The Boyfriend List: Book 1
Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “Its was ok but it was boring at some parts” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“It was so good, witty, and the dialogue was spot-on. But the ending felt so unfinished, and I know there's a sequel, but there should be some closure.”
failing to be mysterious wrote this review Wednesday, February 27, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Its was ok but it was boring at some parts”
Jaidis Lee wrote this review Friday, February 8, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“When I started reading this, I added it on Goodreads and sort of scrolled through reviews, not reading them but eyeing the ratings. For most books, my friends reach a sort of general consensus; with The Boyfriend List, the ratings varied from one star to five. Thankfully, I fell on the higher end of the spectrum, a relief since I just bought the complete series in a fit of no will power.
Christina F wrote this review Thursday, January 24, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The variety in opinions on this book makes perfect sense, though. How you feel about The Boyfriend List will likely have a direct correlation to how you feel about the MC, Ruby Oliver. Ruby has a very distinct way of expressing herself and somewhat controversial opinions. If she annoys you, the book will be utter hell. However, if you think she's hilarious and makes good points and maybe reminds you of your high school self, you'll think she and this book are the best ever.
Though I did not personally identify with Ruby, I did think that she was funny most of the time, with occasional forays into whininess or melodrama, though these fit her personality and her situation perfectly. The Boyfriend List revolves around a series of panic attacks Ruby had, leading her parents to send her to a therapist. Her therapist asked her to draw up a list of boys for them to discuss. Thus the list was born, ultimately with some Harriet the Spy kind of consequences.
What Lockhart got just right is the teenage drama. Ruby feels so much like a teenage girl, with her own misconceptions, weird slang and inability to deal with being a social outcast. Having a boyfriend matters so much. Her own world matters so much, and she has a lot of trouble seeing past her own issues. Her parents fight all the time, but she can't really see that until therapy, and the same goes for her friends' issues too. Ruby has blinders on, and it's wonderful to watch her gain new perspective on the world in her conversations with her shrink.
The romantic drama herein depicted may seem a bit like the absurdity of Gossip Girl or Glee, where the same twelve characters keep swapping boyfriends in an endless spiral of jealousy, betrayal and infidelity. However, Tate, Ruby's school, is this tiny prep school full of rich kids (except for Ruby, who's on scholarship); there just aren't that many fish in the dating pool. I went to a very small college, and one guy dated three girls out of the twelve on my freshman hall, so that kind of stuff does happen, though there was no drama with our instance. They're stuck in a small school with lots of hormones and not many people with whom to exercise them.
The other awesome thing about Ruby Oliver is that it's not romanticizing teens or trying to depict them as innocent or sex as awful. Ruby discusses sex openly and with overt fascination. She and her friends discuss boys and all of their exploits and that's just so much how life goes down; we all share the details with our best friends.
Now, this really does not affect my opinion of the novel or mean anything to those who have not read this book, but I still need to get this off my chest: Kim and Jackson are major d-bags. Jackson especially. He's a serial boyfriend, dumping one girl and immediately lining up the next (or already having her waiting). Kim may be a big proponent of "The Rules," and, yes, Ruby broke them too, but Kim stepped out of line first. She can talk about fate or how it only just happened all she wanted, but she is lying. Ruby needs to get those two awful people out of her heart entirely and out of her life as much as is possible at Tate.
The Boyfriend List is a humorous, sassy contemporary, sure to delight those who delight in misadventure, pop culture references, and romantic drama.”
“On the advice of her therapist, a girl makes a list of all the boyfriends or near-boyfriends she's ever had. Then her ex-best friend copies the list and passes it around: instant outcast. Very funny & charming. Guys reading this might learn something.”
BE Kelley wrote this review Monday, January 21, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“patron recommended”
Caron S wrote this review Tuesday, January 8, 2013. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“this book is about a girl name ruby who's life starts turning upside down her friends barley are speaking to her, she kissed he ex-boyfriend who's dateing her friend, her parents think that she is suiciduble, plus she has panic attacks how can anything get wrose she has to see a therapist . when they star talking about the kiss between her and her ex-boufriend she asked if she can make a list of her boyfriends ,frist kiss, dates the only way that ruby and the therapist can talk about the boys are from top tpo bottom of the Boy friend list.”
mayak wrote this review Sunday, November 4, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“3 1/2 stars. The thing with this book it was more of a chronology than actual event after event after event. That's what also made it different and spicy. Sometimes the footnotes got a bit long, but I still liked them. Overall, chick lit, but something enjoyable and fun.”
Taryn :) wrote this review Thursday, November 1, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“In this book I felt like I was right next to Ruby. I just couldn't put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone! In some of the situations Ruby is stuck in, you could probably relate to them. This is my most favorite book ever, that I've read in 7th grade.”
Rebekah S. wrote this review Thursday, October 11, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“i kind of liked this book. the reason why i say this is because it kind of takes really long to get to the point of things and the most intresting boy in her list of guys were jackson and billy.”
wild_lovable_me a.k.a mikayla wrote this review Friday, September 21, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“i really liked this book because its mostly about drama and its really funny too!”
naseya_ninigirl wrote this review Friday, September 21, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
