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The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project

Lenore Appelhans (Goodreads Author)

3.75 · Rating details · 48 ratings · 38 reviews

Riley lives in TropeTown, where everyone plays stock roles in novels. Riley, a Manic Pixie Dream Boy, is sent to group therapy after going off-script. Riley knows that breaking the rules again could get him terminated, yet he feels there must be more to life than recycling the same clichés for readers' entertainment. Then he meets Zelda, a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Geek Chic ...more

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Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by Carolrhoda Lab

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· 48 ratings · 38 reviews

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Apr 20, 2018 Lenore Appelhans added it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

Shelves: met-the-author, metafiction

This is a meta-fiction romantic comedy about redefining the labels we're given - on our own terms. It's about looking beyond the stereotype and getting to know the actual person. It's about writing and the writing process and the magic and the frustration and the courage to step up and be the main character in your own story. It's a satire of YA tropes with the utmost affection for the category. It's my favorite thing I've ever written, and I can't wait for you to read it.

Why, yes! I do have a b ...more

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Jan 28, 2019 Jypsy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

What can I say about this book? The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project is definitely different from anything I've ever read. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. I liked the story for its oddness and quirkiness. It's about Riley. He's a MPDB trope in Tropetown. He is going to group therapy because he went off script. While there, he meets a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Turns out, the Manic Pixie Dream tropes are going to be retired. So, off they go to save the day. The story is everythi ...more

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Dec 14, 2018 Brittany Lamb rated it liked it

Shelves: arcs-2018, cover-porn, ebook, lgbtq, magical-realism, reviewed, romance, sent-from-author-publisher, ya

Note: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a free, advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cute book that I was ultra excited to read when NetGalley approved me. I think that as readers, we all love to joke around about tropes and the overuse of certain ones (especially the manic pixie dream girl trope), but I never imagined a book centered entirely around them.

This book is kind of like one long play on words. Does that make sense? It’s wr Note: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a free, advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cute book that I was ultra excited to read when NetGalley approved me. I think that as readers, we all love to joke around about tropes and the overuse of certain ones (especially the manic pixie dream girl trope), but I never imagined a book centered entirely around them.

This book is kind of like one long play on words. Does that make sense? It’s written around a ton of ironic cute fluffiness. It’s a book about book characters… knowing that they are book characters (but not for this book, per se), who get “requested” from authors to be in a novel. Basically, the tropes are like actors, except instead of watching their work on the big screen, we get to read about it on the pages of our favorite books.

The whole idea was (sorry to use this word again but I’m lacking a better descriptive) cute. All of the little manic pixies were very manic pixie-ish and Riley (AKA the only manic pixie boy who also happens to be the character who stared in The Fault in Our Stars [though this is never explicitly said because I’m sure the author isn’t trying to get into trouble but it is very heavily insinuated]) falls in love with one of the girls (Zelda). Each trope gets a character description sheet and everyone pretty much fits into their stereotype. A trope comes into existence when needed by readers and authors, so the tropes aren’t developed beyond TropeTown.

So, yeah, it was all very cutesy. But also a little… confusing? Developeds (AKA narrators or POV characters) aren’t in TropeTown but they are still living. I think? But they just live in the story written for them… I think.

I guess the reason I didn’t click with this was because it was so ironic and trope-y. I mean, yeah, the book is about tropes but I swear you can only take so much of manic pixie “cuteness” before you’re incredibly over it. It was a really quick read though, so it’s not like it drags on. It just didn’t hold my attention.

It did touch on some pretty important topics, however. I wish these issues would’ve been featured more throughout the book instead of focusing so closely on the retirement of the manic pixie dream girl trope. For instance, at one point a couple of the characters got a lesson about racism and sexism that is often used in some tropes and why that shouldn’t be acceptable because it’s essentially a negatively fueled stereotype. I think that the goal was for the entire book to be about this lesson, but it fell short in that aspect to me because there wasn’t enough focus on it.

Overall, it’s not something I hated. If you like quick, fluffy, ironic stories, than I’d suggest you check it out! But it wasn’t really for me, sadly.

(I would like to now apologize for make you read the word “cute” so many times. I really don’t know how else to describe a story like this. It was overwhelmingly so) ...more

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May 06, 2018 Mary Thompson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen

Lenore Appelhans has managed to create a book that both works on its own as a fun story about characters you care about and is also a clever sendup of YA tropes. This book will both entertain you and make you think. Just like Riley doesn’t have to helplessly accept his fate as a Manic Pixie Dream Boy, you don’t have to accept force-fed stereotypes. Get ready to change the way you think about every YA book you’ve ever read.

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Jan 26, 2019 Becca rated it really liked it

I received an e-ARC of The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! Any quotes used in this review are from the ARC copy & may not be in the final book.

Be still my pixie heart.

I’m gonna be real with ya. this book is so stinkin’ cute. By accident, I picked it up last night & didn’t move until the very last page. & it wasn’t even because I was at the edge of my seat, but just because it was so cute & very fast-paced. I believe it on ...more

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Jan 10, 2019 Pamela Stennett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019, young-adult, young-adult-fantasy

https://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2...

So, I have a confession.

When I was younger, I loved the Manic Pixie Dream Girl (or Boy when they were present) trope. I resonated with the spunky, energetic, quirkiness so much. I’ve always been a little bit MPDG, probably.

But as I got older, I started looking at the trope a little bit differently. While I was a free spirit and hyperactive, I still had my own goals and dreams. I won’t turn this into a dissertation on gender role expectations but needless t ...more

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Nov 27, 2018 Molly rated it liked it

There was so much to love about this book, but there was also so much to critique. Overall, I enjoyed it, and it had some really great progressive moments despite having room to grow in other areas.

A brief summary: Riley is the only Manic Pixie Dream BOY in Trope Town, and he is in trouble. He's been a little too negative around his authors, so he is ordered to therapy where he can learn to behave like the proper supporting role that he is. Trouble arises, however, when he finds himself infatua There was so much to love about this book, but there was also so much to critique. Overall, I enjoyed it, and it had some really great progressive moments despite having room to grow in other areas.

A brief summary: Riley is the only Manic Pixie Dream BOY in Trope Town, and he is in trouble. He's been a little too negative around his authors, so he is ordered to therapy where he can learn to behave like the proper supporting role that he is. Trouble arises, however, when he finds himself infatuated with another Manic Pixie Dream Girl in town only to discover she's also in his therapy group. Oh yeah, and the whole trope is at risk of getting retired, so there's that too. What's a Manic Pixie Dream Boy to do?

Things I Loved:
- The discussion of the writer's creative process with their characters -- It was very imaginative how these characters "go to work" when authors need them for a novel. It was a really unique concept, and it was described very well! I wish there was more of this throughout the whole novel as it was one of my favorite parts.
- The creativity and "meta" element of it -- Trope Town, the "Developed" characters, etc.
- The ending written for the fictitious book within this book -- I don't want to spoil it, but it's a nice progressive ending!
- The diversity of some of the characters -- There are some hetero romances, but there's also some mention of LGBTQ+ romances, and as a teacher, I like putting more relationship diversity in the hands of my students. This book would easily make all readers feel included.

Things I Didn't Like:
- Some underdevelopment in description -- At one point, the book talks about how authors too often forget to describe the setting and the characters are working in a blank room... I actually felt like that happened a lot in THIS book. While there was plenty of description of the characters' outfits and hair and whatnot, I felt like there was much to be desired about what the unique world they live in looked like.
- At some points it got really preachy -- My husband and I love watching "The Good Place" which is a fairly philosophical sitcom; however, sometimes my husband complains that there is too much preaching to the audience about philosophy and the meaning of life. I kept coming back to those complaints while I was reading this book. Before reading, I was already familiar with the author's criticism of the Manic Pixie trope and that too often these characters are underdeveloped, formulaic, and overused. However, I felt like I just kept getting hit over the head with it throughout the book, and it became really redundant. The book itself sold me on the idea of the trope and its limitations, so I didn't need preaching within the book about it as well.
- Overt criticism of other authors -- There's a character named Nebraska who was a breakaway start after being in a book and mysteriously dying... The developed character in the story spent the rest of his novel pining after her and wondering what happened... The criticism here is pretty blatant, and while I see its merit, there's something I don't like about tearing down another author in your book. I like the idea of authors supporting authors.
-The multiple plots -- I don't mind having an "A" story line and a "B" story line to a novel (it's what makes a novel interesting and complex), but I felt like the story lines all suffered because there were too many things to focus on and not enough development to any which one. There's the Riley love story, there's the Riley friendship story/therapy, there's the mystery of Finn (Riley's best friend), there's the potential retirement of the trope, and there's Riley at work... I wish some things had been cut so that I could feel more invested in the others.
- Character development -- Sometimes I was left confused because the characters were a certain trope, but then they were "playing a role" so it was hard to tell if the characters ever amounted more than the tropes they were assigned to. There were also some times that Riley would tell readers that he was a certain way because of his trope, but then he would also say he didn't know how to behave otherwise because of his trope... I wanted to know who he really wanted to be then if I wasn't seeing the real him.

Overall. I enjoyed it, but I wish the author had cut some things in order to expand more of the truly unique areas like the characters at work. I felt like that was one of the most meta moments, and it was one of the most quirky things about this book, so if there was more time spent there, I think this could have been a serious hit. It's still a fun book, and I will certainly recommend it to my readers, but there is room for growth. The author could easily write another book about another side of Trope Town, focusing on fewer plot lines, and I would love to read it!! She's started building this unique world, and I would love to see her continue developing it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The book will be published on March 5, 2019. ...more

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Feb 03, 2019 Hannah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: need-to-buy, tcg-reviewed, favorites, netgally, profile-favorites

4.5/5. Review to come! I really loved this one. :)

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Jan 10, 2019 Kristen Lippert-Martin rated it it was amazing

It is my opinion that Lenore Appelhans is a bit of a genius. Please see THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM BOY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT as proof of that assertion.

If you're a regular reader of YA, you'll no doubt get a kick out of the whole concept of these oft-used characters and tropes, all living in Trope Town, doing the bidding of their authors whether they agree with their tired plot lines or not. After all, "The author is always right."

And you'll read along, smiling and nodding, like "Yep, I've seen *that ...more

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Dec 19, 2018 Clara rated it really liked it

Shelves: unreleased-2019, netgalley-and-ew

This is really hard to rate: there are some ways in which this VASTLY exceeded my expectations, but in other ways, I really wanted it to go further.

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Feb 08, 2019 Brenna Clark rated it it was amazing

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for this ARC! I was instantly hooked by the name and the premise, and I am so excited to say that it did NOT let me down! We follow Riley, a lone Manic Pixie Dream Boy, as he navigates life in TropeTown. We are introduced to so many tropes and sub types and even a few Developeds (the main characters of your favorite novels) and even though some of these share characteristics, they are all their own standout beings. I loved the absolute w ...more

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Dec 30, 2018 Juliana rated it liked it

I was given a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is not what I expected at all. It was unique and very meta to the point that I liked it but didn't love it. The concept was very fresh and made me want to keep reading. What stuck with me the most were the scenes where Riley was in a book within the book and talking about the Author writing his scene. I liked these scenes the most because I could easily relate. When I write, I imagine my characters and how I can ...more

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Dec 26, 2018 Becca Jacquin rated it liked it

This book was way out of my comfort zone, but I couldn't get over the premise of getting to go behind the pages with characters.
I'm not overly familiar with meta-fiction and hope that it isn't the latest and greatest trend, because while this book was good it doesn't bear repeating.
There were hilarious parts, I mean group therapy straight out of Fight Club where you get to see some of the most common tropes thrown in a room together because they're misbehaving. Not to mention the cleverly named ...more

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Jan 18, 2019 Flavia rated it it was ok

Shelves: arcs

★★☆☆☆

(2 stars)

(I received this book for free for an honest review off of Netgalley)

I'm a little stumped on writing this review, hence my lack of attempt at coming up with a more snappy title. This is a very tricky book to review, on account of it being extremely meta about... books. And itself. Is it satire the plot, world, and characters are lacking? Is it on a winking purpose that the romance and story arc is so predictable and simple? Is the writing style meant to lampshade the meta nature of ...more

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Nov 25, 2018 Laura Hill rated it liked it

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The book will be published on March 5, 2019.

Writing: 3.5 Plot: 3.0 Characters: 3.5
Cute and whimsical, this early YA book explores the world of stereotypes using fictional characters who long to be more than their boilerplate dictates. Riley is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy who works hard and is true to type, but chafes a bit under perceived Author misman I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lerner Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The book will be published on March 5, 2019.

Writing: 3.5 Plot: 3.0 Characters: 3.5
Cute and whimsical, this early YA book explores the world of stereotypes using fictional characters who long to be more than their boilerplate dictates. Riley is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy who works hard and is true to type, but chafes a bit under perceived Author mismanagement. He is sent to Group Therapy with a set of Manic Pixie Dream Girls — just one step away from termination — in order to learn to “remember his place” and “The Author is always right.” However, when the Trope Town Council decides that perhaps the Manic Pixie Dream trope is more trouble than it’s worth, Riley and his therapy cohort have to come up with something big to show how truly important their trope is.

On the surface this is fun and a little silly and will appeal to the younger part of the YA demographic. However, there is some depth to the discussion of literature, the use of stock characters (stereotypes) and the impact that can have on readers. In the Trope Museum the characters bear witness to old stereotypes that have been “retired” due to being offensively racist, sexist, etc. The Uncle Tomfoolery trope is a prime example. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope is on the chopping block for being sexist. But Riley, as an experimental “Boy” version, shows how it may be the association of a particular race, gender, sexual preference with a particular trope that is the issue, not the trope itself. I liked that a lot — there are various personality stereotypes that exist in the world — the damage (I feel) is associating them with whole groups of people based solely on physical characteristics.

*** Spoiler alert *** One more small thing I appreciated. Riley finds himself at the center of a love triangle between Zelda (a Manic Pixie Dream Girl) and Ada, a “Developed” girl in the novel he is working on. At the end of the book, all three step off into the sunset on the Termination Train to Reader World without having to resolve the triangle. They are happy to pursue their own lives and see where it takes them without necessarily “winning” the boy. When I was growing up, just about every movie I saw and book I read focussed on the girl falling in love with the right boy. Regardless of her other pursuits, if she didn’t get the boy at the end, she felt like a failure. Since I was never taught this explicitly, it was difficult to question to the premise. Fiction has a powerful ability to teach us norms of expectations and behavior under the covers as it were. I like the not-so-subtle messages in this book. ...more

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Jan 22, 2019 Alyssa rated it it was ok

I got an ARC of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To start with the good, I love how meta this book was. In this book, the main characters are characters in stories, working with Authors. That made for a treasure trove of gems like this:

“We did Pilates together, and she cranked up her book playlist. She said she spent weeks coming up with songs that exude the atmosphere of the piece.” Ava snorts. “It kind of felt like a waste of time, honestly.”

As well as:

I swear I develop

...more

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Feb 12, 2019 Julie rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley

I remember studying meta fiction in university and adoring the concept - this book is definitely self-aware in the sense that it breaks the fourth wall several times. It is what it is: if you enjoy the manic pixie trope then you should enjoy this book.

Also, any writer will read this book and will cringe at the cliches and at the tropes because we’ve all put them in our own stories, but it’s done with such a tongue-in-cheek approach that it totally works. I adored seeing the authors manifest lit ...more

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Jan 09, 2019 Dominic rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, arc

I had such a lot of fun reading this book, and I believe it has wide reader appeal. There are many winks and nods to fellow fiction writers, especially those of young adult literature, but Appelhans' wit will delight even the cleverest of teenage readers. I can think of many of my students who would love this book—from those who have tired of seeing the tropes of the genre and have moved on, to those who still relish an enjoyable YA love story.

And any reader who has ever felt like a character wa ...more

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Feb 03, 2019 Jessica rated it liked it

This is an extremely interesting premise and it is quite unlike anything I have ever read before. There was some great breaking of the fourth wall and the whole book comes off very meta which I really enjoyed. Our main character Riley is someone you start rooting for almost automatically because he has such a likable personality and I really enjoy his struggle with whether he is who he is because of programming or because that really is him. There is a great moment in the book where the characte ...more

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Jan 02, 2019 Natasha Deen rated it it was amazing

Funny, endearing, charming, subversive, and definitely meta, The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Improvement Project is a fun read.

Premise: Riley, a MPDB, is sent to group therapy for not listening to his author (read: for going off the script of being an MPDB). While there, he meets Zelda and shenanigans ensue.

Riley is stereotypical enough to justify his trope, yet his self-awareness and internal dialogue, break him from the form. He’s delightful and worth cheering for, and I found myself flipping the pa ...more

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Dec 12, 2018 Joanna rated it really liked it

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a very novel novel. I got a lot of big The Good Place vibes from it, with all the meta and philosophical ideas floating around in it. There was a lot to enjoy!

I found the general world building very interesting. A lot needed explaining, so there was a lot of exposition. Because most of the main characters were actually created to be MPDG (and a boy!) they could be kind of irritating in their almost unconscious ...more

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Jan 12, 2019 Mikayla Tewksbury rated it liked it

Thank you to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

When I first read the description for this book, I immediately became interesting. A piece of YA metafiction that's a play on popular tropes in YA books? Yes please!

Unfortunately, I thought this book was just okay.

While the world was interesting and I enjoyed seeing how this story would play out, I found myself not super impressed with the world-building and characters in t ...more

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Nov 30, 2018 RachelReadsandSings rated it liked it

This was REALLY cute (due to the premise surrounding Manic Pixie characters), but nothing blew me away. I enjoyed all of the characters and the tropes having group therapy reminded me of the scene in “Wreck it Ralph” where the villains get together for a support group, so that was fun.

I also enjoyed the discussion about certain tropes used in novels throughout history and why authors stopped using them. The only thing that I thought was odd was that a love triangle formed towards the end of the ...more

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Dec 04, 2018 Amanda Shepard (Between-the-Shelves) rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-reviews

Read this and other reviews at

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Jan 15, 2019 DJ rated it liked it

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book is a satire of YA Tropes told in meta form. It had such potential but there was just too much going on for me. It was confusing at times, and some of the jokes felt forced. I really appreciated what the author was trying to do with this book but I just didn't love it. It was pretty funny and quirky overall but I just felt it was confusing overall.

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Oct 29, 2018 Beth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-lit, arcs, 2018-novel-length-reads

A fantastic piece of metafiction that will be a perfect addition to any middle or high school English teacher's library. There is so much to discuss with kids about writing, writers, and the conventions of literature.

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Feb 02, 2019 Emily Joan rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley, contemporary, meta

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did! The premise and much of the content is fresh and delightful, but I found myself having to force myself to return to the book and keep reading. Maybe this is more about me than the book, because any reaction to a book is totally subjective.

However, I am still giving this book four stars because of the above, and also, the last portion of the book was really, really good.

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Feb 02, 2019 Patricia Burroughs rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019, american, chick-lit, netgalley, romance, romantic-comedy

RTC

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Jan 13, 2019 Ana Moreno rated it liked it

Shelves: dnf

So my teacher let me read his arc and i just couldn't keep reading it. It's just didn't grab my attention, i think the writing is good and the premise is really cool but i just couldn't get into it.

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Jan 13, 2019 mindy rated it liked it

I have a lot of questions after finishing this. I’m just... it was sort of bland and things weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked.

It was really just ok.

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