The Boy Next Door

This book is just the epitome of a fun quirky story. It's told completely in emails and is just so very well done. I had a fantastic time reading this book. It's hard to believe this was Meg Cabot's debut novel (and that I'm just now getting to it as well).This story it told all in emails and focuses mainly on the character of Mel. She's a gossip columnist in New York City. Her dating record is less than stellar and she really likes to be late for work. This story starts out with her being late but she has a good reason. She was worried about her neighbor, an elderly woman, so she went to check on her. She found her on her floor and was late due to the woman's attempted murder! While the lady is in the hospital in a coma she volunteers to watch her beloved pets until the woman's nephew can get there to take over. The nephew is known to be a bit of a cad but when he arrives and she meets him he's nothing of the sort.I'll leave it there because I don't want to tell you the whole story. It's just so much fun to read and it's also fun on audiobook if you like that format. The writing is hilarious, the characters are so over the top and yet not that they balance out, and the book is just so worth the read. I recommend this!

This is surprisingly one of the few Meg Cabot book series that I just never read. I think I just didn't have that much interest in it, but I listened to an interview with her recently talking about the newest book in the series, so I figured I would give it a try. Also, I was really frustrated with reading the The Roanoke Girls, that I needed a happy palette cleanser and this book did the trick.This book doesn't try to take itself too serious, and that's kind of why I liked it. It's kind of like reading a romcom about a girl that gets swept up into a whirlwind romance for it all to come crashing down. Mostly because the dude is a an idiot and doesn't tell her off the bat that he's not the actual person she thinks he is.This book is kind of a blast from the past, as it was originally first published in 2002 and is set during a time when most offices and people where first starting to get email addresses and start corresponding with them. I was a kid when the internet became a thing, but I do remember a time where email did not exist. So although the book might seem really dated, I almost would like to read from a historical perspective, especially since the entire story is written in emails. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this format, but props to Cabot for experimenting with her writing. I still felt like I got the gist of the story, and I whipped through way too quickly.The story is quick to get through, and it was just a fun read that I couldn't put down. If you ever want to know what life was like in the early internet days, I would recommend this one. Man does it read dated, but I think it's almost like stepping into a different time, even though it wasn't really that long ago.

Melissa "Call Me Mel" Fuller is the page 10 gossip columnist for the New York Journal and really wants to be able to write some serious editorials. However, her editor won't let her because Mel is one of those people who actually cares about who Winona Ryder is dating. But Mel thinks that she has a chance at selling a story to her editor when her elderly next-door neighbor, Mrs. Friedlander, is attacked, putting her in a coma in the hospital and making Mel late for work - for the 37th time that year! Her editor doesn't buy it, which is too bad, because Mel could really use someone cutting her some slack. After all, who else is going to walk Paco, Mrs. Friedlander's Great Dane, and feed her two cats? Everyone at work tells Mel to stop being such a wimp and to dump the problem on Max Friedlander, her neighbor's playboy nephew. So Mel drops the problem in Max's lap, who promptly turns to his old college friend, John Trent, who owes him a huge favor since he stopped him from marrying that stripper in Vegas. John isn't too excited about posing as Max, even if it is only for a few days, until he meets Mel. John is instantly attracted to her and can tell that she likes him, too. There is just one problem - she thinks he is Max!This book is just so fun to read! I read it easily in one sitting and the whole thing just flew by. The story is told in the form of emails as Mel writes her soon-to-be-married best friend, her best friend's chef of a fiance, the real Max, John the fake Max, the mean spirited human resource department at work, John's brother and sister-in-law, John's fabulously wealthy grandmother, Mrs. Friedlander's dog and cats, as well as a host of other zany characters who all seem to be way too interested in Mel's love life or lack thereof. Anyway, you will love all of the characters as they are all real people going through those crazy things that life throws at you. Mel is especially wonderful and it is so fun to see her personality shine through her emails rather than the author describing everything that is happening. If you have enjoyed any of Cabot's other tales than you know how wonderful she is! Do yourself a favor and buy this book!

Terrible. All written in email format. Waste of money.

Muito divertido de ler e com vários personagens que te conquistam cada vez mais durante o livro! Adorei o formato do livro em emails!

Princesss Diaries、in the SpotlightとAll-American Girlを読んで私の４冊目です。　女子高生向きの小説ですが、読みやすく、展開が単純な小説で、文体も分かりやすいと思います。　発想や出だしの面白さで読み進めますが、この人の小説は終わりにかけて面白くなくなる場合もあります。　この小説は終盤に盛り上がるので楽しく読めました。ただし、すべてがメールのやり取りというのは実験的な面白さはありますが、それ以上のものではないと思います。

メール形式の小説を読むのは初めてですが、話が面白いので普通に読めます。ところどころ声を出して笑ってしまいました。展開が気になって読むのが止まりません。登場人物すべてが個性的で楽しいです。英語も簡単で、使い方など参考になります。

同著者の他作品が面白かったので、この本を読んでみました。他作品と違って、読者の年齢層が２０代と高めです。終始、登場人物間のｅ－ｍａｉｌで話が展開するので休みなくやり取りが行われ、途中で本を置けないのです。ストーリー構成も良く出来ているので、単純に楽しめます。主人公とその彼氏を取り巻く、ややおせっかいな同僚や親族たちは憎めない人々です。一度この本を手にしてページをめくったら、きっとMeggin　Cabotの作り出す世界に引き込まれてしまうに違いありません。私は、スーパーモデルのVivicaが好きなレストランについて話すシーンで思わず笑ってしまいました。アメリカに滞在経験がある方なら、この著者がちりばめるユーモアを拾うのが楽しめるはずです。