The Boy Next Door and the Playboy
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Purchased
TYPE OF NOVEL: Modern Day Mansfield Park Adaptation, Young Adult
THE PREMISE: Edie Price has known from a young age that you can’t trust love. Her mother did and it resulted in Edie growing up in a single-parent household and foster system. Now she is spending the last few months of high school with her rich and pretentious relatives and two cousins – Maria and Julia. And while her cousins are boy-obsessed and eager to fall in love, Edie is trying to protect her heart from the boy-next-door she has a long ago crush on and the new playboy in town that seems to be interested in collecting and breaking hearts…
WHAT I LOVED:
- Modern Day Mansfield Park: A book about Mansfield Park is a rare specimen to find in the jungle of Austenesque literature. I’m always so thrilled to find books written about Jane Austen’s other novels – and I’ve been craving more moderns lately. I really appreciated a lot of the updates in this one. Here are some of my favorites:
- Edie used to have a close relationship and affection for her mother
- Edie’s cousins, while still a bit shallow and unkind towards each other, genuinely seem to like Edie and want to help her
- Sebastian (Edmund) is not related to Edie at all – just neighbors with her cousins
- Sebastian is already in a relationship with Claire (Mary) when Edie arrives
- Edie is quirky and cool, very indie with her songwriting, ironic humor, and thrift shop tees
- Everyone seems to be aware that Edie is in love with Sebastian (except Sebastian)
- Mansfield Music Club: Edie, her mom, Henry, and Sebastian – everybody plays guitar and writes their own songs! I love that these characters have such a creative outlet (Sebastian is also into creative writing) and that Edie is interested in pursuing music like her mom did. It was lovely to see these characters connect with each other through music and words.
- Faking a Relationship: A fun twist in this story is with Edie’s relationship with Henry. Yes, he is a flirtatious playboy and yes, after stringing along Maria and Julia, sets out to “make a small hole in Edie’s heart…” But in this story Henry suggests that he and Edie fake being in a relationship together for various reasons. But it begins to be a little difficult to decipher what is playacting and what is real…I loved seeing this new layer and angle in their relationship. And as someone who has always had a soft spot for Henry Crawford, I loved seeing Edie feel attraction for Henry and for Henry to find some success in touching Edie’s heart.
- Edie is Fallible: Kudos to the author for starting this story by revealing that Edie was a bad friend and made a mistake. I think a lot of people dislike Fanny Price because she can be viewed as having such strong moral rigidity and is always doing the right thing, even when everyone around her is getting into mischief. I liked this more real version of Fanny. She has principles and she still isn’t easy to give out her trust, but she is a typical teen and is gets into very typical teen situations.
WHAT COULD’VE BEEN BETTER:
- Not Edmund, Please: SPOILER ALERT!! While this reiteration of Edmund is more likable and deserving than his Regency counterpart, I still didn’t want Edie to end up with him! I may be a biased Henry Crawford fan, but I don’t think the author did enough to convince readers that he is a better match for Edie. Henry’s understanding, consideration, and empathy for Edie made me see him as a much more worthy choice than Sebastian’s childhood memories and similar personalities. It felt like a dissatisfying conclusion all around.
- Small Quibbles: Other than the disappointment of Edie’s inevitable choice, my other quibbles were that some pacing could have used a little bit of tightening and high school students planning weddings and summer homes felt a little bit out of touch.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
💔 When you decide to give your heart but he ends up killing you softly with his song…
⚔️ It is a battle between the boy you have nursed a longtime infatuation for and the one who unexpectedly came into your world and turned it upside down…
❤️🩹 No matter how broken and how bleak, you can always mend, make amends, and find try again.
