Review: Anatomy of a Boyfriend

Author: Daria Snadowsky 
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers 
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary  
Summary: Before this all happened, the closest I'd ever come to getting physical with a guy was playing the board game Operation. Okay, so maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's not like there were any guys at my high school who I cared to share more than three words with, let alone my body. Then I met Wes, a track star senior from across town. Maybe it was his soulful blue eyes, or maybe my hormones just started raging. Either way, I was hooked. And after a while, he was too. I couldn't believe how intense my feelings became, or the fact that I was seeing—and touching—parts of the body I'd only read about in my Gray's Anatomy textbook. You could say Wes and I experienced a lot of firsts together that spring. It was scary. It was fun. It was love. And then came the fall
I think what sets this book apart from others is how brutally honest and real the portrayal of first love actually is. First kisses and first touches are awkward. Anatomy of a boyfriend was able to show the innocence of both character's brilliantly. It felt raw. Unlike so many romance books which seem to gloss over love and sex, Snadowsky showed that exactly what it is for a teenager to fall in love for the first time.

At times I found the narrator irritating, but the voice was believable. The main character was inconsistent at times, her actions didn't match the given descriptions. Dom somehow goes from being a bookish, reserved girl to being a sex-crazed, clingy girlfriend in a matter of weeks. For me, this just was not a believable transformation. On the other hand, her supposedly boy-crazy best friend, Amy, displays much less of this behavior and is much more tolerable than Dom, in my opinion. There were some funny moments, but the heartbreak scenes weren't expanded as much and seemed a bit rushed.

The sex scenes seem to have caused some controversy. I personal felt that those scenes were very clinical and seemed to lack a lot of emotions. I was somewhat disappointed at the way it was approached as it ended up reading most of all like a book version of American Pie, as seen from a girl's point of view. Snadowsky doesn't waste any time with euphemisms or by dodging the issue, and instead boldly sweeps readers off their feet as she captures the awkwardness and confusion. There's two different sides of me that were conflicted while reading this book. The curious side, and the cringing side

The ending wasn't as satisying as I would have wanted it to be. I wished that the book would have offered a little more conclusion in this department: was it really love? Should she have waited? Is there a point at which you can tell the difference? This novel is quick, interesting, and at times, laugh out loud funny. This was a good book to pass time, but it has some serious flaws. The astute reader will pick up on the many parallels between Snadowsky's book and Blume's hit Forever, they serve as a sort of tribute to the groundbreaking author
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