Review: The Boy is Back (Boy #4) by Meg Cabot

The Boy is Back (Boy #4) by Meg Cabot
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks 
Publication Date: October 18th 2016
My rating: 5 stars 

Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back… One post. That’s all it took to destroy the care free, glamorous life of pro golfer Reed Stewart. One tiny post on the Internet. Then again, it’s not like Reed’s been winning many tournaments lately, and his uncle isn’t the only one who says it’s because of the unfinished business he left behind back home in Bloomville, Indiana—namely Reed’s father, the Honorable Judge Richard P. Stewart, and the only girl Reed ever loved, Becky Flowers. But Reed hasn’t spoken to either his father or Becky in over a decade. Until that post on the Internet. Suddenly, Reed’s family has become a national laughingstock, his publicist won’t stop calling, his siblings are begging for help, and Reed realizes he has no other choice: He’s got to go home to face his past . . . the Judge and the girl he left behind. Becky’s worked hard to build her successful senior relocation business, but she’s worked even harder to forget Reed Stewart ever existed—which hasn’t been easy, considering he’s their hometown’s golden boy, and all anyone ever talks about. It was fine while they were thousands of miles apart, but now he’s back in Bloomville. She has absolutely no intention of seeing him—until his family hires her to help save his parents. Now Reed and Becky can’t avoid one another…or the memories of that one fateful night. Can the quirky residents of Bloomville bring these two young people back together, or will Reed and Becky continue to allow their pasts to deny them the future they deserve? This warm, thought-provoking book, told entirely in texts, emails, and journal entries, is as much about the enduring bond of families as it is about second chances at love, and will delight as much as it entertains.

Time and time again I have to pick up a book by Meg Cabot, she’s my go to author when I’m feeling down and had a crappy day, when I need to lose myself in her crazy funny worlds with her bubbly characters. She always guarantees a laugh out loud read that you find yourself up until the early hours finishing off even though you have to get up early the next day. I’ve lost count from the times that one of her books has become my new favourite, it was originally the Princess Diaries series, then Queen of Babble, then the Heather Wells series, but now Meg’s Boy series has become my favourite once more. I adored these books when they first came out, and so when Meg announced that there would be a new addition to this series, I was over the moon and once again Meg didn’t let me down with The Boy is Back. I love the format Cabot gives us with the emails, text messages and group chats, you would think this sort of format would be difficult to get into, but once you get stuck into the story it seems to flow so well. Of course Cabot creates characters that you’re rooting for from the very beginning.  I love it when characters are reunited under awkward circumstances and try to hide their feeling away from 10 years ago. We’re never given the full story of what happened between Reed and Becky 10 years ago, but just given snippets over the course of the story and I really liked this. I’d made my guesses of what really went down, but was glad to be surprised that I was wrong. It was obvious from the beginning that there was still something between Reed and Becky and I adored the build up to their relationship, the misunderstandings and mistakes that they had to endure along the way. Reed was such an adorable character, watching him try and make sense of how to make things right was so cute. It was clear that even though Reed had messed up in the past, he was trying his best to make things right now.

Once again Cabot gives us a great set of quirky characters which bring so much entertainment to the story with their colourful personalities. I loved the interactions between them, how they were there for each other to offer extra encouragement and support when needed. But they were also those characters who you loved to hate, that were so infuriating, but also so entertaining at the same time. Even though I had inkling about how things would end I absolutely loved this book. The Boy is Back couldn’t have come at a better time for me; I was in the biggest reading funk ever, and feeling quite down to coming back home from holiday. So I welcomed these vibrant characters into my life with open arms. I also liked the small cross references that Cabot included to other characters in the rest of the Boy series, just this small amount of it made me want to re-read the entire series once more. I’m not normally a big book pusher, but if I can recommend one book that everyone should pre-order this year it is The Boy is Back. Cabot weaves a wonderful story of missed chances, family, friendships and love. It’s full with many scenes which will have you laughing out loud and swooning throughout!