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The Boy Next Door
The new novel by Carnegie Medal nominated author Jenny Ireland. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Jennifer Niven.
Now she wasn’t Molly Cassidy, St Anne’s pain-in-the-hole princess. She was nine-year-old Molly who was my best friend in the whole world. Nobody had put her in the recovery position. All these people and they’d just left her like that . . . I held her hand until the ambulance came.
Finbar and Molly live next door to each other. When they were children, they spent hours and hours together. They were best friends. Until they weren't.
Now 18, Fin and Molly move in very different circles. Molly is popular, pretty, dating the most handsome boy in the whole school. Fin has one friend and he's pretty sure he hates his dad and his little sister.
At a party one night, though, they're pulled together in a way neither of them expects and then follows a year that will see them experiencing life-changing challenges, friendships, love and everything in between.
Now she wasn’t Molly Cassidy, St Anne’s pain-in-the-hole princess. She was nine-year-old Molly who was my best friend in the whole world. Nobody had put her in the recovery position. All these people and they’d just left her like that . . . I held her hand until the ambulance came.
Finbar and Molly live next door to each other. When they were children, they spent hours and hours together. They were best friends. Until they weren't.
Now 18, Fin and Molly move in very different circles. Molly is popular, pretty, dating the most handsome boy in the whole school. Fin has one friend and he's pretty sure he hates his dad and his little sister.
At a party one night, though, they're pulled together in a way neither of them expects and then follows a year that will see them experiencing life-changing challenges, friendships, love and everything in between.
358 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
September 19, 2024
I'm obsessed with this cover!
September 13, 2024
very cute but kinda annoying sometimes lol
September 30, 2025
This one gave me all the tears and cheers!
I feel this book is really underrated and I feel this book has more audience which has yet to find it.
The story tackles some heavy issues on grief, questionable parenting, an important health condition and young love.
The writing is pretty good and easily accessible. It is perfect for teens and YA lovers.
A very satisfying read!
I feel this book is really underrated and I feel this book has more audience which has yet to find it.
The story tackles some heavy issues on grief, questionable parenting, an important health condition and young love.
The writing is pretty good and easily accessible. It is perfect for teens and YA lovers.
A very satisfying read!
March 25, 2025
God I’m so obsessed with this author now, every book has been so good. It’s emotional and tackles tough subjects while bringing the romance (no spice).
March 30, 2024
And this is how you write romance for teens not adults!! Some lovely depth and storytelling here and who doesn’t love the boy next door romance? I ate it quickly and delightfully like the best Starbars should be eaten.
August 3, 2024
Read this as part of the reading role models scheme for school. It's brilliantly written, intense at times but unexpected and heartwarming. Loved it. A great book to teach resilience.
November 1, 2024
I really liked the brain injury angle! It was really interesting and adds another layer to the romance. i didn't like how Conor's character was used in the novel though, there were other parts of the plot that could have created conflict. Otherwise though, super cute! I'm a sucker for a childhood friends to lovers - what can I say?
December 18, 2024
This is a perfect young adult love story, it is romantic, it is full of heart and depth. I think many young girls can see themselves in Molly. I would have loved to have a book like this when I was younger, they way it discusses body image and self love. I deffinitely know what it feels like to feel sorry for someone else that have to look at you and therefor be disgusted by you. The book deals with all of this really well! So I hope it finds the way to as many readers as possible! 🥰
May 3, 2024
This was… surprisingly good?!
When I went into this book, I thought of it as a normal‘I fell in love with the boy next door’ but no..
Okay, I’ll say it now to get it out of the way. This book made me tear up from 50-100 pages in. The emotion thrown at me was so unexpected and depressing that I just had to read on. This is no I-fell-in-love-with-the-boy-next-door-and-there-was-a-bit-of-family-drama. This is a book of self discovery among the characters with a nicely played out bit of romance. I also respect that they sorted out their problems separately.
5 stars
When I went into this book, I thought of it as a normal‘I fell in love with the boy next door’ but no..
Okay, I’ll say it now to get it out of the way. This book made me tear up from 50-100 pages in. The emotion thrown at me was so unexpected and depressing that I just had to read on. This is no I-fell-in-love-with-the-boy-next-door-and-there-was-a-bit-of-family-drama. This is a book of self discovery among the characters with a nicely played out bit of romance. I also respect that they sorted out their problems separately.
5 stars
October 19, 2024
Okay but it was actually so good? Like the ending was a bit too cheesy for my liking but otherwise I really enjoyed the whole book. The characters were well fleshed out, the plot was interesting, the writing was simple but good, the dialogue wasn't cringe. Definitely worth to read it.
July 3, 2025
Content warnings: medical emergency, hospitalisation, death of a parent (in the past), grief, discussions of surgery, mental health, disordered eating, shitty parenting, body image issues, mentions of drug use
Okay, first things first: I've never seen a character with vitiligo on the page before. It wasn't mentioned as often as I would have liked, but it's definitely there. This was...less of a romance and more of a contemporary than I was expecting. This isn't a criticism in the slightest. I loved the romance that develops, but I also really enjoyed the way this discusses Molly's hospitalisation and her recovery and the way that the medication she's put onto impacts her life and her image of herself.
I wanted to reach into the book and slap Molly's mother at least a dozen times, and I was thrilled when Finbar confronts his dad about the way his grief is impacting both his children. All in all? Perhaps darker than I was anticipating, but a wonderfully told story that I very much enjoyed.
Okay, first things first: I've never seen a character with vitiligo on the page before. It wasn't mentioned as often as I would have liked, but it's definitely there. This was...less of a romance and more of a contemporary than I was expecting. This isn't a criticism in the slightest. I loved the romance that develops, but I also really enjoyed the way this discusses Molly's hospitalisation and her recovery and the way that the medication she's put onto impacts her life and her image of herself.
I wanted to reach into the book and slap Molly's mother at least a dozen times, and I was thrilled when Finbar confronts his dad about the way his grief is impacting both his children. All in all? Perhaps darker than I was anticipating, but a wonderfully told story that I very much enjoyed.
March 16, 2024
4.5!!
After reading The First Move last year, I was enthralled with Jenny’s writing, and the stories as well as the representation that they provide.
The Boy Next Door is about becoming who you need to be, not who people want you to be, as well as second chances, particularly in the face of events that could change your life forever.
Following Molly, St Anne’s most popular girl, and Finbar, the seemingly unnoticed boy in school (the butterfly boy as he is referred to at some point), a rekindling of past friendships occur, and the kindling of something more as well.
After Molly’s accident, her life is turned upside down, and she’s unsure who she has or who she is becoming, until Finbar is reintroduced and becomes her new constant.
This story is about reminding each other, personal growth, and healing in adversity; the both find their childhood best friend in each other again, and they both heal with each others support.
A fast paced read, and it was an absolute delight. Some of the issues Jenny discusses are handled so brilliantly, balanced well with both character and story.
TW: loss of parent (pre existing), disordered eating and self image issues, traumatic health event, representation of anxiety, overly controlling parent, distant parent
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this eARC !
After reading The First Move last year, I was enthralled with Jenny’s writing, and the stories as well as the representation that they provide.
The Boy Next Door is about becoming who you need to be, not who people want you to be, as well as second chances, particularly in the face of events that could change your life forever.
Following Molly, St Anne’s most popular girl, and Finbar, the seemingly unnoticed boy in school (the butterfly boy as he is referred to at some point), a rekindling of past friendships occur, and the kindling of something more as well.
After Molly’s accident, her life is turned upside down, and she’s unsure who she has or who she is becoming, until Finbar is reintroduced and becomes her new constant.
This story is about reminding each other, personal growth, and healing in adversity; the both find their childhood best friend in each other again, and they both heal with each others support.
A fast paced read, and it was an absolute delight. Some of the issues Jenny discusses are handled so brilliantly, balanced well with both character and story.
TW: loss of parent (pre existing), disordered eating and self image issues, traumatic health event, representation of anxiety, overly controlling parent, distant parent
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this eARC !
April 20, 2026
An uplifting, sometimes exasperating, but ultimately incredibly sweet journey of resilience, self-discovery, and self-love. As well as young, innocent, wholesome love-love.
Feeling a little tender, off to rewatch some old WWE matches, myself.
Feeling a little tender, off to rewatch some old WWE matches, myself.
November 3, 2024
'The Boy Next Door' is told from duel POVs. It follows Finbar and Molly, neighbours who were once childhood best friends until a tragic event changed everything when they were 9. They are now 17 and have nothing to do with each other until a life-changing event occurs and they are reconnected.
This book is about becoming who you want to be rather than who others want you to be as well as second chances. The story is about healing whilst facing adversity, personal growth and supporting others.
A fast read, the author handles sensitive issues beautifully, they are balanced both with the characters and within the story. Perfect YA.
Issues covered include death of a parent, grief, eating disorder, traumatic health event, anxiety, overcontrolling parent and a distant parent.
This book is about becoming who you want to be rather than who others want you to be as well as second chances. The story is about healing whilst facing adversity, personal growth and supporting others.
A fast read, the author handles sensitive issues beautifully, they are balanced both with the characters and within the story. Perfect YA.
Issues covered include death of a parent, grief, eating disorder, traumatic health event, anxiety, overcontrolling parent and a distant parent.
July 11, 2024
3,5 ⭐️
February 8, 2025
A summary of this book:
Molly’s an ungrateful B!tch. For some reason, for most of the book she doesn’t appreciate the fact that she’s ALIVE and how lucky she is not to be dead.😑 She was unjustly mean to her dad when all he was trying to do was help her. She was mad at Finbar for not telling her about Conor and kept saying stuff like ‘how can I ever forgive him’ pretending like all those months he had helped her was nothing.
Molly’s mum is a B!tch. I know there was a ‘reason’ at the end of the book for her being the way she is but honestly? That didn’t cut it. She messed with Molly’s head and I feel like that’s part of the reason Molly is the self-absorbed character she is.
Finbar is a douche bag. He blamed Molly’s best friends about not telling her about Conor when he was literally doing the same thing. He blamed his sister for his mum’s death. Yes, he regretted it afterwards and apologized, but still, the idea shouldn’t have even been there in the first place. And he even complains about his dad not talking about his mum at all we he also tries to avoid talking about her when Juno asks. In my point of view, the main characters in this book are just a bit too hypocritical.🫤
Molly’s an ungrateful B!tch. For some reason, for most of the book she doesn’t appreciate the fact that she’s ALIVE and how lucky she is not to be dead.😑 She was unjustly mean to her dad when all he was trying to do was help her. She was mad at Finbar for not telling her about Conor and kept saying stuff like ‘how can I ever forgive him’ pretending like all those months he had helped her was nothing.
Molly’s mum is a B!tch. I know there was a ‘reason’ at the end of the book for her being the way she is but honestly? That didn’t cut it. She messed with Molly’s head and I feel like that’s part of the reason Molly is the self-absorbed character she is.
Finbar is a douche bag. He blamed Molly’s best friends about not telling her about Conor when he was literally doing the same thing. He blamed his sister for his mum’s death. Yes, he regretted it afterwards and apologized, but still, the idea shouldn’t have even been there in the first place. And he even complains about his dad not talking about his mum at all we he also tries to avoid talking about her when Juno asks. In my point of view, the main characters in this book are just a bit too hypocritical.🫤
April 10, 2024
Fun ya romance that also deals with difficult topics, the romance was cute I liked their friendship and the boy next door thing always worked. I also liked their character growth as the story went on and they overcame their respective challenges. Also liked that the main characters issues were separate and solved separately to the romance and not because of it.
June 1, 2024
Sadly the book missed the chance for a bigger critical discussion of the personal problems of the two main characters. I think especially a book written for a younger audience needs that.
None the less I enjoyed the slow burn and love for Daisy 💕
None the less I enjoyed the slow burn and love for Daisy 💕
May 15, 2024
ending was rushed very rushed
June 23, 2026
Bro, warum musst du dir Videos von ner Gehirn OP angucken, ich wollte nen chilliges süßes Buch lesen
Aber war ok sonst
Aber war ok sonst
July 5, 2026
I was relatively sceptical when it came to this book because it started out a bit badly but it was actually surprisingly cute. It certainly wasn’t perfect but it had a lovely message.
Finbar and Molly were once best friends but now they are worlds apart. Molly is the popular princess of St Anne’s while Finbar keeps a low profile but after an incident that rocks Molly’s world, Finbar and Molly start to slowly find their way back to one another.
I didn’t expect to like this one, initially I didn’t love all of the characters, they came across as immature and stereotypical and Molly seemed so shallow while Finbar seemed to lack personality and the way he treated his sister made him come across as cruel but as we delved into the lives of these character, we started to fall in love with the characters.
I loved when Finbar and Molly started finding each other and the author highlighting how the brain surgery saved Molly’s life and how she felt so little like herself after it. It was honestly so awesome to watch her healing journey and it was handled so so well. I also liked how they loved Starbars and how they loved wrestling and Juno and Molly becoming besties was the total cutest.
I did feel like this book only focused on Molly’s recovery rather than a full story but I do like how Finbar’s struggles with his dad were also dealt with and how they learnt to deal with their grief. I did love the prom part of it though as well. I only had a few issues, one of them being Daisy. Daisy was really annoying for some reason and I felt like as a friend she let Finbar down a bit because she was so focused on Sophia and Molly being mad at all of them because of her boyfriend was totally unfair. I also hated how Molly’s mum treated her, I kind of feel like that wasn’t addresses properly and obviously Molly was under a lot of pressure but it kind of annoyed me how self conscious and critical of herself she was being and I get that was what her mother instilled into her but I still felt so awful that her mum treated her like that and that she felt ugly and fat even though she had just been through a life altering surgery.
At the end of the day it was a pretty solid read. 🎨🍫🏘️🪩🩷
Finbar and Molly were once best friends but now they are worlds apart. Molly is the popular princess of St Anne’s while Finbar keeps a low profile but after an incident that rocks Molly’s world, Finbar and Molly start to slowly find their way back to one another.
I didn’t expect to like this one, initially I didn’t love all of the characters, they came across as immature and stereotypical and Molly seemed so shallow while Finbar seemed to lack personality and the way he treated his sister made him come across as cruel but as we delved into the lives of these character, we started to fall in love with the characters.
I loved when Finbar and Molly started finding each other and the author highlighting how the brain surgery saved Molly’s life and how she felt so little like herself after it. It was honestly so awesome to watch her healing journey and it was handled so so well. I also liked how they loved Starbars and how they loved wrestling and Juno and Molly becoming besties was the total cutest.
I did feel like this book only focused on Molly’s recovery rather than a full story but I do like how Finbar’s struggles with his dad were also dealt with and how they learnt to deal with their grief. I did love the prom part of it though as well. I only had a few issues, one of them being Daisy. Daisy was really annoying for some reason and I felt like as a friend she let Finbar down a bit because she was so focused on Sophia and Molly being mad at all of them because of her boyfriend was totally unfair. I also hated how Molly’s mum treated her, I kind of feel like that wasn’t addresses properly and obviously Molly was under a lot of pressure but it kind of annoyed me how self conscious and critical of herself she was being and I get that was what her mother instilled into her but I still felt so awful that her mum treated her like that and that she felt ugly and fat even though she had just been through a life altering surgery.
At the end of the day it was a pretty solid read. 🎨🍫🏘️🪩🩷
August 14, 2025
I did not enjoy this as much as I did The First Move. I like the storyline just fine, but the characters are disappointing, especially Finbar. I swear, Finbar's character doesn't come across like a teenage guy. There were times when i had to double check who's POV I am reading because just like Molly's, Finbar's POV is very feminine, which I find a bit of a turn-off, mainly because i cannot distinguish between the male and female "voices" in the story.
June 26, 2024
it was a really fun book to read! loved the plot and the way they reconnect but the ending was very rushed! it needed a little bit more it felt like i just blinked my eyes, other than that i would recommend this book for people who enjoy reading ya because it's really cute and fresh!
January 28, 2025
4.5 rounded up to 5 🌟
Enjoyed this one a lot - didn't want to put it down.
I found the characters to be relatable throughout the story (even the health scare) so very well done to the author for that.
Highly recommend this to all readers
Enjoyed this one a lot - didn't want to put it down.
I found the characters to be relatable throughout the story (even the health scare) so very well done to the author for that.
Highly recommend this to all readers
October 6, 2024
3.5 stars
December 1, 2024
This was perfect in every single way. If I could’ve done anything to never make this book have an end I would’ve done it.
February 21, 2025
3,5
I really liked this book, made me see the world in other perspective
I really liked this book, made me see the world in other perspective
March 4, 2026
SO SO GOOD
January 26, 2025
Very cute I cried
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews