Being Friends with Boys by Terra Elan McVoy

Author: Terra Elan McVoy

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Summary (Goodreads):

Charlotte and Oliver have been friends forever. She knows that he, Abe, and Trip consider her to be one of the guys, and she likes it that way. She likes being the friend who keeps them all together. Likes offering a girl's perspective on their love lives. Likes being the behind-the-scenes wordsmith who writes all the lyrics for the boys' band. Char has a house full of stepsisters and a past full of backstabbing (female) ex-best friends, so for her, being friends with boys is refreshingly drama-free...until it isn't any more.

When a new boy enters the scene and makes Char feel like, well, a total girl...and two of her other friends have a falling out that may or may not be related to one of them deciding he possibly wants to be more than friends with Char...being friends with all these boys suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.






My Thoughts:

This book was about a high school aged girl (sixteen) who was used to being 'just one of the guys'. She had had only one boyfriend and really only one girl friend (who dropped her for the cooler crowd). I'd say this was like the sort of tom-boy's point of view, or rather girl-who'd-rather-hang-with guys. Throughout the book, Charlotte is trying to find a normal be it from the friendship with Oliver, the weirdness between her and Trip, the newness of Benji, and new band mates. This story was about friendships, and boys, and the question: What if I don't/ do?

I thought that this book was good, though confusing at parts. Like how at the beginning it was all about Trip, but in the middle, she wasn't thinking about Trip at all. BUT I did like Benji's character. He was like the bad-boy who's sweet/cute on the inside and awkward around the girl he likes. This is something I think ALL girls would love in a guy, so even though he's not a main character, I felt myself loving him anyway.

Now, Oliver. Let me tell you about Oliver. He annoyed me throughout the whole book. He shouldn't have ended his and Charlotte's friendship because of a choice she made! That makes absolutely no sense to me. Also, when he thought she liked him.... Ignore her, why don't you! But, oh well.

I don't think Trip should have stopped talking to her and being her friend, but that's what made Charlotte grow and become more mature on the inside. I think that if she'd had a shoulder to brace her up every time she fell, she wouldn't have learned ANYTHING! So, even thought I didn't like Trip for a majority of the book, I still like him (a little bit) because he inevitably helped her grow.

I think Terra's writing is inspiring and inspirational. Her writing (in this book) helps you understand how come some girls just aren't friendly with other girls, how all of the gossip (even if it's about someone liking someone) hurts, and how some people feel as if by going away, they're helping the situation (all though they're just making it worse). It also showed how some girls are strong when they seem like they should really be at their weakest.

So, although I generally liked this book, it will be getting four hearts because some of the characters really annoyed me. (Don't trust me. YOU may like this book and the characters better than I did)