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 Guy In Real Life was one of my most anticipated books of 2013 by far because this book looked as if it had been written just for me. A contemporary romance in the vein of Rainbow Rowell and John Green? An epic 8-bit cover and a plot revolving MMOs and videogaming? Guy In Real Life seemed almost too good to be true, it had almost everything I could want in a YA novel. Guy In Real Life doesn't live up to it's amazing premise and description, I really felt like this book left me feeling disappointed and a bit angry. 
 Lesh is a very different kind of protagonist, his character is extremely innovative and I've never seen anything quite like it. Lesh is a bit Goth, he's into heavy metal music, he loves to play MMOs, and he is a bit unsure about his sexuality. It's truly refreshing to read from the perspective of a character who isn't the same cardboard character that readers commonly find in YA novels. Though Lesh didn't intend to be creepy at times, I was frightened by many of his actions and couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind his actions. Even though I found Lesh a bit frightening, he was an interesting character to read about. 
 Svetlana is Lesh's romantic interest in Guy In Real Life and he is absolutely smitten with her at first sight. She's an unusual protagonist, but I couldn't really fathom why Lesh was so obsessed with her. I liked her character, but she didn't seem quite as wonderful as Lesh made her out to be and at times she was a bit dull. I couldn't really understand what he saw in her and why he was so persistent on becoming friends with her. 
 Lesh and Svetlana are brought together in the school cafeteria and they form this awkward, unconventional friendship. Lesh falls head over heels for the artistic Svetlana and he creates an online avatar in a MMO that looks almost exactly like her. Lesh steals Svetlana's identity and falsely claims to be her because he wants to be her in real life. I have no problem with transgender individuals, but stealing someone's identity is no laughing matter and I was perturbed by the way this federal crime was handled in this book. The fact that Lesh wants to be a teenage girl is really never addressed and is thrown under the bus for scenes where Lesh plays as his Svetlana avatar in the MMO. The scenes where he plays as Svetlana in the MMO were interesting, but I really thought addressing his sexuality and his uncertainty regarding it would have been far more worthwhile. 
 I don't know what to think of the romance in Guy In Real Life because it well done, but it made me feel uncomfortable. Falling in love with the guy who is virtually impersonating you is a big no-no in my mind and I didn't feel comfortable reading about Lesh and Svetlana fall in love. Obviously Svetlana doesn't know that Lesh is impersonating her when they fall in love, but it still made me feel so weird and repulsed. When Svetlana does eventually find out, I felt like this issue wasn't given proper closure and the ending of Guy In Real Life felt like it was a cop-out. I was never really given any finality on so many issues and the ending left a lot to be desired. I know Brezenoff isn't promoting virtual identity theft, but I expected him to handle the matter in a more appropriate way. The way he rushed the ending, didn't give Guy In Real Life the proper, realistic ending it deserved. 
 Guy In Real Life wasn't quite what I expected and this book did catch me off guard. I'm not sure if I would recommend it because of the flimsy way important issues like sexuality and virtual identity theft were handled. This wasn't the geeky romance story I expected, but I do appreciate Brezenoff's bold effort to push the limit of YA novels. I have a feeling that many readers will be turned off to the plot and romance of Guy In Real Life because of Lesh's taboo actions.