TBH initially (3/4th of the book), I felt the writing to be amateur. I couldn't connect with the protagonist (Mallory) at all. The ending was good. The 3 stars solely goes for the ending.
I would have liked it (maybe) before 2 or 3 years. But now...... nope.
The fact that the two main characters made love during the time when she was emotionally exhausted. I mean what? It was her first time too. And they did it on the sofa...... *sighs*
The ending was unexpected. I mean you would know something is going to happen. But not exactly what. The whole twist was interesting. It was shocking too. And I loved how Mallory and her guy Troy supported each other through the whole incident.
Would I recommend this? I don't think so. But its short, kind of sweet and has a unique ending. So maybe I would suggest to give it a try.

I think I've just outgrown this type of young adult fiction. I Spy The Boy Next Door is filled with examples of things teenage KIDS should not be doing. These are children! I wanted to like it, but I was, unfortunately, disturbed. I'm also tired of reading cliches. The writing is okay. The plot is not to my taste. I'm the wrong audience for this one. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Five to eight years ago, I would have probably enjoyed I Spy the Boy Next Door. Now it comes across pretty disturbing. But hey, if you enjoyed this book (or not) I recommend the Shia LaBeouf movie, Disturbia.

Thank you, Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review I Spy the Boy Next Door.

I Spy the Boy Next Door by Samantha Armstrong

Read: 04/27-04/29

Publication Date: May 25, 2019

Four p.m. spy sessions are the highlight of Mallory Taylor’s day. Observing the boy next door—one with a body and an attitude to match—has her perched beside her window so often it can't be healthy.

When she finally convinces her mom to let her go to public school, Mallory comes face to face with her neighbor, Troy Parker. And he makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. His rejection awakens a newfound tenacity and maybe even a touch of recklessness. But when Troy starts to show up when she needs him the most, Mallory can’t help but wonder if there’s more to him than he’s let on.

Taking chances, breaking rules, and following her heart is all new to Mallory. And no one warned her just how fickle hearts can be. When she discovers that Troy isn’t at all the guy she imagined him to be, secrets rise to the surface that will change her life forever.

First off: Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an e-book in exchange for my honest review!

What I Liked:

Mallory's character was fairly likable throughout most of the books. A few times I would find her annoying or naive but I reminded myself she was a young girl who had been very sheltered. Her progression throughout the book was realistic. I enjoyed her relationship with her parents as well.

What I Didn't Like:

For the most part unfortunately this book fell a little flat for me. There were a lot of components that could have worked out well but they weren't done quite right. The ending of the book was a great plot twist to include but it was done so rushed and quickly that it didn't get as fleshed out as I would have liked. If the author had spent more time building up to this part of the storyline it would have worked better. Instead it literally came out of nowhere, which was a shame because it truly was a good idea.

Overall, this book had a lot of potential to be a unique twist on a mature YA romance book but it just didn't quite reach it.

Rating: 5/10
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I absolutely loved this book!! What a refreshing, different style of writing, which made it very easy to read and get sucked into the story right away.
I adored the characters, and thought they blended well together. The story was cute, and I wasn't left feeling like there could have been more. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved for an even longer story, but I wasn't left feeling like this one was incomplete.

I started this weeks ago and just can not get into it! I don’t know if it’s because I hate the heroine in this story or that I’ve out grown YA books. So I’m marking this one in the DNF pile.

So here’s the part that I don’t like about reviewing..... Bad review! This story wasn’t doing anything for me. It fell flat and I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the story. So this is my honest review. I didn’t like it!

This was a NETGALLEY gift and all opinions are my own.

The synopsis of this book sounded pretty good, as I got into the book it fell flat for me. I just couldn’t get into it enough to enjoy it. I think it was the fact that the story is about Mallory spying on her neighbor. I found this book to be a tad creepy.
This book follows Mallory who has had a crush on her next door neighbor for quite a while. When she finally enrolls in school for her senior year because she was homeschooled till then. She notices that there is more to Troy then she thought.
I was disappointed with this book because I thought that it was going to be a great read, I was just annoyed with it most of the time.

Strong language and spoilers ahead.


I'm not quite sure where to start for this one, as we can see I'm giving it one star, which doesn't happen extremely often for me. Spoilers will probably be ahead, fair warning.


I guess to start with, I feel that this book was dragged out far too long. Twenty-something chapters for a story that perhaps needed 10. The beginning half of the book dragged out, painfully so, and Mallory and Troy's characters were infuriating. There wasn't much character development until the latter half of the book, and by that point, the changes that were happening just seemed unbelievable.

Spoilers will start here.

You can't have me read about Mallory being shy, and awkwardly staring at people and then change into a bad girl. If I had to read one more time about how Troy flashing a bit of body made the "apex between her thighs" get hot, quivery, wet whatever I was going to lose it. I don't know if I'm getting too old for this, but reading about a 17-year-old girl getting hot and bothered just from a guy going on a jog just doesn't do it for me anymore.

You can't have Troy do nothing but have "narrowed eyes" and "growling" (what? how is that realistic at all) and then switch over to soft, caring boyfriend who has loved her all along. Gag.

Not to mention there should be content warnings for domestic violence and murder. Where the hell did all that come from?

We're reading a story with 10 chapters of mindless, pointless scenes that do nothing to move the story along, and then poor Deb is murdered out of nowhere. I really don't think that Mallory sneaking out of the house to see a fist fight, and then to go to a party is necessary, and you mean to tell me her parents just... don't notice? As paranoid as they're made to seem, as anal, and they just don't hear their daughter climbing up and down the trellis? They're not watching their house at all?

It seems to me that the author was trying to set all this up, and in the last half of the book just flew through everything in a mad attempt to make things as complicated and confusing and "edgy" as possible.

Besides for Mallory being painfully awkward and creepy while watching Troy, to Troy being unrealistically hot and cold...this whole story was just hard to read. From the blurb, you think you're getting into a fluffy YA/NA romance, and instead, you're 180-ed into a crime scene.

Final note: PLEASE STOP NORMALISING BOYS BREAKING INTO GIRL'S BEDROOMS AS ROMANTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It WAS NOT cute when Edward did it with Bella, it is NOT romantic, it's fucking CREEPY. STOP IT. A boy climbing through your window in the middle of the night to "check on you" because he's "so worried" is not romantic. It is toxic. It is invasive. It is a sign of weird fucking possession and to have any teen girl swoon over is just fucking toxic and wrong.







I received a copy of this for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Witty, romantic and funny, everything you need in a book, the main character is very relatable in many different ways, I love her!

This book was not my favourite. I feel like the kiss/heavy petting/sex scenes were forced. Like the two characters don't know anything about each other except the fact that they both like to stare at each other from afar. I don't think there was enough character or relationship development. It's like she started off boy crazy and then became even more boy crazy.

I love a tale of the boy next door! The bad boy and sheltered girl. Sexy without being over the top with quite a few unexpected twists! Definitely a fun read!

This book is a quick read, with some mystery and romance. I feel like it’s more suited for the New Adult genre, as the contents are pretty relative to that demographic. It follows Mallory Taylor, an eighteen year old girl who’s been home-schooled all her life and after a desperate plea, is finally going to high school for her senior year. What follows are her attempts to talk to her next door neighbor, Troy Parker, after starting a new period in her life and a new mindset to achieve a social life. The mystery took me by surprise as I thought it was just going to be about the romance. I honestly didn’t think much about it, but it was still a good touch as to some of the reasons why Troy was ignoring Mallory. There were some comedic moments as Mallory innocence is shown, but she's a very likable protagonist and practical in her way of thinking, although she did have some childish thoughts as well. Troy is alright, he does give in to his feelings eventually, but he does have a pass that coincides with Mal that causes some turmoil. But in the end it does get resolved and is finally out it in the open. Solid conclusion and enjoyed it overall.

OH MY GOSH!
This book had me on the edge of my seat.
I had no idea what was going to happen next.
From spying on her hot next-door neighbor to being spied on.
This book has you turning pages and waiting to see what happens next.
Can't wait to read more by this author.

Mallory is almost 18 and has been homeschooled for many years. One of the few highlights of her day is 4 pm when she can spy on her hot next-door neighbor Troy returning from his run. When she’s finally allowed to go to school, Mallory has to deal with Troy’s silent hostility and try to figure out why he hates her so much.

Overall I enjoyed the book. In certain ways it reminded me of other books in this genre which still in no way diminished my reading experience. The romance was nice and sweet and the relationships between characters believable.

As for the dark twist closer to the end I appreciate the spice it adds to the story but it felt like it came out of the blue. I would have liked it better had the seeds for that revelation been more obvious from the beginning. Or it may be that I just missed them completely. In which case just disregard this whole parapraph.

If you enjoy mature YA romance and are looking for a quick read with an unexpected twist, give I Spy the Boy Next Door by Samantha Armstrong a try.

I received a free eARC of the novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Thank you so much to netgalley for providing me with an arc of this book. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. I think my old 15 years old would have love this. This book follows the story of Mallory, a teenage girl who is homeschooled and has very strict parents. Her only distraction during the day is spying her really hot tattooed neighbor, Harley Davidson. The year before graduating from HS, Mallory finally gets to attend a public high school and trouble starts. To be honest this book is full of cliches, the bad guy with the good girl, the very strict parents, the guy with tattoos and Harley and a really bad attitude.. as I said before I think maybe a younger audience would be interested because it has all of those typical YA tropes. Which is totally fine. I enjoyed the pace of the book , it was very light and the writing is really easy to follow. Overall I enjoy Mallory as a character. She was determined to live her life and experience things and she fought for it. I think she is a great character and the dynamics between her and her family are interesting to read.

I read this book and was frustrated through 99% of it. (I will give 1% since i did finish it)
I was irritated by the lack of memorable characters, original story, and predictable nature of the story. I was frustrated as the "romance" was blah and not realistic to me and truthfully the whole concept of the story was blah and non-realistic. I wanted to root for someone but could not. Very disappointing to me,

I'll be honest and let you know what made me request this arc for review from Netgalley.. The pretty book cover art and the title of course!!

This book is about Mallory Taylor, who has been home-schooled and lives a sheltered life all her life and while it seems all pretty dab and boring, the 4pm spy sessions from her window makes life interesting for her. Her object of spying - the bad boy next door - who she has spoken with once so far and all he gave her in return was a scowl and hate since then. For the last five years, her routine has been the same. But she wants more and begs her parents to continue her senior year in the public school - same as boy next door Troy Parker! Even when she meets him outside of her window, he returns the same glare and she is determined to get to know him.

"If only he knew just how much I think about him, spy on him, I would be up for some sort of invasion of privacy crime."
This sounds like a cliched girl-meets-bad-boy-and-falls-for-him story but its got more than that. There are twists and turns you wouldn't normally find in a YA/NA contemporary and they make the story worth its while.

I enjoyed reading the book in one sitting, something that I've never been able to do these days. I liked the pace in which the story was set, it never got boring in between, although I should say the too-many encounters with Troy  - like "holds my gaze" "his gaze burns a hole in my head" were kinda turning out to be little downer for me. But the story got better and intense and phew!!

This is YA so obviously you cannot expect Mallory to not fall for the guy based on his looks and bad boy vibe, so I tolerated her. But guess what - Troy blew me over. As much as it was constantly ridiculed, I loved Edward from Twilight book series, and Troy reminded me a lot of him. You'll know why when you read it.

Some part of the story felt over the top and unbelievable but i ignored them because rest of the book was good.

I rated the book a 3.75 stars.

So the premise of this book sounded like it would be a fun quick read, a home-schooled girl who has a crush on her neighbour and spies on him through her bedroom window finally gets her chance to go to public school and come face to face with her crush. Fun right! Well it was that and so much more!

The first three quarters of the book was Mallory navigating through high school for the first time, making new friends, and finding out that Troy, her neighbour and crush is not what he appears.

I loved the scenes between Mallory and Troy, the back and forth, the hate he appears to have for her but then all the times when she ever needs him there he is. They made my heart swoon!

The last quarter of the book was a wild slightly dark ride indeed! It had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next and I definitely couldn't put the book down and it was not what I was expecting but I loved it!

The best part of this story is how throughout the book Mallory grows as a person and comes into herself more. She learns that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover and that everyone should be given a chance. She definitely came a long way from the naive goody two shoes to become a mature young women by the end.

Will definitely be picking up more books from this author in the future!

First of all, this is Young Adult. Personally, I don't know why it's marketed as New Adult because I've read YA that's way steamier and fitting to the genre than this book was. The only reason that I bring that up is because it may affect readers' opinions- if they go into the book with certain expectations and conventions in mind, they may end up being disappointed because the genre was labelled wrong.
Rant out of the way...
I generally enjoyed this book. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting going into it (for reasons above mentioned) but it was still enjoyable in an easy and mediocre way. I didn't mind the characters but they were, again, pretty average and I didn't overly feel for them. The protagonist, Mallory, was extremely naive and ignorant and it got a little irritating after a while. She was so blindly obsessed and in love with Troy and... I couldn't quite understand why? Sure, he's fit, you've told us a million times but what kind of personality are you falling for? I also couldn't quite feel comfortable with how she was constantly oggling him because it felt a bit stalker-ish and intrusive. Just think, if that was a guy perving on a girl's body constantly, he'd be shamed.... double standards work both ways, people.
And then there was the love interest, Troy, who got better as the book went along, I think. At first, I didn't really like him because he had major mood swings and couldn't seem to make up his mind and, while we got some explanation as to why that was, I don't think his reasons really justified his actions. Nevertheless, once he was past this little bipolar phase, he was okay.
I also wish we'd seen more of the 'friends' that Mallory made at school because we didn't find too much about them and they seemed to be there for the sake of it.
I liked the little twist towards the end of the book- it was unpredictable and a nice surprise. The corporation of witness protection was nicely sprung on the reader and definitely improved my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, this book was quick and enjoyable but I can't see myself ever re-reading it.

Yeah wasn't crazy about it, she was a stalker crushing on her next door neighbor that she was spying on, yeah weird and he was a jerk, so what if he was hot and he was worse than her sneaking into her room at night while she was sleeping, yeah restraining order needed.