Review: That Boy by Jillian Dodd (That Boy Blog Tour)

This review is part of The Teen Book Scene's blog tour for That Boy by Jillian Dodd. You can find out more about the tour here. I got to do a This or That interview with That Boy's main character, Jadyn, last week, which you can check out here.

Title: That Boy
Author: Jillian Dodd
Publisher: N/A
Release date: May 2011
Pages: 240
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Received an ebook for review from the author for the blog tour - thank you!

Find out more: Amazon ; Goodreads

Goodreads description:

There's Danny. Danny is a golden boy in every way. He has dreamy blue eyes and blonde hair that always looks perfect, even when it’s windblown or been stuck under a football helmet. He’s the boy every girl crushes on. The boy I get into trouble with, the boy I fight with, the hot quarterback no girl can resist, not even me. Being with Danny is like being on an adventure. He has a bright, contagious smile and abs to die for. He’s pretty much irresistible.
Equally crush worthy is Phillip. Adorable, sweet Phillip, who I have known since birth. Phillip has dark hair, a perfect smile, brown eyes, and the sexiest voice I have ever heardtrouble, the boy who irritatingly keeps getting hotter, and whose strong arms always seem to find their way around me. And when he gives me that grin, I can never say no.
One boy will give me my very first kiss. One boy will teach me to make out. One boy will take me to prom. And finally, one boy will ask me to marry him. They will both be my best friends. But only one of them will be the boy I fall in love with. Only one of them is That Boy...

First sentence:

"You arrogant son of a bitch," I say.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars


I love the idea for this book. It's the classic falling-for-the-boy-next-door story, but this time, there are two 'boys next door'. And while I was kind of wary of this book, since it's self-published and I hadn't heard anything about it, it's actually a really cute love story!

At first, That Boy was hard for me to get into, just because of the format. The paragraphs aren't indented and random words and phrases are written in bold. I found that annoying and kind of hard to read. After a while, I got used to the format, but I still don't get why it was written that way.

From the content, though, That Boy starts out great. I immediately loved Jadyn's character - she's so easy to like and relate to. Jadyn's voice is sweet. I love how she says whatever enters her mind, stuff I think, too, but would never dare to say out loud. Her humor is great and had me laughing throughout the book. One thing I thought was overdone, though, is the way Jadyn likes hanging out with Danny and Phillip so much better than hanging out with her girlfriends - she complains that her girlfriends are too obsessed with boys, when, well, she's one of the most boy-obsessed characters I've read about.

The secondary characters are great too - I could imagine both Danny and Phillip easily. They have destinct personalities, but I loved both of them, and, like Jadyn, didn't know which one she should chose - she has great chemistry with both of them. Yes, it's obvious which one she ends up, but they're just so adorable together! It's clichéd and too, well, happy to be realistic, but I really enjoyed reading the cute love story.

The plot is good. I liked seeing how Jadyn changes over the years. There's only one main storyline - Jadyn's relationship with Danny and Phillip - but there's also a few smaller storylines that were interesting to read about. At some points, though, I found myself kind of bored, and I think some parts of the book could have been shortened a bit.

No, That Boy is not perfect - I disliked the format, it's clichéd at times, and some parts are too drawn out - but it's a cute, fun love story with great humor, that should have definitely gotten more attention than it has!