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The Girlfriend Request #1
The Girlfriend Request
Updating best friend to girlfriend is more than a change of status...
Emma has been best friends with Eli since she moved to his neighborhood ten years ago. Tired of being cast in the role of the girl next door, Emma creates a fake Facebook profile in the hopes of starting an online friendship with Eli, which would hopefully lead to more. Like...way more. From friend request to In a Relationship--it all seemed so completely logical when she'd planned it.
Eli can't figure out what Emma is up to. He’s pretty sure she's the one behind the Facebook profile, but then again, why would she do something so drastic instead of just admitting she wants to be more than friends? And who the heck is this new guy he saw her with? Eli starts to think that just maybe...he missed his chance with the girl next door.
Two best friends, one outlandish ruse. Their status is about to become way more than It’s Complicated...
This Entangled Teen Crush book contains one fake Facebook profile, two best friends who secretly crave each other, and a dreaded sex talk with parents...boy crush in the room included. Pushing a relationship beyond the friend zone has never been so crazy...
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2016
38 people are currently reading
1077 people want to read
About the author
Jodie Andrefski
12 books93 followersI've been passionate about reading since I was a little girl, which lead to a love of writing. I write YA--especially if it involves at least some kissing.
I have my B.S. in Secondary Education-English from Penn State University, and am also pursuing my M.S. in Mental Health Counseling.
I live and write in New Bern, North Carolina.
I have my B.S. in Secondary Education-English from Penn State University, and am also pursuing my M.S. in Mental Health Counseling.
I live and write in New Bern, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
February 23, 2016
2,5 stars
First Entangled: Crush book that I didn’t really like.Not giving up on them,though.I liked both Emma and Eli and I liked them together. However,Eli’s crush on Emma goes from zero to 100% in a day,which was really weird.I thought that maybe he liked her but kept lying to himself but nope,this guy actually says how much he likes that Emma is just his friend and then in the next chapter he suddenly realizes how hot Emma is.
But,putting that aside,I really enjoyed reading this (even though the whole making-a-fake-FB-profile thing is beyond stupid) until we’re introduced to Jake.Oh,dear God,what exactly was the point of bringing this guy into the story? I get that she wants to,well,kind of make Eli jealous,kind of show him that she’s not Keli,but this guy suddenly has a huge crush on Emma and the whole story gets a bit creepy.Then she starts having crush on him and I’m just sitting there like:
I hate unnecessary drama and this book had plenty of it.The ending was really cute,though.Minus the whole prom thing because I don’t get that tradition at all.
Overall,it could’ve been a nice,interesting story.I’m sad it wasn’t.
But hey,at least I’ve accidentally found this gif and cheered myself up.
You can read this review on BookishFever.
*E-copy provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.*
First Entangled: Crush book that I didn’t really like.Not giving up on them,though.I liked both Emma and Eli and I liked them together. However,Eli’s crush on Emma goes from zero to 100% in a day,which was really weird.I thought that maybe he liked her but kept lying to himself but nope,this guy actually says how much he likes that Emma is just his friend and then in the next chapter he suddenly realizes how hot Emma is.
But,putting that aside,I really enjoyed reading this (even though the whole making-a-fake-FB-profile thing is beyond stupid) until we’re introduced to Jake.Oh,dear God,what exactly was the point of bringing this guy into the story? I get that she wants to,well,kind of make Eli jealous,kind of show him that she’s not Keli,but this guy suddenly has a huge crush on Emma and the whole story gets a bit creepy.Then she starts having crush on him and I’m just sitting there like:
I hate unnecessary drama and this book had plenty of it.The ending was really cute,though.Minus the whole prom thing because I don’t get that tradition at all.
Overall,it could’ve been a nice,interesting story.I’m sad it wasn’t.
But hey,at least I’ve accidentally found this gif and cheered myself up.
You can read this review on BookishFever.
*E-copy provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.*
January 15, 2016
The Girlfriend Request is all about best friends Emma and Eli, following their journey through high school and Emma’s mission to make Eli fall in love with her. While I admire Emma guts and determination for going after what she wants, her actual idea/plan isn’t the best. Emma decides to create a fake Facebook profile and obviously this profile is of an attractive girl called ‘Kelli’. Through Kelli, Emma continues to message Eli in the hopes of making Eli realize that they could be more than best friends.
I think we all know this is going to end in disaster right? Fake profiles never work out, I mean has anyone seen Catfish? What I didn’t expect was for Emma’s plan to blow up in her face within minutes of creating it. I was expecting a long, drawn out plot that revolved around this fake profile but mere chapters in Eli already has his suspicions and proof that Emma is behind Kelli’s profile and then the plot completely changes.
When Emma’s plan doesn’t yield the results she wants, she decides to go on a fake date with a college guy to hopefully make Eli jealous and not only does this work but it also makes Emma doubt her own feelings for Eli? It was during this fake date with Jake that turned out to no be so fake and so many miscommunications between Emma and Eli that I got so confused but mostly annoyed because it was so obvious what everyone was feeling and what was going to happen, so this chaotic jumble of emotions wasn’t necessary.
However I always love stories of best friends falling love, it’s so sweet and The Girlfriend Request was no different in that respect, I really enjoyed it and it was hilarious in parts. But yet again I was wishing for something more to happen in the plot or a little more depth in the characters to fully invest in their story.
Literary-ly Obsessed
I think we all know this is going to end in disaster right? Fake profiles never work out, I mean has anyone seen Catfish? What I didn’t expect was for Emma’s plan to blow up in her face within minutes of creating it. I was expecting a long, drawn out plot that revolved around this fake profile but mere chapters in Eli already has his suspicions and proof that Emma is behind Kelli’s profile and then the plot completely changes.
When Emma’s plan doesn’t yield the results she wants, she decides to go on a fake date with a college guy to hopefully make Eli jealous and not only does this work but it also makes Emma doubt her own feelings for Eli? It was during this fake date with Jake that turned out to no be so fake and so many miscommunications between Emma and Eli that I got so confused but mostly annoyed because it was so obvious what everyone was feeling and what was going to happen, so this chaotic jumble of emotions wasn’t necessary.
However I always love stories of best friends falling love, it’s so sweet and The Girlfriend Request was no different in that respect, I really enjoyed it and it was hilarious in parts. But yet again I was wishing for something more to happen in the plot or a little more depth in the characters to fully invest in their story.
Literary-ly Obsessed
December 13, 2015
Fafa's Book Corner (Wordpress)
Fafa's Book Corner (Blogger)
Beware spoilers ahead!
I received this E-ARC via Netgalley and Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review. When I saw this on Netgalley I didn't hesitate to request it. It sounded a bit silly and fun. Which is exactly what it is. I am happy to say that I enjoyed this!
This book is written in first person. With Emma and Eli's point of views. Which made the story interesting because we get to see how both of the characters thought about the situations they were in.
The book begins with Emma explaining that she has created a fake Facebook profile in order to get Eli's attention. The plan is pretty simple create the fake account, send a friend request, interact with Eli, at some point reveal that it is Emma, and viola they start dating.
When creating 'Kelli's' profile Emma adds interests that she herself has. For example Star Wars. She takes a picture from some clothing company's model and sets it all up. Then she sends a friend request.
Right after this Eli calls. He is not happy that Emma forgot to take care of his dog while he and his family were away. Realizing that something must have happened he asks her. She lies and says everything is fine and the two make plans to hang out.
Eli knows that there is something up with Emma and he has full intentions of asking her when he sees her. He logs onto Facebook and sees a friend request from 'Kelli'. He sees her profile and is pleasantly surprised when he sees that she likes Star Wars. Plus she's really pretty. He confirms the request. He is really happy to have Emma in his life and content with the fact that he doesn't have to worry about the way he acts around her the way he would if they were dating.
They have a good time together. But Eli still isn't able to find out what is going on with Emma. When they reach her house to watch a movie, Eli says that he can show Emma some pictures of Soccer Camp. He posted them on Facebook. Just as he is about to take her laptop Emma realizes that she is on Kelli's profile. She quickly closes the screen nearly hitting Eli's fingers. When he asks why she did that she claims that she was doing some online bra shopping. Deciding to let it go they continue to watch a movie.
Kelli starts talking to Eli and the next week at school Eli is avoiding Emma. Emma confines in her best friend Sarah. Sarah thinks that Emma's idea is crazy and that she should just tell him how she feels. Emma can't bring herself to do so because she thinks it'll ruin their friendship.
Eli has a feeling that Emma is behind Kelli's profile. Whenever he talks to Kelli he feels like he's talking to Emma. But that doesn't make sense. Why would Emma create Kelli's profile? What purpose would it serve? He's not sure how to feel about this. So he's been avoiding her. When he sees Carissa picking on Emma he stands up for her and the two go back to talking.
A lot of this book was built around miscommunication. When Eli realizes that he would like to be with Emma he asks her out. This didn't go over very well because Emma thought that he was trying to get her approval on asking Kelli out. He didn't really phrase it to well. Then Emma claims that they should go on a double date. He gets angry because all of a sudden Emma has another guy in her life that he doesn't know about.
Emma's plan was really stupid. I'm not sure why she thought it would be a good idea to create a fake account and then somehow explain Eli that she was the one behind it. It definitely would've been easier to tell him seeing as the miss it got her into.
Eli's feelings for Emma came out of nowhere. One minute he's saying that he likes the fact that he and Emma are not dating then he switches and says that he would like to be with Emma. The same goes for Emma's fake boyfriend Jake. He also had this thing for her and it was weird. I understood why Emma liked Jake back because he made her feel special but his feelings for her didn't make sense.
The dialogue at times was very silly. The amount of times that Emma blurted the most stupid things was something. At first it was amusing but then it got irritating.
I didn't like how Emma and Eli came to be. I felt that he had forgiven her to fast. And when they were fighting he didn't even give her time to explain herself. And I don't really like them together as a couple. I found them to be better as friends.
The characters in this book were very well done! I really liked the friendship between Emma and Eli. Sarah was awesome and it was nice to read about how she tried to talk some sense into Emma. She was also one of Emma's biggest supports. Emma's parents also supported her and where there for her. I especially loved reading about Emma standing up to Carissa.
Emma despite being stupid was a realistic character. She was easy to relate to. She had all these insecurities of not being pretty enough and how she wasn't the type of girl that guys ask out. I loved the conversation she had with Jake. In that moment her character shone.
Eli was so sweet! I really loved how supportive of Emma he was and how nice he was. It was especially fun to read about the times he stood up for Emma. He truly felt bad for taking Emma for granted. And he did make up for his actions.
I love how the author showed the readers that when someone is nervous or scared of something they hide behind the internet because it's easier. The internet doesn't involve face-to-face conversations, eye contact, facial expressions, or body language. It's just simple. All you have to do is type up a conversation and be the end of it. Emma did so when she created the fake account. This is something this generation goes through and I was happy to see it Incorporated in this book.
Overall this was a good book! It was a fast and fluffy read! I recommend it to anyone looking for a fast chick lit.
Fafa's Book Corner (Blogger)
Beware spoilers ahead!
I received this E-ARC via Netgalley and Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review. When I saw this on Netgalley I didn't hesitate to request it. It sounded a bit silly and fun. Which is exactly what it is. I am happy to say that I enjoyed this!
This book is written in first person. With Emma and Eli's point of views. Which made the story interesting because we get to see how both of the characters thought about the situations they were in.
The book begins with Emma explaining that she has created a fake Facebook profile in order to get Eli's attention. The plan is pretty simple create the fake account, send a friend request, interact with Eli, at some point reveal that it is Emma, and viola they start dating.
When creating 'Kelli's' profile Emma adds interests that she herself has. For example Star Wars. She takes a picture from some clothing company's model and sets it all up. Then she sends a friend request.
Right after this Eli calls. He is not happy that Emma forgot to take care of his dog while he and his family were away. Realizing that something must have happened he asks her. She lies and says everything is fine and the two make plans to hang out.
Eli knows that there is something up with Emma and he has full intentions of asking her when he sees her. He logs onto Facebook and sees a friend request from 'Kelli'. He sees her profile and is pleasantly surprised when he sees that she likes Star Wars. Plus she's really pretty. He confirms the request. He is really happy to have Emma in his life and content with the fact that he doesn't have to worry about the way he acts around her the way he would if they were dating.
They have a good time together. But Eli still isn't able to find out what is going on with Emma. When they reach her house to watch a movie, Eli says that he can show Emma some pictures of Soccer Camp. He posted them on Facebook. Just as he is about to take her laptop Emma realizes that she is on Kelli's profile. She quickly closes the screen nearly hitting Eli's fingers. When he asks why she did that she claims that she was doing some online bra shopping. Deciding to let it go they continue to watch a movie.
Kelli starts talking to Eli and the next week at school Eli is avoiding Emma. Emma confines in her best friend Sarah. Sarah thinks that Emma's idea is crazy and that she should just tell him how she feels. Emma can't bring herself to do so because she thinks it'll ruin their friendship.
Eli has a feeling that Emma is behind Kelli's profile. Whenever he talks to Kelli he feels like he's talking to Emma. But that doesn't make sense. Why would Emma create Kelli's profile? What purpose would it serve? He's not sure how to feel about this. So he's been avoiding her. When he sees Carissa picking on Emma he stands up for her and the two go back to talking.
A lot of this book was built around miscommunication. When Eli realizes that he would like to be with Emma he asks her out. This didn't go over very well because Emma thought that he was trying to get her approval on asking Kelli out. He didn't really phrase it to well. Then Emma claims that they should go on a double date. He gets angry because all of a sudden Emma has another guy in her life that he doesn't know about.
Emma's plan was really stupid. I'm not sure why she thought it would be a good idea to create a fake account and then somehow explain Eli that she was the one behind it. It definitely would've been easier to tell him seeing as the miss it got her into.
Eli's feelings for Emma came out of nowhere. One minute he's saying that he likes the fact that he and Emma are not dating then he switches and says that he would like to be with Emma. The same goes for Emma's fake boyfriend Jake. He also had this thing for her and it was weird. I understood why Emma liked Jake back because he made her feel special but his feelings for her didn't make sense.
The dialogue at times was very silly. The amount of times that Emma blurted the most stupid things was something. At first it was amusing but then it got irritating.
I didn't like how Emma and Eli came to be. I felt that he had forgiven her to fast. And when they were fighting he didn't even give her time to explain herself. And I don't really like them together as a couple. I found them to be better as friends.
The characters in this book were very well done! I really liked the friendship between Emma and Eli. Sarah was awesome and it was nice to read about how she tried to talk some sense into Emma. She was also one of Emma's biggest supports. Emma's parents also supported her and where there for her. I especially loved reading about Emma standing up to Carissa.
Emma despite being stupid was a realistic character. She was easy to relate to. She had all these insecurities of not being pretty enough and how she wasn't the type of girl that guys ask out. I loved the conversation she had with Jake. In that moment her character shone.
Eli was so sweet! I really loved how supportive of Emma he was and how nice he was. It was especially fun to read about the times he stood up for Emma. He truly felt bad for taking Emma for granted. And he did make up for his actions.
I love how the author showed the readers that when someone is nervous or scared of something they hide behind the internet because it's easier. The internet doesn't involve face-to-face conversations, eye contact, facial expressions, or body language. It's just simple. All you have to do is type up a conversation and be the end of it. Emma did so when she created the fake account. This is something this generation goes through and I was happy to see it Incorporated in this book.
Overall this was a good book! It was a fast and fluffy read! I recommend it to anyone looking for a fast chick lit.
January 4, 2016
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
The Girlfriend Request was the type of book you want when you don't really want to think too hard. It's the kind of contemporary fiction that is a bit predictable, but also enjoyable to read. In this book, the main character, Emma, decides to create a fake Facebook profile, in order to get her best friend, and neighbour, Eli, to realise he wants to be more than friends. When Eli starts talking to 'Kelli', and seems to really like her, Emma starts to realise just how crazy her whole scheme was, and how far in over her head she was. To top it all off, just as Eli is starting to show his feelings for her, she messes up, and tries to arrange a double date for him and 'Kelli', and her and her new fake boyfriend, Jake.
Confusing? Yeah, I know. I struggled with this book a bit. Everything just seemed a bit too fake. I honestly do not know what was going through Emma's head when she decided catfishing her best friend and crush was a good idea. How did she think it was all turn out in the end? Would Eli just greet her with open arms, and forgive her lying to him? Nah, I didn't think so. To make matters worse, there was a love triangle :/ I'm not one who is immediately turned off a book because of a love triangle, but this one nearly made me DNF, and I'd already had to push past that feeling a little earlier. The other guy, Jake, is a college friend of Emma's friend's brother, and he just appears out of nowhere. After the first 'fake' date, Emma is falling for him, and nearly forgetting all about Eli. Jake, who knew exactly what was happening, then turns jealous when Emma wants to spend time with Eli, and is acting a bit like a controlling boyfriend. I just didn't like him.
To be straight, I didn't really like any of the characters. They were all just a bit bland. The book read quite samey for a lot of other YA contemporaries out there, and never gripped me. Like I said, I nearly DNFed the book a few times, but I didn't want my first book of the year to be such a failure. I am glad I pushed through it, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to read it again.
One positive I can say, is that the book ended well. I find a lot of contemporaries just end, and you're left wanting more. With this, I didn't feel that. For me, it was just enough.
I don't know if I'd recommend this. It was enjoyable, at times, and I am glad I persevered, but other than that, I think there are other books out there that would be better. I wouldn't try and turn anyone away from it, though, it's up to you. But if you have a problem with flat characters, and an unnecessary love triangle, perhaps this isn't for you either.
The Girlfriend Request was the type of book you want when you don't really want to think too hard. It's the kind of contemporary fiction that is a bit predictable, but also enjoyable to read. In this book, the main character, Emma, decides to create a fake Facebook profile, in order to get her best friend, and neighbour, Eli, to realise he wants to be more than friends. When Eli starts talking to 'Kelli', and seems to really like her, Emma starts to realise just how crazy her whole scheme was, and how far in over her head she was. To top it all off, just as Eli is starting to show his feelings for her, she messes up, and tries to arrange a double date for him and 'Kelli', and her and her new fake boyfriend, Jake.
Confusing? Yeah, I know. I struggled with this book a bit. Everything just seemed a bit too fake. I honestly do not know what was going through Emma's head when she decided catfishing her best friend and crush was a good idea. How did she think it was all turn out in the end? Would Eli just greet her with open arms, and forgive her lying to him? Nah, I didn't think so. To make matters worse, there was a love triangle :/ I'm not one who is immediately turned off a book because of a love triangle, but this one nearly made me DNF, and I'd already had to push past that feeling a little earlier. The other guy, Jake, is a college friend of Emma's friend's brother, and he just appears out of nowhere. After the first 'fake' date, Emma is falling for him, and nearly forgetting all about Eli. Jake, who knew exactly what was happening, then turns jealous when Emma wants to spend time with Eli, and is acting a bit like a controlling boyfriend. I just didn't like him.
To be straight, I didn't really like any of the characters. They were all just a bit bland. The book read quite samey for a lot of other YA contemporaries out there, and never gripped me. Like I said, I nearly DNFed the book a few times, but I didn't want my first book of the year to be such a failure. I am glad I pushed through it, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to read it again.
One positive I can say, is that the book ended well. I find a lot of contemporaries just end, and you're left wanting more. With this, I didn't feel that. For me, it was just enough.
I don't know if I'd recommend this. It was enjoyable, at times, and I am glad I persevered, but other than that, I think there are other books out there that would be better. I wouldn't try and turn anyone away from it, though, it's up to you. But if you have a problem with flat characters, and an unnecessary love triangle, perhaps this isn't for you either.
January 9, 2016
View this review and more others on Let's Say It's a Blog.
*Digital ARC was received from publisher through Netgalley*
First Impression
Truthfully I was thrilled with the main idea of the story. A girl came up with a grand scheme to make the boy next door (which also her best-friend) see her in different light through the power of social media account. The blurb clearly screamed funny and light-hearted journey of love between longtime best-friends and I happened to crave some light and cutesy romance as my first read of the year. Well, it was funny… at some parts, but the whole story? Unfortunately, not so much.
Synopsis
Emma and Eli had been best friends ever since she came to the neighborhood ten years ago. What started as simple gesture of help had grown into a tight friendship of two. Emma and Eli were practically inseparable and everyone knew that. What everyone didn’t know, though, behind all those casual hang-outs in pizza parlor and those innocent movie-times spent on Sunday night, there’s some unspoken feeling whirling around them. Emma had felt it for Eli since that first encounter on the curb and the feeling only grew stronger over time. But how exactly could a girl admit of having a special feeling for her very own best friend? For all she knew it was most certainly one-sided thing. Admitting it to Eli would just ruin everything between them, and she was sure as hell wouldn’t want that. Until Emma had it enough.
Ten years of hiding her feeling behind the curtain, she was now ready to let it out for Eli to see. Well, a part of it, to be exact. And that, too, would be done virtually instead of through reality. With the help from a fake facebook account and some little genuine touch of Emma within all the words being sent, Eli would get a repeat of getting to know ‘Emma’ again from the start, complete with all her true feeling in clear display. Hopefully in this the ‘new’ package, Eli would finally feel something for ‘Emma’. Something he probably hadn’t felt for the real her in the past ten years.
Yet this time, Emma might be the one who need to reveal the truth behind the other’s curtain.
Hazy Roller Coaster Ride
I’m not saying that this book is horrible or such. In fact, The Girlfriend Request has quite an idea of a teen love story with that entire shenanigan the girl is up to. That part itself succeeded in luring me into reading this book. Basically I liked the idea of scheme in this book. I once read a YA with quite similar plot and enjoyed it a lot. So it was a little disappointing that despite all my giddiness in the beginning, I found this book all wrong in the end. I mean, it felt like it didn’t quite hit the right button. Like when you ride a roller coaster, all excited when the cars slowly riding up to reach the peak hidden behind the mist; then when you slice through it, turned out the peak merely three meters high. The only thing that redeems your disappointment is at least the scenery around is beautiful enough to enjoy.
It started with a scene where Emma was about to start her seemingly brilliant plotting to get the boy next door fall for her. I’m not gonna lie but first chapter just had me all giddier to turn the next pages quickly. Then I reached chapter four and it practically went downhill from there.
Characters: Half Relatable – Half Unbearable
Emma is actually pretty relatable at first. Her feeling of crushing someone, a best friend, the confusion, the shyness, the insecurity, the ache of falling deeply for someone we thought we don’t have a chance with; I think most people would easily relate with her in this. But then when something in the plotting altered and she had to come up with a second plan to keep it going, I objected how her feeling could shift easily back and forth like that. She became somehow indecisive and it all, for me, was for no solid reason.
Eli, in the other side, is the best friend any girl would dream of having. Caring, charming, protective, and understanding. What I found lacking about him is the way his emotions were described here. His was a bit too explosive for a boy. Also the shifting of his feeling (this is the part that I mentioned above about things started go downhill from chapter four onward) for Emma was out of nowhere and lacked of background story. Don’t get me wrong, but I was beyond happy that Eli feels the same way to Emma (it’s not a spoiler anyway, it’s on the blurb). I adored them so much when they’re together, whatever the type of their relationship was at the time. Their moments were just so cute and made me smile despite all the unnecessary drama flying around the book. But I would like to see how things actually going on between them before each character even had monologues about liking each other as more than a friend. Not just simply a change that happen within one chapter, few pages apart.
The Writing: Plus-Minus
There was this scene when Emma hit the point of frustration about her own feeling for Eli that the tears just fell randomly when her mom asked her about it; she kind of threw the hair brush she’d been using when the curl in her hair couldn’t be tamed. I loved that the scene was so real I couldn’t help feeling a little ache for her out of sympathy. My only issue about the writing lies in the way the author often slipped too much unnecessary scenes that didn’t really hold any significant importance to the main point. Too many descriptions that could’ve been cut out. And I haven’t even mentioned the dramaS (yes, capital S in the back). Too many dramas and none of them were essential enough to build the plot. The whole plot of the story is actually pretty simple: Emma and Eli, best-friends who fall for each other secretly; Emma wanted more so she made a plan to get Eli falls for her (though, he already had); Eli seemed to fall for ‘fake’ Emma, when in actuality he fell for ‘real’ Emma too; Emma got sad Eli liked the ‘fake’ her, she came up with another idea to push Eli’s true feeling out―she fake-dated another guy; Eli got jealous; Eli forgave Emma; Eli and Emma got together after admitting each other’s feelings. It might only be 216 pages but it felt like 12382703430498 pages long for me, thanks to all the miscommunication dramas being slipped here and there that made it sooooo long and boring for some parts.
Final Thought(s)
I’m really really really sad that I ended up disliking this book, especially when I was so damn excited to read it in the first place. As I said before, The Girlfriend Request isn’t a horrible read that you couldn’t even finish. There were some parts that actually pretty funny and sweet. And many more parts that had potential to be explored more. The idea of creating a fake facebook account, for one, could be something that would emanate a climax that oh-so-shocking when it was revealed. Eli’s discovery of Emma’s plotting could be something that oh-so-funny. The problem of this book is, despite its so many potential here and there, the story delivery just didn’t present it right. Simply put, it’s like an actually funny joke but it comes out not that funny because of the weak punch lines.
*Digital ARC was received from publisher through Netgalley*
First Impression
Truthfully I was thrilled with the main idea of the story. A girl came up with a grand scheme to make the boy next door (which also her best-friend) see her in different light through the power of social media account. The blurb clearly screamed funny and light-hearted journey of love between longtime best-friends and I happened to crave some light and cutesy romance as my first read of the year. Well, it was funny… at some parts, but the whole story? Unfortunately, not so much.
Synopsis
Emma and Eli had been best friends ever since she came to the neighborhood ten years ago. What started as simple gesture of help had grown into a tight friendship of two. Emma and Eli were practically inseparable and everyone knew that. What everyone didn’t know, though, behind all those casual hang-outs in pizza parlor and those innocent movie-times spent on Sunday night, there’s some unspoken feeling whirling around them. Emma had felt it for Eli since that first encounter on the curb and the feeling only grew stronger over time. But how exactly could a girl admit of having a special feeling for her very own best friend? For all she knew it was most certainly one-sided thing. Admitting it to Eli would just ruin everything between them, and she was sure as hell wouldn’t want that. Until Emma had it enough.
Ten years of hiding her feeling behind the curtain, she was now ready to let it out for Eli to see. Well, a part of it, to be exact. And that, too, would be done virtually instead of through reality. With the help from a fake facebook account and some little genuine touch of Emma within all the words being sent, Eli would get a repeat of getting to know ‘Emma’ again from the start, complete with all her true feeling in clear display. Hopefully in this the ‘new’ package, Eli would finally feel something for ‘Emma’. Something he probably hadn’t felt for the real her in the past ten years.
Yet this time, Emma might be the one who need to reveal the truth behind the other’s curtain.
Hazy Roller Coaster Ride
I’m not saying that this book is horrible or such. In fact, The Girlfriend Request has quite an idea of a teen love story with that entire shenanigan the girl is up to. That part itself succeeded in luring me into reading this book. Basically I liked the idea of scheme in this book. I once read a YA with quite similar plot and enjoyed it a lot. So it was a little disappointing that despite all my giddiness in the beginning, I found this book all wrong in the end. I mean, it felt like it didn’t quite hit the right button. Like when you ride a roller coaster, all excited when the cars slowly riding up to reach the peak hidden behind the mist; then when you slice through it, turned out the peak merely three meters high. The only thing that redeems your disappointment is at least the scenery around is beautiful enough to enjoy.
It started with a scene where Emma was about to start her seemingly brilliant plotting to get the boy next door fall for her. I’m not gonna lie but first chapter just had me all giddier to turn the next pages quickly. Then I reached chapter four and it practically went downhill from there.
Characters: Half Relatable – Half Unbearable
Emma is actually pretty relatable at first. Her feeling of crushing someone, a best friend, the confusion, the shyness, the insecurity, the ache of falling deeply for someone we thought we don’t have a chance with; I think most people would easily relate with her in this. But then when something in the plotting altered and she had to come up with a second plan to keep it going, I objected how her feeling could shift easily back and forth like that. She became somehow indecisive and it all, for me, was for no solid reason.
Eli, in the other side, is the best friend any girl would dream of having. Caring, charming, protective, and understanding. What I found lacking about him is the way his emotions were described here. His was a bit too explosive for a boy. Also the shifting of his feeling (this is the part that I mentioned above about things started go downhill from chapter four onward) for Emma was out of nowhere and lacked of background story. Don’t get me wrong, but I was beyond happy that Eli feels the same way to Emma (it’s not a spoiler anyway, it’s on the blurb). I adored them so much when they’re together, whatever the type of their relationship was at the time. Their moments were just so cute and made me smile despite all the unnecessary drama flying around the book. But I would like to see how things actually going on between them before each character even had monologues about liking each other as more than a friend. Not just simply a change that happen within one chapter, few pages apart.
The Writing: Plus-Minus
There was this scene when Emma hit the point of frustration about her own feeling for Eli that the tears just fell randomly when her mom asked her about it; she kind of threw the hair brush she’d been using when the curl in her hair couldn’t be tamed. I loved that the scene was so real I couldn’t help feeling a little ache for her out of sympathy. My only issue about the writing lies in the way the author often slipped too much unnecessary scenes that didn’t really hold any significant importance to the main point. Too many descriptions that could’ve been cut out. And I haven’t even mentioned the dramaS (yes, capital S in the back). Too many dramas and none of them were essential enough to build the plot. The whole plot of the story is actually pretty simple: Emma and Eli, best-friends who fall for each other secretly; Emma wanted more so she made a plan to get Eli falls for her (though, he already had); Eli seemed to fall for ‘fake’ Emma, when in actuality he fell for ‘real’ Emma too; Emma got sad Eli liked the ‘fake’ her, she came up with another idea to push Eli’s true feeling out―she fake-dated another guy; Eli got jealous; Eli forgave Emma; Eli and Emma got together after admitting each other’s feelings. It might only be 216 pages but it felt like 12382703430498 pages long for me, thanks to all the miscommunication dramas being slipped here and there that made it sooooo long and boring for some parts.
Final Thought(s)
I’m really really really sad that I ended up disliking this book, especially when I was so damn excited to read it in the first place. As I said before, The Girlfriend Request isn’t a horrible read that you couldn’t even finish. There were some parts that actually pretty funny and sweet. And many more parts that had potential to be explored more. The idea of creating a fake facebook account, for one, could be something that would emanate a climax that oh-so-shocking when it was revealed. Eli’s discovery of Emma’s plotting could be something that oh-so-funny. The problem of this book is, despite its so many potential here and there, the story delivery just didn’t present it right. Simply put, it’s like an actually funny joke but it comes out not that funny because of the weak punch lines.
January 10, 2016
Rating 3.5/5
This is an enjoyable, quick read for when you’re not going to want to have to analyse or think too deeply about anything but just getting lost in the story. It tells how the relationship of a couple of teenagers who have been neighbours and best friends for years changes when one of them believes herself to be in love with the other. Emma creates a fake Facebook profile, complete with images, to try to get Eli to take notice of her fake self and ask her out . . . She also tries going out with someone else to make him jealous and there are all kinds of dramatic moments resulting from her deceptions.
The story is told from the points of view of Emma and Eli, making it easy to relate to how they are feeling and giving you a good idea of the thoughts behind their actions. There’s plenty of teenage angst and turmoil involved and has the requisite HEA ending. Emma and Eli are great characters and, apart from the cat-fishing, believable ones, too. I really liked Emma’s best friend and voice of reason, Sarah who constantly warns Emma against her actions. If you can suspend your disbelief that a very bright student would want the love of her life to fall for a fake persona she’s created rather than herself, this is a well written and enjoyable read - just don’t think too hard whilst you’re reading it!
Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too, for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is an enjoyable, quick read for when you’re not going to want to have to analyse or think too deeply about anything but just getting lost in the story. It tells how the relationship of a couple of teenagers who have been neighbours and best friends for years changes when one of them believes herself to be in love with the other. Emma creates a fake Facebook profile, complete with images, to try to get Eli to take notice of her fake self and ask her out . . . She also tries going out with someone else to make him jealous and there are all kinds of dramatic moments resulting from her deceptions.
The story is told from the points of view of Emma and Eli, making it easy to relate to how they are feeling and giving you a good idea of the thoughts behind their actions. There’s plenty of teenage angst and turmoil involved and has the requisite HEA ending. Emma and Eli are great characters and, apart from the cat-fishing, believable ones, too. I really liked Emma’s best friend and voice of reason, Sarah who constantly warns Emma against her actions. If you can suspend your disbelief that a very bright student would want the love of her life to fall for a fake persona she’s created rather than herself, this is a well written and enjoyable read - just don’t think too hard whilst you’re reading it!
Thanks to the author, publishers and NetGalley, too, for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 14, 2016
I tried really hard to like “The Girlfriend Request”. I really did.
At the heart of the book is a really cute story about falling in love with your best friend. The problem is that the story never quite gets going because it is cluttered with things that add nothing to the book. Many of the chapters and situations were repetitive and gave me the feeling of being stuck in a never-ending “Who’s On First” routine. On top of that, there is a subplot introduced near the end that would have made a good novel on its own, but was instead relegated to the dreaded “let’s solve this in one page and then forget it never happened” pile. Honestly, I believe the book would have made a great short story. The author writes some adorable scenes. I wish that she would have stuck to those.
The two main characters were cute and interesting. There was enough character development to give the reader a sense of connection to one or both of them. I didn’t much care for Emma, but I’m not entirely sure that I was supposed to. Their continuing story would actually be interesting if explored in a novella just focusing on the fluffy aspects of the two of them in a relationship.
In short, I was looking for a fluffy palate cleanser and was only met with frustration. “The Girlfriend Request” may appeal to the younger ya crowd, but I don’t think it will quite satisfy anyone older.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
At the heart of the book is a really cute story about falling in love with your best friend. The problem is that the story never quite gets going because it is cluttered with things that add nothing to the book. Many of the chapters and situations were repetitive and gave me the feeling of being stuck in a never-ending “Who’s On First” routine. On top of that, there is a subplot introduced near the end that would have made a good novel on its own, but was instead relegated to the dreaded “let’s solve this in one page and then forget it never happened” pile. Honestly, I believe the book would have made a great short story. The author writes some adorable scenes. I wish that she would have stuck to those.
The two main characters were cute and interesting. There was enough character development to give the reader a sense of connection to one or both of them. I didn’t much care for Emma, but I’m not entirely sure that I was supposed to. Their continuing story would actually be interesting if explored in a novella just focusing on the fluffy aspects of the two of them in a relationship.
In short, I was looking for a fluffy palate cleanser and was only met with frustration. “The Girlfriend Request” may appeal to the younger ya crowd, but I don’t think it will quite satisfy anyone older.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
June 30, 2016
I love the blurb and this book has a nice eye catching title. Sadly this book didn't work for me, it was just meh. I don't know just boring and whatev
December 7, 2015
Super sweet YA romance with many funny and embarrassing (for Emma and Eli) moments. If you've ever gone to great lengths to get the attention of your male bestie, then you'll love this dual POV story. It'll give you butterflies.
April 14, 2017
I reject the premise of this book. Emma basically decides to catfish Eli with the end goal being Eli asking her out. Ummm, ok. There was also a kind of random love triangle thrown in towards the end of the book that was kind of pointless. All of Eli and Emma's friends existed for the sole purpose of advancing the Eli/Emma relationship. Despite all those problems, though, there were still several cute moments and I did like Emma and Eli together once they stopped being stupid. I liked their friendship, as well. I appreciated that this was a pretty clean YA Contemporary. Overall, this was a quick, easy read that provided the distraction I was looking for.
January 10, 2016
ARC kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I blew through this one. A quick and easy read.
A very interesting theory for a storyline. With so much of the world engrossed in social media these days, its a very relevant topic. The fact that Emma created an online profile to get her best friend to fall in love with her? Kind of far-fetched, but kind of believable at the same time. I'm sure there are people out there who go cat-fishing like that.
Really, she should've just come clean and told the truth from the start, but I guess that wouldn't make a good novel right? Or at least not the story the author wanted to tell.
I liked Emma's character and I understood some of the things she went through, but I didn't understand how she could create a whole fake profile instead of just talking to Eli about her feelings, or at least dropping a bunch of hints and seeing how he reacted before going in with a full blown confession. As other people have mentioned in their reviews, I really don't like people lying.
Then the way the whole things blows out with Jake as well - well this was just a disaster and I was really irritated at Emma and the way she was acting with both of these guys. Dude, sort your shit out and don't involve both of them and potentially hurt them just for the sake of it, and because you can't deal with your feelings one way or another. It's more reasonable, sensible and fair to sort yourself out before putting things out there and potentially hurting someone else. I guess she may not realise that being a high school student in the novel, but still.
It's quite a controversial topic I suppose.
I quite like Eli's character and having a few chapters from his POV helped move things along and give a little glimpse of understanding of things on his side. As someone else mentioned in their review, it seemed quite sudden how he had feelings for her after going from adamantly thinking they were best as friends and nothing more, but I guess at the same time, when you're in such a routine of things being only friendly, and then suddenly having this possibility in front of you, it might make you think that something was there you never realised.
I also liked how the book covered the bullying with Carissa and how before the end Emma starts to stand up to her. This is another thing that kids have to deal with a lot in high school and so of course is another relevant topic.
Overall I really liked the story, even though some things were slightly unbelievable. All in all it was pretty close to what could happen with real life best friends and developing feelings. I was also glad that they ending up explaining things to each other and talking through it all properly. There were no unanswered questions, something I hate in a book. It all tied up nicely.
A fun and easy read that I would definitely recommend.
I blew through this one. A quick and easy read.
A very interesting theory for a storyline. With so much of the world engrossed in social media these days, its a very relevant topic. The fact that Emma created an online profile to get her best friend to fall in love with her? Kind of far-fetched, but kind of believable at the same time. I'm sure there are people out there who go cat-fishing like that.
Really, she should've just come clean and told the truth from the start, but I guess that wouldn't make a good novel right? Or at least not the story the author wanted to tell.
I liked Emma's character and I understood some of the things she went through, but I didn't understand how she could create a whole fake profile instead of just talking to Eli about her feelings, or at least dropping a bunch of hints and seeing how he reacted before going in with a full blown confession. As other people have mentioned in their reviews, I really don't like people lying.
Then the way the whole things blows out with Jake as well - well this was just a disaster and I was really irritated at Emma and the way she was acting with both of these guys. Dude, sort your shit out and don't involve both of them and potentially hurt them just for the sake of it, and because you can't deal with your feelings one way or another. It's more reasonable, sensible and fair to sort yourself out before putting things out there and potentially hurting someone else. I guess she may not realise that being a high school student in the novel, but still.
It's quite a controversial topic I suppose.
I quite like Eli's character and having a few chapters from his POV helped move things along and give a little glimpse of understanding of things on his side. As someone else mentioned in their review, it seemed quite sudden how he had feelings for her after going from adamantly thinking they were best as friends and nothing more, but I guess at the same time, when you're in such a routine of things being only friendly, and then suddenly having this possibility in front of you, it might make you think that something was there you never realised.
I also liked how the book covered the bullying with Carissa and how before the end Emma starts to stand up to her. This is another thing that kids have to deal with a lot in high school and so of course is another relevant topic.
Overall I really liked the story, even though some things were slightly unbelievable. All in all it was pretty close to what could happen with real life best friends and developing feelings. I was also glad that they ending up explaining things to each other and talking through it all properly. There were no unanswered questions, something I hate in a book. It all tied up nicely.
A fun and easy read that I would definitely recommend.
January 11, 2016
3.5 stars
I love Entangled Crush and have come to expect solid cute & fluffies from them. And The Girlfriend Request does deliver!
I enjoyed this falling for the best friend story and like that Andrefski showed that sometimes hiding behind the world wide web seems easier than actually talking straight to the person.
Naturally this brings a buttload of drama with it- because well, making a fake FB account, can never ever bring happiness after all...
I love Adrefski's writing style. It's straight to the point and contemporary. Both Eli and Emma's POV are clear and different. And I got their confusion and pain and related to both of them- well most of the time. I shall get into this a wee bit later however.
The story line had a few twists and turns, but I wasn't surprised by a single one. It doesn't matter however, because this is a classic high school cute & fluffy and while one is totally aware of the destination, one - well I particularly am in for the ride.
This shines with the character building. I did like all of the characters. Andrefski did a great job. Because I liked the support cast so much I would like to read more about them as well. I adored Eli and Emma. Their little quirks and bits and pieces that made them a team...I got most of their confusion. It did remind me of being their age again, one has these ideas and expectations but essentially we all a tad lost and confused. It's a time of finding oneself and finding ones path, and also a time of utter stupidity at time.
So why is this just 3.5 Stars? Honestly? I found their inability to communicate really annoying. Actually let me correct that. While I wanted to smack Emma for the stupid fake account, I kinda thought, well know people who would do that... Then when they were all confused I felt for them... BUT when Eli did spill it all and asked Emma to talk. She didn't even listen and she didn't speak up as well. She just well, expected him to know. And even worse she kept trying to manipulated him. Now I know actually many grown women who do that. So I guess Andrefski hits a point there. But personally I can't handle the whole smoke and mirrors thing- just freakn man up and say what you want. Speak the heck up. I get that it's scary and that it's hard to put ones heart out there... BUT if you want to gain a heart you gotta bare yours. And well if you don't the result is guaranteed heartache or at best a relationship that is built on deception and dishonesty. I felt that this wasn't actually stressed enough. I feel in fact if we would tell teenager out there to drop the act and be straight with the ones that we hold dear- we all would have much less heartache... but Emma does redeem herself and the end is really cute.
Another great addition to Entangled Crush.
Definitely worth reading for lovers of the genre!!
I love Entangled Crush and have come to expect solid cute & fluffies from them. And The Girlfriend Request does deliver!
I enjoyed this falling for the best friend story and like that Andrefski showed that sometimes hiding behind the world wide web seems easier than actually talking straight to the person.
Naturally this brings a buttload of drama with it- because well, making a fake FB account, can never ever bring happiness after all...
I love Adrefski's writing style. It's straight to the point and contemporary. Both Eli and Emma's POV are clear and different. And I got their confusion and pain and related to both of them- well most of the time. I shall get into this a wee bit later however.
The story line had a few twists and turns, but I wasn't surprised by a single one. It doesn't matter however, because this is a classic high school cute & fluffy and while one is totally aware of the destination, one - well I particularly am in for the ride.
This shines with the character building. I did like all of the characters. Andrefski did a great job. Because I liked the support cast so much I would like to read more about them as well. I adored Eli and Emma. Their little quirks and bits and pieces that made them a team...I got most of their confusion. It did remind me of being their age again, one has these ideas and expectations but essentially we all a tad lost and confused. It's a time of finding oneself and finding ones path, and also a time of utter stupidity at time.
So why is this just 3.5 Stars? Honestly? I found their inability to communicate really annoying. Actually let me correct that. While I wanted to smack Emma for the stupid fake account, I kinda thought, well know people who would do that... Then when they were all confused I felt for them... BUT when Eli did spill it all and asked Emma to talk. She didn't even listen and she didn't speak up as well. She just well, expected him to know. And even worse she kept trying to manipulated him. Now I know actually many grown women who do that. So I guess Andrefski hits a point there. But personally I can't handle the whole smoke and mirrors thing- just freakn man up and say what you want. Speak the heck up. I get that it's scary and that it's hard to put ones heart out there... BUT if you want to gain a heart you gotta bare yours. And well if you don't the result is guaranteed heartache or at best a relationship that is built on deception and dishonesty. I felt that this wasn't actually stressed enough. I feel in fact if we would tell teenager out there to drop the act and be straight with the ones that we hold dear- we all would have much less heartache... but Emma does redeem herself and the end is really cute.
Another great addition to Entangled Crush.
Definitely worth reading for lovers of the genre!!
January 14, 2016
The Girlfriend Request was about a girl getting that guy that she had been in love with since she moved in next door, a typical girl meets boy story that focused on the everyday issues of this particular teenager. While it’s good to have a bang at the climax of the story, having the incredibly realistic aspect of the book was refreshing and unique, in a strange way.
This is a refreshing tale about a shy girl going for the guy of her dreams, even if he’s only a few footsteps away.
To read the rest of the review, simply follow the link: http://www.aleisuremoment.com/2016/01...
December 12, 2015
2.5 stars
I adore the BFF to more story line and even though there was going to be some deception, I was looking forward to a sweet, fluffy read.
Emma and Eli are adorable together. When they're not fighting and having the dumbest bouts of miscommunication. Even when things finally start to work out, there were still some issues. I did like Emma's friends {who tried to talk some sense into her} and her parents {who were supportive}.
Overall, it was a quick, sort of cute read. Sadly the characters seemed much younger than they were and there was a bit too much drama for me.
**Huge thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
I adore the BFF to more story line and even though there was going to be some deception, I was looking forward to a sweet, fluffy read.
Emma and Eli are adorable together. When they're not fighting and having the dumbest bouts of miscommunication. Even when things finally start to work out, there were still some issues. I did like Emma's friends {who tried to talk some sense into her} and her parents {who were supportive}.
Overall, it was a quick, sort of cute read. Sadly the characters seemed much younger than they were and there was a bit too much drama for me.
**Huge thanks to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
January 12, 2016
I'd like to thank Entangled Crush for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.
I've really been liking the books put out by Entangled Crush lately. They are sweet romances that touch on so many of the things teens face these days in real life. It's nice to watch them learn and figure out how to adult a bit.
I especially like books where there is a friends to lovers theme. So when I read the blurb for this one, I was hooked from the start. And no matter which way it's presented, I'm always interested in seeing how the two come together.
Meet Emma, best friends with Eli for as long as she can remember. But Emma has a secret, she's secretly in love with her best friend and is determined to have him see her as more than a friend. So she comes up with a plan to get him to fall for her through a fake Facebook account. Only it doesn't quite work as she planned. I liked Emma. She had this insecure quality about her that I think most teen girls can relate to. She does come up with a crazy plan to try and win Eli over. And I could tell from the start that all the flaws in her plan would probably cause it to backfire. But I will say she had a lot of determination to make it work.
But Eli is no dummy. He's smart and curious and knows his best friend better than she thinks. So when he makes a new friend on Facebook, at first he thinks nothing of it. Then things start to kind of pull together in his mind and he's sure that Emma is keeping a big secret. And suddenly he realizes that perhaps his feelings go a bit deeper for Emma than he thought they did. I wasn't 100% convinced on his feelings for her, but I also know this stuff happens, so it wasn't unrealistic.
I will say that I didn't see how Emma's plan would work out in her favor. And she hadn't really thought it through enough to see that holding back from Eli might not be the best thing to do. As the story progresses she certainly realizes this.
There's a bit of a love triangle in the book, which I'm not a fan of. And I didn't really feel the connection between Emma and Jake like I did between Emma and Eli. But I understood the reasoning behind having it there. Emma needed a dilemma: does she really love Eli or is it that she's always had him around? I felt badly for Jake because he really had no clue what was going on.
Overall this was a fast read. Not my favorite of the Entangled Crush line. I was expecting a bit more humor and perhaps for the book to really build on the relationship between Eli and Emma so there was more tension. The fact that Eli knew Emma was hiding her secret and what it was kind of slowed the story down a bit for me. I'm sure fans of this line will enjoy this book for it's sweetness and fast read.
I've really been liking the books put out by Entangled Crush lately. They are sweet romances that touch on so many of the things teens face these days in real life. It's nice to watch them learn and figure out how to adult a bit.
I especially like books where there is a friends to lovers theme. So when I read the blurb for this one, I was hooked from the start. And no matter which way it's presented, I'm always interested in seeing how the two come together.
Meet Emma, best friends with Eli for as long as she can remember. But Emma has a secret, she's secretly in love with her best friend and is determined to have him see her as more than a friend. So she comes up with a plan to get him to fall for her through a fake Facebook account. Only it doesn't quite work as she planned. I liked Emma. She had this insecure quality about her that I think most teen girls can relate to. She does come up with a crazy plan to try and win Eli over. And I could tell from the start that all the flaws in her plan would probably cause it to backfire. But I will say she had a lot of determination to make it work.
But Eli is no dummy. He's smart and curious and knows his best friend better than she thinks. So when he makes a new friend on Facebook, at first he thinks nothing of it. Then things start to kind of pull together in his mind and he's sure that Emma is keeping a big secret. And suddenly he realizes that perhaps his feelings go a bit deeper for Emma than he thought they did. I wasn't 100% convinced on his feelings for her, but I also know this stuff happens, so it wasn't unrealistic.
I will say that I didn't see how Emma's plan would work out in her favor. And she hadn't really thought it through enough to see that holding back from Eli might not be the best thing to do. As the story progresses she certainly realizes this.
There's a bit of a love triangle in the book, which I'm not a fan of. And I didn't really feel the connection between Emma and Jake like I did between Emma and Eli. But I understood the reasoning behind having it there. Emma needed a dilemma: does she really love Eli or is it that she's always had him around? I felt badly for Jake because he really had no clue what was going on.
Overall this was a fast read. Not my favorite of the Entangled Crush line. I was expecting a bit more humor and perhaps for the book to really build on the relationship between Eli and Emma so there was more tension. The fact that Eli knew Emma was hiding her secret and what it was kind of slowed the story down a bit for me. I'm sure fans of this line will enjoy this book for it's sweetness and fast read.
January 8, 2016
Read full review HERE
I started this book at Lisbon airport, yesterday at 6 a.m., and finished it around 5 p.m., in my bed in Barcelona. I picked this one up because I was too tired to focus on Winter and I needed a fun and easy read for the trip day.
While this book was an enjoyable and fast read, it was by no means brilliant.
I enjoyed the writing well enough, the story flows well and I even liked how the author makes time passages within the same phrase.
My main problem though was with the plot and the characters. The premise of this story seemed a bit idiotic to me from the get go, but maybe it’s because I’m an adult, and “creating a false profile, with a fake pic, so he fall in love with her, then he will love me” seems really stupid to me. I understand Emma’s reluctance to flat out admit her feelings for her best friend, sure, I can even get on board with a fake profile of sorts, but the fake pic and some other stuff just went a bit overboard.
I could understand Emma and where she was coming from, but all her decisions felt wrong to me, and her inability to sort out her feelings was a bit too much. I kind of liked Eli, and I understand why it took him so long to see Em as something more (I was in love with my best friend at 15, and he only looked at me differently after I told him). But in the end, the drama between these two was too much! For 2 people who knew each other so well, they had a lot of communication problems.
About Jake… grrr, I’m conflicted! I liked him when he first got there, and for a moment there I wasn’t actually sure that Emma and Eli would get together, because Jake seemed like a wiser and better option. But then I had to wonder, what the hell was a 19 yo boy doing with a 16 yo (very childish) girl? Because let’s face it: Emma acted way younger than her age! And then he did something I didn’t like, so… yeah… Sarah, I liked!
This book has very funny moments, and Emma’s parents are part of a few of them, like the sex talk! But overall this book was too heavy on the teen drama, with a lot of shouts and lack of communication, and that didn’t quite work for me. Also, the last chapter or so… NO! The idea that Eli needed to prove to anyone other than Emma how he felt, felt wrong to me, sorry.
In the end, this is not a MUST read, but it was fun and cute at times, so I sort of recommend it.
I started this book at Lisbon airport, yesterday at 6 a.m., and finished it around 5 p.m., in my bed in Barcelona. I picked this one up because I was too tired to focus on Winter and I needed a fun and easy read for the trip day.
While this book was an enjoyable and fast read, it was by no means brilliant.
I enjoyed the writing well enough, the story flows well and I even liked how the author makes time passages within the same phrase.
My main problem though was with the plot and the characters. The premise of this story seemed a bit idiotic to me from the get go, but maybe it’s because I’m an adult, and “creating a false profile, with a fake pic, so he fall in love with her, then he will love me” seems really stupid to me. I understand Emma’s reluctance to flat out admit her feelings for her best friend, sure, I can even get on board with a fake profile of sorts, but the fake pic and some other stuff just went a bit overboard.
I could understand Emma and where she was coming from, but all her decisions felt wrong to me, and her inability to sort out her feelings was a bit too much. I kind of liked Eli, and I understand why it took him so long to see Em as something more (I was in love with my best friend at 15, and he only looked at me differently after I told him). But in the end, the drama between these two was too much! For 2 people who knew each other so well, they had a lot of communication problems.
About Jake… grrr, I’m conflicted! I liked him when he first got there, and for a moment there I wasn’t actually sure that Emma and Eli would get together, because Jake seemed like a wiser and better option. But then I had to wonder, what the hell was a 19 yo boy doing with a 16 yo (very childish) girl? Because let’s face it: Emma acted way younger than her age! And then he did something I didn’t like, so… yeah… Sarah, I liked!
This book has very funny moments, and Emma’s parents are part of a few of them, like the sex talk! But overall this book was too heavy on the teen drama, with a lot of shouts and lack of communication, and that didn’t quite work for me. Also, the last chapter or so… NO! The idea that Eli needed to prove to anyone other than Emma how he felt, felt wrong to me, sorry.
In the end, this is not a MUST read, but it was fun and cute at times, so I sort of recommend it.
December 29, 2015
I always love a good ‘bestfriends falling for each other’ story. So as soon as I received a copy of The Girlfriend Request, I couldn’t resist picking it up. And I am glad that out of all the books I started reading this month, I actually managed to finish one.
The Girlfriend Request is a book I’m sure teens can relate to. The awkwardness, the embarrassing and dreaded sex talk with your parents - in front of the guy you are crushing on! - is here. And when you have this best-kept secret of being in love with your bestfriend but don’t know how to tell him or her for fear of being rejected, I’m sure the crazies will come out sooner or later. For Emma, that is in the form of creating a fake Facebook account in the hopes that it will lead to a more-than-friends relationship with Eli. It’s completely ridiculous and something I can see backfiring from a mile away but we all have our crazy moments especially when it comes to someone we love.
Eli and Emma are so adorable together that I totally shipped them right from the start. It was easy to relate to Emma and her current predicament. Being with Eli has been easy and fun when suddenly, it's not. It's like talking to your crush for the first time and blurting out whatever idiotic words your mouth decides to spew in that moment and obsessively thinking about it later, wishing a hole had swallowed you instead. As soon as Emma sends that friend request, she suddenly couldn't make sense of why she ever thought it would work. It sounded perfect when she was thinking about it. I'm pretty sure we've all been here at least once. And I loved that through it all Emma has her friend and her parents to keep her from going completely off the track.
I'm just disappointed that this book turned out to be more complicated, too heavy on drama, than it should be. There was a lot of miscommunication that at one point I couldn't make sense of anything Eli and Emma are even fighting about. Also, I ended up loving Jake. He's my guy here. And I kind of hated Eli for being so judgmental. I get that he's jealous but, dude, it's your mess. Don't put your hate on other people thankyouverymuch.
*Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the advance review copy of this book.
Review originally posted HERE .
The Girlfriend Request is a book I’m sure teens can relate to. The awkwardness, the embarrassing and dreaded sex talk with your parents - in front of the guy you are crushing on! - is here. And when you have this best-kept secret of being in love with your bestfriend but don’t know how to tell him or her for fear of being rejected, I’m sure the crazies will come out sooner or later. For Emma, that is in the form of creating a fake Facebook account in the hopes that it will lead to a more-than-friends relationship with Eli. It’s completely ridiculous and something I can see backfiring from a mile away but we all have our crazy moments especially when it comes to someone we love.
Eli and Emma are so adorable together that I totally shipped them right from the start. It was easy to relate to Emma and her current predicament. Being with Eli has been easy and fun when suddenly, it's not. It's like talking to your crush for the first time and blurting out whatever idiotic words your mouth decides to spew in that moment and obsessively thinking about it later, wishing a hole had swallowed you instead. As soon as Emma sends that friend request, she suddenly couldn't make sense of why she ever thought it would work. It sounded perfect when she was thinking about it. I'm pretty sure we've all been here at least once. And I loved that through it all Emma has her friend and her parents to keep her from going completely off the track.
I'm just disappointed that this book turned out to be more complicated, too heavy on drama, than it should be. There was a lot of miscommunication that at one point I couldn't make sense of anything Eli and Emma are even fighting about. Also, I ended up loving Jake. He's my guy here. And I kind of hated Eli for being so judgmental. I get that he's jealous but, dude, it's your mess. Don't put your hate on other people thankyouverymuch.
*Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the advance review copy of this book.
Review originally posted HERE .
December 23, 2015
NetGalley. Thanks for the copy.
I really hate lies, lies, and more lies. Well, at least, big lies that build upon even more lies. (White lies are a whole different story, and let's admit it. Some of them are necessary. For example, when my mother cooks, I have to say very polite things to an otherwise disgusting-looking lunch of some weird ingredient I can't name or even recognize anymore. Thank goodness, it doesn't happen so frequently as it used to.)
I have no idea where Emma has come up with the idea to create a fake Facebook account in order to reel in her best friend. From the lack of information and clarification on the author's part, I'm left very confused and I have a strange feeling that the jumps in judgement Emma made to get to "oh, I'll create a fake Facebook account to seduce my best friend" is going to be alienate me from the narrator even further.
To be honest, there are few characters that are sane in this book. Eli is not one of them. Emma's best friend, who votes in favor of not doing this stupid thing, is most definitely sane but not sane enough to resist being drawn into the whole situation. This is like Between Us and the Moon all over again, except this time... It's a whole lot worse.
I'm not going to discuss the character of Emma. Just no. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to call her "beyond the craziest of the Joker himself." Not even the Joker has created such a plot to snare the Batman.
The romance doesn't feel organic. Yes, Eli suddenly likes Emma, but... I honestly prefer the two as friends. But oh, well. It happened, it happened. Obviously, the romance between Eli and Emma takes the limelight, but I'm left wondering about the other guy Emma used to manipulate Eli. That subplot is left unresolved, and it's very unsettling.
The only part that is perhaps remotely good is the sex talk. Now that is a piece of comedy.
Overall, The Girlfriend Request is perhaps one of the strangest, weirdest, and unrealistic books I have probably ever read. (That does not include Twilight.) I'm very alienated from this book thanks to one of the POVs (which Eli's POV reads as a bit of an enamored guy who is way too focused on Emma), Emma's stupid choices, and the sheer implausibility of this book.
Rating: One out of Five
I really hate lies, lies, and more lies. Well, at least, big lies that build upon even more lies. (White lies are a whole different story, and let's admit it. Some of them are necessary. For example, when my mother cooks, I have to say very polite things to an otherwise disgusting-looking lunch of some weird ingredient I can't name or even recognize anymore. Thank goodness, it doesn't happen so frequently as it used to.)
I have no idea where Emma has come up with the idea to create a fake Facebook account in order to reel in her best friend. From the lack of information and clarification on the author's part, I'm left very confused and I have a strange feeling that the jumps in judgement Emma made to get to "oh, I'll create a fake Facebook account to seduce my best friend" is going to be alienate me from the narrator even further.
To be honest, there are few characters that are sane in this book. Eli is not one of them. Emma's best friend, who votes in favor of not doing this stupid thing, is most definitely sane but not sane enough to resist being drawn into the whole situation. This is like Between Us and the Moon all over again, except this time... It's a whole lot worse.
I'm not going to discuss the character of Emma. Just no. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to call her "beyond the craziest of the Joker himself." Not even the Joker has created such a plot to snare the Batman.
The romance doesn't feel organic. Yes, Eli suddenly likes Emma, but... I honestly prefer the two as friends. But oh, well. It happened, it happened. Obviously, the romance between Eli and Emma takes the limelight, but I'm left wondering about the other guy Emma used to manipulate Eli. That subplot is left unresolved, and it's very unsettling.
The only part that is perhaps remotely good is the sex talk. Now that is a piece of comedy.
Overall, The Girlfriend Request is perhaps one of the strangest, weirdest, and unrealistic books I have probably ever read. (That does not include Twilight.) I'm very alienated from this book thanks to one of the POVs (which Eli's POV reads as a bit of an enamored guy who is way too focused on Emma), Emma's stupid choices, and the sheer implausibility of this book.
Rating: One out of Five
January 10, 2016
2.5 stars
I was looking forward to reading The Girlfriend Request as I enjoy reading BFF to lovers storylines.
Unfortunately I found it hard to connect with the characters and the lack of communication created way too much unnecessary drama.
Thank you to Entangled - Crush via NetGalley for the advance copy.
I was looking forward to reading The Girlfriend Request as I enjoy reading BFF to lovers storylines.
Unfortunately I found it hard to connect with the characters and the lack of communication created way too much unnecessary drama.
Thank you to Entangled - Crush via NetGalley for the advance copy.
October 15, 2016
I think I'm getting harsher on books now that I have less time to read. I was attracted to this book because of the "he actually knows it's her all along" promised in the description, but there was still a lot of lying and mistrust. And then more than one conflict was resolved way too quickly.
February 5, 2021
The only reason I picked up this book was because I read one of the other books in the series and thought it was sweet...but I really struggled with this story. It was cute at first, but it devolved into a problematic and boring mess. I powered through the second half just so I could finish. I'm so glad that's over.
January 20, 2016
I received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher, Entangled: Crush, thank you!
As some of you know, I absolutely adore books by this publisher and wouldn’t hesitate to read them. For the record this is the first Entangled: Crush book that has left me disappointed and received a lower than 4 stars rating.
Firstly, the plot. The whole idea of creating a fake profile to woo your best friend seemed problematic. Personally, I would never have done it but that’s the point of reading right? To “do” things that you would never do in real life. So, I guess I was on board with the idea. That is, before I saw how badly executed her little plan was. She used a picture of a random girl from a catalog (I think) as the profile picture and named her “Kelli”. When time comes she’ll reveal that she’s actually Kelli and all will be well. What she doesn’t bank on is Eli actually figuring it all out way before the big reveal. In my opinion, it’s no wonder he found out. It was all so obvious, from Kelli’s interests to the way “Kelli” spoke. It was all so EMMA.
Badly executed scheme aside, Emma was pretty relatable. Lots of us would identify with her insecurities, especially when it came to falling for your best friend. But after awhile, Emma became unbearable. Her inability to decide and the constant secrets and lies. I felt she was digging her own grave from the beginning but, hey! it was still shallow. Well, not for long. The girl piled on lie after lie and dug her grave so deep, I didn’t even know how she planned on getting out. The saying, “one lie leads to another” is so appropriate here.
Not to mention her constant habit of jumping to conclusions, which wasn’t that bad at first but soon grew irritating and tiring. Lots of the conflict in this book could have been avoided if she thought things through instead of acting on every whim she had.
As you can see, Emma isn’t my favorite character ever.
Eli, on the other hand, was not that bad? He was always there for her, protecting her and standing up for her. But like many of us do when we’ve grown used to having someone around, he took her for granted. To be honest, I don’t really know much about Eli because every time his chapter came he was fixated on Emma. I know that he likes Star Wars, has a pet named Vader, is an athlete and is spontaneous. Nothing about him left much of an impression. But I liked him. He wasn’t WOW but he was a nice guy. I actually understand how Eli’s emotions towards Emma sort of shifted quite suddenly. It may seem unrealistic on paper but your feelings toward a person can actually change once get to know their true feelings for you. Or even suspect they have a crush on you.
Jake is the guy Emma gets to play her fake boyfriend after she’s dug her grave even deeper. He’s 19 and less dramatic than the other characters here. Maybe it’s because of his age? I felt he was quite reliable and mature until he did something very non-Jake-like towards the end.
This book has way too much drama for its on good. It became overwhelming and sickening. When the pace isn’t crawling, it’s DRAMA. Or lack of communication between Emma and Eli. For best friends, miscommunication was definitely their biggest problem. Which led to more drama and more conflict.
It wasn’t all bad though, there were funny moments, mostly involving Emma’s parents and I found myself laughing out loud thanks to them.
I don’t have much to say about the writing except for there being too much description and not enough dialogue.
I wouldn’t say this is a book you have to read but it had its moments.
As some of you know, I absolutely adore books by this publisher and wouldn’t hesitate to read them. For the record this is the first Entangled: Crush book that has left me disappointed and received a lower than 4 stars rating.
Firstly, the plot. The whole idea of creating a fake profile to woo your best friend seemed problematic. Personally, I would never have done it but that’s the point of reading right? To “do” things that you would never do in real life. So, I guess I was on board with the idea. That is, before I saw how badly executed her little plan was. She used a picture of a random girl from a catalog (I think) as the profile picture and named her “Kelli”. When time comes she’ll reveal that she’s actually Kelli and all will be well. What she doesn’t bank on is Eli actually figuring it all out way before the big reveal. In my opinion, it’s no wonder he found out. It was all so obvious, from Kelli’s interests to the way “Kelli” spoke. It was all so EMMA.
Badly executed scheme aside, Emma was pretty relatable. Lots of us would identify with her insecurities, especially when it came to falling for your best friend. But after awhile, Emma became unbearable. Her inability to decide and the constant secrets and lies. I felt she was digging her own grave from the beginning but, hey! it was still shallow. Well, not for long. The girl piled on lie after lie and dug her grave so deep, I didn’t even know how she planned on getting out. The saying, “one lie leads to another” is so appropriate here.
Not to mention her constant habit of jumping to conclusions, which wasn’t that bad at first but soon grew irritating and tiring. Lots of the conflict in this book could have been avoided if she thought things through instead of acting on every whim she had.
As you can see, Emma isn’t my favorite character ever.
Eli, on the other hand, was not that bad? He was always there for her, protecting her and standing up for her. But like many of us do when we’ve grown used to having someone around, he took her for granted. To be honest, I don’t really know much about Eli because every time his chapter came he was fixated on Emma. I know that he likes Star Wars, has a pet named Vader, is an athlete and is spontaneous. Nothing about him left much of an impression. But I liked him. He wasn’t WOW but he was a nice guy. I actually understand how Eli’s emotions towards Emma sort of shifted quite suddenly. It may seem unrealistic on paper but your feelings toward a person can actually change once get to know their true feelings for you. Or even suspect they have a crush on you.
Jake is the guy Emma gets to play her fake boyfriend after she’s dug her grave even deeper. He’s 19 and less dramatic than the other characters here. Maybe it’s because of his age? I felt he was quite reliable and mature until he did something very non-Jake-like towards the end.
This book has way too much drama for its on good. It became overwhelming and sickening. When the pace isn’t crawling, it’s DRAMA. Or lack of communication between Emma and Eli. For best friends, miscommunication was definitely their biggest problem. Which led to more drama and more conflict.
It wasn’t all bad though, there were funny moments, mostly involving Emma’s parents and I found myself laughing out loud thanks to them.
I don’t have much to say about the writing except for there being too much description and not enough dialogue.
I wouldn’t say this is a book you have to read but it had its moments.
December 27, 2015
Original Review: The Daydreaming Bookworm
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars!
Emma and Eli have been best friends for years. But now, Emma no longer wishes to be just to be seen as the girl-next-door. No, she wants more and she is willing do whatever it takes to get Eli’s attention, including creating a fake Facebook profile, which may end up doing more harm than good.
This book is told from Emma’s POV with dashes of Eli’s POV here and there. Although this was a quick and easy read, I found some parts of the plot to be a bit juvenile, especially since our main characters are about 16/17-years old.The silent treatments and over reacting over the littlest thing, like a flower, was just a bit too dramatic for my taste.
With that being said, I was still entertained by this book. IT’S ROM-COM! There were so many moments where I could not stop laughing. Every time you thought these two would finally get together, something came up and I was rolling my eyes, huffing and puffing, but still reading on to see what happened next.
I have a love/hate relationship with the characters in this book. While they are both very relatable characters, there were moments where I was just annoyed with them and the things they were doing.
♥ Emma: I think we can all relate to Emma. Having a crush on a close friend and hoping that they somehow feel the same is something that many people have experienced, though I’m not so sure I would resort to cat-fishing my best friend to get him to notice me.
♥ Eli: I really liked Eli for the most part, but what annoyed me about him was his sudden realization that he had feelings for Emma. DUDE, she was by your side for years and now you notice her?! I am actually not a big fan of this trope and I wish he would have stepped up to the plate sooner.
My favorite side character has to be Sarah, Emma’s best friend. She was the voice of reason and she basically lectured Emma throughout the story about how everything was going to come back and bite her later and IT DID! No surprise there.
I did have some minor issues with this book. One thing I didn’t like was that there were not enough Eli chapters and the few chapters told from his POV were a bit short. I WANTED MORE ELI!
Another issue I had was with the ending. I felt that everything was wrapped up a bit to quickly and it was a little to cliché for my taste.
Overall, I did enjoy this book. If your looking for a quick and easy read that will make you LAUGH-OUT-LOUD, I suggest picking up this book and giving it a go.
I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars!
Emma and Eli have been best friends for years. But now, Emma no longer wishes to be just to be seen as the girl-next-door. No, she wants more and she is willing do whatever it takes to get Eli’s attention, including creating a fake Facebook profile, which may end up doing more harm than good.
This book is told from Emma’s POV with dashes of Eli’s POV here and there. Although this was a quick and easy read, I found some parts of the plot to be a bit juvenile, especially since our main characters are about 16/17-years old.The silent treatments and over reacting over the littlest thing, like a flower, was just a bit too dramatic for my taste.
With that being said, I was still entertained by this book. IT’S ROM-COM! There were so many moments where I could not stop laughing. Every time you thought these two would finally get together, something came up and I was rolling my eyes, huffing and puffing, but still reading on to see what happened next.
I have a love/hate relationship with the characters in this book. While they are both very relatable characters, there were moments where I was just annoyed with them and the things they were doing.
♥ Emma: I think we can all relate to Emma. Having a crush on a close friend and hoping that they somehow feel the same is something that many people have experienced, though I’m not so sure I would resort to cat-fishing my best friend to get him to notice me.
♥ Eli: I really liked Eli for the most part, but what annoyed me about him was his sudden realization that he had feelings for Emma. DUDE, she was by your side for years and now you notice her?! I am actually not a big fan of this trope and I wish he would have stepped up to the plate sooner.
My favorite side character has to be Sarah, Emma’s best friend. She was the voice of reason and she basically lectured Emma throughout the story about how everything was going to come back and bite her later and IT DID! No surprise there.
I did have some minor issues with this book. One thing I didn’t like was that there were not enough Eli chapters and the few chapters told from his POV were a bit short. I WANTED MORE ELI!
Another issue I had was with the ending. I felt that everything was wrapped up a bit to quickly and it was a little to cliché for my taste.
Overall, I did enjoy this book. If your looking for a quick and easy read that will make you LAUGH-OUT-LOUD, I suggest picking up this book and giving it a go.
December 28, 2015
The Girlfriend Request!!! First things first: I received an ARC through NetGalley.
The book comes out january 11th and you should totally check it out.
I have so confusing feeling about this book. I'm not sure how to rate it.I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.I don't see myself reading it again but I stll kinda enjoyed it.This is weird!!!!
This is super spoilery, so be aware of that!!!
So, this book is about Eli and Emma. They are best friends since childhood. Emma has a crush on him but she's afraid to just tell him that. So she comes up with the idea of creating a fake facebook profile, that has basically her personality but the picture of some girl from a homepage. Her plan is to reveal who she really is to Eli later, when he and her fake persona are really close. He will see how much they have in common, they will laugh about it, get together and everything is well. Also Eli, basically figures out after their first conversation that it is Emma. And so it begins.
I'm not a big fan of creating fake profiles. No matter if you are trying to do something good with it or something bad. Just don't create fake profiles. Don't.
Emma's character got a bit too frustrating at times, where I'm just shaking my head and want someone in the book to just talk some sense into her. Thankfully, her friend Sarah was just the person to do that. Even though she had some stupid ideas herself, like finding a third person to make a phonecall from "Kellie" to Eli. Or the fake boyfriend to make Eli jealous. Don't. I also didn't like where the Jake storyline was going. On all the sudden Emma wasn't sure if she actually wanted Eli or if she wanted Jake. And Jake was a bit over the top for me towards the end, with the flowers and the way he acted when he ran into Emma and Eli at the restaurant.
I also wish we could have gotten more from Eli. Like a real journey for him to realize his feelings for Emma. That happened way too fast.
BUT. Even though the story was sometimes a bit too frustrating and half way through I thought about just quitting it. I powered through the last half today...and I'm a sucker for childhood friends falling in love, kissing in the pouring rain and the phrase "It's always been you.".
The book comes out january 11th and you should totally check it out.
I have so confusing feeling about this book. I'm not sure how to rate it.I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.I don't see myself reading it again but I stll kinda enjoyed it.This is weird!!!!
This is super spoilery, so be aware of that!!!
So, this book is about Eli and Emma. They are best friends since childhood. Emma has a crush on him but she's afraid to just tell him that. So she comes up with the idea of creating a fake facebook profile, that has basically her personality but the picture of some girl from a homepage. Her plan is to reveal who she really is to Eli later, when he and her fake persona are really close. He will see how much they have in common, they will laugh about it, get together and everything is well. Also Eli, basically figures out after their first conversation that it is Emma. And so it begins.
I'm not a big fan of creating fake profiles. No matter if you are trying to do something good with it or something bad. Just don't create fake profiles. Don't.
Emma's character got a bit too frustrating at times, where I'm just shaking my head and want someone in the book to just talk some sense into her. Thankfully, her friend Sarah was just the person to do that. Even though she had some stupid ideas herself, like finding a third person to make a phonecall from "Kellie" to Eli. Or the fake boyfriend to make Eli jealous. Don't. I also didn't like where the Jake storyline was going. On all the sudden Emma wasn't sure if she actually wanted Eli or if she wanted Jake. And Jake was a bit over the top for me towards the end, with the flowers and the way he acted when he ran into Emma and Eli at the restaurant.
I also wish we could have gotten more from Eli. Like a real journey for him to realize his feelings for Emma. That happened way too fast.
BUT. Even though the story was sometimes a bit too frustrating and half way through I thought about just quitting it. I powered through the last half today...and I'm a sucker for childhood friends falling in love, kissing in the pouring rain and the phrase "It's always been you.".
January 11, 2016
**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**The Girlfriend Request by Jodie Andrefski is a really cute young adult standalone that will take you by surprise. When I first started reading, I thought this was going to be a catfish type story. (You know, that show on MTV where people "meet" people online, that end up not being who they said they were. Shocker...) But it totally is not that kind of story at all. I loved the way Jodie Andrefski morphed The Girlfriend Request multiple times. She blew my preconceived notions out of the water. And she kept me on my toes. More than once, I thought I knew what was going to happen next only to be wrong. Almost every time! That made reading this story a whole lotta fun.
The Girlfriend Request centers on the theme of Friends-to-more. It is the story of Emma and Eli. Emma has a had a crush on her best friend Eli for as long as she can remember, and she has a plan (though totally convoluted!) that she is sure will finally make him see her in a whole new light. Sounds pretty predictable, right? Well, that is where the predictability ends. This book was super cute, and a really fun ride.
I loved Emma. Even though she sometimes did some stupid things, she was still adorable and a really kind person. And Eli is a sweetheart as well. Both of them totally melted my heart.What I liked most about them, is that they have such a friend friendship. Eli can read Emma like a book. He gets her 100% And he likes her 100% for who she is. It was really adorable to read the scenes where they were hanging out.
Bottom line: If you love young adult romantic comedies, and you are looking for an afternoon of light, fun reading, The Girlfriend Request is a great book for you to pick up. It fits in wonderfully with Entangled's Crush line.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
The Girlfriend Request centers on the theme of Friends-to-more. It is the story of Emma and Eli. Emma has a had a crush on her best friend Eli for as long as she can remember, and she has a plan (though totally convoluted!) that she is sure will finally make him see her in a whole new light. Sounds pretty predictable, right? Well, that is where the predictability ends. This book was super cute, and a really fun ride.
I loved Emma. Even though she sometimes did some stupid things, she was still adorable and a really kind person. And Eli is a sweetheart as well. Both of them totally melted my heart.What I liked most about them, is that they have such a friend friendship. Eli can read Emma like a book. He gets her 100% And he likes her 100% for who she is. It was really adorable to read the scenes where they were hanging out.
Bottom line: If you love young adult romantic comedies, and you are looking for an afternoon of light, fun reading, The Girlfriend Request is a great book for you to pick up. It fits in wonderfully with Entangled's Crush line.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
January 11, 2016
Read the full review on Bookaholics Not-So-Anonymous.
Note: This ARC was provided by Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
There's an air of familiarity to the story--the occasional bullying, feelings of insecurity, teens going about their problems the wrong way, etc.--but it did have things that were new, at least to me. The fake Facebook profile certainly wasn't a stroke of genius, but it is what presents the possibility of Emma and Eli becoming more than friends. As best friends, these two were at their most comfortable because they didn't feel it necessary to put on a facade, pretending to be better than they were simply to keep the other person interested. Even taking that chance into being boyfriend-girlfriend could lead to their friendship changing, so I get why there was all the back-and-forth and plan-hatching going on. There's a bit of immaturity and a lack of better sense, but that's kind of expected when it comes to teens who are overly angsty and reactive.
I liked the pacing of the story and I liked the cast of characters, each one playing a role that pushed the romance between Emma and Eli forward. This story highlights just how important communication is in any kind of relationship and regardless of what age group you belong to. Yes, there's a saying that goes "Actions speak louder than words," but if those actions are purely reactive and there isn't any actual talking and exchanging of thoughts and feelings going on, then the actions can wreak havoc. Emma and Eli are teenagers and they act accordingly. Expecting them to be far more mature than their years is silly. There have been and will probably always be friends-to-lovers romance novels out there, whether YA, NA, or older, and The Girlfriend's Request had its own unique take on it. For that and more, it gets four stars. ♥
Note: This ARC was provided by Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
There's an air of familiarity to the story--the occasional bullying, feelings of insecurity, teens going about their problems the wrong way, etc.--but it did have things that were new, at least to me. The fake Facebook profile certainly wasn't a stroke of genius, but it is what presents the possibility of Emma and Eli becoming more than friends. As best friends, these two were at their most comfortable because they didn't feel it necessary to put on a facade, pretending to be better than they were simply to keep the other person interested. Even taking that chance into being boyfriend-girlfriend could lead to their friendship changing, so I get why there was all the back-and-forth and plan-hatching going on. There's a bit of immaturity and a lack of better sense, but that's kind of expected when it comes to teens who are overly angsty and reactive.
I liked the pacing of the story and I liked the cast of characters, each one playing a role that pushed the romance between Emma and Eli forward. This story highlights just how important communication is in any kind of relationship and regardless of what age group you belong to. Yes, there's a saying that goes "Actions speak louder than words," but if those actions are purely reactive and there isn't any actual talking and exchanging of thoughts and feelings going on, then the actions can wreak havoc. Emma and Eli are teenagers and they act accordingly. Expecting them to be far more mature than their years is silly. There have been and will probably always be friends-to-lovers romance novels out there, whether YA, NA, or older, and The Girlfriend's Request had its own unique take on it. For that and more, it gets four stars. ♥
January 5, 2016
Original review can be found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...
** I received an advanced readers copy from Entangled: Crush via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**
Let me start off by saying that I really like a friends first storyline so I was hopeful that this book would give me the fix I was looking for. I wasn't sure how the whole social media aspect would play out, it sounded quite manipulative, but interesting all the same.
The fake facebook profile and therefore the title of the book were misleading and almost a non starter. Somehow Eli knew from the very beginning that it was Emma behind the profile and the fake profile was only very briefly a major part of the story. From there it snowballed to a fake boyfriend that Emma may or may not have kind of liked even though she had been in love with her best friend for years. In other words, it really went downhill. I think I could handle her trying to make Eli jealous but the fact that she got all confused with her feelings after the "fake" date lost me. Everything she was doing was suppose to be because of her feelings for Eli but the rabbit trails made me less than sympathetic and gave her an annoying and immature quality that I wasn't a fan of.
Even though there were all kinds of wrong in this story there were a few cute moments to be found too. Younger fans of this genre would probably enjoy it more than I did. After all, there was crushing, kissing, social media and all kinds of drama to be found. I just couldn't get past the manipulation and immaturity to fully enjoy it. I think if the fake boyfriend and confusion it caused Emma in the story were omitted, the story would have been a whole lot better. That is where it lost me and I just couldn't find my way back.
** I received an advanced readers copy from Entangled: Crush via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**
Let me start off by saying that I really like a friends first storyline so I was hopeful that this book would give me the fix I was looking for. I wasn't sure how the whole social media aspect would play out, it sounded quite manipulative, but interesting all the same.
The fake facebook profile and therefore the title of the book were misleading and almost a non starter. Somehow Eli knew from the very beginning that it was Emma behind the profile and the fake profile was only very briefly a major part of the story. From there it snowballed to a fake boyfriend that Emma may or may not have kind of liked even though she had been in love with her best friend for years. In other words, it really went downhill. I think I could handle her trying to make Eli jealous but the fact that she got all confused with her feelings after the "fake" date lost me. Everything she was doing was suppose to be because of her feelings for Eli but the rabbit trails made me less than sympathetic and gave her an annoying and immature quality that I wasn't a fan of.
Even though there were all kinds of wrong in this story there were a few cute moments to be found too. Younger fans of this genre would probably enjoy it more than I did. After all, there was crushing, kissing, social media and all kinds of drama to be found. I just couldn't get past the manipulation and immaturity to fully enjoy it. I think if the fake boyfriend and confusion it caused Emma in the story were omitted, the story would have been a whole lot better. That is where it lost me and I just couldn't find my way back.
July 18, 2016
I'm not going to lie, this book definitely has a plot that does seem a little far fetched. However, this generation has resulted to hiding behind a computer in order to express their feelings instead of actually communicating face-to-face with that person. So in the end, I do think that this is a cute and fluffy read that shows some of the awkwardness that comes from high school relationships and just being a teenager in general. I've never found a book from Entangled Crush that I actually DISLIKED, but some of the titles do have more drama than I personally enjoy, so if you don't mind a lot of that then you might really connect with this story.
The love triangle felt unnecessary to me. Basically, Emma goes on a date with her friend's brother's roommate and she pretty much just goes on a date with him to make Eli jealous. However, he still continues to pop up in the story even after Emma and Eli were together, which I felt like wasn't needed at all. Anyway, I found it to be a light read but some of the miscommunication felt like overkill for me.
Read full review on Go Read A Book
The love triangle felt unnecessary to me. Basically, Emma goes on a date with her friend's brother's roommate and she pretty much just goes on a date with him to make Eli jealous. However, he still continues to pop up in the story even after Emma and Eli were together, which I felt like wasn't needed at all. Anyway, I found it to be a light read but some of the miscommunication felt like overkill for me.
Read full review on Go Read A Book
January 12, 2016
Sometimes I get those days wherein I couldn’t do anything productive. Having read Illuminae, I was stuck in a reading slump so while I was stuck in traffic on my way to Uni, I decided to read this book and I was really hooked. I finished it on the bus, yep while it was moving. Haha!
I simply adore bestfriend romances so when I heard about this book, I immediately signed up for an ARC! This book is really enjoyable, light and full of fluff!
The characters were adorable, sweet and easy to relate with. Emma was a fun character to begin with, she’s a bit shy but she’s really quirky too, being with her friends, especially with Eli! Eli, well according to Emma, he’s hot. I could definitely imagine him as hot because it wasn’t that hard. Haha! He’s sweet and caring and I love him to bits! The friendship between the two was really unique and adorable.
Somehow, I didn’t mind the love triangle which was surprising since both guys, Eli and Jake, were adorable in their own ways. They were so nice, amidst the clash of their personalities.
This was definitely swoonworthy! I love that the friendships, family and the romance aspects of the book all worked out together as balanced.
I simply adore bestfriend romances so when I heard about this book, I immediately signed up for an ARC! This book is really enjoyable, light and full of fluff!
The characters were adorable, sweet and easy to relate with. Emma was a fun character to begin with, she’s a bit shy but she’s really quirky too, being with her friends, especially with Eli! Eli, well according to Emma, he’s hot. I could definitely imagine him as hot because it wasn’t that hard. Haha! He’s sweet and caring and I love him to bits! The friendship between the two was really unique and adorable.
Somehow, I didn’t mind the love triangle which was surprising since both guys, Eli and Jake, were adorable in their own ways. They were so nice, amidst the clash of their personalities.
This was definitely swoonworthy! I love that the friendships, family and the romance aspects of the book all worked out together as balanced.
February 28, 2016
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So….another teen story of best friends falling for each other….. what sets this apart from others is the use of a fake identity via facebook. Other than that….none.
It is your typical young adult story that’s clean, meaning no graphic sex scenes or nudity, and sweet (oh to be young and in love). What I didn’t like were the unnecessary factors like that College guy Jake who Emma was supposedly just using to get Eli’s attention, yet after just one date he oh so suddenly LIKES her and she him. And Eli’s abrupt and total turnaround of looking at Emma as nothing more than a friend to being totally In love with his best friend. This lacked believability. Instead of being pulled into the story, I just kept asking “what the hell happened” to myself.
Still, it is a nice read if you have nothing else to do and just want to waste time on a book from which you will have no takeaway. It is a no brainer story with no need for analysis. Just take the book at face value, read and recycle. End of story.
So….another teen story of best friends falling for each other….. what sets this apart from others is the use of a fake identity via facebook. Other than that….none.
It is your typical young adult story that’s clean, meaning no graphic sex scenes or nudity, and sweet (oh to be young and in love). What I didn’t like were the unnecessary factors like that College guy Jake who Emma was supposedly just using to get Eli’s attention, yet after just one date he oh so suddenly LIKES her and she him. And Eli’s abrupt and total turnaround of looking at Emma as nothing more than a friend to being totally In love with his best friend. This lacked believability. Instead of being pulled into the story, I just kept asking “what the hell happened” to myself.
Still, it is a nice read if you have nothing else to do and just want to waste time on a book from which you will have no takeaway. It is a no brainer story with no need for analysis. Just take the book at face value, read and recycle. End of story.
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