The Boyfriend (Point Horror)

Too bad about Dex. He was in love with Joanna. She broke up with him. And then he died. Joanna’s sorry of course. But it’s not her fault he’s dead. Is it? Besides, she never loved him. Boys are just toys to be used and thrown away. But this time, Joanna’s gone too far. Because Dex is back. From the dead. For one last date with her.

GOT U COVERED 📔

Author: R.L Stine

Published: 1990

Series: Point Horror

Tagline: Her boyfriend’s back…from the grave

Description: A pink boutonniere with a written note and pin dripping blood.

“Hey, Dex - what are you doing?” Her voice caught in her throat. She looked up to see him standing ostrich like on one leg at the very edge of the cliff…

“All right!” he cried. “I think I do finally have your attention! Now, for my next trick…” He started hopping up and down on one foot, his other foot stretched up in the air behind him.

“NO, please! Stop! You’ll fall!

And as Joanna said the word, Dex slipped and fell over the edge. - pg. 25

SYNOPSIS 📖

Joanna Collier has it all: the good looks, money, her very own BMW and dreams of going to New York after she graduates. That’s why she wants to break up with Dex. He’ll only weigh her down. Plus, she doesn’t know what she saw in him in the first place — they’re total opposites. But not before she toys with him…just a little longer.

She intends to meet him in front of the bookstore entrance at Middlewood Mall to finally get the breakup over with, but as she watches him from afar, she decides to stand him up instead.

Dex is a good looking guy with dark features, described as young Matt Dillon and Elvis Presley type, who wants to be an actor one day. However, Joanna can’t get over the fact that he is poor. As she says, “a person has to be practical too”. So for reasons like: he lives on the other side of town with his aunt, goes to public school, wears clothes she finds undesirable and get this…even takes the public bus 😮‍💨gasp! She wants to end their relationship and link up with someone who is more suitable for her, like Shep. Shep is a good looking senior who also goes to Joanna’s private high school, Landover — with pockets that run deep 🤑. He already has been accepted to YALE after all and drives a red Cabriolet convertible.

Mary, Joanna’s friend, doesn’t approve of her selfish and shallow attitude. Urging Joanna to let Dex off the hook easily. To stop playing games with him and his heart. But Joanna doesn’t consider the opinions of others. In fact, she loves being the puppetmaster. Pulling the strings to her benefit.

One night Dex and his friend Pete go over to Joanna’s home. Climbing up to her bedroom and through her window à la Billy Loomis, he suggests they take her BMW and take a drive to Promontory - a makeout spot on the high cliffs at the edge of town. Reluctantly, she agrees. She does owe him after standing him up. When they get there, Dex senses Joanna’s distance towards him and gets out of the car, making his way to the cliff.

Turns out it was just a prank, Dex never fell off the cliff but rather onto a little ledge below. Obviously shaken, Joanna is pissed and wants to leave. But not before Dex goes back to the same spot to show his friend Pete the same trick. Only this time, the cliff beneath him crumbles and gives way as he takes a tumble off the cliff as Joanna and Pete watch in horror.

In a state of panic she drives off, leaving the scene and Pete behind. Frantically driving she gets into a car accident which lands her in hospital. When she comes to, Pete visits her in the hospital and tells her Dex is indeed dead. She doesn’t quite know how to feel. On one hand, she’s actually quite relieved he is out of the picture.

One night, a couple weeks later, she receives a phone call. She struggles to hear because of the bad connection and static, but she knows that voice all too well.

How’s it possible? It’s Dex. Has he come back?…From the grave 🧟

“Hello?” she repeated, a little louder

“Hi Joanna.” A boy’s voice, sounding very far away. “It’s me.”

“What?”

“Joanna — it’s me. Dex. How you doing?” - pg. 54

THOUGHTS 💭

Yet another bitchy girl that I have to endure for an entire book 🙄 and she’s not even the fun kind of bitchy. Yip. No words can be minced. Joanna sucks (big time!) and has no redemption in my eyes. Even though by the end of the book, she sadly realises her poor behaviour towards everyone and phoniness stems from her severe daddy issues. But in the name of JoJo - it’s just too little too late. It doesn’t excuse the way she judges and treats everyone. Following her POV wasn’t necessarily enjoyable, because she wasn’t someone I particularly cared about enough to feel any impact from her scary experiences.

Also, I knew from the get go that Dex wasn’t really dead and that it was all an act. The fact that Dex, Mary and Pete were messing around with Joanna’s mind to teach her a lesson. Now that I can get behind. Dex is a very dedicated guy and stuck to the bit like glue. But c’mon. How dumb is Joanna really that she couldn’t see that Dex wasn’t really a zombie? Or was Dex’s high school drama department skills so good that he could convincingly use SFX to his advantage? Either way, I guess Joanna was so desperate for attention that she was willing to go out with a guy whose skin appeared green, teeth looked decayed and smelled sour half the time. As long as he kept his interest in her, it didn’t matter that a chunk of his cheek fell off 🧟.

The real MVP of the story is Mary. I wanted more of her. I wonder what she was thinking everytime she got off the phone with Joanna who also took enjoyment in shocking Mary. It is revealed that it was all her idea from the beginning to mess with Joanna and make her believe that Dex was dead…both times. She has her monologue moment at the end of the book and even goes a little insane for a brief moment with a knife in hand 🔪.

I didn’t have that many thoughts on the book once I put it down, because it’s actually quite predictable. While the story is on the weaker side, it is only 165 pages so you could add it to your February TBR and easily complete it that same day. Would I recommend it. Not really. This is not one that I think I’ll ever return to. For that reason, we’re better off breaking up with this one and moving on to creepier pastures.

I grade this book D-

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