It took me a while to get through this book and I was worried that I wasn’t going to like it, but I ultimately did. It starts off really slow, focusing more on Mallory’s over-protective parents and breaking free from homeschooling than anything else. There are multiple chapters just getting Mallory to public high school and making in person friends. This takes up about 3/4 of the book. The action really didn’t start happening until the 75% mark. And the dramatic part that I would have liked to delve more into took place in the last 10%, so the pacing was just off for me.

That being said, I loved the premise and would have liked to explore the background a bit more. Especially the relationship between Mallory’s parents, Troy’s dad, and Kaitlyn’s mom.

I did enjoy the developing relationship between Troy and Mallory. While he seemed like a jerk at first, he was always protective of Mallory. Whether that was because of her past or because of his feelings for her, I’m not sure, but I suspect it’s a little of both. He certainly resented her initially, with good reason.

I’m glad that the friends Mallory made were true friends, especially her online BFF Nic. Mallory was lucky in the friend group she built for herself.

This is another book I’ve rated with a half-star that is not visible most places. While you will see a 3-star rating, my actual rating is 3.5 stars. The pacing and slow beginning kept it from being a 4-star read.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book. The synopsis held so much promise, but the book failed to deliver as much as I hoped for from it. I enjoyed it well enough, but with a few tweaks it could have been an even more enjoyable read.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in this genre. In the past year my reading taste has changed a lot and I no longer enjoy YA contemporary unless it's from a few select authors. Because of this I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not read and review this book as someone who is already disinterested in the genre, and instead let the reviews of people who do like this genre speak for the book instead. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I loved the characters and the storyline development of this book. It was absolutely one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to delve in to the next one that this author writes. The storyline was simple, enjoyable, and entertaining.

So I enjoyed this book more than I thought I was going to but it was one of those reads that you read when you want something cliche and you want something that you don't have to overly focus on. The blurb and cover are what drew me in and because I was in a blah romance mood it definitely was what I wanted. To summarize its cliche and not the best romance novel I've read and I probably wouldn't reread but it is ok.

I read this book, and thought it was okay. Not really my type of book, but i did finish reading it.

Incredible book I loved every minute of i This book has amazing characters and the story was so great I loved everything bout this story.

I Spy the Boy Next Door is one of those books I want to try again. I wanted so badly to enjoy this, but it just didn't work for me.

✨I Spy The Boy Next Door by Samantha Armstrong ✨

I really want to focus on featuring at least one book a day on here that’s under £5 on kindle as I know we are probably all wanting to buy more books right now and it definitely helps if they are cheaper, right? 😂

Here is the blurb for the book...
“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.” This was a fun read, it definitely had a lot of cuteness but a bit of mystery and intrigue too. I liked that I couldn’t really guess what the ending was going to be too. It took me a little while to warm to the main character but after a few chapters in I was sold.
If your looking for some YA with a bit more of a twists and turns edge rather than just only romance then I’d give this one a go.

It’s £2.99 on kindle right now.
Copy via Netgalley✨

Mallory has very over protective parents but she is finally going to public school and given a bit of freedom. She has a crush on her neighbour and now she has a chance to meet him, the book is about her relationship with Troy. The book was a quick read and kept my attention!

This was a long drawn out novel with cliches and various levels of awkward. Ideal for those who just read Twilight style of reading material.

*Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own.

Honestly, I didn't love this book. The whole spying on the neighbor thing was kind of creepy and made me uncomfortable. We would not think this was OK for a dude to do, so why is it OK for a girl. I won't be recommending this one -- sorry.

I thought this book was a cute, enjoyable read though it lacked that something more to keep you totally invested. It was cliché at times but that was to be expected for the usual high school setting. The writing was absolutely beautiful though.

Wow when I chose to read this book I expected it to be full of fluff but I absolutely enjoyed it. Girl spies on boy, girl is home schooled convinces her parents to let her go to public school. Boy sees girl. Sure the first half of the book was full of fluff and hate, but not really, to love. The second half though there are some amazing plot twists. I loved it!!!

YA isn’t typically my genre of choice but I received this book through NetGalley for an honest review so I thought I’d give it a go. Unfortunately, I Spy the Boy Next Door didn’t work for me. I truly feel this has more to do with my preferences than the story itself. The writing was done well and the story, although formulary, wasn’t bad it just isn’t enough to keep me invested.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Mallory Taylor has led a sheltered life since she was almost kidnapped when she was little. Her mom home schools Mallory and and her brother, and now that Mallory is 17, she wants the chance to go to public high school while she still can. Mallory has had a crush on her hot neighbor for 5 years, spying on him from her bedroom window, and hopes that public school will finally give her a chance to get to know him. Troy Parker, however, seems angry to see Mallory at school and gives her the cold shoulder. Every time Mallory thinks she needs to get over Troy, though, he shows a moment of compassion, and the cycle starts again. When secrets are revealed, everything will change.

I would give this book 4.5 stars for the writing but only 2 for the plot. Armstrong certainly has a way with words. However, the first ¾ of the story had a lot of cliches, rather than feeling like a fleshed out story. Then, the last quarter of the book veered off in another direction entirely, which was unexpected since you can't talk about it in the book's blurb without giving away the twist, and there was no foreshadowing earlier in the book; I didn't expect the genre change. I would consider reading more books by this author since she does write so well.

*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*

I wrote an status update saying "why is this girl so stupid? and it basically sums this book up.
That said, the plot was alright and entertaining, so all in all, it wasn't as bad as I feared.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

This book was so surprising. I'll admit that when I requested it on NetGalley, it was more of a cover lust request, and I wasn't entirely sure what it was about, but I felt it would be a cute contemporary read, but in reality, it was so much more! Mallory's parents have always been overprotected, and home-schooled her for as long as she can remember, but now she's managed to convince them to let her attend public school. Another selling point, at least for her, is that finally she'll be able to speak to her hot neighbour, Troy, who she's been spying on for the last 5 years. However, Troy doesn't seem to have any interest in getting to know her. Mallory isn't one to give up, however, and her persistence leads her to learn that there are other things at play, and Troy's main reason for not wanting to know her is because he's become resentful for her being the reason he had to move - but neither of them really know why that is. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and soon they fall for each other. I felt like their relationship was real, but neither character really held my attention too much, until we got towards the end, and the true backstory and history was revealed. There we got to see just why each of the main characters, and the other characters too - especially the parents - were acting the way that they were, and that pushed the book up to 4 stars. Some of the twists were expected, but the majority came out of the blue - for the most part everything was tied up, but some parts were dealt with so quickly, that I think a bit more of a lead up could've improved the book. All in all, an enjoyable and fast contemporary read.

A very YA book I enjoyed it nonetheless!

In the beginning, I thought it would be a casual, cute YA romance story. However, once the mystery started to kick in, I felt more intrigued and I couldn't stop reading. There are things I didn't guess and that's always a pleasant surprise when I read mystery books. Overall, if you are looking for a YA book to read, grab this one!

This book was okay. I loved the beginning – it was your typical YA romance story, full of drama, chemistry, and cuteness. I flew through the first half in about a day. Then an (surprisingly unexpected) twist happened, and I was so irritated that I put the book down and didn’t come back to it for a long time. I’m glad I did, because I did quite like how the book ended, but if you are looking for a typical light, fluffy romance, this might not be the book for you.