The Boy Next Story

Bookish Boyfriends #2

by Tiffany Schmidt

The second book in a series where your favorite literary characters come to life, inspired by the timeless classic, Little Women!

There’s no one better than the boy next door. At least not according to Aurora Campbell, fourteen, who has been in love with Tobias May since their very first sandbox kiss. The problem is, he’s in love with her older sister, Merrilee. And Merri is already dating one of his best friends.

Rory is learning all about pining as her class reads The Great Gatsby, a book she doesn’t find “great” at all. Also not great—her GPA, something she needs to fix, quickly, if she’d like to apply for the chance to spend a week studying art with her hero in New York City over winter break. But when Ms. Gregoire assigns her to read Little Women for extra credit, Rory discovers more than she expected—both about herself and Toby. Maybe she wasn’t in love with the boy next door. . .  but the boy next story.

Love is complicated, and it’s all about to get even trickier for Rory at Reginald R. Hero Prep . . . where with the help of one quirky English teacher, students’ fantasies come true, often with surprising consequences.
 

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook, Fiction, Retellings, Teen

429 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Tiffany Schmidt is the author of acclaimed books for young readers, including the Bookish Boyfriends series, I'm Dreaming of a Wyatt Christmas, Once Upon a Crime Family duology and several others.

She’s found her happily ever after in Pennsylvania with her saintly husband, impish twin boys, and a pair of mischievous puggles.

You can find out more about her and her books at: TiffanySchmidt.com

Reviews

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

CW: eating disorder mentioned

Well that was a successful modern YA reimagining of a much loved novel.

As I mentioned in my review of book 1, I hope young adults will feel inspired to read some of the classics referenced in this series. I actually enjoyed the characters more in this book. Aurora was initially quite vulnerable and unsure of herself, so her growth and transformation by the end was a more satisfying journey to read about. The central character is younger and the author did a good job of creating an appropriate voice for an early teen. Another lovely book.

[Naomi Abiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accurate representation of what transpired early this morning:

*Me, laying on my bed, reading on Timmy (my kindle) and listening to music at 1-2 am*
*hums along with the music as I read, gets to a sad scene*
"WAIT- WHAT?"
*reads the scene over again...then again*
Whisper yells, "NOOOOOO, ROAR DON'T DO THATTT."
Also rooting for the main character while not rooting for her at the same time cuz...why not? Gotta change up society sometimes

Not me also kinda falling in looooooove with this Toby dude cuz he reminds me a bit of myself ;) NAH. A bit like my awesome dude..ACTUALLY NOPE. XD He's just a really cool character.
XD Also me overthining everything for the main character so she doesn't have to.
I'm cool like that :3

*feels my eyes tear up at the sad scene, and tortures myself by reading it again because I can't believe it's happening... AHHHHHHHHH NO. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SO MUCH LIKE LITTLE WOMEN?? I LOVED THAT BOOK. AND BECUASE OF IT I LOVED THIS BOOK TOO. AHHHHHH Welp except for the part that there's 3 sisters...but I suppose it's cuz Beth technically died in Little Women XD

*sob reads through the book, sipping water (gotta be healthy ofc ;)*
*gets to a good part, and grins uncontrollably, bopping my head to the music*
*stands up, 100 pages away from the end, stretching and sees a cute scene cut short*
"ARRRGHHHHHHH NOOOO, AUTHOR NOOO DON'T DO THAT TO THE POOR BOY"
*realizes that I'm the only one awake and that I just yelled at Timmy*
*whispers* "Sorry world, and sorry Timmy."
*shrugs, not caring and lays back down, going back to my book*
"Oh, wait-" Whisper yells. "No don't LEAVE him now. You need to sort out your feeling Roar. Don't PUSH him away. AHHH NOOOO NOT HUCK. Ew not Huck. Don't do that to Huck." Side note: WHY IS HIS NAME HUCK? XD IT SEEMS SO...OUT OF PLACE
*feels bad for Huck and also for Roar, (btw I love that nickname- AUTHOR- GOOD JOB ON THAT) and appreciated Roar's nickname.*

AHHH POOR ROAR.... ;-; WELL ACTUALLY. POOR EVERYONE.

I WANT A TEACHER LIKE MS. GREGOIRE. I NEED ONE LIKE HER. ACTUALLY- I ASPIRE TO BE A TEACHER LIKE HER. OH MY CHEESE SHE'S SUCH AN AWESOME TEACHERRRRR!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH

I liked this book...a lot. XD To be honest, I would recommend it to a lot of people. MANY PEOPLE. :D

If you want to read it go ahead. I'm never gonna stop you. Just be aware that it it's a sweet candy romance story! AND IT'S ADORABLE XD
(well that's my opinion). Have fun forming yours!!

IT WAS WORTH STAYING UP ALL NIGHT READING :D

[Tucker Almengor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many thanks to Amulet Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review



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[Skyler Brooks (✨HIS✨ version) (hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Women has always been a key book in my life and this story felt like coming home.

Spoiler Free:

4.5⭐️ (rounded down) (more later)

Plot: 10/10 ~ The plot was just scrumptious! However it did feel less lighthearted as the 1st book and I definitely cried.

Romance: 3/10 ~ Kissing, handholding etc.

Tropes: The Boy Next Door, Friends to Lovers, Siblings Best Friend, Love Triangle, Childhood Sweethearts, & First Love.

Language: 0/10 ~ none from what I remember.

Violence: 0/10 ~ none

Gore: 0/10 ~ none

Other: Like I said earlier it’s a lot less lighthearted and felt very slow and sad.

Quotes:
If I stayed stuck in the past, it would destroy me. It was time to move on. It was time to let go.



Overall loved and will be recommending!

The extra .5 star was for Toby and the romance in it. The romance brought me so much joy and hope!

⬇️⬇️⬇️SPOILERS⬇️⬇️⬇️

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!!

This story hit close to home as childhood sweethearts is my dream!

I’ve always read Little Women from Jo’s POV and felt for Jo but this book brought out sympathy for Amy. I’ve never connected with Amy but Tiffany Schmidt made me see the story of Little Women through Amy’s eyes. Laurie (aka Toby) had my heart going crazy through this whole book. There were moments when I forgot the main character was Rory and not Amy.
I did enjoy it but was definitely not my fave.

[hannah_greengables ~hello there~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh toby...toby, toby, toby





TOBYYYYYYYYY

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

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

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

Oh, whoops! My lips were NOT sealed 🤐

Sorry, this megaphone is glued to my hand 📣 :

❣️TALK NERDY TO ME! (Frankenstein + Anne of Green Gables)

❣️GET A CLUE (Sherlock Holmes!)

— Tiffany Schmidt (@TiffanySchmidt) July 29, 2019

[Mari Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review and many others can also be found at Musings of a (Book) Girl.

This was such a delight to read! Though it is the second book in the Bookish Boyfriends series, you don’t have to read A Date With Darcy before The Boy Next Story. I jumped right into this second novel and now that I’ve read it I’m anxious to go back and read the first one. Tiffany Schmidt’s writing style was fun and completely perfect for breathing life into these characters.

Rory and her sisters felt real and full of life. Each of the sisters had wonderfully unique and distinctive personalities and I loved seeing their interactions. These three were very much sisters and had all of the squabbles you would expect, but also some very loving moments as well. Even though they didn’t always get along you could tell that at the end of the day they loved and cared about each other. Rory’s parents were also great and the fact that they were supportive of her and her grades even though she doesn’t have all As really touched my heart. They knew she was working hard and trying her best and we need to be seeing more of this.

I wish I could say that all of the characters were as great as the sisters, but they weren’t. Aside from Toby, the others were very run of the mill ordinary and easily confused. I had trouble keeping them apart and there was even one that throughout the entire book I could never figure out who she was or where she came from. They were all likeable but too similar and indistinguishable.

Two of my favorite tropes, a fake relationship and a slow burn, were included in this story! The slow burn really was so slooooow and I loved every second of it. When it came to the fake relationship though I wasn’t as impressed. It was very much glossed over. Mostly the characters just mentioned that it was taking place without there being any action behind it. The entire thing felt very insignificant and pointless.

The Boy Next Story really was a very endearing read! Little Women isn’t my favorite classic but I did love the parallels between it and this story. This is a longer read which isn’t typical for a lot of the contemporary novels I read, but the book passed quickly and never felt like it was dragging by. If contemporaries or fun light reads are what you like then I definitely suggest picking up Tiffany Schmidt’s next installment!

TL;DR: A fun light read with a great set of sisters! This story features a great slow burn and a not so great fake relationship with a very satisfying ending.

A finished copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Divine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Just once, can’t I identify with the star? Why am I always the secondary character? The second choice? Gatsby, Amy–don’t I get to be the hero in fiction?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Does not gloss over sensitive issues and subtopics while adeptly discussing them in a simplified manner.

One thing I liked about this as well is how we get to be introduced to other interests like musical scores, the arts, sibling dynamics, high school woes, the malleable nature of friendships, the multifaceted concept of privilege and, even a commentary on vegans.

On vegans:

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

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

On privileges:

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

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

On friendships and love:

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

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

On siblings:

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

On art and music:

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

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

Reiterates (ironically) the influential powers a book possesses.

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

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

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

[Bandita · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. This book was super cute, I loved it! But this book has huge spoilers for The Great Gatsby and Little Women. I have already read these books so it was not a big deal for me but do not read this book if you want to avoid spoilers for these two mentioned books.

[Andi (Andi's ABCs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Andi's ABCs


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

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

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

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

[Jasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spent the first 100 pages of this book thinking "This is not for me." and only keeping on because I wanted to know what happens plot-wise before I start Eliza's story. "The boy next story" starts out with a lot of tropes that I (except for a few exceptions) don't like: The crush on the elder sibling's best friend, the crush on a boy (or girl) who is very obviously and outspoken interested in someone else, the intense jealousy towards her sister, a vague class picking on the protagonist for jealous reasons, a guy that can't accept that a friend is not into him.

But once Rory started to be less obsessed with Toby, she patched up things with Merri and Clara and she met Huck, that's when I started to enjoy this story a lot more. I still didn't enjoy the romance quite as much because I got so annoyed with Toby sometimes, and a childhood crush on a (best) friend who's into someone else always makes me want the protagonist to find someone new to fall in love with.

But in the end this story is mostly about Rory herself and her relationship to her sisters, and I liked that part of the story very much, as well as Rory's friendship with Huck.

I think not having read Little Women yet, actually added to my experience of this book because, in contrast to A Date with Darcy where I could identify every line of dialogue and scene lifted from Pride and Prejudice immediately, I had no frame of reference here and therefore was not taken out of the book by those realizations. There's only one scene early on that I know has to be lifted from Little Women because it feels out of character for Toby to say at that point. But as it happens in the first 100 pages of this book, that I, as mentioned before, didn't enjoy anyway, it's not the reason it took me so long to get through the book.

All in all, even if I didn't like the romance of this book all that much, I did enjoy reading about Rory's journey and the development she went through, as well as knowing more about her character.

[tellacnders · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS ONE HOLY COW, MET MY STANDARDS AND EVEN RAISED THE BAR HELP SO GOOD, DEFINITELY AN ALL-TIME FAVOURITE

[Brandy Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this needed to be so long because it did drag in the middle, but it was cute. It's always nice to read a reworking of Little Women that gives "Amy" her due and isn't trying to be a Jo/Laurie fanfic. I do love that, like its source material, this was ultimately a story about sisters.

[rash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have nothing to say it’s my comfort series I love them so much these books let me let go of all my stress I swear to god

[Wisty · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 stars

Um, wow. I read A Date with Darcy about three years ago and very much enjoyed it, but my library never got the sequel(s), so it's taken me a hot minute to get to this. And I'm a little bit blown away!

Schmidt took two things I categorically hate reading about delivered one of the most enjoyable books I've read in recent memory. Those things are an artist main character and a story about sisters. I relate to neither and pretty much always find myself annoyed when either aspect is present in a book.

But, I don't know! Rory's voice just crackled. She was so well-portrayed, it was crazy. Teenagers aren't dumb, right? They may over-analytic, defensive, snarky, insecure, and the center of their own worlds, but they definitely have a unique perspective. I found Rory's reflections and problems and takes on matters so, so wonderful. Never thought a young teenage artist with bad grades and an uncomfortably unrequited crush would be such a marvelous main character. I laughed, I very nearly cried. (Ok, fine, there were some actual tears. You know when things are resolving beautifully and your heart just wells up with emotion and you want to burst? That.) I really felt it all.

The sister relationship was phenomenal (and, again, I hate sister stories), the non-neglectful, normal parents were very refreshing. The romance sizzled and was adorable. And absolutely cannot forget the seamless and flawless incorporation of the classic novels via the Ms. Frizzle-esque English teacher. In this case, we got a dose of The Great Gatsby and an even better dose of Little Women, and there is such an homage to the classics here, it's THE BEST.

At this point, I am so so excited to read the next one. Sometimes, a well-done fluffyish contemporary with a guaranteed happy ending is just the right thing.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not just a story about the romance, it was also about sisters like Little Women was about sisters and Rory also goes on a self-discovery journey and she learns to not be afraid to after the things that she wants. Rory has a complicated relationship with her sisters Lilly and Merri, while they love each other and are close, Rory has often felt excluded from them and she resents that, but I do think her sisters care about Rory and Rory is not always good with expressing herself and she learns to do that. But her sisters can also be so clueless.

I did recognize parallels to Little Women, scenes I recognized, and especially something in particular which made me go from early on in the book, "Oh, I know where this is going." and it went the way I expected it would. The Merri/Toby/Rory paralleling Jo/Laurie/Amy was obvious, of course Toby was going to end up falling for Rory after being rejected by Merri again, like what happened with Jo, Laurie and Amy. It did made the romance predictable, but I think I liked it.

I think the author was good with showing subtle things, such as whether or not Toby could have feelings for Rory or not - there were little things where it looked like he could. Her writing felt natural.

I do have a thought about something:
It was not really explained how Toby went from being in love with Merri to being in love with Rory, and maybe on some level he had feelings for Rory too as there were the little things early on in the book that made it seem like he could already, he did start to see Rory in a different light quickly The whole concept of a guy being in love with one person first and then falling in love with the person's sister is questionable.

This was a very enjoyable read!

[Christina Pauze (is in a reading slump) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enjoying this book a lot because it was a clean romance that still gave you that 'high school musical' nostalgia feeling. This is a book that I could have said was a huge hit when I was in elementary.

It was totally clean (from a technical point of view) but I slowly started to lose interest when small tidbits were mentioned. I got over half way through the book and would have loved to finish it, but when I lose trust in the author I tend to also lose interest out of weariness. I like to be relaxed when I read, as in I can trust that the highs and lows will not go against my personal values. Christian or not, clean YAs tend to do that but in this book there were small things like when Tory is introduced to her new English teacher - for some reason the introduction had to include a very forced line of "regardless of your sexual orientation". There were not gay characters in the book but it was still odd that it had to be said. Cute moments of being asked to the school dance were also squashed a bit because the main character had to ask in her shy manner if her fake boyfriend has asked "a girl out yet, or guy ... whoever" (this is a paraphrase), it made me very uncomfortable so when I looked up to see that the author also has the same book in the series but with gay characters as well I found it very disheartening since this is written as a YA that is definitely catered to those who are just coming out of middle grade books. So I hate how those seeds were planted for the sake of an agenda.

For this reason I had to stop reading the book, I loved the characters and the family dynamic, but I felt uncomfortable moving forward with the book and CANNOT in good conscience recommend it to anyone.

[Laura Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to author @tiffanyschmidt for sending me a copy of this book to share with #kidlitexchange -- I looooved it! This book is out May 21, 2019
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5/5 for The Boy Next Story, which is possibly even more wonderful than the first book in the Bookish Boyfriends series. Maybe it's that I identify more with introvert Rory or maybe it's that I fell hard for her love interest, boy next door Tobias. Who can resist a story about friendship that blooms into love??
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Here's what else I loved:
*a chance to spend more time with the other Campbell family members, especially boisterous, irrepressible Merri, but also Lilly who is growing on me
*like the first book, a Campbell sister thinks her life might be following one literary plot (The Great Gatsby in this case), but in reality there's another plot afoot (Little Women). Schmidt makes the parallels beautifully and I love the idea of a prescient English teacher who can give students just the right book to match them (and their love life!)
*Rory isn't a perfect student like her sister, but she puts in the WORK on her academics so she can continue doing what she loves, her art. What a wonderful message.
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You do NOT need to read the first book in this series to enjoy this fabulous book. I will say, however, that all middle school librarians should buy both books. They're popular! I have two copies of the first in the series and they're never in. I expect this one will fly off the shelves, as well.
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#yalit #bookreview #librariansfollowlibrarians #reading #amreading #romance #romcombook #librariesofinstagram #littlewomen #tiffanyschmidt @abramskids

[Karen Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this second book in the series there’s a sense of familiarity to some of the components, but the changing book focus and new characters stops it seeming repetitive.
In this story we focus on aspiring artist Aurora who’s had a crush on her next door neighbour Toby since she was five. Unfortunately, he seems to be in love with Aurora’s sister even though she’s unaware of it.
This could have been irritating beyond belief, and there were moments that I wanted to smack heads together because people were being so dense, but the warmth of Aurora and her friends Clara and Huck kept it entertaining. When the focus was on The Great Gatsby I was uncertain if this was the book for me - but after a false start a new book becomes the focus and this is much more pertinent.
This was no easy ride love story, but everything turned out nicely and kept me entertained along the way. A great bookish journey, and I must thank NetGalley for granting me access to this prior to publication.

[Candyce Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @kidlitexchange and @tiffanyschmidt for a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

“When you keep your fears locked inside they have power, but when you confront them, you give yourself the power to fix them.”

This was such a sweet, young adult romance. I love how the author tied in correlations with The Great Gatsby and Little Women. The MC has to read both as school assignments and it was fun knowing those classic storylines and watching her try to encorporate those literary lessons into her own life. You will absolutely love the English teacher.

I adored Rory. I could easily relate to her eating habits, struggles with math, her social anxiety and that feeling of being left out at times. It’s always wonderful to find a character who is an introvert and see their feelings and emotions depicted so perfectly. Rory is a fantastic artist and I enjoyed how that aspect was woven throughout the story - especially the dog portraits!

What I really loved about this story was the various relationships. The love interest was just adorable and the perfect boy next door to crush on. The fact that he understood Rory and how to handle her personality was just icing on the cake. There’s also a girl / boy platonic friendship which gets me every time and reminds me of my childhood. Then there’s the whole family dynamic between the parents, sisters and in-laws. It was so realistic and offered some great scenes and topics.

This is definitley a light romance, but more importantly a wonderful story about facing your trepidations and learning to speak up about your worries and frustrations. This is book 2 in the Bookish Boyfriends series. I had no problem jumping right in without reading the first book. I definitely plan on going back to read A Date with Darcy though because I’d love to spend more time with these characters!

[Nay Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a finished copy for review.

This was such a cute read, I'm going with a 3.75 star rating on this. The reading experience was awesome because it included piece of The Great Gatsby and the characters were all interesting, but I wasn't extremely pulled in enough to give it a complete 4 star rating.

Aurora Campbell aka Rory seems to be a whiny character, but as the story goes on I begin to like her much more than expected. She's a typical teen who is trying to figure things out for herself and where she fits. She's an introvert. She's the type to want to stay locked away with her paints and brushes and escape with art. I loved her because I could somewhat connect to her as a character. She's not the picture perfect girl, but rather the one that struggles with her grades and tries to find where she fits in at school and in her home.

Toby, the boy next door, was a funny guy to me. I enjoyed seeing him learn things along the way. He also gave some great advice to Rory as well. He wasn't like most guys -- pushy and overbearing. Rather he was laid back and almost shy at times.

The romance was too adorable between Rory and Toby. I just think they were stinking cute together -- especially in the last few chapters when they "ran away" -- C U T E !

Huck and Clara were some BOMB friends. They always found ways to make Rory feel better and gain a bit more confidence. Merri & Lilly are some interesting older sister. They seemed to nag Rory way too much.

Overall, this was a good read. I would recommend it for a fun, cute YA read.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Sadly, not as good as the first. It kind of dragged at moments and I felt like since we focused a lot on Rory wanting to not be the second-choice, the way the book dealt with it at the end felt kind of... wrong? I was hoping it’d be written well but it just made me feel uncomfortable. It was handled clumsily at times and ultimately, I found it hard to believe that things actually got solved.

The parts with her sisters made me absolutely furious. Again, I was hoping for a more satisfying way of ending that thread but I was left feeling bitter and unhappy. Like, I liked Merri in the last book but now I hate her??? (I don’t think I could reread the first book after reading this one. 😅)

And the romance wasn’t as good as I had hoped. Toby was still cute but I liked him better in the first book. And he just felt so much older than Rory? I’m usually okay with age gap romances but this one felt kinda odd.

The best part about this was there was finally a MC who was an artist and actually thought about art in a relatable way. I don’t paint so I couldn’t really relate to that part but the parts about seeing the world with a “how could I draw this?” mindset was very relatable. So the artist parts were cool. Sometimes a touch overdone but mostly well-written. (Either the author is an artist or got an artist’s help with Rory’s thoughts.)

Overall, I’m left feeling kinda meh and I didn’t enjoy this book nearly as much as the first.

[Samantha (WLABB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 Stars

We are back at Hero High for another adorable installment of Bookish Boyfriends. This book focused on the youngest Campbell sister, Rory. And you see: Rory liked Toby, but Toby liked Merri, and Merri, very much so, loved Fielding. Yes! We are dealing with several cases of unrequited love here, but with the right book recommendations from their sort of magical English teacher, both Rory and Toby were able to tackle the issues of their hearts.

As with the previous book, Schmidt gives us a great heroine to cheer for, and I was especially behind her, because of all the personal struggles she was experiencing. First, she was enamored with someone, who didn't really see her, and that had to hurt. Then, she was constantly being left behind by her two older sisters, and that exclusion left her very wounded. As if that was not enough to deal with, the one place where Rory usually found her bliss, art class, was becoming a war zone, and her less than stellar grades might keep her from an amazing artistic experience. My heart genuinely ached for her, because it seemed like Rory just couldn't catch a break. But as with all books I enjoy, Rory went on a personal journey. She made some changes to her life, thanks to a few literary recommendations, and good things started to happen for her, especially because she started to realize her own worth.

As with the pervious installment, this one featured storylines from two classics - The Great Gatsby and Little Women. I did like the way that Schmidt wove these books into the plot, but as with the last book, I liked the second storyline more than the first, and felt like the first part could have been trimmed a bit.

Still, it was a delight watching Rory enjoy some success. Her trip to NYC was rather wonderful, and I can't complain about the way that trip ended. The romance was terribly sweet and adorable, which is what I expected from Schmidt, but what really played a big part in my enjoyment of this book were the family dynamics.

Though this was a romance, the relationship between the three Campbell sisters earned a lot of attention, and you know what I love? I love a great sibling bond. These three young women were very different from on another, and expressed themselves in very different ways, but it was the synergy they had a group, that made them unstoppable. It was fantastic to see them working through their various issues together, and I thought the pairing with Little Women was a really smart move.

Overall: Another solid edition to the series. It was fun, cute, and entertaining with some good messaging and a wonderful family focus.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[Shakira · Rating 4 out of 5]

!!! The audio version has an interview with the author, voice actress, etc!!! Ekkkkk!!!!

This ended up being cute and it was genius of the author to have already started this story in the first book. SPOLIER: However, I'm not going to lie, the Amy and Lori relationship did not get me very excited since it came out of a love triangle in Little Women. So, the parallel made me cringe at times. But I think I ended up liking Ror and Toby together,but it took until the END(and I'm still not sure, just like in Little Women, so well done Tiffany! Bahaha). The first half of these books are so painful. Bahaha.

I desperately want to get my hands on the next book. I have a feeling it's going to be my favorite in the series.

Read if you like classical literature, like contemporary romance, like high school contemporary romance,have a bookish boyfriend, like a little bit of magic.

Warning tape: normalized homosexuality, but not the main focus.

[Darby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful second edition to the first Bookish Boyfriends. I like how it started only a few days after the first book. I love love love this series and I especially loved this book. It was heart aching and made your eyes well up as Rory tried to hide her love for Toby but failing, and just waiting and watching for the two of them to be more than friends. After reading this book, I couldn't stop thinking about the story and characters for the whole day. I love how this series incorporates 2 classic stories into the story, so that if you read those classics, you can kind of guess how the book is going to go. I really feel the stories on a personal level and now I'm just impatiently waiting until next year when the third book comes.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book at one of my favourite places in the world, the library.

I really enjoy this light Teen Fiction. The writing is sharp, warm and witty. The anxiety, the desire to fit in and yet being true to one self in a new school and within the family, and longing and love for a boy next door are all palpable.
Personally, I don't think you've to read the first book to enjoy the second. Now I'm on a quest to find a book that is reflection of me and my life (One that is for me.), if there is one out there that is.

Two books are integral part of this book: "The Great Gatsby" and "The Little Women".

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much more than the first one because the narration wasn’t annoying and the story was about the underdog. I enjoyed the Little Women comparisons and how Rory gets her happy ending even though she’s only 15. That’s still a little trippy for me.

[Krysti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was adorable and delightful! I loved all the literary references. Such a fun way to introduce teens to classic literature. I can’t wait for book three!

[Erin Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked Rory in the first one, learned to love her in this one.