Boy Proof
by Cecil Castellucci

Meet Victoria Jugar, a teenage girl in high school who is so obsessed with Terminal Earth, her favorite movie, that she dresses and acts like the heroine and even goes by the same name as the heroine – Egg.

Initially I couldn’t really stand the character in the least. She comes off as a snotty, holier-than-thou Hollywood brat with a chip on her shoulder. Add to that the typical teen angst and the semi-goth traits and you have a character you really hope the parents will turn over their knee and spank. Still though there was something in the character that kept me reading. Was it the desire to see her get her comeuppance or did I admire the strength of the character I could see shinning through? To be honest it was probably a bit of both really.

As the book progresses Castellucci does an excellent job of developing Egg. Initially she is your typical angsty teen who, despite her claim of identity, really doesn’t have one of her own. As the story progresses though Egg begins to find herself and becomes Victoria, the girl we glimpsed behind the facade.

While the character development of Egg was superb the supporting characters left a lot to be desired. I couldn’t really see the parents and her so-called friends as anything more than names of the dolls she has to interact with in order to move the story along. Then add to that the fact Boy Proof takes the terribly cliched path of “loner girl has her world rocked by handsome and perfect new guy” and what has the potential to become a riveting piece suddenly nose dives. What happened here?

Max Carter, the perfect guy who clues Victoria in to the fact that the sad and miserable life that she is leading is entirely her doing and that she can change it, undergoes no growth as a character. He’s very static and despite the faults that the reader can see in him no one else, not even Victoria, takes note of them, and of course they’re never worked upon or developed. Much potential and opportunity there was wasted.

Catellucci’s writing itself never faltered and the story kept an even and page turning pace that had me at the end of the book before I even realized it. Despite its glaring faults I still found myself enjoying it. In short, reading Boy Proof is akin to walking through a haunted house after you’ve been told how it works and where all the monsters and gags are hidden. It’s fun on its own, but lacking in suspense and flavor.

Joana’s rating:

Reviews for this book by other Book Reviewers:
Anna of Verity Books