To be honest, I was looking forward to reading this book, the blurb seemed cute and i liked the simple cover. However, while I do like reading books about highschool and cute love stories, this felt less nostalgic and more like the kind of book that was probably intended for a younger audience. That being said, I do feel the novel had too many things it wanted to be but nothing felt really developed properly, from the characters to the relationships. Unfortunately, for the most part this book fell flat for me and I kept speeding through it. The plot felt disorganised and a bit slow but then suddenly the last 1/3 of the book had several plot twist that felt too rushed and underdeveloped. I keep thinking maybe I'm just not the audience for this book. Although if this was for a younger audience I would prefer some content warning, like murder and domestic violence also can we all stop romanticising a guy sneaking in to someone's bedroom to watch them sleep, its not cute or sexy or romantic.

Funny, thrilling, laugh out loud teenage drama with loads of twist and turns. Reading this was an experience. I wish my teenage years were filled with so much excitement. Great characters, great story. Enjoyed every minute of it. It was a great book. Just can't wait to read more of samantha armstrong's books.

I really liked the start to this book and couldn't put it down through the 50-60% mark. However the plot twists that came with the second half, felt like a bit of a stretch in unbelievability. I think i would have been ok with a couple of the thematic elements but it felt like too many all at once and out of nowhere compared to the first half of the book.

Spoiler:
Also it annoyed me that the author had the Witness Protection program being oversaw by an FBI agent. It might seem like a minor thing, but it would have been easier to check accuracy and make the father a US Marshall who are the ones who monitor that program.

I think this will be a fun summer read for high schoolers but its not anything spectacular.

I enjoyed this. I connected to the character and it felt like I was right there with her, especially during her more embarrassing moments haha. All the other characters (secondary as well) were great and likable. The story held my attention until the end. Overall a good YA read!

This started off good with a 17 year old girl who has a huge crush on the boy next door that she would spy on from her bedroom window. While I thought the book was good, it got to point where it took a huge turn and then I felt it was rushed. I wish the suspense had been there more and could have had time to build instead of being thrown at me. However, I would suggest this book for YA readers. It was a good read.

I Spy the Boy Next Door started off great. I randomly started reading it, expecting nothing and everything at once and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself refusing to put it down. Soon enough, I got the impression that the story could have started somewhere at 20% of the book and it would have been a bit better since some things were just unneccessarily mentioned. But I still enjoyed it. A light young adult read was what I had been missing for some time without realising it.

Troy, the ultimate book boyfriend of the story, is the one Mallory is spying on - her neighbour. She's not really spying as much as she's crushing on him and always just watching him come home. Seriously, the 'spying' in the first chapter is as spy-like as it gets. The rest is pretty simple. Since there was a Travis Maddox remark by the author (Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire), I couldn't help but picture Troy just like I have been imagining Travis for years. There are so many similarities as well, the main similarity being the boxing Troy does professionally and also illegaly. It's so easy to compare these two characters and I actually feel sorry for it. There's just so much an author can think of without making their character appear to have been copied out of another book. It can't always be an extryordinary original character. I get that. It didn't feel like cheating or copying.

Mallory had to grow on me, and just as soon as I started liking her, some things made me dislike her again. Me growing fond of her was when the author decided to give her a little confidence boost. Going out that much out of a sudden didn't seem all that natural for me, but I still liked to think that Mallory was finally doing something for herself, finding herself and who she wants to be. I mean, she never really got the chance, her parents being very strict, homeschooling her because of their angst.

And her friendship with Nic was a very special aspect for me. Nix is Mallory's best friend, her only friend up until some point of the story and her internet friend. They've never met. And what can be considered creepy is described as a well-functioning friendship. Which I loved. Seriously, more books should include that. All people having found friends online via boards (they used to be a thing around 2007), social media or something else will understand. There's always a danger involved online, but I'm glad the author didn't focus on that. It wouldn't have fit to the story.

While the beginning was a bit dragged, toward the end things were speeding up way too fast for my taste. Mallory's behaviour wasn't something I understood or could relate to - her change was way too sudden. The genre changed from young adult to new adult without warning (and without the characters aging), but the characters' behaviour giving that away. And there was just too much happening all at once. It was hard to keep track. So many informations to process, so many actions to understand. Sometimes less is more. It wasn't messy exactly, but the structure was missing. As though the author was surprised by her invention of that weird plot twist (it's really weird, coming out of the blue) herself and had too many thoughts going on, wanting to write down everything.

I Spy the Boy Next Door is a book I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't read a young adult novel in a while but is looking for a solid one. Also for those who don't mind that huge genre jump in the middle of the book. It can't be considered as my new favourite, but I still enjoyed it, kept reading because it had me hooked.

Mallory, a homeschooled naive virgin spy's on the tattooed boxer motorbike driving boy-next-door Troy. Let's give a point or two for my favourite trope (boy next door, not the rest). It .<i>was</i> a total cliche and like a mash up of other books (beautiful disaster and hopeless come to mind) but it was executed pretty well. It kept my interest and had an original twist. I won't say I didn't enjoy it but I won't say I didn't have issues with it.

There was almost <b>too</b> much happening in this story for what I assumed was going to be a cute YA. I believe it should be marketed as a NA because there were adult themes, and detailed sex. The timing of the sex scene was actually quite questionable and it's quality was hard to believe. The leads had this strong physical attraction that inspired some great chemistry, <b>yes</b>, but they never really verbally got to know each other.. so it wasn't realistic that they were promising forever. I neither liked or disliked the characters, they were all pretty cookie cutter.

I wouldn't shove this book in anyone's face but if you fancy picking it up it's not too bad.

I received an electronic ARC of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This one hooked me from beginning to end. Mallory and Troy's story is a sweet tale of first love between the ordinary nerdy girl and the super hunky boxer who lives next door. She is a self-professed peeping tommette who lives for the time every evening when he comes back from his run and strips off his shirt in his driveway. But she doesn't know that he knows she's watching. And then one day the flames ignite.... and she sees it wasn't indifference that kept him away, but smothered feelings. The plot is nicely done, with a completely unexpected twist that nearly throws a wrench in the happy ending. This was a five star read for me.

I will not lie, it was the cover that led me to request the book for reviewing. However, the story did end up surprising me, with the clever plot twists and hidden secrets. The book starts at somewhere, follows in a different direction and ends up at a whole new place – yeah, it’s like that.

I loved Mallory's character a lot. She was just a young girl with a massive crush which led her to do some weird stuff to get his attention - and man I related to her so much. Her asking Troy on a co-drive truly cracked me up alright! I couldn't stop laughing!! At times, I did find her annoying though. Especially towards the end when she got too determined to do stuff her way. However, I excused it on the terms that she was just too curious and shaken up from the truth.

Now Troy surprised me. He was a broody young man, mysterious and secretive. His motives were completely unknown, and even though I knew he would ultimately fall for Mallory (because hello YA), I enjoyed the development nonetheless. It was adorable to see him trying to impress Mallory's parents and help her in any way. Also I totally loved him climbing into her room, no matter how scary and creepy it was.

I absolutely loved that internet friendship portrayed in the book. It was healthy and so so beautifully captured!


On first look, this book might appear to be a cliche girl and boy falls in love kinda book. But no, there’s no much more to it. The first half mostly handles the growing relationship between Mallory and Troy, and both of them working out their lives and problems. It is in the second half of the book that things start to happen, and secrets starts to unfold.

To tell the truth, I wasn’t at all anticipating or expecting such a truth bomb to burst. We learn about Mallory’s true upbringing and why she had been homeschooled for years. We learn the truth behind Troy’s hostility and his initial dislike towards Mallory. We learn so much more about the lives of the characters, and how they were intertwined.

Overall, this was an interesting and engaging read. I loved the twists and the climax! And that beautiful cover is an added bonus!

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book. All opinions expressed are fully mine.

Oh, boy. I have a lot to say about this book, and unfortunately none of it is good.

I wanted to read this book because I really liked the premise. It had a lot of potential and I love the whole secret crush on boy next door setup, and I was like... oh, this is going to be awkward/cute. Alas... I quickly realized this book was a mess, and I should've just stopped. Instead, I kept reading, and it only got worse.

First, this book is one cliche after another. The love interest, Troy, is a "bad boy" who rides a motorcycle, has tattoos, is a champion boxer, and--for kicks!--also participates in illegal underground fighting. (!!! Like, honestly! Are we missing any other "bad boy" YA mainstay here? Mother of god.) He has no personality or actual character development. All he does is "growl" and look at Mallory "seductively" when he's not being a jerk and running hot and cold with her for reasons or being Mysterious Bad Boy.

Mallory, for her part, was a bit more fleshed out because this is told from her POV, but she's a frustrating character. She's extremely sheltered, so I expected her to be naive when she started school, but unfortunately the writing is just bad. I'm sorry that is harsh, but there is something really amateur about this, and I can't think of another way to explain it. None of of the characters are relatable or sympathetic or fully realized human beings.

Their romance is honestly ridiculous. She can't even speak to him in full sentences but he's overcome by lust, I guess. And this book also romanticizes very toxic behavior that I'm really tired of seeing in romances, let alone YA. First off, she didn't just crush on the boy next door. She literally watched him from her window every single day at a set time. I mean... whatever, she perved on him. But they NEVER SPOKE except ONE TIME. And she's totally smitten with him? And he falls for her so quickly. HOW? THEY DON'T EVEN TALK. Then he starts sneaking into her window each night, and while she does eventually come to expect it because it's arranged, he sneaks in while she is sleeping. THIS. IS. NOT. ROMANTIC. I'm so sick of this TWILIGHT-throwback TOXIC behavior. Stop writing this. Period. Especially not for teens! (Also, how the hell was he able to sneak in and she able to sneak out ALL THE TIME? Her parents are VERY PROTECTIVE for ~reasons~ and watch everything she does but magically no one hears someone climbing in and out of a second story window and up/down a trellis EVERY SINGLE NIGHT?)

SPEAKING OF TEENS, I was so incredibly uncomfortable by everything sex-related in this book. Let me be clear: I think there is a place for sex in YA. Some teens have sex. Some don't. Fine. There are really responsible ways to handle this in a way that doesn't feel grossly inappropriate for TEENAGERS, like it does here. Troy may be 18, I guess, but he's still in high school. Mallory is literally a minor at 17. I do NOT need to read about Mallory's "core" and her getting turned on. If this were adult romance, it would be very tame, but it's still too explicit for YA, IMO. This is marketed as "mature YA/NA," which is... another can of worms I don't want to get into here. It's very clear to me that this is NOT written for teenagers or with teens in mind. That's a huge problem with YA right now, I'm aware, but sexualizing protagonists in books presumably written for teens, and making them completely not-relatable, is just... wow.

The pacing of this book is very off. Some of it absolutely drags, and then suddenly a ton of things happen at all once in the end. The last 1/3 or so of the book goes totally off the rails. (CW in this part for IPV, gun violence, murder.) There are some "plot twists" that I suppose made the book more interesting but also THAT MUCH MORE RIDICULOUS. Mallory in particular behaves in completely irrational ways that are unsafe. Also the research for the big plot twist... YIKES. There is so much going on, I felt like the author threw the kitchen sink into this book and didn't know what to do with it. It felt like a different book, and it wasn't well thought out or well executed. There are too many loose ends and things that are never explained, as well as things that just flat out don't make sense because either the author didn't do her research (hello, FBI) or didn't plot this tightly enough.

I was so beyond frustrated with this book and I'm left with honestly nothing positive to say about this. I absolutely DO NOT recommend reading this book.

Granted, this book had the major cliche of boy-next-door and bad boy, I still enjoyed it. I think this book was well written and had a great balance of the cute and the drama. All the cuteness comes from Troy and Mallory's relationship. And gosh, y'all how no idea how many times I felt secondhand embarrassment on Mallory's behalf, lol. I really liked the secondary characters, especially Nic. I'm pretty sure we all have our own versions of Nic in real life.

P.S. I think I want Evie and Dax to have their own book.

I think I've just outgrown this type of young adult fiction. I Spy The Boy Next Door is filled with examples of things teenage KIDS should not be doing. These are children! I wanted to like it, but I was, unfortunately, disturbed. I'm also tired of reading cliches. The writing is okay. The plot is not to my taste. I'm the wrong audience for this one. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Five to eight years ago, I would have probably enjoyed I Spy the Boy Next Door. Now it comes across pretty disturbing. But hey, if you enjoyed this book (or not) I recommend the Shia LaBeouf movie, Disturbia.

Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review I Spy the Boy Next Door.

I Spy the Boy Next Door by Samantha Armstrong

Read: 04/27-04/29

Publication Date: May 25, 2019

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.

Taking chances, breaking rules, and following her heart is all new to Mallory. And no one warned her just how fickle hearts can be. When she discovers that Troy isn’t at all the guy she imagined him to be, secrets rise to the surface that will change her life forever.

First off: Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an e-book in exchange for my honest review!

What I Liked:

Mallory's character was fairly likable throughout most of the books. A few times I would find her annoying or naive but I reminded myself she was a young girl who had been very sheltered. Her progression throughout the book was realistic. I enjoyed her relationship with her parents as well.

What I Didn't Like:

For the most part unfortunately this book fell a little flat for me. There were a lot of components that could have worked out well but they weren't done quite right. The ending of the book was a great plot twist to include but it was done so rushed and quickly that it didn't get as fleshed out as I would have liked. If the author had spent more time building up to this part of the storyline it would have worked better. Instead it literally came out of nowhere, which was a shame because it truly was a good idea.

Overall, this book had a lot of potential to be a unique twist on a mature YA romance book but it just didn't quite reach it.

Rating: 5/10
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I absolutely loved this book!! What a refreshing, different style of writing, which made it very easy to read and get sucked into the story right away.
I adored the characters, and thought they blended well together. The story was cute, and I wasn't left feeling like there could have been more. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved for an even longer story, but I wasn't left feeling like this one was incomplete.

I started this weeks ago and just can not get into it! I don’t know if it’s because I hate the heroine in this story or that I’ve out grown YA books. So I’m marking this one in the DNF pile.

So here’s the part that I don’t like about reviewing..... Bad review! This story wasn’t doing anything for me. It fell flat and I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the story. So this is my honest review. I didn’t like it!

This was a NETGALLEY gift and all opinions are my own.

The synopsis of this book sounded pretty good, as I got into the book it fell flat for me. I just couldn’t get into it enough to enjoy it. I think it was the fact that the story is about Mallory spying on her neighbor. I found this book to be a tad creepy.
This book follows Mallory who has had a crush on her next door neighbor for quite a while. When she finally enrolls in school for her senior year because she was homeschooled till then. She notices that there is more to Troy then she thought.
I was disappointed with this book because I thought that it was going to be a great read, I was just annoyed with it most of the time.

Strong language and spoilers ahead.


I'm not quite sure where to start for this one, as we can see I'm giving it one star, which doesn't happen extremely often for me. Spoilers will probably be ahead, fair warning.


I guess to start with, I feel that this book was dragged out far too long. Twenty-something chapters for a story that perhaps needed 10. The beginning half of the book dragged out, painfully so, and Mallory and Troy's characters were infuriating. There wasn't much character development until the latter half of the book, and by that point, the changes that were happening just seemed unbelievable.

Spoilers will start here.

You can't have me read about Mallory being shy, and awkwardly staring at people and then change into a bad girl. If I had to read one more time about how Troy flashing a bit of body made the "apex between her thighs" get hot, quivery, wet whatever I was going to lose it. I don't know if I'm getting too old for this, but reading about a 17-year-old girl getting hot and bothered just from a guy going on a jog just doesn't do it for me anymore.

You can't have Troy do nothing but have "narrowed eyes" and "growling" (what? how is that realistic at all) and then switch over to soft, caring boyfriend who has loved her all along. Gag.

Not to mention there should be content warnings for domestic violence and murder. Where the hell did all that come from?

We're reading a story with 10 chapters of mindless, pointless scenes that do nothing to move the story along, and then poor Deb is murdered out of nowhere. I really don't think that Mallory sneaking out of the house to see a fist fight, and then to go to a party is necessary, and you mean to tell me her parents just... don't notice? As paranoid as they're made to seem, as anal, and they just don't hear their daughter climbing up and down the trellis? They're not watching their house at all?

It seems to me that the author was trying to set all this up, and in the last half of the book just flew through everything in a mad attempt to make things as complicated and confusing and "edgy" as possible.

Besides for Mallory being painfully awkward and creepy while watching Troy, to Troy being unrealistically hot and cold...this whole story was just hard to read. From the blurb, you think you're getting into a fluffy YA/NA romance, and instead, you're 180-ed into a crime scene.

Final note: PLEASE STOP NORMALISING BOYS BREAKING INTO GIRL'S BEDROOMS AS ROMANTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It WAS NOT cute when Edward did it with Bella, it is NOT romantic, it's fucking CREEPY. STOP IT. A boy climbing through your window in the middle of the night to "check on you" because he's "so worried" is not romantic. It is toxic. It is invasive. It is a sign of weird fucking possession and to have any teen girl swoon over is just fucking toxic and wrong.







I received a copy of this for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Witty, romantic and funny, everything you need in a book, the main character is very relatable in many different ways, I love her!

I love a tale of the boy next door! The bad boy and sheltered girl. Sexy without being over the top with quite a few unexpected twists! Definitely a fun read!