Confessions of a Literary Addict

Let me just start out by saying that I really like this cover. It’s so cute. I love the color scheme they have going on and her eyes are gorgeous. 

Now, if you’re anything like me and you have seen She’s the Man, starring Amanda Bynes, you’re going to automatically assume this book is just like it from the excerpt thingy on Goodreads. If you’re still anything like me, you’re going to read it anyway because that was a freaking hilarious movie and you want to get another take on the situation.

If you’re not like me and you’re not sure you want to read this because you don’t want to read something exactly like the movie, then this is me telling you to give it a go anyway, because while it seems like it’s the same story from that movie, it’s got enough different elements added into it that you’re not really getting the exact same scenario slapped back at you. It’s pretty damn different, actually. And it’s still really funny.

Now, for spoilers. Do not read on if you don’t want to be spoiled.

(Quick scroll all the way to the bottom if you want the link on where to buy it.)

Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman
Series: None
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Release Date: Published February 16th 2012 by Speak
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Rating: 4/5 Crabapples
Find it here: Goodreads || Book Depository

When high school junior Natalie-or Dr. Aphrodite, as she calls herself when writing the relationship column for her school paper-is accused of knowing nothing about guys and giving girls bad relationship advice, she decides to investigate what guys really think and want. But the guys in her class won’t give her straight or serious answers. The only solution? Disguising herself as a guy and spending a week at Underwood Academy, the private all-boy boarding school in town. There she learns a lot about guys and girls in ways she never expected-especially when she falls for her dreamy roommate, Emilio. How can she show him she likes him without blowing her cover?

Since you’re now reading below the cut, I’m going to assume you’ve already read the book and you just want to see what I have to say about it. Well… I loved it! While it was really obvious what the ending was going to be like (because, come on, of course the guy is going to get at least a little mad that he had been deceived by someone he trusted and then turn around and realize he had actually fallen in love with the girl that he thought was a guy), I was still pretty happy with the way everything had built up to that point.

There were definitely quite a few She’s the Man vibes going on, though. The all-male boarding school that the girl needs to attend, the ball-to-the-nuts part where all the guys wince and the girl-in-disguise completely misses the beat where she’s supposed to bend over in serious pain, the bit where she’s a girl again and she kisses the guy while he has no idea she’s his roommate… there were a fair number. That, however, didn’t really retract from the story at all. The rest of the story was its own, and it really helped to paint a whole ‘nother world for the reader to experience.

I really loved the scenes where Natalie, the main character (Nat when male), had to interact with some of the guys and would react in a way that confused them. I can’t say how accurate any of the portrayal is, considering the only time I’ve pretended to be a guy is while in cosplay (and I wasn’t scared about people realizing I was actually female), but the way it was done was still interesting and funny. My only wish is that she didn’t do it for only a week, because I really would have loved to see more of that undercover life. I guess I could just watch She’s the Man again if I want to see a longer attempt at it, but I wanted to see more of it from Natalie’s perspective. Oh well. A week was a lot more believable in Natalie’s position, considering she was technically skipping school at her own high school to get this done.

All in all, it was a pretty fun journey and a good read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys these types of girl-pretending-to-be-a-guy stories.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Nova