BOOK REVIEW: The Boyfriend By Freida McFadden

 I am a HUGE Freida fan.. I think I've read almost all of her books so far. I might be missing one or two, but I am on my way to finishing her entire collection. My last read by her was Dead Med, and ended up not doing a review on it. I didn't expect to fully read this book in less than 3 days, but here we are. 

 

Let's get into it:

You have two POVs.. Tom (from the past) and present day Sydney. I love this prospective because it really gives you a "what if" situation and helps you build the story overall. Sydney is looking for love and at the start she is on a date which sadly goes wrong. Right at the start "Real Kevin" gives me the ick and it always made me wonder why his character was kept around. You have to wait until the VERY end with him.. and it's actually perfect. 

You meet two women (Syd's friends) Bonnie and Gretchen.. and Gretchen's weird boyfriend Randy. Randy automatically gives me the ick. 

**In Tom's POV: this is set when he is about 16/17 and you also meet his friend Slug (apparently he got the name because he liked to eat bugs). And he is in love with Daisy.. What I gathered from this quickly..he isn't very popular, he is labeled as nice but weird and he is also very smart. We also see that his father is a drunk and abusive.

We meet Mystery Man after Real Kevin almost attacks Syd on their first date. Then you don't hear much from there. Which.. I thought was kind of weird to be honest. 

We find out throughout the start of the book that Bonnie is the "looking for a soul mate" or "forever" by going on dates like everyday. But there is something that is off about her "recent man". He is apparently a doctor, he's good looking.. and they have been talking on and off. 

What REALLY threw me for a MASSIVE shock was Bonnie's murder. I 110% didn't see that coming, and in such a manner! I couldn't imagine the feeling of that, and finding the body.. woah.

**In Tom's POV: we know one girl has gone missing,  and apparently this could link to (as she was studying with him. Tom is very odd and it shows. Between his dreams and the way he thinks things over.. it fully makes you think he is guilty of something. We do find out that the girl is dead and was brutally murdered. Daisy and Tom end up dating, and her friend Allison does not like Tom at all. This goes on to think about what he did to make her feel that way. 

We find that the cop over Bonnie's murder case is actually Syd's ex boyfriend (Jake). And it's about a month later.. Sydney is on what she describes as the perfect date.. and is very much happy. Sadly this ends in madness as her nose bleeds and the dude like flips and faints. But who is there? Mystery man.. who introduces himself as Tom. This wasn't very shocking to me, but did surprise me a little. 

The two end up going on dates and then of course making it official by becoming boyfriend/girlfriend. 

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This is where things start to get a little intense. There are some things that don't add up for Syd when it comes to Tom. He lied about his last name and then of course the burner phone situation. This for sure threw me off a little bit. 

Back to Tom's POV: Daisy's dad is actually chief of police.. which is good and bad for Tom. It seems at first he is happy for Tom and Daisy.. but as things get more wild, the less he believes in him. We also see the build up between Tom and his dad. While his mother is away, Tom murders his dad. I won't say he didn't deserve it.. but boy this part was INTENSE for me to read. Of course Tom has help from Slug.. but another problems comes when Allison actually witnesses the toy boys dis guarding the body. 

It wasn't long after this that Allison went missing as well. It does make you think that Slug did it, but you honestly can't pin point it. 

Everything seems to be okay with Sydney and Tom now.. but one point (at Tom's apartment) Syd finds the burner phone and one of Bonnie's scrunchies. This throws Syd for a loop, and is able to take his water bottle to give to Jake for testing. 

It comes back that it was a match. Which means that the DNA from Bonnie's apartment was a match! WHAT... but... we all know Freida,.. it would be too obvious. 

Back at Tom's POV we find that Daisy's father does not like Tom anymore and could be in danger with a potential arrest warrant. This doesn't help anything when Tom's mother comes back looking for her husband.. and Daisy's father spots blood in the living room. I fully believe that the mother knew right when she saw it and never said anything. 

Daisy wasn't able to talk to Tom anymore.. and from there it's very sneaky meet ups. Daisy was able to tell Tom that her father believes it is all Tom and Slug basically. And they would meet up later on...

Syd is still very much worried about everything with Tom and decides to keep her distant. We find out Randy plans to propose to Gretchen as well. At some point, Gretchen and Randy meet up with Syd.. who is talking to Tom outside. And things don't' seem right.. by reading it, it seems that Randy and Tom are pissed at each other and there is massive tension. I FULLY believed that Randy was actually Slug. My thoughts before moving forward were that Slug killed those girls and Daisy.. and Tom helped cover it up. BOY WAS I WRONG!

Tom POV: Things hit a massive turn and we find out that Daisy killed Slug and tried to lie about it. Daisy is one crazy bitch.. killing not only Slug but her best friend Allison and the other missing girl. She killed the first missing girl due to her connection with Tom and them kissing. She killed Allison because apparently she knew to damn much. 

Syd ends up leaving Tom and going to Gretchen and Randy back to their apartment. Randy proposes and the party begins. Wine is poured and there is happiness all around. Until it wasn't...

Things really threw me for a loop here. 

Syd finds the hair that was taken from other victims and Bonnie in the head of the toilet. And thinks that Randy is the killer. I thought that too as well!

Tom turns up at the door, knocking and trying to get in. He tells Gretchen to not hurt Syd.. and then... he calls her Daisy. At first glance, I thought he was having PTSD and called Syd Daisy by accident. Nope.. Gretchen IS Daisy. WHATTTTTTTTTTT

Daisy was only a nickname. That bitch was Daisy all along. 

Ole girl kills Randy is cold blood. Tom was able to get in and the fight began.. going back and forth between Tom and Daisy. I fully thought as well that Syd was dying...

But in the end, Daisy and Tom came to an agreement. They would run away together. Leaving Syd there for the police to take care of and get help.

WHAT THE WHAT.

I didn't see that happening. At all... After 20 years of being apart like that, just.. run away together. 
I loved the book overall.. It was just a very lack luster type ending to me. 

**At the very end we find Syd going home and Jake coming over for dinner. I can fully expect them getting back together. And at her door is a little note saying Real Kevin wouldn't be a problem anymore. 

**You'll also note that Tom said no more killing, only if it was needed. Also.. I didn't mention that Kevin was a massive problem for Syd and made her feel very unsafe. He basically was a stalker. 

I thought I had it this time. I really did. But.. besides the lack luster ending, I liked the book very well. Freida has never really failed me throughout this journey. 

**You'll also have to forgive me for the wildness of this book review. I don't really do this much, and if you want all the goodies from this book and not just the highlight.. please go read the book. I think you'll like it! There's much more that happens and other things I might have forgotten. 

Don't forget to join in on all the fun, give me your thoughts on this book and your favorite part. 

xoxo,

Chels

 Overall rating: 4.1/5