Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Khy

Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows its unusual, but give her a breakshes had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),

lost her best friend (Kim),

lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),

did something suspicious with a boy (#10),

did something advanced with a boy (#15),

had an argument with a boy (#14),

drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),

got caught by her mom (ag!),

had a panic attack (scary),

lost a lacrosse game (shes the goalie),

failed a math test (shell make it up),

hurt Meghans feelings (even though they arent really friends),

became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)

and had graffiti written about her in the girls bathroom (who knows what was in the boys!?!).

All these bad things result in a panic attack, and thanks to her overprotective parents, she has to go to a shrink. The shrink encourages her to create The Boyfriend List, a list of all the boys she has dated, somewhat dated, wish she dated, kissed, and the boys people thought she dated or kissed. As Ruby reveals the list, she reveals the stories behind the boys and how they relate to her current life issues.

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Yowza. This may just be my favorite E. Lockhart book yet. (I'm trying to decide if I like this one or The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks better. I can't choose. Ag.) It's that good.

Ruby Oliver is such an wonderful heroine. She is smart but makes common mistakes, funny but is very sensitive, and is a great friend but sometimes hurts her friends feelings. She acts just like a real person, which makes it easy to relate to her.

Other good things about this book:

1. It is laugh-out-loud funny.
2. All the lists make it easier to understand what exactly was going through Roo's head.
3. There are footnotes! I love footnotes. (Don't ask me why. I don't know why.) The footnotes added more of Ruby's thoughts and comments on things, so you got to know her even better.
4. The other characters were very realistic too.
5. Ruby dealt with her problems in the same way a lot of other people would. While it wasn't the best way to handle them, it was the most realistic thing to do.

I've got nothing bad to say about this book. It comes highly recommended.

reposted from freneticreader.blogspot.com