Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

Genre: Fiction - Chick lit
Publisher: Pan, 2004
Other Works: Size 14 Is Not Fat Either, The Boy Next Door
Rating: B-, or Not Sorry I Read It
Premise: Kate is another New York City girl, just like Mel from The Boy Next Door. And she too finds love in unexpected places . . .

Cute and clever, for a fluff book. I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one, The Boy Next Door. Again, the story was written in emails, but this time we also got in on Kate's IMs, journal entries, notes during meetings, and other forms of communication. I enjoyed the story, but I have to say that I think this type of book doesn't make for a great "series." I thought it was a fun book, but I don't think I'll go back for thirds. I would like to see what else Meg Cabot can come up with.

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot

Genre: Fiction - Chick lit
Publisher: Avon Trade, 2006
Other Works:
Rating: D, or Good Idea Bad Execution
Premise: Heather Wells works at a university in the housing office. A popular girl goes missing one day, and Heather is on the job to find out what's happened to her, whilst fighting and giving in to her food cravings.

I picked up this book because it's the only one the library had at the time (all others were checked out) by Meg Cabot. My husband and I went on a cruise and I wanted some "junkfood" reading for the pool deck. =) I quite liked the other Meg Cabot book I read, so I thought this one looked promising.

Unfortunately... I turned out to be dead wrong. The ultimate stomach disturbance and regret from the Big Mac inevitably came upon me. This book was so stupid, it felt like a major waste of time. And that's not because I "can't" appreciate junkfood, I most certainly can. (Bring on the sour cream and onion Lay's and the Ben and Jerry's.) However, this was no Ben or Jerry. It was more like a stale Peep. +/-

At first, the story definitely had a little charm. Washed up tween star makes it in the big city as a dorm supervisor for a local college and lives with a nice guy, whom she has a major cruch on, rent free. However, that's where the charm ends and the Bowinkle moments begin. Not only was the story completely hap-hazard and beyond my suspension of disbelief, but it was very poorly written. It was downright lazy and sloppy. I cannot do sloppy, not even in junkfood books.

For example, Heather states that she has closed her eyes. Then she talks to her friend, and he says something to her. She says that he looks sad. Then, she says, she opens her eyes. So... tell me, how is it that you can see that your friend looks sad? Through your gecko-like see-through eyelids? Where is your EDITOR! Lazy, lazy, sloppy, and lazy. Ick. The book is chuck full of these blunders.

That may seem picky to you, but even if that were the only thing, the book would be nowhere near publish-worthy in my opinion. Storyline is a mess, character development poor, etc. etc., I could go on all day. The worst part is, I did not even have that high of expectation going into this book, so I am sorely disappointed.

Needless to say, I'm all set with Heather Wells.

The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot

Genre: Fiction - Chick lit
Publisher: Avon Trade, 2002
Other Works: The Princess Diaries, Boy Meets Girl
Flags: Tenuous references
Rating: A-, or Good w/ Minor Problems
Premise: Mel is a newspaper columnist in New York, who gets a mysteriously handsome new nextdoor neighbor. He's got a weak spot for redheads, but he's also got a secret . . .

Meggin Cabot's The Boy Next Door is what I like to call a "fluff" book--it's all about fun. Cleverly structured and written, it truly is entertaining from the first page to the last. It was a little difficult to get used to only hearing part of the story in the beginning; the entire thing is written in emails between the characters. But, once you get used to hearing about everything that happens after the fact, it's quite enjoyable, not to mention extremely creative.

Whimsical, sweet, funny, and clever--all the qualities a good fluff book should have. I love it when I read the last line of a fluff book, and all I can do is grin. =)