Book Review : The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kasie West

I don't know how it feels when you're going to Porm Night with your boyfriend but before both of you enter the building where the event is held, he ended your relatiohsip. Meanwhile, in that day you already promise to your best friends to introduce him in order to let them know that he is not a fictitious boyfriend like their thought before. Especially for Jules, one of her best friend who always think that her boyfriend are not real and she's created some bullshit story. When you were in that situation, you must have thinking harder than usually to find out the way out.

Book Identity

Title : The Fill-in Boyfriend || Author : Kasie West || Length : 352 pages || Format : Ebook Scribd || Language : English || Released : 5 May 2015 || Published by HarperTeen || ISBN : 9780062336385

A Popular Girl

Her name is Gia, I mean the lead character here, she is the President Council at her High School. She is very popular amongst other students, might be because she is so pretty, clever and absolutely she is the President! Who else don't know how popular you would be when you are become a President. Gia has a perfect life. She always gets what she wants. And this is what makes her could not appreciate what already she has.

For example, Gia is not feels so happy nor lucky when she is having realtionship with Bradley. But, when Bradley ended their relationship, Gia feels so angry and disappointed. It is not because she's really into Bradley, but Gia is never ever ever in her life have the situation where her boyfriend broke her up because she always broke her boyfriend up. She always being a leader and doesn't want to be a follower.

The perfect life that she has, it makes her be an ignorrant girl. She doesn't care what happened with people arround her. She looks for more attention and want to be the center of people attention. She even barely remember her other friends except her gank. And the worst situation that she has is she has bad best friends relatioship. Especially Jules, for Gia, Jules trying to be the center of attention and wants to dominate their friendship. That's why both Gia and Jules always fight each other.

Gia doesn't care what other's feeling. She is complaining, judging or criticize her friends without thinking their own feeling, whether she hurts them or not. And her ignorance has been struck her after Bradley ended up their relationship and her life seems miserable.

The Fill-in Boyfriend

Couple years ago, I've watched a show in local network where they were talked about Fake Boy/Girlfriend to accompany them attending family dinner or wedding party. Even though they were just have fake relationship, that situation already help a lot of single boys and girls who need the fake boy/girl friend. It seems funny for me even though not that funny, but I didn't know how it goes after that show. But, what I really now that in this story, Gia is asking a strange boy that is reading in his car that night in front of the building where the Prom Night is held.

Even though that boy is not fit with Gia's ideal criteria for boyfriend. Yet she must asking for help to prove that she has real relationship with Bradley. And Bradley is not fictitious boyfriend. So, she is asking him to be her Fill in Boyfriend just for one night. After that, they could broke up and ended their fake relationship. What Gia really wants is to shut Jules mouth up.

That Fill in boyfriend helps her and make Gia proving what their best friends have suspicious about. However, it may not ended smoothly. One day, Gia has to be The Fill in Girlfriend for that boy in order to pay it. And after that, something has been change for Gia. She encounters something that change her a lot.

***

This is the second book by Kasie West I have read. The Fill in Boyfriend is available in Indonesian and published by Penerbit Spring. So, these are few things that came across my mind after reading this story.

• It tells a story about the addiction of Social Media and how Gia is always depends on how social media attracts her post. 
• The fear of Gia's mother is become an axiety that influence her and her brother a lot. It makes their life seems miserable and their mom pushed them to be perfect all the time.
• Sometimes there are a condition that make us need to leave our previous relationship soon when it becomes bad relationship. 
• Lies always ended in another lies and it is hard to escape from that circle of lies.
• Human always learn from their past, but they also could learn from the other.

The first book by Kasie west that I've read is P.S I Like You. From that book I met a strong character, which is a girl, that already has an ambition for their own lives. Like Gia, she's trying so hard to be a good girl and Kasie shows the process and the progress of Gia's transformation. Life is not always to be perfect because it already is. [Ipeh Alena]