Review: The New Guy (& Other Senior Year Distractions)

22718738About The New Guy (& Other Senior Year Distractions)

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

A ridiculously cute, formerly-famous new guy dropping into your life? It’s practically every girl’s dream.

But not Jules McCallister-Morgan’s.

I realize that on paper I look like your standard type-A, neurotic, overachiever. And maybe I am. But I didn’t get to be the editor of my school’s long-revered newspaper by just showing up*. I have one main goal for my senior year-early acceptance into my first choice Ivy League college-and I will not be deterred by best friends, moms who think I could stand to “live a little,” or boys.

At least, that was the plan before I knew about Alex Powell**.

And before Alex Powell betrayed me***.

I know what you’re thinking: Calm down, Jules. But you don’t understand. This stuff matters. This is my life. And I’m not going down without a fight.

—-

* Okay, I sort of did. But it’s a sore subject.

** I mean, I guess everyone knows about Alex Powell? Two years ago, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing about viral video boy band sensation Chaos 4 All. Two years ago, Alex Powell was famous.

***Some people think I’m overreacting. But this. Means. War.

Filled with romance, rivalry, and passive-aggressive dog walking, Amy Spalding delivers a hilariously relatable high school story that’s sure to have you falling for The New Guy.


Do you ever just get in those moods where you just need a cute, silly, and fun story to read? That’s the kind of mood I was in when I read The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions) and it was the perfect answer for me. The New Guy is a light, fun, and charming read, and it fits perfectly into the romcom genre.

Jules is the overachieving high school student. She’s focused on starting her senior year off right by becoming editor of the school’s newspaper and applying to her dream Ivy League school. However, her plan goes off course when she’s just given the editor position since half the newspaper staff quit to work for TALON, the school’s new tv announcement program. To go along with that, the new guy at school is interested in her and she has no idea about what to do with that.

I really enjoyed the rivalry between the newspaper staff and tv crew. I thought it was a fun addition to the story. Even though the rest of the school doesn’t really care, the newspaper is important to Jules and she isn’t going to let go of it without a fight. I loved how determined she was when it came to her passions, something which I can relate to. Did she make some mistakes? Yes. Did she learn from them? Yes, and that’s the great thing. So she made a mistake (okay, multiple mistakes), but everyone makes mistakes. What matters is if she grows from the mistakes and decides to try to do better the next time, which she does.

Even though this story seems focused on romance from the synopsis, it’s not. The New Guy is a coming of age story. While the parts with Alex were cute, they were not the focus. To be honest, I do kind of wish there had been more interaction between Alex and Jules. Their quick relationship was instant-love-y, but it wasn’t unbearable. They definitely had the cute, adorkable romance going on for them.

Overall, I was surprised by how fun The New Guy was and how much I enjoyed the humor and cute silliness. I recommend this to some who loves romcoms, and I look forward to reading Amy Spalding’s other novel, Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys).

My Rating:

4 Hearts

*This ARC was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

Also, how amazing is this graphic that The Novl made of my words!?

new guy review graphic - theheartofabookblogger

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