sibling to Merri who we meet in A DATE WITH DARCY. The two books can be read as standalone but I do highly recommend reading in order to fully understand this world and these characters. Rory has been in love with Toby since forever, Toby is in love with Merri, and Merri is in love with Fielding. But despite all that this is not a love triangle book! If anything this is a book about sisters!

And boy does Schmidt definitely get what it means to be a little sister! The relationship between Rory and Merri is complicated and real and I just felt it so hard!! It brought me back to high school and my own relationship with my older sister. This is what made me cry - just how well Schmidt wrote this relationship. She nailed it 1000%!

Not only did Schmidt totally get the sibling relationship she also made me look at 2 classic books in an entirely new way. I’m not gonna lie, when I heard the books used for this mashup I turned up my nose and went “ugh” because I disliked them both so much in school. But that just goes to show you what an amazing teacher Schmidt used to be because I became excited about these books and have been thinking of reading them both since I finished BOY NEXT STORY!

Highly recommend this one to all!

Thank you netgalley and publisher for this early copy.

I had a hard to connecting with the writing style/plot. This was not for me.

I actually did originally receive this as a digital ARC earlier this year, but I didn’t have an e-reader that was compatible with PDF files yet so I had to say thanks but no thanks back then. And I’m super sad that I had to do that now because The Boy Next Story by Tiffany Schmidt was such a cute read.

I am glad at the same time I was able to buy the ebook and just read it in the format I wanted to read in.

The Boy Next Story was about Merri’s little sister, Aurora, who goes by Rory. Rory has basically been in love with Toby forever, but she always thought of Toby as Merri’s even though Merri is now dating Fielding. Toby did like Merri for the longest time, so it was a complicated Shakespeare type of drama going on.

I actually couldn’t get into this book at first because my freshmen year of high school was AGES ago and I almost didn’t read this book a second time but I did and I am glad I did because Toby became one of my favorite characters ever. I just absolutely loved him, even when he was just being oblivious about stuff basically. My heart just went out to him about his family situation and I just really loved him. I really loved the fact that he was best friends with Rory too, that whole plot was just adorable. And I just loved him in the ending.

I think I ended up liking this story more than the first book, which I didn’t think was possible. Maybe it’s a younger sister thing because I’m the youngest too.

The Boy Next Story was a five star read because it had me smiling the whole way through, even on lunch breaks at work. I had to hide my grins when people were walking by because it’s kind of weird to be alone in a break room and just smiling at the e-reader because it’s just words on the screen…. but they were just grin worthy words, so anybody that gave the book a chance would understand, I hope. I loved the characters and the story line and how identifiable the characters were. I can’t wait to see what is next by this author!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
 
I enjoyed this book even though I wasn’t sure how much I would at first. Mostly because the first time I ever watched Little Women, in the end, I was so mad at the way it turned out. I thought for sure Jo and Laurie would end up, and when they didn’t and he ended up with Amy instead, I wasn’t even interested in reading the book. I don't know why I was so angry about it, but I was. So I was a tad skeptical going into it. I’m excited to say that this book has made me want to read Little Women now. I plan to do so this year sometime. I also plan on reading The Great Gatsby. 
 
Aurora, but called Rory for short, is the youngest of 3 girls. Her oldest sister Lilly is about to get married, and her other sister Merri, who is only 10 months older than her, is the complete opposite of her. Merri is fun, adventurous, and loves attention, and to top it off, is best friends with the boy she has been in love with forever, Toby. Toby is the boy next door who has been friends with both Merri and Rory since they were littles. He is 2 years older than Aurora, so he ended up being closer to Merri than her. Toby and Merri do everything together, and Rory tags along sometimes, but mostly feels like the third wheel. While Rory is in love with Toby, Toby only has eyes for Merri. Except, Merri is dating Toby’s friend and is super happy with him. Merri has no want to have any kind of romantic relationship with Toby, ever. 
 
Not only does Rory have boy problems, but she is also having trouble with her grades. Rory is an amazing artist, so she does well in her advanced art class, but she isn’t getting her English or her math. Her English teacher, Mrs. Gregoire always assigns books tailored to her class. This year she assigned the Great Gatsby, which Rory could relate to a bit because of all the unrequited love, which she is also dealing with. Bur when they finish this book, Mrs. Gregoire gives Rory Little Women to read for “extra credit” and it hits a lot closer to home than Rory thought it would. 
 
As Rory tries to get her grades up, especially since she has a chance to go the big city and study a week with an artist that she loves, she also is figuring out how to deal with her love problems. She has made 2 great friends that help her with this, but she still has no idea what to do and is not the best at saying what she is feeling. I liked Rory a lot. There were times that I got mad at her, but then I’d remember that she was only 15 years old. But overall, I thought that Rory was a great character who I ended up connecting with. Her sisters and Toby were just as lovable. 
 
I hate that I didn’t read the first book in the series, Finding Darcy. I did not realize that it’s about Merri and Fielding!!! So I'm going to be reading that one soon. I am excited to read about their story and see what Mrs. Gregoire did for them. I definitely recommend reading that one first though, before this one. I’m sure it’s not needed, but I wish I would have done it that way. I am super excited to see who is going to be next on Mrs. Gregoire’s list!!!!!

I really enjoyed the first book in this series. However, once I tried to read the sequel I was not as captivated. I wasn't too interested in Rory's story as I was Merrilee. I may want to try to read this book again someday, but I just was not as drawn in as I had been with A Date With Darcy and unfortunately ended up having this book be a part of my DNF pile.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

After immediately finishing my copy of A Date With Darcy, I hate to dive right into book 2, The Boy Next Story. Now, I adored the romance in the first book, and was really intrigued by Rory (Aurora), so had high hopes for this book. I wasn't disappointed, but I will admit, early on, that I wasn't as invested in this book as much, but that's basically because the Pride & Prejudice story line was my favourite, and The Great Gatsby and Little Women, which are the books Rory reads in this instalment, aren't classics I'm overly keen in. Rory, the little sister of the Campbell family, has always felt a bit left out by her sisters. Lilly and Merri always seem to do everything together, and treat her as an afterthought, if she is ever lucky enough to be included. A fantastic artist, she knows that when she grows up she wants nothing more than to pursue that career path. But, like her sister, she is a bit of an outsider at school, and in her advanced art class, the other students, bar one - Huck (who seems to be her only friend in school - treat her horrendously, even going so far as to destroy her artwork as they are jealous of her skill. Luckily, she gets to spend her commutes to school with neighbour, and long time crush, Toby; the only issue here, he's been irrevocably in love with her sister, Merri, for as long as she can remember. She wants to get over him, and when reading The Great Gatsby in English, she realises she is the Gatsby, and it won't turn out well. Trying to get over him, her friends, Huck and Clara, create a plan to make him jealous, with Huck standing in as a fake boyfriend, and, you know what, it seems to work. Toby becomes her maths tutor, after Rory failed a class test, and is on academic report, and we can see the chemistry start to sparkle and fizz in their interactions. As soon as Ms. Gregoire decides that Little Women would be a perfect book for Rory, everything starts to fall into place, with the youngest sister, Amy, resonating with her so well.

I sort of liked Rory's character a bit more than Merri - she seemed more rounded and real - but the Gatsby plot really didn't interest me. Once we got to the Little Women plot, that's when I became more invested in the story, and I loved Rory's independence, what with her taking ownership of her feelings, standing up to Toby, and to her bullies, and earning her place at the prestigious artist camp in New York of the Christmas holidays. She really grows and matures from the start of the book, until the ending, and I felt like her character was just more of a proper person, you know? Her and Toby grew on me. At first, I thought it would be forced, but as we got past the half way mark, I could see the real feelings there, and began to ship them so much. I loved how her self worth, and realisation that she deserved more, manifested, not just in her romantic relationships, but also with her relationship with her sisters, which were quite bad at times. The ending of this book left me feeling so warm, that I immediately had to go to twitter and ask Tiffany if there would be more books, and there's going to be 2 more! I can't wait for next year now :)

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the way Classic books were integrated with the story, it was a different approach to the classics that I' haven't seen before and it worked very well. I also really loved seeing Aurora evolve and mature through out the story. I have not yet read the first novel in this series but I fully intend on going back and doing so so I can be caught up for when book three comes out.

3.5 stars

In this 2nd book in the Bookish Boyfriends series, Rory is a freshman at tony prep school Hero High where she, her older sister Merri, and sister’s friend Eliza are the scholarship kids. Toby, a sophomore lacrosse player side-lined for the season with an injury, is the boy-next-door. They’ve all been friends since sandbox days which is where Rory kissed him as a pre-schooler…and she’s been in love with him ever since. Unfortunately, he only has eyes for Merri. Rory got into Hero High because of her prodigious art talent, but her fellow art students are routinely sabotaging her work, seeing her as a threat to winning the once-every-four-years competition to work with a famous artist for a week in New York City. How the teacher fails to see that the destruction of her work isn’t accidental is incomprehensible, especially when Rory might lose her place at the school if she doesn’t keep her grades up. When she needs some math tutoring, Toby volunteers and, as the months ensue, their friendship strengthens and they begin to see each other as more than just the crush and the little sister. Is there a chance Toby will ever see her as more than a substitute?

If you picked this book up based on the publisher’s blurb, you might be a bit confused when nearly the first half of the book focuses on The Great Gatsby, not Little Women. And, if you’re a fan of the latter, you’ll find many of the comparisons loose, at best. Merri is nothing like Jo March in looks or personality; the father isn’t away at war, but is very present; and Amy and Laurie are adults by the end of the Little Women whereas Rory and Toby are 15 and 17. Also, the “quirky teacher” who makes fantasies come to life isn’t Miss Frizzle for the literary set, but just a teacher who knows her students well enough to put the right books in their hands and hope that they’ll make the connection between the characters and their own lives.

Overall, this is a cute YA romance that would make a fun summer read. In all likelihood, most teens haven’t read Little Women, so the loose comparisons won’t bother them. They’ll be eager for the 3rd book in the series.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Amulet Paperbacks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I adored Merrilee's tale in A Date with Darcy and I've been excited ever since to see what will happen with Rory and Little Women. It was really great to see more of Rory, especially a new side of Rory. I don't remember much of her in A Date With Darcy other than her role as Lydia in the party scene with Merrilee's Romeo, but what was great about this book was that that we didn't just see more of Rory. We saw her side of her relationship with Merrilee. We saw her as the prickly little sister and now we get to see Merrilee as the older sister who keeps leaving poor Rory out of things. We see why Rory sarcastic and bitchy to Merrilee. We see the defences she's built up in response to the very close relationship between Merrilee and Lily.

It broke my heart though. Merrilee's story came with enthusiasm and a love of books and a boy who you know she's misjudging from the start. Rory's story comes with a lot of loneliness and longing and a constant of anxiety about how they're going to do the bit in Little Women with Beth. I fell in love with Rory so much in this book and I wanted to cry at everything that went wrong for her.

This book had everything. Romantic gestures, strong emotions and even references the Magic School Bus! But I do have two parts that I had problems with. The first was that I felt that Toby switched his attention from Merrilee to Rory a little too quickly. Especially considering we all knew that it was coming, not just from the plot of little woman, but because the other characters made no secret of the fact that they knew it too, I feel like we could have had a lot more little things to show the feelings that he had for Rory that he wasn't noticing because of his feelings for Merrilee.

The second was that it spoilt the Great Gatsby for me!! I signed up for this book to read about Little Women, I wasn't expecting to get a book I hadn't read ruined for me in the process. Though I can forgive it, because it sounds like it's not something I need to read anyway.

Looking forward to see what's more to come in this world where life imitates art!

If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would!

I loved the first book in this series, and I was a little worried I would not like the change in voice with the change in POV character. But I loved Rory's story even more than Merrilee's! This is such a meaty story, I felt like I got 2 books in one with this. All the sharp, snarky stuff from Rory in book 1 takes on new meaning in this book. And I *loved* all the things Rory processes and learns about herself and others in this. I kept flagging pages where the emotion of the story or the writing really grabbed me. There were so many stellar moments.

I wasn't even 1/4 through the ARC before I pre-ordered a copy of this for myself. I know I will want to read this again and dog-ear pages and tell everyone I know to give it a try. This was an absolute delight. I can't wait for book 3!!

Let's start off by saying that you don't have to read the first book in this series to read this one. Even though they are connected in a few ways, The Boy Next Story can be read as a standalone.

That being said, I have to sat that The Boy Next Story is a perfect summer read. We meet Aurora (Rory) who is an artistic type and quite talented. She's more of an introvert and is having a hard time finding her place at school and maybe even at home. I loved Rory, because she isn't the perfect teenage girl about to start a romantic journey. She has a hard time with school, works hard and is still insecure about many things. Rory works at it though and I think it's amazing the author shows us a character like this as well. Your dreams still work even when you have to work a bit harder.

The Boy Next Story mixes The Great Gatsby and Little Women in the plot and even though I haven't read either of these, I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Enough is explained to understand why it's used in the book, but it's not too much. I could still pick up these books and want to read them. My favorite part of these books being included was the English teacher who seemed to know what books a student was needing. I love the idea of a book helping someone understand themselves more and their dreams.

On top of amazing connections with books, there are some awesome characters. Rory becomes friends with Huck and I loved his character. He seems really genuine and I honestly wouldn't mind seeing him in his own story. Toby, the boy next door, is really fun as well. I liked getting to know him while reading this book and the romance between him and Rory was really cute. Not too much, but just enough.

Besides the friends we meet along the way, a lot of time is spent with Rory's family. I felt bad at times for Rory, because she really felt left out. Their relationships do develop during this book and it was nice seeing Rory stand up for herself and start telling them how she felt.

All in all, this was such a cute story! I definitely plan on picking up the first one soon. If it's anything like this one, I need to read it this summer.

Rory is the youngest Campbell girl who secretly crush her neighbor, Toby. She is an artist and loves to paint. However, her English grade is failing.

I like how quirky, charming and interesting the characters are. It’s always fun to read books that you wish to have sister like Merri. It’s also appealing to see Toby and Rory’s relationship. Rory felt alone and struggle how make friends with her art classmates but she grows and becomes stronger and admirable person.

This Boy Next Story is easy read, entertaining but there are some parts that it drags me not to read it. There are moments that I am losing interest because it may sound not mature (maybe it is just me being sensitive). But overall it is light, sweet, cute and interesting read.

1. Endearingly relatable and reminiscent of the awkward and clunky teen phase.
"Just once, can’t I identify with the star? Why am I always the secondary character? The second choice? Gatsby, Amy–don’t I get to be the hero in fiction?"

Delving into this book was quite daunting at first because I didn’t realize until then that the MC is 15 here. I thought that this might not appeal to me anymore and I’m scared to feel apathetic if I find the usual tropes for YA Contemporary here. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

"Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Well, I had the sweat part down and totally needed a new deodarant, one that was Hero High panic-proof."

Rory is awkward, an introvert, a vegan, an artist, and has a hopeless crush on her childhood friend and neighbor Toby. Cute right? I’m currently in architecture school (in my last year) and reading about Rory’s inclination to the arts and her tendencies sparked nostalgia. I mean, I’m not as amazing as Rory’s talent for drawing but, I loved how Tiffany Schmidt fleshed out the aspect of art here that reminded me so much of my creative process when I was a teen up to this day. This was quite personal for me and I can’t help but feel so elated to see my teenage self represented here.

Her fears, her doubts, her excessive overthinking, her awkward and clunky self was quite hilarious, cringy, and undoubtedly relatable and believable. I think if you look closely we all could find parts of our vulnerable selves in Rory.

2. It’s not just a love story. It’s a story of self-growth, self-worth and, discusses the importance of a healthy nurturing environment for an adolescent.

YA Contemporary was once notorious for the absence of family support in their storylines. However, this kind of landscape now seems to shift as the years go by and The Boy Next Story is no different in following this route. I love how this book reinforces the importance of a family and a healthy social circle to a teenager realistically and how it influences and projects their disposition in life. I could not stress this enough, but realistic representation of a family’s influence on belief systems of an individual is a must have for every coming of age book.

3. Does not gloss over sensitive issues and subtopics while adeptly discussing them in a simplified manner.
One thing I liked about this as well is how we get to be introduced to other interests like musical scores, the arts, sibling dynamics, high school woes, the malleable nature of friendships, the multifaceted concept of privilege and, even a commentary on vegans.

On vegans:

"People assume that vegans are moralistic and when they find out I’m not one hundred percent committed…you’d think I’d gone out and slaughtered the animals myself, or that they’d just won some big victory because I ate butter."

Truth be told, I salute vegans and their lifestyles but reading a nuanced take on their choices is quite refreshing and educational.

On privileges:

"We had more than a lot of people had, and I was lucky, but sometimes it was hard to keep perspective when surrounded by classmates who lived like Gatsby."

Rory’s comment on this one reminded me of the social pressures every teenager feels in a high school because let’s face it, we all experience this. (or so I think) Studying from a private high school is a privilege but as a teenager, one would usually fail to appreciate one’s own privileges when faced with so much more from others.

On friendships and love:

"Maybe that’s why math and I never get along–I wanted the least balanced relationship in the world to work. I kept trying to force the variables into a solution."

"I held my breath, because I wanted to be his no one. The person he had all sorts of first shares with. But more than that, I wanted to be here and hear him in this moment and not be caught up in my own daydreams and swoons that I missed the reality. I’d done that before. More and more I was realizing how often I’d done that: projected the Toby in my head onto the guy beside me instead of appreciating the flawed and fantastic person he was."

On siblings:

“Girl talk.” Merri said it like a demand. like a threat. And it sort of felt like that way, like confessions were going to be removed with a dental drill or pulled with my fingernails.

On art and music:

"New York is a combination of breatheless beauty and soul-stealing sorrow. But even its poverty and garbage can be picturesque with the right framing and backdrop. As an artist, I’m trained to look for compositions. It’s enough to make me forget for a moment that that pile of trash bags is someone’s belongings, or that that blackened toe peeking out from tattered cardboard is someone’s foot. Those are the type of reminders I need–the ones that cancel out all the promise of mystery and beauty and force me to consider things with rational thoughts. Because New York City does that–it teases you with ambition, the type that;s swept up Nick Carraway. But it also doesn’t hide the carcasses of other people’s smashed dreams. The trick is to force yourself to see them."

"There were moments when the composition made my blood race with secondand suspense. Moments it slowed in sympathy for whatever sadness was being conveyed. And a moment where the music matched my own hapiness."

4. Reiterates (ironically) the influential powers a book possesses.

This book is about a girl finding her self through a book’s influence. What a perfect premise. I love that this effectively does that to Rory as well as to the readers!

I know you’re off for some big adventures over break, but the right book can help you stay grounded, keep you connected to home…and make things a little easier, or at least a little clearer when those you love disappoint you.

The Boy Next Story might not be appealing to some at first, but it is definitely worth a read with its wholesome message.

The Boy Next Story was bubblegum cute and I think a lot of young readers are going to love Rory's story.

"Avoiding the things you're afraid of doesn't make them go away," she said softly.
"I want you to remember that. When you keep them locked inside they have power, but when you confront them, you give yourself the power to fix them and let go."

.. I haven't personally read Little Women but my favorite part of this story was the way Tiffany Schmidt brought to life those characters through her own in a brand new story. It was so fun to read about Rory and watch as she grew more confident. Being an introvert myself I truly related to her and I know so many others will as well. Plus, I'm such a sucker for childhood friends to love stories. Sweet fluff all around, friends. <3

Last year when I reviewed A Date with Darcy (previously Bookish Boyfriends) I said: “…I have read a couple of books by Tiffany Schmidt, and I have met her in person. Bookish Boyfriends is probably the most Tiffany book I have ever read.” After reading The Boy Next Story, I stand corrected. This is the most Tiffany book I have ever read! I know that sounds weird to say and if you have never met her you may not understand, but I could feel her and her love for writing and teaching and the classic novels in every turn of the page. Honestly, I couldn’t have loved this book more if I tried and that is because I could tell how much Tiffany loved crafting it.

The Boy Next Story is Rory’s story. The youngest of the Campbell girls, Rory has always had trouble finding her place. She is the artistic one, the forgotten one, the one that feels like the extra. Now at a new school, she is having even more trouble. Between her failing math grade to being blatantly disliked in her once favorite class, art, Rory is having a hard time. And her crush on her neighbor, Toby isn’t helping since he is still head over heels for her sister, Merrilee. All Rory wants is to be seen and to be herself. Now she just needs to figure out how to do that…and manage not to flunk out of Hero High. Good thing her English teacher is some kind of magic.

I have loved Rory since the first time she was introduced in A Date with Darcy. There was something about her that connected with me and I think that is what also made her book so much more special to read. I 100% loved everything about this book. I loved Rory and her sisters and her group of friends. I love her relationship with Toby and with her art. I loved how lost she felt and alone and how that made her a better person when she grew and learned from all of it. And I loved how, as a reader, I got to watch her grow and develop into the fantastic person that she is.

I say this all the time, but reviewing a book you love is so hard to do. My love for The Boy Next Story is difficult to put into the appropriate words. I loved it so much and I feel like that isn’t enough to say. I feel like I’m doing this amazing book a disservice by only saying that, but honestly that I all I have. That and I need you to go out and buy a copy and fall in love with Rory and Toby and all the others like I did.

Second in the series. This English teacher gives students books to read and their lives parallel the story. This book has the Great Gatsby and Amy’s side of Little Women. I liked the second half of the book a lot more than the first- possibly because I’m a bigger fan of the Little Women story. It’s a cute, creative YA series. I think my middle school students would enjoy it. I can tell there’s a third book featuring their friend but I can’t figure out what books that one will parallel. Excited to find out!

My two favorite books from childhood were Old Yeller and Little Women. The first I will never again read as an adult, not even an adaptation, because of the ending–Old Yeller! 😦 . And, the second, well, keep ’em coming, however, I doubt that many, if any, adaptations or revisits will be quite as magical as Tiffany Schmidt’s The Boy Next Story .

While you might think it would be easy to retell a story with magnificent results, because the story’s already told for you, it is, rather, a daunting task because the story has to be different enough and yet still be appealing. The Boy Next Story. Schmidt scores on both of those points.

Rory is at 14/15 already a talented artist so much so that she is the only Freshmen in the advanced art class. While this might seem excellent, it becomes a minefield when her upper level classmates view her as extremely tough competition for a contest that she doesn’t even know anything about. While she deals with daily sabotage of her art, she also has to deal with failing math. Her new school just isn’t what she thought it would be. On top of that, there’s the fact that her forever crush, Toby, is in love with her older sister, Merri, even though Merri is dating Toby’s best friend. Everything looks a little bleak.

The Boy Next Story is magical. Literally. And, figuratively. The characters are all multi-layered and while on some level they have been inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s, Schmidt has made them very much her own. Rory eats a plant-based diet but doesn’t identify as vegan because it’s not for the animals. Now, this might not strike you as unusual, but it’s almost knee-jerk anymore for a vegan teenager to be an animal lover. I found it compelling, certainly enough to mention that this isn’t the case here. Also, Rory is initially a doormat, but she changes and grows throughout the novel. She is probably one of the most multi-faceted characters I’ve read lately in YA literature.

Then there is the romance. There are charming bits. Slightly heart-breaking bits. Big smiley bits. And laugh-out-loud, sometimes cringe-worthy bits. I loved it!

Beyond the romance, Little Women was, of course, about sisters, and The Boy Next Story is no different. I loved the solidarity, the misunderstandings, the realizations, the bonding, the support, the love.

I almost forgot to mention the actual writing. Schmidt has an eye for detail but also an ear for the rhythm of language and some of the passages are beautifully written.

I want to gush on, tell you that I just bought the first book in the series before I even finished this one because I was enamored, because I wanted this magic and all the feels to keep happening. The Boy Next Story is definitely one my favorite YA novels in a long time. It can be read as a standalone.

If you’re a fan of Little Women and modern YA literature, I highly recommend The Boy Next Story .

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sooooooooo cute! I think I enjoyed this even more than the first. Being an introvert myself, I could relate to Rory. And hello, I love the boy-next-door trope too.

It also contains loads of the same cliches we are accustomed to...and give me angst, but I still loved it.

I will say that I wasn't necessarily expecting all the painful moments, it was well done.