Sunday, December 20, 2015

The Girlfriend Request by Jodie Andrefski

Updating best friend to girlfriend is more than a change of status…

Emma has been best friends with Eli since she moved to his neighborhood ten years ago. Tired of being cast in the role of the girl next door, Emma creates a fake Facebook profile in the hopes of starting an online friendship with Eli, which would hopefully lead to more. Like...way more. From friend request to In a Relationship--it all seemed so completely logical when she'd planned it.

Eli can't figure out what Emma is up to. He’s pretty sure she's the one behind the Facebook profile, but then again, why would she do something so drastic instead of just admitting she wants to be more than friends? And who the heck is this new guy he saw her with? Eli starts to think that just maybe...he missed his chance with the girl next door.

Two best friends, one outlandish ruse. Their status is about to become way more than It’s Complicated…

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains one fake Facebook profile, two best friends who secretly crave each other, and a dreaded sex talk with parents…boy crush in the room included. Pushing a relationship beyond the friend zone has never been so crazy…


Rating: 2/5 Stars

I was kindly provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

When reading The Girlfriend request I was pretty sure of what I’d find, a cute and fun love story between two friends filled mishaps and goofy moments and, in a way, that was delivered, I’m just not very happy with it.

Emma and Eli have been best friends since her family moved to their neighbourhood when she was six, and ever since then her love for him grew. The problem is, Eli is perfectly happy with her as a friend which is the reason she creates a fake facebook profile so she can talk to Eli and hopefully get him to fall in love with her.

My issues with the book were a few but, one of the biggest one was its lack of excitement. Sure, as a contemporary romance I knew pretty much everything that would happen, no aliens coming down from the skies or anything, it was a classic romance story but that it’s no reason for it being boring. It was pretty much a knock off of so many other contemporary romances out there, there was nothing about it that could set it apart, no message, humour or idea that made me think this was something else.

Another problem was the characters. Emma could be a little dumb and naïve at times (let's face it, creating a fake Facebook profile for your best friend to fall in love with wasn't exactly genious) but also, she didn’t sound much like a teenager but more like what a grownup imagines a teenager sounds like. Just look at this quote:

“I’d made up an entire Facebook profile in the hopes of starting an online friendship with Eli, which would hopefully lead to more. Like… way more.”

What is this? Does anybody speak like that all the time?

The relationship, although I could see the love from Emma’s side, it lacked substance from Eli. The book is told in two different POVs and to the writer’s credit they don’t blur together and you can actually tell the two voices apart. The thing is Eli has no feelings for Emma. We see how he is happy with their friendship, in no moment does he say that he wants something more or implies that he has different feelings, on the contrary, and yet the second he sees her talking with another boy he’s super-duper in love? I don’t really buy it, he went from zero to 12324234234 in a second.

Probably my biggest issue was the mean girl stereotype.

“Everyone at school is afraid of you because they know what a two-faced vindictive bitch you are, and they don’t want to get on your bad side.”

As a classic romance story with no surprises, the two love birds are meant to have an obstacle, something to keep them apart and build the tension (even though it failed here) and that something was Carissa, Eli’s ex and Emma’s arch nemesis. Carissa had no depth or personality; she was simply mean because beautiful girls are all evil and backstabbing monsters, duh! Except our main character, of course because despite the fact that she has two guys crushing on her and is constantly told to be beautiful, she’s not mean because she has no confidence in herself.

So remember girls, if confidence and self-esteem you have, a bitch you will be called.


That’s the only message I can get from The Girlfriend Request, and when I read a contemporary romance I’m in for the cuteness, not the slut-shaming. 

1 comment:

  1. I have been eyeing this book because the cover is so sweet. I can see what you mean by a desire for a little excitement in a contemporary. When the main character is totally unrelatable, it is a huge disappointment for sure. Fantastic review!

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