Additional Boy Toy Reader Responses

I completely agree! I loved Boy Toy! It was a story that all high schoolers can relate to and Barry did a great job about making the book the character. I could not put the book down and was absolutely absorbed and caught up in it and was amazed at how I saw bits of myself, my friends and even stereotypical male and female behavior in the characters! How he captures teenage characters is genius! You must read Boy Toy!

Boy Toy is an amazing book and will definitely will be kept for future re-reading. I can’t wait to read your future books.

hey i just finished boy toy an i love it!!!im going tot share it with all my friends please write more books!!!

As a teen, I found Boy Toy and The Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl to be extremely accurate! Other books show the -Watered down- version of High school, Barry did a GREAT job of TELLING IT LIKE IT IS! No, Everyone DOESN’T get along ALL THE TIME. Different Cliques make lower cliques on the food chains lives Hell! Thank you for finally letting the truth out!P.S. Mister Lyga, I Think you would do an excellent job if you wrote a book about Vampires.Keep up the good work!

KC

as i read boytoy i was so amazed by barry lyga’s honest writing. i couldn’t stop myself ,it was like god i have to finish this book. i felt really bad for josh. all those years when he thought he was in love by eve; it all came crashing down when he faced his paret’s divorce news and the true confession out of eve’s mouth. it felt like i could hear his heartbreaking and his overwhelming realization of his physical abuse. thank you for a wonderful book with honest and raw feelings of a complex teenager

“Boy Toy” moved me. I read a lot of books, and write a lot of reviews, but I haven’t been affected by a book like I was by “Boy Toy” in a really long time. I wrote two reviews: http://cbeblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/getting-under-cut-off.html and http://822writingcompany.blogspot.com/2008/02/im-dirty-and-so-is-boy-t oy.html

Thank you for writing this and letting me experience it.

At first i was a little unsure about if i wanted to read this book because of the title, but I was glad I did. It’s a great story of truth and love, and I enjoyed it immensley. thanks for a great book!

I can’t believe how this book can’t be #1 best-seller. I love the idea of normal life, how kids can refer to it as something they might have gone through. It makes me feel that one kid isn’t the only one, and that any abuse is wrong. Barry Lyga shows how he really feels about it in this book, and I reccomend it to any teenager.

Mr. Lyga has done it again! I picked up his first novel randomly off the shelf, because all the shelves in the Young Adult isles seem to be for girls… but TAoFaGG (long abreviation). I loved it. I found this months later, and saw the author. I picked it up, and I loved it. It’s real stuff. It’s not “Everything’s going to be okay.” lies. It’s life. And Lyga knows what he does. An amazing author, with two, soon three, amazing books.

Boy Toy was a great book to read and it actually is a wonderful book hat can be created into a movie that a lot of kids my age would love to go see and be able to see what they have missed out on. Barry you did a great job with this book! I wish I could have read the one before this one!

I can’t even explain how to describe the book…its just to amazing to describe. I know im young, but books like these that have great suspensions keep drawing me into it. I would recommend this to anyone that loves teen drama. I really hope there is going to be a second novel to go with Boy Toy. Maybe give it a twist and have Josh fall back for Eve? Well, all i can say is this book is undescribable!! And its quick and easy to read you get to drawn into it and cannot stop!!

this has to be hands down my favorite book, i loved everything about it Lyga painted a picture in my mind with his words i could not put the book down i think there should be no age limit for this book it is a great book everybody should read, male or femalethis book i excpected a teenage love story something corney but i was way wrong the book is a re-reading type of book i plan to make it part of my home library. Barry pppppppppppppppllllllllllllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssseeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! write more great books. i can’t wait to read ur other one about Kyra and Fanboy i know its going to be good,

Im gonna be honest..i got half way through the book and refused to read anymore. Just the vision and thought of a boy that young and his teacher was just to far for me. I think it goes too much into detail for me.

You may have read this soo0o0o0o0o0o many times but Boy Toy was amazing!!! Every gripping detail, I loved it!!!!!!! From the begining I was take’n in by the story line.Thank you so much for writing this book.It was truely amazing

There are really no words to express how amazing Barry Lyga’s words are. He blends the normal bits of life that are glossed over in writing with deeper truths that make most people squimish. The flickers give a slow-dawning horror in the first part of the book before the flashbacks shove the truth in your face. By the end of his encounter with Eve, I completely shared Josh’s sentiments: “Oh. My. God.”

This book was freakin awesome….. I will tell people to read this book

OH MY GOD, i loved this book!It is painful yet enlighting.An amazing read!!

OH MY GOD, i loved this book!It is painful yet enlighting.An amazing read!!

Most would greet this novel’s subject matter with discernment or with chagrin, rather than read this book. But before judging it harshly, please be aware Barry Lyga handles the issue of sexual abuse with great care. Before delving into the book, I had my own reasons for not reading the novel. Yet some issues such as the sexual abuse of minors is definitely relevant and crucial for a time where sex offenders are prevalent. And where the psychological damage reaped upon the victim can really effect one’s life.

Towards the beginning of the book we are thrown into the main character Josh’s memory of unintentionally trying to rape his friend, Rachael within a dark closet . From the onset, we become aware of the confusion within Josh’s mind surrounding the fragility of one’s innocence and how a more mature adult’s sexual advances can greatly distort someone’s ability to understand the emotional damages which results from uncontentious sexual activity.

After the intense first chapter, the story advances five years to Josh’s senior year of high school where he’s fighting between trying to get into MIT and accepting the recent release of Eve. The teacher whom had sexually abused him so many years ago. The manner which Barry Lyga progresses the story is definitely a feat to marvel. Instead of introducing memories of Josh’s past abruptly. He smoothly transitions between a confrontation between the Rachel on the ball field into the first time he experiences sexual feelings towards his teachers. Whether unconsciously or awaringly, Lyga reflects that Josh never recieves clarity with his thoughts toward sexual intercourse. Within his past, he was blind to the sanctity of the act and later in life, he becomes apprehensive of the possible repercussions which may occur through uncontentious sex.

Lyga never allows the drama to weigh us down and expertdly lightens the mood when appropriate with Zik’s puns. Just as with Joss Whedon, Lyga’s able to convey the trauma of Josh’s psyche and his struggle towards redeeming his past wrongs and healing his fears of sex. The story’s truly a gem within the Young Adult section and hopefully the book becomes a staple in middle school, since the issue’s as relevant and crucial as it will always be.

I read this book in three days, I actually adored it. It was amazing, I couldnt put it down. I’ve always wanted to write like that, its so impressive. I loved every page. I normally hate sports, and find it incredibly boring to read. however, the baseball in this book, didn’t bore me once. I actually enjoyed it. I honestly think this book should be made into a movie, I know I would see it. So good, one of the best books I’ve read.

I just checked out Boy Toy from my local library and I cannot WAIT to start reading it!!!!

I just finished Boy Toy earlier this morning…and wow. It does takes your and just squeezes…I am soooooooooooo glad i picked it off of the library shelf…it’s a must read and I am really looking forward to future books.

i am a huge fan, ever since my friend told me to read fanboy and goth girl ive been hooked. ive read everyone of your books besides goth girl rising, but im looking forward to it.i loved boy toy it was a hard edge book that people can relate to.

Josh stole my heart within the first few paragraphs… i could feel his pain through the words described… i loved the ending where he figured out rachel was his one and only… i also loved zik’s mom and the whole mike and ike thing…hillarious… i almost died when it ended… i want to know how him and rachel ended up… she was so awesome…because she loved him even after he ignored her… well ta-ta…

I think that Boy TOy is a GREAT book when i picked it up i was just hurrying up and trying to pick a random book. But when i started reading i couldnt put it down! i think that this is the best book i have read.

An amazing book that any teenager would love to read. I recommended this book to all of my friends, and so far, they all loved it (and managed to finish it, which is a major accomplishment for them). This book should be turned into a movie, that’s how good it was!

This was an amazing book! I loved it so much I stayed up all night and finished it in one day. I love how it teaches people that you should listen to both sides of a story before you decide someone’s a bad person.

Hello. Just out of curiosity, if you were to envision this being made into a movie, what actors/actresses would you want in the movie and playing which part? I think it’s safe to say that I’m addicted to this book, you’re a wonderful writer.

@Isa: Good question. I haven’t given it a lot of thought, honestly, although I did tweet the other day that I thought Madeline Zima would make an amazing Eve Sherman.

What does everyone else think about casting a potential Boy Toy movie?

Boy Toy was one of THE best books i have ever read. i read the 409 page book every day after school for a week until it was time to go to bed. i could absolutely NOT put this book down 🙂 i love this book so much and i wish the author would continue Josh’s life in another book

also, i most definately think if this book was made into a movie. EVERYONE would LOVE it 🙂 please please please continue this story..

I truly loved this book. Between it’s drastic changes in theme and tone through out, it was thrilling and chilling at the same time on every page. Please another!

this story was unbelievable to me. I am a sucker for teenage romance, which this has the perfect amount of. Plus it has that dynamic of being so compelling with such a hard-pressing topic at hand, that must have been a struggle to write about. WELL DONE!!!! AMAZING WORK!! MY FAVORITE BOOK SO FAR THAT I HAVE EVER READ!

I read Boy Toy for a class on controversial YA literature. My take on the book was that Josh was NOT a “victim” of “abuse”, that this was a kid old enough to have sexual interest and to act on it when it was offered to him. He talks about how every male kid in the class is attracted to Eve. He just gets the chance to act on it. I had the feeling that had the adults just quietly removed Eve from his life–gee, her husband got another job and they moved away–that he would have gone on w/out much fuss or bother.

Also, what’s with the schools and Eve anyway. Your plot says that it was known that Eve was dismissed from the high school because she came on to two sophmore boys (hence having to make Josh seem so much older than his age, 12 vs 15 or 16 for the sophomores). So, either the first school fails to put this in her record, and like a bad priest just passes the problem on to the next school. Or Josh’s school hasn’t done much of a job of vetting her. Hmmm.

Two words, awesome book. Even through all the crap i got from my peers (mostly in math class, i frickin hate geometry) I never put the book down. I lost a lot of sleep those few days, but it was worth it. There was no sugar coating, no trying to ease up on the just plain wrongness of what occured. It was raw, and thats how i like it. Josh Mendle was a fantastic character, good guy all the way around, all the way to the end. Honestly, the book reminds me of my life, and Josh reminds me of myself. And though i was seriously pissed that my reality was getting mixed with my escape, i absolutely loved it. even as an uberly mature just-turned-13-year-old i could relate to it easily. Again, two words, awesome book.

I found that when I returned this book to the library, I almost cried to give it up. I know this is a stretch to say, but it’s my favorite book, pushing Lord of the Flies out of the top spot. I couldn’t stop reading it. I would start reading it at three in the morning, just because I was excited about what would happen next. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it at first, due to all the warnings that it had about graphic material, but I truly didn’t mind that stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it was graphic and uncomfortable at times, but not in the like when you’re watching a movie with your parents and two people come up fucking, but more like embarrassed that your eyes just witnessed that. I thought that the writing was incredible (how it really did sound like a teenage boy was writing it-I believe that Barry Lyga is secretly a teenager). I loved how honest it was. Most books written for young adults are lovey dovey at not at all how the real world is. Although teachers don’t get busted for screwing around with a student on a regular basis, the thought process was the same. In conclusion to my overly long response; I WISH THERE COULD BE A SEQUEL TO BOY TOY. Keep up the good work, Barry Lyga

Raven and : Thanks for the comments! I’m glad you liked the book so much!

Wow. It was disturbing, but it was meant to be. It’s definitely one of my favorite books. I just didn’t understand the line about a heart of pure sunlight when Zik told Josh he was no longer his best friend. Anyway, great work. Now I’ve got to go read your other books.

Barry Lyga, You are an incredable author and created such a deep and real book.A lot of the books I read are not worth reading at all it’s all the same. Boy Toy was something different a teacher having an affair with a thirteen year old who would of thunk it? (I know thats not a real word I am using it more for the phrase.)haha But really this book was so intising that,I kid you not, I got every sophmore in my class and even teacher, to read this book. It even got passed around outside my class. Even this past year as a junior I had kids reading it. I think Boy Toy was so dark and twisted that it caught our suburan school by strom. We needed a little spice in our lives your book gave us that. Thank You for making this book I just finished reading it for the 8th time.(Your book is the only one that I will actually read over.) (Sorry 1984)

I liked this book because I can relate to Josh… I also had a hard time reading it because i had to stop every chapter or so so i could calm myself down. This book has made me realise how NOT over what happened I an and it helps me understand that its ok to feel the way I do I just have to work through things slowely

WOW!!!! Most amezing book i have enjoy since Dr. Seuss(Not kiding). You Think already by the title is another one of those boring teen books that everyone is in to. But this is one in like no other. Captures your attention since the very first page, but most importantly your heart…

when Josh encountered Kyra outside spermling’s office i really thought something would happen there. two very fucked up people, what would happen between them? it’s like predator vs alien but Josh Mendal VS Kyra Sellers, gonna be awesome

Okay! Not only was i shocked about the series of events that happened in this book, i just couldn’t have the will power to stop reading it. it was a Scary (in a good way) read but it was nothing like i have ever experienced in a novel before. It took me a couple to catch on to the “flickers” but i thought that the strategy was truly never taken in such a book. Not only have i read “Goth Girl Rising” and loved it all and was completely raving about the secret in the end but i was excited to see you are making a series about the same high school and everything!

You are truly remarkable as a writer in a perspective that was imaginative at one moment and completely blunt at the other.

Love,

Willow…the young writer herself*

http://willowwriter.webs.com/

i get your book there are troubling parts and people should know that its every where. you can not belive the truth. but the thing they have 2 learn is to forgive and not regret u have to embrace it as much as u can thats the true meaning don’t let one bad thig hold u for the rest of your life!

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Boy Toy was a great read, but I don’t recommend it for teens. For those that went thru those times and can identify with the main character’s conflicts, it’s so true and so delicately written. I so totally applaud the author’s depth.

I hope that today’s teens are savy enough to recognize if someone is taking advantage of them as in the story. Or at least know that they are taking as much as they are giving. I have 2 sons and I’d be devastated if this happened to either one.

The ‘teacher’ would probably not be alive to tell her side of the story. My end to the story would be fatally different. (Hey, I’m from Texas and we take care of problems in our own way.)

Please read this story, it’s thought provoking and unlike other books, I think back upon it often.

Barry – You’ve got me hooked, now I’m going to look up all your works.

Hi Barry,I’m not your typical audience. I’m 38, mom to a 3 year old and a graphic designer. I can’t remember how I got a copy of FanBoy and Goth Girl, but I read it and enjoyed it very much. I went to the Apple Bookstore to see if they had anything by you and found BoyToy.

I love this book because Lyga showed me that you should expect the unexpected, i carried it everywhere with me i went and was determined to finish it. It had so much depth which is what i really look for in a book excitement, suspense and a lot of action.