The Boy Recession by Flynn Meaney

Title: The Boy Recession

Author: Flynn Meaney

Publisher: Poppy

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Where have all the boys gone?

Down-to-earth Kelly is always the friend and never the girlfriend. But as her junior year of high school starts, Kelly is determined to finally reveal her true feelings for her long-time crush and good friend Hunter--that is, until the Boy Recession hits.

Over the past summer, and overwhelming number of male students have left Kelly and Hunter's small high school class. Some were sent to private school and others moved away. Whatever the cad,e the sudden population shift has left the already small Julius P. Heil High in desperate shape. The football coach is recruiting chess champs for his team, the principal's importing male exchange students to balance out school dances, and Hunter is about to become an unexpected heartthrob.

Content with his role as the guitar-strumming, class-skipping slacker, Hunter is unprepared to be the center of attention. Desperate coaches are recruiting him for sports teams, and the drama teacher casts him in the lead role of the school musical. Even the Spandexers, powerful popular girlsin tight pants, are noticing Hunter in a new light--with a little work, he could have potential. He might even be boyfriend material…

In order to stand out from the crowd and win Hunter's heart, Kelly needs a "stimulus package" in the form of cougar lessons from a senior girl who dates hot freshman boys and advice on the male mind from her Cosmo-addicted best friend, Aviva. As if dating wasn't hard enough without a four-to-one ratio!

When I first heard about Flynn Meaney's The Boy Recession I thought it sounded like a really interesting concept. It was something that hadn't been done before and once I started reading I found that it made for a really fun and amusing story. And once the story began, it became increasingly difficult for me to put the book down. 

Hunter has never exactly gotten that much attention from girls. For the most part, he was known as the slacker who plays guitar and the drums. But at the start of his junior year of high school, there is a massive outpour of boys, and Hunter finds himself one of the few boys left. And all of a sudden he finds himself getting a whole lot more female attention. But that doesn't mean everyone is happy. The Boy Recession isn't helping Kelly's lack of a love life. She's always had feelings for her friend Hunter. But now she has to compete with all the popular girls for his attention, and that might not work out in her favor. 

The Boy Recession was an incredibly fun story to read. I sort of knew going in to the story that it would probably lead to much smiling, if not actual laughter. And that definitely happened. Once I started reading, it didn't take very long for me to have a smile plastered on my face. The whole concept of a boy recession led to some pretty interesting situations. It's not ever day you see girls running around getting guys to sign prom contracts long before prom. So yeah, it was a fun read all around. And what was great was that the story alternated points of view so I got to see the whole thing from the perspective of both a girl and a boy. And that's why, beyond the fun concept of the story, the characters are what really made the book so fun and interesting.

While reading I got to experience the Boy Recession from both Kelly and Hunter's perspective, allowing me to see who the boys and girls each experiences the whole thing. With Hunter, I liked how it allowed him to see that he was really selling himself short. It was great to see him come out of his shell throughout the course of the story. And by the end of it, I really liked the person Hunter had become. And I'm pretty sure Kelly liked that person too. Kelly definitely also grew when it comes to self-confidence. Like with Hunter, I loved seeing the change happen in Kelly. Though the best thing about Kelly and Hunter was that they weren't the popular kids. It was a nice change of pace to have a story that focused on people who aren't part of the popular crowd.

Flynn Meaney's The Boy Recession was definitely a fun read. If you are looking for an afternoon of fun and laughter, then I strongly recommend you pick up The Boy Recession. You won't regret it.