I Spy the Boy Next Door - Samantha Armstrong

Title: I Spy the Boy Next Door
Author: Samantha Armstrong
Rating: 3/5

Thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and NetGalley for letting me receive a digital copy of this book before its official release date.

Four p.m. spy sessions are the highlight of Mallory Taylor’s day. Observing the boy next door—one with a body and an attitude to match—has her perched beside her window so often it can't be healthy.

When she finally convinces her mom to let her go to public school, Mallory comes face to face with her neighbor, Troy Parker. And he makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. His rejection awakens a newfound tenacity and maybe even a touch of recklessness. But when Troy starts to show up when she needs him the most, Mallory can’t help but wonder if there’s more to him than he’s let on.

Taking chances, breaking rules, and following her heart is all new to Mallory. And no one warned her just how fickle hearts can be. When she discovers that Troy isn’t at all the guy she imagined him to be, secrets rise to the surface that will change her life forever.

I Spy the Boy Next Door started off great. I randomly started reading it, expecting nothing and everything at once and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself refusing to put it down. Soon enough, I got the impression that the story could have started somewhere at 20% of the book and it would have been a bit better since some things were just unnecessarily mentioned. But I still enjoyed it. A light young adult read was what I had been missing for some time without realising it.

Troy, the ultimate book boyfriend of the story, is the one Mallory is spying on - her neighbour. She's not really spying as much as she's crushing on him and always just watching him come home. Seriously, the 'spying' in the first chapter is as spy-like as it gets. The rest is pretty simple. Since there was a Travis Maddox remark by the author (Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire), I couldn't help but picture Troy just like I have been imagining Travis for years. There are so many similarities as well, the main similarity being the boxing Troy does professionally and also illegaly. It's so easy to compare these two characters and I actually feel sorry for it. There's just so much an author can think of without making their character appear to have been copied out of another book. It can't always be an extryordinary original character. I get that. It didn't feel like cheating or copying.

Mallory had to grow on me, and just as soon as I started liking her, some things made me dislike her again. Me growing fond of her was when the author decided to give her a little confidence boost. Going out that much out of a sudden didn't seem all that natural for me, but I still liked to think that Mallory was finally doing something for herself, finding herself and who she wants to be. I mean, she never really got the chance, her parents being very strict, homeschooling her because of their angst.

And her friendship with Nic was a very special aspect for me. Nix is Mallory's best friend, her only friend up until some point of the story and her internet friend. They've never met. And what can be considered creepy is described as a well-functioning friendship. Which I loved. Seriously, more books should include that. All people having found friends online via boards (they used to be a thing around 2007), social media or something else will understand. There's always a danger involved online, but I'm glad the author didn't focus on that. It wouldn't have fit to the story.

While the beginning was a bit dragged, toward the end things were speeding up way too fast for my taste. Mallory's behaviour wasn't something I understood or could relate to - her change was way too sudden. The genre changed from young adult to new adult without warning (and without the characters aging), but the characters' behaviour giving that away. And there was just too much happening all at once. It was hard to keep track. So many informations to process, so many actions to understand. Sometimes less is more. It wasn't messy exactly, but the structure was missing. As though the author was surprised by her invention of that weird plot twist (it's really weird, coming out of the blue) herself and had too many thoughts going on, wanting to write down everything.

I Spy the Boy Next Door is a book I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't read a young adult novel in a while but is looking for a solid one. Also for those who don't mind that huge genre jump in the middle of the book. It can't be considered as my new favourite, but I still enjoyed it, kept reading because it had me hooked.