My Invisible Boyfriend

by Susie Day

Heidi has the perfect solution to her popularity problems - a fake boyfriend. She's even made him an Internet profile that makes him look like a motorcycle-riding, poetry reading bad boy. *swoon* Heidi's friends are so impressed they start emailing Heidi's fake boyfriend with their problems . . . including their problems with Heidi.

As if that weren't bad enough, a delicious and possibly single person called "A Real Boy" emails Heidi to say he knows the truth. Can Heidi escape from her world wide web of lies? Or will her chance at romance disappear faster than you can type gtg?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Ipshita · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the first time I am giving a book only 1 star. Wish I could give it more but this book seriously tested the limit of my patience. Okay so when I started reading this book I was totally confused and did not get a clue as to what was happening for the first 10 pages or so.
I will immediately state the reasons as to why this book didn’t work for me.
Reason 1: The heroine referred to her dad and mom as ‘Dad Man’ and ‘Mothership’ throughout the whole book. Now some people would think that its not much of an excuse but when every time you read the words and an image of a middle aged dad in Superman suit comes to mind you would gag.
Reason 2: All the characters including the protagonist were poorly developed. The heroine was distinctly irritating.
Reason 3: The heroine’s use of weird lingo that she might have thought to be cool only made me wonder if she had any problem with spellings. For example, awesome is ‘OAR SUM’ , okay is ‘OAK HEY’ , oh dear is ‘ODE EAR’ (seriously after ‘Ode to the West wind’ and ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ ,do I really have to read Ode to thy wondrous Ear ? ),focus is ‘FOE CUSS’ and there are a whole lot more from where these come.
Reason 4: There were a lot of weird phrases like ‘smell o vision’ , ‘nog=nod+shrug’ , ‘eyes like two fried eggs’(fried eggs?really?) , ‘Bike o’doom’ , etc.
Reason 5: The heroine is totally the first heroine to say “ I’m practically a slut.” even though she had zero 'real' guy experience.
Reason 6: I could pretty much guess who “A Real Guy” was after a while.
Reason 7: Total waste of my time and my brain’s grey cells.
If you are wondering as to why I still kept reading, it was because I hoped that maybe I would get used to it and after a while the story would stop getting on my nerves and I would start to feel sane again. But that didn’t happen so I stopped being a masochist and skimmed and skipped through the rest of the book.

[Rox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the nice summary of this book, or else, you'll burn.
I know that this novel is YA, so I'm expecting teenage talk and all, but having those teenage code names right at the beginning is a major headache. "Mothership", "Dad Man",and "Peroxide Eric" to name a few screams WTF are these?! There should be a limit to using code names, or if you really have to use it, I hope that the readers won't be thrown to the bizarre world of code names without even a short introduction.
Then there's:
EEK.
ARG.
UR.
I don't even want to know what that means or any of those words written in that format.

Moreover, the love story in the novel got ZERO CHEMISTRY. I didn't feel any love, just major irritation for Heidi.

Seriously, how did this author got herself published?

If you want to be irritated and bored at the same time, read it!

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had it's charming parts, but mostly it was just too juvenile for my taste. And I didn't like the way it was written. At all.

[Miranda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library because the premise sounded interesting and I liked the cover (hey, when you're flicking through a shelf of library books what else do you have to go on?) but it was so dreadful that I quickly gave up in disgust. Life is too short to finish stupid books. For a start the writing was incredibly annoying - the main character had the attention span of a squirrel and the vocabulary of a TV show for teenagers, written by adults. I couldn't even follow what she was saying half the time because she kept rambling off on random tangents, using irritatingly 'trendy' lingo littered with gimmicky lists and spaced out words like:
SPECK
TACK
YOU
LAR, which was just weird, along with what I'm sure the author fondly imagined were hilariously quirky Capitalized Names (e.g. she referred to her parents throughout as Dad Man and The Mothership). It seemed like she (the author) was trying way too hard to show how young and fresh and hip her character was, so up-to-the-minute with the way the young'uns these days are talking on that thar internets, but only succeeded in making her insufferable.

And yeah, the plot was complete tripe. 'Nuff said.

[Savannah (Books With Bite) · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much trouble can a fake boyfriend cause? Apparently a lot. Heidi, caught in the moment makes a fake boyfriend. One that is sweet, broody, and a boy that every girl wants. Heidi also has a blackmailer who knows her secret.

I loved Heidi. Her willingness to go all the way with this plan is cool. At times I wondered if she can remember that this is all fake. She really seemed into the fake boyfriend she made.

I am surprised at her friends. It just goes to show who your friends really are. I would have been really upset if my friends were writing to my boyfriend secretly.

I am really surprised with the love interest. The real one. He didn't really seem like the guy who was writing but appearances can be deceiving.

Over all is was a cute fun read.

[Cheryl Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming little bonbon of a book, delivering exactly what the title promises: a funny romantic comedy full of good banter and funny mixups (e.g., creating an online, supposedly long-distance, ultimately nonexistent boyfriend for yourself because all of your friends have sig. others, then having all of your friends friend your boyfriend and start asking for romantic advice). One of my favorite fun reads of the last year.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that when I first started this I didn't like it very much, but as the story went on and the characters, as well as the writing, became clearer and more developed, I was hooked, quite simply. Since when you take out the slow moving beginning, My Invisible Boyfriend is one darlin' book that I simply couldn't get enough up, and I hope the same goes for you if you take the leap and read it too!

Heidi was a charming, yet naive (Though who isn't at some point or another?) main character that you couldn't help but like as you went along with her on this hilarious tale of one invisible boyfriend gone wrong. While some may take her overzealous imagination as her being immature, I liked that part of her character. Since it was funny and added a unique twist to My Invisible Boyfriend. Also I liked how she truly cared about her friends, even if she did do some dumb things at times. Adding to this, I really liked the secondary characters such as Teddy (AH-dorable, loved him!) and all her crazy yet funny friends. Oh, and I liked Ed, too. Though, I don't know if you could really count him as character since he was imaginary, but whatever.

The premise was fun and reminiscent of Kate Brian's Fake Boyfriend but way better! I enjoyed how Susie incorporated different methods of technology in it because it added a fun aspect to the plot, as well as the different twists that kept you guessing of how exactly My Invisible Boyfriend would end. Would the truth about Ed ever come out? What is up with Fili? Or better yet Eric? Would Heidi ever find her prince charming?! Only time and future pages would tell!

Though as with most books even if they are good have problems and I have to say that My Invisible Boyfriend had some, unfortunately. Such as the fact that instead of writing out words normally even once in a while you would get something like this from Heidi.

OUTS.
TAN.
DING.

While this was okay with me at first, the more it occurred the more annoyed I became. Though, other than that small point there wasn't much else that bothered me about this book. Well, except for the lackluster beginning but I've already addressed that.

In all, My Invisible Boyfriend is a book that I enjoyed and I think you will too if you're on the lookout for a fun and quick read to add to your TBR pile! I'm really looking forward to reading more by Ms. Day!

Grade: B+

[Kristen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to read at least the first chapter to give it a shot, but I couldn't do it. I made it through about five pages and had to give up. It was basically just a big ramble. I have no idea what the narrator was trying to say, and honestly, I don't really care. Maybe I could have focused a little more if every other word wasn't some made up word or ridiculous code name. I'm all for making up words sometimes or using punctuation oddly for emphasis, but it has to be done sparingly or else it's obnoxious and distracting. This thing was a mess. I didn't even have time to stop being irritated by one goofy word before another one would pop up. I honestly thought the reviews that talked about the whole Mothership/Dad Man thing, were exaggerating. They weren't. It was annoying and just plain stupid.

[ضحى الحداد · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard at a book .. this book was seriously funny with a lot of unexpected twists and turns that I really had no idea how will it all end, I enjoyed the book and it's funny concept however I did have a problem with the writing style .. it was kind of annoying to me and also, somethings felt too rushed for my taste .. other than that it was a cute high school comedy and I enjoyed reading it :)

[N.T. Embeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I was going to be entertained by this book, just from the name and the summary I read on the inside cover. But what I didn't expect was how much I ended up enjoying this book! Mind you, it has all the stereotypical settings: high school, everyone getting hooked up and ruining the "best friend gang~!" feeling of the years before, and then our main female lead trying to fit in as best she can to try to save that group of friendship she had with her buddies. Then again, I guess that's exactly why this book ended up being so atypical compared to today's standard for books! Our main girl isn't fawning for five BILLION pages over some random ass that likes her because. Just because. Because that's how books do it now! Reason? Logic? What anal foreign concepts are those in these hip new times where brains are removed to aid children through their pathetic attempts at LIFE? *Ahem* Pardon me, I forget. Most of the crowd IS brainless to the point of lacking the ability to even comprehend a sentence's complexity beyond, "I LOVE YOU." "OMG ME TOO! YAY! LET ME STALK YOU AND WHINE AND BITCH IF I DON'T GET ANYTHING I WANT EVEN THOUGH I DO NOTHING WORTHWHILE TO EVEN VALIDATE MY USE OF OXYGEN!"

Yeah. Books like that: Not. This. Book.

And THANK the LORD it isn't! No my dears, this book is high school and drama like it SHOULD be! With actual ISSUES and anxieties that any normal human being would feel! God, it's a relief to read something that can classify as a teen-drama without it being about sluts, skanks, wusses and whores, whiny useless twits and their flippin' lack-of-a-frontal-lobe cancer. Stupidity, you have officially qualified in the Disease category.

My Invisible Boyfriend is unusual in some manners. Some might peg it as pathetic that a girl would imagine up her own boyfriend like our main character Heidi did, but is that so far from any girl's fancies? Excuse me: ANYONE'S fancies?! Come on! How many of us HAVEN'T had a dream/ideal of what our significant other was supposed to be like? And who's to say in this technological age that many don't still pull what she did? Get online, create a profile, and pretend to be your own boyfriend so your friends and the entire school doesn't think you're the only one without a boyfriend when everyone else has hooked up. Makes perfect sense. And the humor and playful imaginative cut-scenes between the actual daily life (thanks to our creative Heidi) make things nutty without coming off as over-the-top or too stupid to entertain.

In fact, the entire book has a great sense of humor! You'll get used to it fairly quickly after a couple of chapters. It's a read truly written for the teenage years, using the lingo, the references (Ahem: Portal, Project Runway, and so many more~), and all the issues that anyone would go through. Nicknames, fanciful fantasizing, crushes on people that don't exist, a part-time job, parents being weird--this book has all the essential elements. And! It's at a boarding school!! How cool is that?! <333 There are grounds and a lake~ But to get back on track, this book is so much more dorky and playful, more fun and cuter than even the title and summary can hint at. Once you pick it up, it's a really great ride. It flows smoothly, even with all the odd elements placed into it: IM message bubbles, email messages, italics to depict a scene Heidi's imagining up in her head, and so much more! Yet at the same time, it has serious sides to it too. Sides that pop up and hit you unexpectedly, sides that give you this cold feeling of fear; sides that leave you feeling like it's all hopeless and that there's no way things will get better with it all falling apart around you. It's drama that's worthwhile, playful, and has the depth of any true friendships. The kind that suffer through their ups and downs in the demand of the populace, and can be wrenched intensely because of assumptions carried far, far away~

But now let's talk a bit about the characters! First awesome part: None of them are annoying dumbasses! 8D HOORAY!!! A TEEN DRAMA IN HIGH SCHOOL WITHOUT THE DUMB! Thank the Blessed Lord!!!! <3333 These things still DO exist in this world!!! It's a MIRACLE!! *Dances and sings~!* The main character is more dork than dumbass. And she's also entertaining without being so much of a dork that no one likes her or she blatantly doesn't fit in. In fact, we avoid the whole "not fitting in" thing almost completely besides the entire aspect of it that starts the book off: her being the only one of her friends that isn't in a relationship currently, which ends up alienating her from almost all her buddies. Even with that though, her only fault is that she can be a bit blind because she's constantly trying to figure things out, so she sometimes misses stuff that's right in front of her nose. Then again her friends don't help her much at times either, because they're too excited to think straight themselves. *Chuckles* It makes for a definite comedy act at some points, and an eye roll or two with a passive shake of the head. Still nothing bad turns up character-wise to completely DESTROY THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE like in most stories gone bad today because of Dumbasses taking over the entire scene.

Plus. The friends are varied, of every different clique and personality, and it makes for a chaotically pleasant mish-mosh of people that we get to see helping our main girl detective around. Not to mention, for my anime fangirls: Yaoi~! <3 Yes, and it IS cuter than puppydogs snuggling in a fuzzy blanket together. Besides, we see some of that cuteness in one of our other great, if side, characters as well! TEDDY~! <333 God I love that boy! I know he's only scattered throughout the book every chunk of pages or so, but he is ADORABLE inCARNATE. XD Sleepy, messy, cuteness all in a package!! With artistic talent to boot, a super sense of humor, and--did I mention cuteness?--A BRAIN! YAY! So much of that has been lacking in most books today! Finally we get cute AND intelligent all in one~! *CHEERS!!*

Readers, it's definitely an entertaining and fun read: light without being pointless! It's an enjoyable book that appeals to people who like the high school drama and romance scene (with a bit of a dorky detective aspect adding some mystery~), but that's definitely not too much of one or the other to be restricted to people who like only that. You can definitely still find amusement value in this book without needing to be a fan of the high school, the drama, the mystery, the dorky, etc parts. So give it a shot! If it doesn't feel like your cup of tea after a few chapters in, then that's all good. It may not appeal to all audiences, especially if you like genres that are typically not this one. But it still remains a really good book to read for fun and for pleasure: and isn't that what half of reading is all about? <3

I do feel I need to say one more thing however, and it involves explaining my rating a bit. This book deserves the five stars I gave it. That's why I gave them after all. However, would I say I loved and adored and freaked out about the book as much as I did about say, Lord of the Rings? No. My personal taste does not classify this book as "Amazing." However! What qualifies this book for the five stars is that it was written flawlessly, flows well, has great plot and unfolds seamlessly, and the characters hold their own. No one part of the book drops below a certain standard, which makes the book, for its genre and as a piece of literary work itself, worthy of the five stars I gave it. That above all is the reason I gave it what I felt it deserved, even if my own personal tastes are not called to a book like this above others.

So, yet again, go try it out! After all, some of the "best" authors of today don't even get right what this book can accomplish. ;3

[Rain Misoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, this book was a trip. I spent so long reading it (mostly because life enjoys beating me into a bloody pulp) that I feel I know these characters personally. That I lived with them in this boarding school. That I was about to go squealy fangirl over the yaoi... oh, wait... I did do that... OH WELL! What I'm saying is that I REALLY enjoyed this book. I didn't think that I would considering that this is just not a genre I like. Why in the world would I want to read about high school life/drama? I hated my own, I'm going to read about another's? No, thank you. However, my good friend, Nicole Terazue, read this book and absolutely loved it so I, being one to fully trust in her opinion, went to my library and requested to read it. And, of course, it does not disappoint. I really enjoyed myself reading this book, which is so odd because I hate this genre with a passionate hatred! XD That goes to show you if the author really knows how to write, they can get almost anyone to like their book. Mind you, I still had some problems with it. (You can't expect me to FULLY love a book like this now, can you?) But the problems were very minor and you can easily look over them. It's still a fun, cute, light, fast read and if that's something you like then you should seriously pick this up!

But I'm getting ahead of myself! I still need to talk about this author! Susie Day did an absolutely wonderful job in writing this book. For what it is, it's amazing. The plot is not too complicated or heavy but then again, it's not supposed to be. It's meant to just give you a bit of a break when dealing with your own life by getting involved in the main character's life. I really enjoy Day's writing style. It takes up today's lingo pretty well (but it's British lingo so it could be a bit confusing if you don't know much of English slang). The writing style is simplistic enough to be easy to read but not enough to come across as juvenile. I also liked how the book is formatted. The book includes actual IMs and emails that take place between that characters and I thought that was a nice touch to have in this cute book. There is just one thing about the plot that bothered me, though. I don't like how the reader can figure out who the mysterious "E" is WAY before the characters in the book can. It's set up to be that way on purpose, I know, but it's just dragged out for far too long and it becomes a bit irritating after a while. At least for me it did. After all, no one is that bloody stupid and the fact that Heidi needed to have it shoved in her face after 150 pages of obvious clues... yeah, becomes rather tedious. Other than that, I really have no complaints about the book in general.

Except maybe for a few of the characters. Heidi, main character, is dorky and fun and even a bit charming. I love how she is imaginative enough to create her own boyfriend. That's a trait I highly value seeing as I do it often and I have a friend who does it herself. These are things I love about Heidi. However, when she starts craving actual "boys," she tries whatever she can to get said "boys." Even if they were taken at that moment with one her best friends. I mean, can't you wait until they have broken up or something? In truth, you shouldn't go out with your friends exs to begin with but... that's a touchy subject... I could at least accept this if she wasn't so, "Oh, this is so horrible of me... LET ME DO IT ANYWAY!" Heidi, no matter what you say, you're still a douche if you go for stealing with the boy-toys! *Groans* Plus, she's so bloody stupid! So many things are through right into her face but she needs to be told what's going on in order to finally get it. And even THEN she still DOESN'T get it! DX I just hate when people can take a freaking hint! All in all, she's an okay character. She became tiresome after the whole, "Wait... a boy likes me... I wonder who it is? Is it Drake? Malcolm? Bob? IT MUST BE LUKE!" Bah... what a nuisance. Oh, but she wasn't the only one who got on my nerves! She has this bloody friend called Ludo... and, God, did I wanted to push her out an eighteenth-story! -_-" She was your typical, "Like, ohmigod, I was totally about to have sex with this one guy when, like, I threw up all over him. It was, like, totally gross! Like, EW!!!!!" *Stabs the bimbo* I could not stand her one bit! She drove me mad and the fact that she was boy-crazed just made it that much worse. DX It's a good thing you don't see her too often... though often enough. Another character I had a problem with was Fili. At first, I quite enjoyed her. She is actually pretty cool... that is... until her secret is revealed. I won't say what it is for spoilery reasons but know this: What she did was really fucked up.

But not all the characters were terrible! There were actually characters that are to DIE for. (Okay, maybe not that drastic but they are freaking cute! <3) First I want to talk about is Betsy. She's this kick ass owner of a cafe/shop/whatever-you-want-to-call-it and she's awesome! She gives out great advice that a lot of people (not just the characters) should take into consideration. Plus, she's always calling Heidi out on her crap, which I just adore her for! I really liked her. I also loved this character named Teddy. He is the definition of Super Special Awesome! (Love you, LK~) He has the best sense of humor (really, this entire book does) and he just knows how to be an amazing guy. I would love to get together with him and play video games. Specifically Portal! X3 I would have to say that my favorite character in the entire book was Henry for many reasons. He's sweet, kind, caring, funny, sexy, intelligent, determined, sexy, wonderful, strong, and sexy~ (I like it when things come in threes~ >:3) Also, he reminds me a lot of a certain person that I like to call "Sugar" and I might be a TAD biased towards his character! X3 AND his relationship with Dai is just... *Swoons* ...delicious~ Mmmmmm~ Yaoi~ *Slaps self* Anyway, I should explain something about Dai's character. If you've read my updates, you will see that I started off liking him, then hating him, then liking him again, then hating him again, then liking him again. Basically, I have a love hate relationship with his character. I like him because he can be quite cute and sweet when he wants to be. However, when he started talking about his friend behind her back, I thought that was an ass move. But he gets better and then I'm thinking, "Well, fuck... how am I supposed to hate you now when you're being very sweet with your boyfriend and I'm a yaoi lover at heart?" Bah! It's so confusing. Here's what I think: If he wasn't a gossip, he could be the best yaoi boy ever! Well, next to Henry, of course. But he's a gossip so... make you're own conclusions. I'm getting tired. DX

To sum up: This book is worth the read. It's so light and fluffy that you really just have fun when reading this book. I am so glad I listened to Nicole and picked this up because I was quite pleased with the results. You might like it, too! You just never know. I know this is just what I needed to get me through a rough time. I feel so much better and happy now that I finished this book. And, hey! I got a new yaoi pairing from it as well! Whoo! A productive day! So, readers, go out and check this book if you are looking for something with a light plot and a fun atmosphere. Besides, this is comedy people! Don't you want to laugh? Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, that's all I have to say about this book. I'll be returning shortly with another. Hopefully, it will be as fun as this one was! ^_^

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Well, considering that this is a chick-lit, I can't exactly say much about the cover, because it does fit the genre. And since I'm not a fan of chick-lit in general, I'm also not a big fan of chick-lit cover art. This one is better than most, because it at least has something going on, whereas most chick-lit books are like Sarah Dessen - there's nothing happening. It's just . . . a sunset. Or a random pair of legs. Yawn.

Characters: Heidi was rather adorable in all of her nerdiness. She also had a good sense of humor that made for an amusing narration style. I totally sympathized with her feeling like she'd suddenly lost her friends as they all became interested in having boyfriends and not doing their usual stuff. But wanting so badly to fit in to the point where she made up a boyfriend? Hm. Her friends were all pretty cliche - actually, they were extremely cliche. There was the ditsy friend who said "like" and "omg" way too often, the Goth friend with the serious chip on her shoulder (I liked her, though), and the gay guy friend. Surprisingly, though, Dai (the gay guy friend) didn't irritate me nearly as much as I thought he would. I actually kept forgetting that he was a guy (mostly due to his name. How is that pronounced anyway? Day? Die?) The invisible boyfriend - Ed - was rather amusing, too.

The Romance: This is a chick-lit, and is therefore steeped in teen romance. Not a fan, hence why I don't read a lot of chick-lit. I can't say that I was interested in any of the pairings, especially not Dai's boyfriend Henry (at least they didn't kiss). And Heidi's romantic escapades were interesting. ;-)

Plot: Heidi and her friends have always been the misfit band at the exclusive boarding school they attend. But suddenly all of her friends are interested in boys and don't seem to want to be the misfit gang anymore. There's only one thing for Heidi to do: she invents a boyfriend for herself, who conveniently lives up in London so no one can meet him. But as her deception becomes more elaborate, she has to create an online social network profile for him, and that's when the trouble begins. Suddenly her friends are emailing "Gingerbread Ed" about their problems - including their problems with Heidi. And then someone named "A Real Boy" contacts Heidi - and he knows her secret. My Invisible Boyfriend has a pretty typical romantic comedy plot: misfit girl looks for true love, hilarious (or not so hilarious) chaos ensues, friends are misunderstood, and everything turns out well in the end amid giggles and smiles. Not my kind of story, right? Well, My Invisible Boyfriend actually was kind of fun in a "I have nothing better to do; let's read something different" sort of way. It was sugary and it was silly and it was mushy. Heidi keeps digging herself in deep with this massive lie and any moment she's going to be tripped up. This book has a few things going for it: one, it's not very long. Two, it takes place in England, and therefore everyone in it (including Heidi) is in some way British, which somehow made things funnier. Three, everyone is curious to see how an "invisible boyfriend" prank will turn out, so how could I refuse? Oh yes, and the hidden nerd references. Mycroft Christie - a time traveling detective with a pretty companion? Hm, sounds a bit like a Doctor Who reference to me. Yes, the plot drags - there's only so much of high school life and teen drama I can take. I enjoyed the moments when Heidi was elaborating on her boyfriend Ed, but the in-between stuff was pretty dull.

Believability: Well, Heidi does a good job of faking her boyfriend in a believable way.

Writing Style: First person, present tense. There are a lot of snippets of emails and instant messaging, but that was okay. I got used to that sort of writing a long time ago. I'm not sure, but I think there were a few moments when the narration switched to past tense, and then back to present, which got confusing at times. Since Heidi is the narrator, her humor is a constant in this book. It was rather amusing to see how her brain worked, but at times it got a little irritating. We get it, Heidi - you're obsessed with Mycroft Christie.

Content: Kissing, teen drunkenness and sly winks towards so-and-so sleeping together. Nothing serious.

Conclusion: Right when the plot really started to drag, A Real Boy shows up! And it got to be interesting again. Except Heidi really needs to work on her deductive skills, because I had the identity of A Real Boy pegged from the very beginning. And it got super annoying that it took so bloody long for Heidi to finally figure it out. It, in fact, made her look pretty dense. But as is typical with chick-lit and romantic comedies, the conclusion is all happiness and giggles with everything resolved. My Invisible Boyfriend is not my typical read, and I have no intention of making chick-lit a regular habit. But a coworker said I would find this one amusing, and I thought, "Why not give it a try? I'm in the mood for something completely different." While this will never be a favorite book, and I'd never read it again, it was rather amusing and kinda sweet. A good weekend read.

Recommended Audience: Girl-read, fifteen-and-up, good for fans of chick-lit and romantic comedies.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recensione qui: http://ilibrisonounantidotoallatriste...

Heidi è sempre stata una ragazzina solitaria, quella che veniva lasciata in un angolo o presa in giro. Ora non più. L'anno prima è finalmente riuscita a crearsi un gruppo di amici davvero divertenti, con cui ha passato un anno fantastico. Ora le vacanze estive stanno per finire e lei non vede l'ora di rivederli! Già pregusta tutte le cose che faranno insieme, le feste, le risate.. ma le cose non vanno come lei sperava. Al rientro dalle vacanze scopre che tutti i suoi amici si sono fidanzati e non fanno che parlare di uscite romantiche e baci. Heidi rischia di essere di nuovo tagliata fuori! Così per non essere da meno, racconta loro di Ed, il suo bellissimo, romantico, misterioso, gentile e intelligente fidanzato.. che non esiste. Studia tutto nei dettagli, dal loro primo romantico incontro, al suo profilo sui social, dalle chat lasciate aperte casualmente sul pc sotto gli occhi di tutti, alle accurate email. Sarà l'inizio di un'intricata rete di bugie che invece di avvicinarla ai suoi amici finiranno per allontanarli.

Ho scelto di leggere questo libro perchè ero alla ricerca di una lettura leggera. Avevo voglia di una commedia adolescenziale che mi facesse staccare la spina qualche ora, e non avevo particolari aspettative se non di farmi due risate e sospirare un po'. Ma ho scelto decisamente il libro sbagliato! La prima parte non è male, anche se a tratti un po' confusa, ma poi diventa irritante a livelli cosmici! La protagonista, Heidi, è una ragazzina che si potrebbe senza dubbio definire un po' nerd ed eccentrica, e per questo aveva tutta la mia simpatia inizialmente. E' sempre stata molto solitaria, niente amici, un po' emarginata. Amante dei telefilm, ha una vera ossessione per Mycroft Christie, un affascinante detective che viaggia nel tempo (e che sembra un po' rifarsi a Doctor Who), ed è con lui che parla quando è in difficoltà, dando vita a dialoghi surreali. Aveva tutte le carte giuste perchè l'adorassi, ma no, non ce l'ha fatta. Innanzittutto fin dall'inizio usa uno strano modo di parlare che mi ha abbastanza irritata. Quando vuole sottolineare una particolare parola la prende e la sillaba seguendo la fonetica, andando a capo. Per esempio spectacular diventa SPECK TACK YOU LAR. Una cosa veramente senza senso a mio parere. A proposito del linguaggio, sono molte le frasi bizzarre che l'autrice ha scelto di usare, lasciandomi non poco perplessa. Neanche i poveri genitori se la scampano: per tutto il tempo vengono chiamati 'Mothership' e 'Dad Man', che all'inizio può essere anche simpatico, ma poi stanca. Tutti espedienti che danno la sensazione che l'autrice cerchi a tutti i costi di seguire un registro linguistico giovanile esasperato all'ennesima potenza. I personaggi in linea di massima sono tutti abbastanza superficiali e costruiti in modo poco approfondito. Il gruppo di amici di Heidi è un clichè vivente. C'è quella sfigata, quella bella, quella ribelle, e non manca neanche l'amico gay. Nessuno di loro viene particolarmente approfondito nonostante il ruolo centrale. Ho continuato a confondere le due ragazze per tutto il tempo. Gli unici personaggi del libro che mi sono piaciuti sono Teddy e sua madre, che gestiscono la sala da tè in cui Heidi lavora come cameriera. In particolare ho trovato lui molto carino e divertente. Il tasto dolente tra i personaggi però è proprio la protagonista. Ho perso il conto delle volte che avrei voluto prenderla a schiaffi! All'inizio sembra un personaggio carino e simpatico, ma andando avanti ha un vero e proprio tracollo. Diventa incredibilmente irritante. Non fa che mentire. Non riesce davvero ad essere sincera su nulla! E poi è infantile e ha comportamenti assurdi! Per farvi un esempio, si professa tanto una paladina dell'amicizia, sembra che ci tenga tanto alle sue due amiche, fa di tutto per stare loro vicina, e poi appena ha un piccolo sospetto che uno dei loro ragazzi abbia un debole per lei (capita con entrambi durante la storia, oltrettutto) invece di avvisare le amiche della poca serietà dei loro consorti, è pronta a gettarsi tra le loro braccia senza rimorso. Ragazzi che lei prima non aveva mai degnato di un pensiero, se non come fidanzati delle sue amiche, diciamolo. Un'amica d'oro insomma! La seconda parte è confusa, irritante e senza senso, un po' come la sua protagonista. L'autrice ha cercato di risollevare un po' il piattume in cui era precipitata la storia, miseramente, inserendo un nuovo personaggio, 'The Real Guy', che scrive ad Heidi via mail e le fa capire di sapere tutta la verità sul suo fidanzato. Non la ricatta, anzi ci prova con lei, e fin dal primo istante avevo capito chi lui fosse. Colpo di scena piattissimo. Finale scontatissimo. Salvo veramente poco di questo libro se non la costruzione iniziale del personaggio di Heidi, che poi è stato completamente rovinato, e l'espediente del falso fidanzato, che ho trovato abbastanza divertente. Per il resto, banale. Lo dimenticherò presto.

[AuroraIce]

Bookshelf reread.

The story follows Heidi Ryder, who attends an alternative British school mostly made up of rich kids, and I think it implied they were troubled rich kids. She goes there because her parents work there, but she’s moved around most her life because her mom’s a health nut who always jumps locations to inflict nutrition upon new people. Heidi has never had the chance to get close with people before, and because of an incident where someone stapled a dead frog to her backpack and people started making fun of her, she’s always been terrified of a repeat and it being made obvious she doesn’t belong.

She never realized she was lonely until local goth girl Fili started sitting with and talking to her after school. Fili barely speaks, but she did enough with Heidi for them to bond, then she brought her into her friend group and expanded her world. So Heidi loves this school, doesn’t want them to ever think she’s a loser, and realizes how lonely she used to be and desperately wants to avoid losing her friends, at any cost.

She’s been antsy all break due to being away from everyone, surviving only because she works Saturdays at a local tourist coffee shop run by an American lady, Betsy, and her son Teddy. Teddy is supposed to be very good looking, but he has a girlfriend so Heidi refrains from having a crush. When school starts back up, she is excited to see her friends but feels that they’ve changed a bit while she hasn’t. They all attend a party, where everyone else pairs off with people, making her feel left out.

Then a popular boy starts talking to her, making her excited even though she’s not interested in him personally. She thinks any attention she gets is attention she should force herself to enjoy. But really he just wants her help distracting her security guard dad so him and his friends can sneak off to another party. Not knowing that, her friends assume she rejected him and get all excited, deciding she would only do that if she had a boyfriend. She lets that assumption happen.

The only ones who know it isn’t true are Betsy and Teddy because Heidi always talks over her problems with Betsy and gets advice while Teddy bakes in the back, eavesdropping and judging. Heidi is obsessed with a TV show called Mycroft Christie about a time traveling detective, which seems like a mixture of Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Who. He’s her ideal fantasy guy, and she even got a coat that reminds her of him, only for her friend Ludo to assume it belongs to her boyfriend and therefore come up with a name for him since it’s written on the coat.

Realizing her lie will fall apart if she only has a made up meeting story, Heidi creates a social media account for her fake boyfriend, Ed Hartley, and fabricates messages between them, allowing her friends to introduce themselves since he supposedly goes to an all-boy’s school in London. Most of her friends start talking to him, but she gets upset because Fili, her closest friend, shows no interest in Ed, and isn’t talking to any of them very much.

Since the party, Fili has been dating Simon, who became goth over the break. Ludo has started dating bleach blond new boy Eric, and their 3rd friend Dai finally got his long-time crush Henry. Henry is the best one of all, seemed the most friendly and attuned to Heidi, and I really thought they should have been good friends. But Henry comes from a different friend group and has always been considered part of the popular crowd and there seems to be a concern over integration.

Unrelated, but the book mentions a lot of other students by name in passing, repeating many of them to really build that these people all know each other, and one girl is Flick Henshall, who disappears for long periods of time because she has to get put into rehab or the hospital or something constantly, made worse when there’s a party for her to go crazy at, and so the students throw welcome back parties when she returns as an excuse to have a party, but there’s one boy who holds a balloon for her return and then is sad when she gets dragged off and sent away within 5 minutes, so I think they must be dating, but it really never talks about that at all, yet I was intrigued.

Anyway, Heidi’s friends start going to Ed for advice, and Ludo seems like kind of a lunatic in those chats. Heidi gets more and more stressed about things, and is bothered that Fili is growing distant from everyone. She starts emailing Fili as Ed, where Fili does reply and talks about her misery and claims she deserves it.

Heidi keeps up her lies because she dreads not belonging again. She also helps out with the local play in costumes, and since Teddy is an artist, he draws out her ideas for her, but when she hands the drawings in, everyone assumes she drew them and she doesn’t get a chance to correct them. She could have gone out of her way to correct them, but she just sat back because it wasn’t that big of a deal since it was just costume designs.

She considers herself a detective, and after a required group counseling class suggests someone is thinking about one girl while dating another girl, she concludes that person is Eric and desperately wants to figure out what’s going on for the sake of Ludo. She is a horrible detective.

Then she starts getting emails from someone calling himself A Real Boy who says he knows about her lies, isn’t going to expose her, and has a crush on her. So she starts trying to figure out who that is. He ends his emails with E.

When I first read this, I suspected it was Eric, who seemed to have a good rapport with her from the start and had all these hints he was focused on her even before that, but some of the hints stemmed from her interpreting her own conclusions of behavior as fact. Like, she’s trying to figure out who Eric likes and also what’s wrong with Fili, so she stares at Fili and then notices Eric is staring at Fili but concludes he’s only doing that because she was staring at Fili. Which either suggests he’s starting at Fili, or he’s fixated on what Heidi’s doing. Either way, she does not figure out the meaning of that.

I guess those were red herrings meant to mislead the reader the same way Heidi gets mislead. Her secret emailer says he needs to end something before he can pursue her, and so she fakes a break up with Ed and realizes a bunch of people had break ups at the same time, including Ludo with Eric and Fili with Simon. Simon is no longer goth after that and starts dating Fili’s roommate instead.

Heidi decides E meant he needed to end his current relationship before he could pursue her, then Eric, clearly upset since his break up, needs to talk her so she concludes it’s him, only to learn something happened between him and Fili, explaining all Fili’s self-loathing and distance. When he figures nothing will happen with him and Fili, he is fine moving on to some other girl and leaving the group.

Soon after, Heidi starts to suspect it’s Simon before learning he’s dating that other girl. I don’t think she ever worries about it being Henry, but Dai had suspiciously been telling Ed that Heidi was moving on to someone and he didn’t like the direction. He used to be overweight until he went on a super diet and exercise program during break and became buff and got his crush, but he still has the mindset that he’s unworthy and will be laughed at, so he doesn’t realize how much Henry likes him or what Henry’s own struggles in the relationship are. But Henry is trying, and planning a surprise party for him with Heidi’s help, so Dai mistakes their closeness as them starting to date behind his back, even though Henry has never been straight and they all know that.

He snaps at Heidi about it, and she also gets a concerning email from Fili to Ed, making her finally confront Fili only to learn it was fake because Fili always knew Ed wasn’t real and felt Heidi was harder to interact with because she was so desperate to keep up her lie. She did talk to her through Ed, but also exaggerated and made things all dark and mopey to try to lure Heidi into talking to her properly. She was also feeling crowded by Simon, always there and copying her goth style. She agrees to keep Heidi’s secret, and Heidi questions if she’s E, but she’s not.

Also, the teacher in charge of the play sent the costume drawings to some art show and Heidi desperately tries to tell him they’re not hers. When she finally manages to tell him, she gets in trouble for the deception, which didn’t make sense to me because she never once said she drew them. Simon was on costumes with her, I don’t think he did anything though, but Teddy passed more drawings to her in front of him discreetly, which was not necessary. At the very least, you should ask an artist before you send their work in to contests, because just giving proper credit isn’t the whole problem. If the teacher had asked first, she could have easily explained they weren’t her drawings, only her ideas.

Teddy wasn’t bothered by it because he knew they were her ideas, and she had been fine with turning in her own doodles or the rough sketches, but he insisted on drawing everything out perfectly.

The coffee shop hasn’t been getting enough business and is planning to close down. They’ll move back to America and Teddy will go to art school. Heidi is really upset about it. Henry sets up major ongoing orders with the shop to boost their sales, but it’s not enough to keep them.

Betsy points out all Heidi’s assumptions about E’s identity are for people who are unavailable, very similar to her dating a fake boy, because it saves her from having to deal with a real guy she could actually end up with. With this in mind, she tries to end things with E, only for him to charm her through emails.

Throughout the book, she also has lists of ingredients and cooking methods for random scenarios, and has strategy sessions with an imaginary Mycroft Christie before she realizes near the end that’s not ideal and locks him in her closet. Also random combos of sounds that sound like actual words when said together.

She’s supposed to meet E on the night of the play, by which point a lot of things have been straightened out with her friends, though she’s decided not to tell the truth about Ed. They want to help find the identity of E, so they’re all a group of detectives like she had wanted them to be at the beginning of the term. On opening night, Ludo and Dai say E is the same boy who she thought was talking to her at the party at the beginning of the book, since his name begins with E. This disappoints her and she decides she’ll have to reject him.

She’s sad that the coffee shop has fully closed, but they’re hosting a mini coffee shop for the play in one of the rooms, so she goes in there and finds Teddy. He broke up with his girlfriend recently, and because Heidi feels bad about things with Ludo, she keeps wanting to convince Teddy to do something that will boost Ludo’s mood, since she likes to stare at Teddy (we shouldn’t feel too bad for lunatic Ludo because after her own break up she asked Heidi if she would mind her dating Ed, as they were sort of already dating, or talking about it, and interpreted Heidi’s confusion as agreement that everything was fine, even though she supposedly was in love with Eric, and it’s weird she would assume she was that close with Ed since they only talked in chat boxes and it wasn’t that impressive).

Teddy refuses to do anything with Ludo, so Heidi is sorry for asking, but he nods up at a board, where he’s always written silly things for the shop, and it has a message from E, as in tEddy, who said he would be hard to miss tonight and had figured his identity was obvious this whole time.

The only indication it was him, in my opinion, is that both him and E knew Ed was fake. He was still with his girlfriend when the emails started, and it was his girlfriend who had noticed he liked Heidi and told him he liked her. He’s still moving, but figures they’re already good at long distance, and Heidi is overjoyed that it’s him.

The first time I read this, I did want it to be Eric until later in the story. I never cared about it being Teddy. I liked it being Teddy more this time, but that could be because this time I knew the entire time. I looked for clues that indicated it was him, but I didn’t notice any except what I already said, and the breakup timing.

I remember reading a review the first time I read this that said E’s identity was who they guessed from the start, but I think originally I didn’t want it to be him.

This is a fun book. Lots of funny lines. Heidi is a weirdo with a crazy mind, but that’s good, and I really relate to her TV show obsession. Not that show specifically, because it doesn’t exist and I don’t know how I would feel about it if it did, but TV is great. I think that was the moral of the book.

Quotes:

And then he flails off to be scarily enthusiastic in the direction of the props department.

And my boyfriend’s personal charms aren’t necessarily all that obvious to anyone else, on account of me not having imagined them yet, so I’m not really in a position to snark.

He’s probably crying a Single Perfect Tear through the grease marks on his face as he sweats over his big foxy motorbike.

“I like the way I sent him an invisible present: I’m totally doing that again with everyone at Christmas.”

“Shut it, future boy. You’ve got a malfunctioning Twenty-First-Century Linguistic Etiquette Implant, which makes you talk like a loon. Ed doesn’t.”

My many hours of TV detective training have taught me the importance of patience: of hanging back and waiting for the quarry to take the bait, in case the quarry turns out to be flying manmonkeys of death.

Blurting out, “Please go and look at this website where you will find convincing evidence of how much Ed loves me,” could ruin the whole operation.

I could be read poetry. I’ve already been read poetry. By the lake, all summer, under the cherry tree. I’ve just decided.

Mycroft Christie would explode something on my behalf, and then look attractively guilty while pretending he did it for The Greater Good of Humanity or whatever.

“I made a whole person, and I’m pretty sure Mr. Klee told us in Biology that it usually takes about nine months. So, yeah. Go me!”

[Said by the main lead of the play, about the play]: “If the worse comes to the worse, I can always try acting. I hear it’s very popular in musical theater.”

“Don’t, sweetie, you’re breaking my heart.”
“You’re breaking my … intestines! You have no conception of the trauma my insides go through the rest of the week. I have a clinical need for chocolate chips and teacups come the weekend. And I think I may be genuinely addicted to your carrot cake.”
“That’ll be the teaspoonful of crack cocaine in every slice.”
“At least I’ve got a few months to detox, right?”

“Our carrot cake does not contain illegal narcotics … today.” [paraphrased for easier inclusion].

The Mothership leads assemblies on what to do if you find bags of puke in your roommate’s wardrobe.

If Henry was bullied by Jambo Colley for being Polish: “And how would you respond, Henry?” “Well, Mrs. Ashe, I’d probably begin by saying, “I’m not Polish.””

“Don’t harsh my metatextuality, man. I’ve got imaginary detective work to do.”

1 Peroxide Eric (potentially cheating)
1 Henry (potentially evil)
1 Fili (potentially witch)
Deploy imaginary boyfriend as sleeper agent.
Avoid inclusion of Frog in recipe at all costs

By day, I’m Agent Ryder, slightly useless girl detective – and by night, I sit under my desk lamp, grin at the squishy eye of my gingerbread boy, and set him to work.

Then I make homeworkish noises until she gives up and goes downstairs to do something alarming with beetroots.

Apparently Sharing is always best performed uncomfortable.

“-died and they won’t even let me go home, and my sister says they’re going to bury her under the croquet lawn.”
“They’re going to bury your sister under the croquet lawn?”
“No, they’re going to bury Pom-Pom under the croquet lawn.”
“You fail at being secret.”
[This is an anonymous-note sharing circle].

“If someone broke your heart, babes, you can tell me. I’ll give them as much detention as you want.”

One arm snaps off. He looks even more sarcastic.

“Dearest Heidi,
Shush.”

Etienne and the Illyrians continue to rock out, as far is possible when your guitars are inflatable and you’re surrounded by people dressed as ice-cream cones and cocktail glasses.

[Nafiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Admit it, you've been tempted sometimes. To do the same exact thing that Heidi does: invent a perfect fake boyfriend. When you are among friends who go through partners like they are handkerchiefs and you feel unwanted and undesirable because you don't have anyone doting on you. Or if everyone else in the group is paired up and you stick out like a sore single thumb. Heidi uses this fake perfect boy (complete with what is equivalent to a FB account) to fit in, smooth the edges which would otherwise remain rough if she were to remain the only single person in her group of friends. It's an interesting premise, a promising beginning. That's why I picked it up. The execution of the story wasn't what I had hoped it would be though. I have no problem with the writing or any of the technical bits of it. I just couldn't gel with the story itself.

The lengths to which Heidi goes to ensure her boyfriend appears real is amazing. And cringe worthy. I didn't buy the fact that her friends bought the story and the fake emails so quickly but that's just me. Who I had problems with was Heidi herself. She was so...well, desperate. It's meant to be amusing maybe but I was just a wee bit turned off by the desperation with which she clung on to any boy who could be the "Real Boy." And why the "Real Boy" likes her enough to continue trying to be with her even though she's being such a cow to him...that's beyond me. Maybe he's masochistic.

On the other hand, the book is funny at times, poking fun at certain stereotypes that I will let you discover for yourself. And Heidi does learn her lesson...well, somewhat, by the end of the novel. I found it really interesting that there was no Big Reveal at the climax where Heidi came clean about her inventing abilities.

Tthe story did prompt an interesting discourse on the superficiality of the lives we live right now. Where we can make up people convincingly enough that other people believe in their existence. Brings "imaginary friends" to a whole new level, if you ask me. The book is an interesting enough read but a bit too immature for my taste.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heidi has been dragged around the many private schools of England by her teacher parents for most of her life. Always the new girl AND daughter of two teacher types, she's never really fit in. But once her parents take positions at a "last ditch for the rich kids" private school, Heidi finally makes some friends and her parents inexplicably stop and stay there for a while.

Heidi loves Mycroft Christie (a very Doctor Whoish character) and watches the several seasons of his show on DVD. She'd enjoyed spending time with her friends and is now looking forward to more marathon Mycroft Christie watching and hanging out with the outcasts of the school once summer vacation is over.

But everything changes and now all of her friends have boyfriends (even her gay friend) except her. So, through a series of wacky misunderstandings, Heidi makes up a boyfriend. She fleshes him out somewhat using an online persona and it seems as though her friends like talking with "him." However, everything is not great for all her friends and their budding relationships and Heidi tries to figure out what's going on while keeping her fake boyfriend a secret.

Well, not too much of a secret, because she soon gets an email listed as from "A Real Boy" who says that he knows her fake boyfriend is just that. And that he's the one who really likes her.

This book was fun and lighthearted. I wasn't actually puzzled at all by "A Real Boy"'s secret identity. It was very easy to figure it out, though the character seemed to have some trouble with it. I do like how it touched on the whole, "you don't have to automatically like someone just because they like you" problem that so many young women seem to struggle with. The technology use was realistic and not precious. Not really something I would keep on my personal shelf to reread, but I think some younger teen girls would like this very much. Could be paired with Twelfth Night as a study to draw parallels between the play and this book.

[t g · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book thinking it would be a cute, light-hearted, maybe slightly cliched story. Turns out it was entertaining in the "Well, everyone is really weird and under-developed but hey, might as well enjoy it" way.

The first thing to bother me was Heidi's way of inner monologue-ing. Focus=FOE CUSS, awesome = OUR SOME (which took me a solid ten minutes and lengthy muttering of multiple possible pronunciations to figure out), and okay=OAK HEY. This was probably done to make Heidi seem quirky and weird but in the cute way, but it really just made me increasingly irritated.

Secondly, Heidi is clueless and a little shallow. This is actually pointed out as her faults by other characters and herself, so it didn't bother me as much as some of the other things-- like lying to her friends and going so far as to establish friendships with her already-friends under the identity of her imaginary boyfriend. STOP IT. IT'S NOT NECESSARY. She really was just digging a deeper and deeper hole for herself, and she's let off remarkably easily by her friends.

Thirdly, I knew who the love interest of this book was supposed to be from the moment I read about him. I'm not kidding. I was just thinking, "I bet she ends up with that guy," because it just seemed really typical that the only guy she doesn't lust after or imagine herself lusting after is the one who likes her. And who she has conveniently had a (hidden) thing for.

Overall, I really wouldn't recommend this book, even if you do enjoy quirky characters and crazy dramatic storylines, because at the end of the day the characters are still under-developed (and all Heidi's "getting to know her friends" is when she's pretending to be someone else), the plot is pretty childish and overused, and the main character is a very, very strange little bean.

[Daphne · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Who knew that a fake boyfriend could cause so many real problems?"

Heidi has a problem. All of her friends have gotten significant others except for her. She's not very popular, and with her friends busy with their boyfriends, Heidi spends more time alone than not. Being smart and resourceful, Heidi thinks up the perfect solution: A Fake Boyfriend. A funny, witty, bad-boy boyfriend named Ed. She creates a fake online account for him and even starts IMing her friends pretending to be Ed. But what happens when her friends start talking to Ed about their problems...including their problems with Heidi?

I thought that the author created "Ed" in a pretty realistic manner, and I can almost see this working out in real life.

The synopsis makes it seem like "A Real Boy" who knows that Ed is fake is a big part of the story, but it really isn't. Not to underplay his importance, but he doesn't really show up till the middle of the book, and it's painfully obvious who he is. Their banter over email was still pretty cute though <3

Really, the only problem I had with this book was that Heidi had a bit of a problem talking in capitals and in lines. For example, if she wanted to say "outstanding" she would say:

OUT
STAND
DING

Not all the time, but still. It was slightly annoying, but I also think it really brought out Heidi's nerdy and slightly dorky personality.

"My Invisible Boyfriend" is a quick, fluffy read, but if you can't stand teenage romance or teenage drama, I wouldn't recommend picking it up.

Also, can I just mention that this book had an openly gay character and it wasn't a big deal at all? That's pretty great :)

[Amber ~ The Reading Addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Actual rating was 4.5 stars)

Can I just start out by saying how much I enjoyed this book? I mean, really enjoyed it? My Invisible Boyfriend is one of those books that makes you smile over and over again. Lighthearted and witty, Day's writing was able to tickle my funny bone. At the same time, the story also deals with the many insecurities and problems faced by teen girls today.


Heidi is a hilarious character. Her ridiculous schemes will make you groan in horror and laugh out loud. I loved Heidi's crazy imagination and witty personality. Although she may seem to be a naive, immature teenager, I saw Heidi as a girl who truly cares about her friends and family. Yes, she may make some dumb choices that had me banging my head on my desk in frustration, but in her heart Heidi only wants to do what's right.


The secondary characters were also fun to read about. As the reader, I got to see a wide variation of the stereotypical high school kids. One of the things I loved most about this book was how I got to look past the stereotypes and see the real kids. The book may qualify as a lighthearted chick-lit book, but there is also a side that delves into the confusion and insecurities that come with being a teen.


Overall, My Invisible Boyfriend is a book I would definitely recommend to any Meg Cabot/ Michele Jaffe fan. That is, if you love witty, cute stories, then this is your book. So what are you waiting for? Read it!

[Duanur · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was better than I expected! This was my 100th book on goodreads! I took a risk to read this book as my 100th. But it didn't dissapoint me. It was light and fun. But it was not shallow. Heidi is trying to find her place in the world. And I think it is the usual problem with fifteen-year-old-teens. I am, too 15 year old and I am glad I don't have "belonging" problems.

She wants to be like her friends and when a misunderstanding happens she continues lying. She pretends like she has a boyfriend. But it goes out of control when she signs in as her boyfriend on the internet. She talks with her friends as him and i think it is a really hard thing to do. I mean she sends herself e-mails and stuff.

Then she recieves an e-mail from "arealboy". He knows about her "imaginary boyfriend" and he says that he likes her. More-than-like.

Will she find "arealboy"? Will she find where she belongs?
I think the ending was satisfying. I liked it and I'm sure you'll like it too.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading My Invisible Boyfriend by Susie Day. It was a cute, quick read that definitely kept me entertained. There were definite moments in the story that I thought it was really cheesy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I just felt it was really strong.

I loved the sillyness of the novel just because I was really in the mood for a lighter read after reading two emotional stories, and this was the perfect book for that. I loved Heidi's quirkiness, but at times felt her a little overwhelming, which made it slightly hard at times to really relate to her. I liked getting to know all of her friends, and loved how they were all distinct characters and not just all similar side characters.

I would definitely recommend this to younger YA readers.

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heidi lives in a boarding school with her best friends. Her parents own the boarding school and her mum seems more like a sister the way she talks to Heidi for a lot of the book.

The book was very juvenile in its language and so tried my patience a lot sadly and I found it dragging on.

The idea of the story was good with Heidi having to create a fake boyfriend and deal with the history of the two of them etc. As well as her friend group being very varied with a gay friend and his boyfriend as well as a model and a goth as well as her boyfriend showing a true array of real life people cast in the mix.

If you are a young teen this book maybe for you but older teens you may find it a bit of a drag unfortunately.

[Sorrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Susie days books! They're all so funny and entertaining- and this one was no exception. Heidi was likeable and satisfyingly normal, apart from her craziness, which is half what is loveable about her! I loved the idea and I loved the way all of her friends were described. The ending was a little obvious but it was perfect and so lovely that it made you happy! All the characters were so well described that I could picture them in my mind. It made me laugh out loud at points, al in all brilliant book (good for fans of Susie Days other works like twice lived summer of Bluebell Jones and serafina 67 urgently requires life and fans of the Georgia nicholson books)

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable book that's the perfect (not-so) guilty pleasure. A total blast.

[Chocolate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so did not read some parts of this in a British accent
;)

OK :/ 4 1/2 stars

Hm. This gurl. I found out who it (“E”) was before she did. Way before. And she’s “Detective Ryder”
Like, how hard can it be?!
Only two people know about Ed.... hint hint... one of them is a boy... oh. IDK! Maybe he could be that mysterious guy sending you emails.
That’s what pissed me off. Otherwise, everything was good.

Yes, DUH Teddy/Rupert was my favorite character

[Kassie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just can't finish it. I CAN'T. I hate Heidi, I hate her friends... The plot goes nowhere... I stopped almost at half of the book (don't ask me how I got there because I don't know) and the main plot point said in the summaey hasn't happened yet! I was waiting for that mail to come around and shake things up but if still has not happened! Seriously, I won't deal with a book I'm not enjoying when there's so many better and more enjoyable books on my TBR.

[Marilyn Trixie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad
I tried so hard to give it a chance and like it, but I could only make it to page 92 before I couldn't take it anymore
The main character is so unlikeable, she tries to act quirky but just comes off as weird
This was so hard to read, the narrator would briefly explain something and then move on to the next thing with no warning

Over all I should have known from the stupid title that this wouldn't have been a good book

[Alice Nuttall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, the author is a friend, but this book is funny and sweet with an adorkable heroine and a realistic take on teen life.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1,5