Sunday, February 13, 2011

Babe in Boyland by Jody Gerhman


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?

I wanted to read Babe in Boyland for so long! When I started reading it, I loved Jody Gerhman’s writing. But as I started to get into it, I started to like it less. In all honesty, Babe in Boyland felt like it was taken straight from an episode of Zoey 101. There was also one scene that was noticeably like a scene in the 10 Things I Hate About You movie. The idea was executed really well, but I didn’t feel like the plot was very original.
That being said, I think that Gerhman did I really good job developing the characters in this novel. All of them were fun to read about and well rounded. I also really liked how the author added in the Dr. Aphrodite column to the story instead of it being just about Natalie disguising herself.
I think that there are people who will really like Babe in Boyland. It just wasn’t the novel for me though.

FTC- Received from publisher.

5 comments:

Sarah Lydia said...

I'm sorry you didn't like it very much. That sucks :( I hope I don't have the same problem with it as you did.

Zoe 101? Haha, I remember that show :) Do they still play it?

Zoe said...

Sarah-
I know a lot of people who I've lent Babe in Boyland to, really liked it- I hope you do too!
I think Zoey 101 is on twice a day on TeenNick. :)

YA Book Queen said...

I've been curious about this one, but I keep hearing how it isn't all that original (I've heard that if you've seen the movie She's the Man, then to not even bother with this book). I think I might pass on this book...thanks for the honest review, Zoe! :)

Mandy said...

Hmm, I've seen this cover around the blogs, but haven't really checked it out. It sounds a bit intriguing, but at the same time not enough to spike too much interest.

I'm sorry you didn't like it that much. I might read this, but it may not be anytime soon.

Anna said...

Oh man, that kind of stinks about this book! I loved Gehrem's previous novels, and was looking forward to reading this one too! Hmm. :(