ARC Review: The Boyfriend List* (Ruby Oliver #1) by E. Lockhart
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Series: Ruby Oliver #1
Author: E. Lockhart
Published July 14th 2016 by Hot Key Books
Goodreads Synopsis
5 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver
From E. Lockhart, author of the best-seller We Were Liars, and the highly-acclaimed The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, comes this hilarious and heart-warming series.
Ruby Oliver is fifteen and has a shrink. But before you make up your mind about her, you should know that she has had a pretty awful (and eventful) past ten days. She has:
* lost her boyfriend
* lost her best friend (Kim)
* lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket)
* did something suspicious with a boy
* did something advanced with a boy
* had an argument with a boy
* drank her first beer (someone handed it to her)
* got caught by her mom (ag!)
* had a panic attack (scary)
* lost a lacrosse game (she's the goalie)
* failed a math test (she'll make it up)
* hurt Meghan's feelings (even though they aren't 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'!?!).
But don't worry, Ruby lives to tell the tale. Through a special assignment to list all the boys she's ever had the slightest, little, any-kind-of-anything with, comes an unfortunate series of events that would be enough to send any girl in a panic.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Fifteen year old Ruby Oliver's life implodes when she loses her friends, and is labelled a slut by all those at school. She finds herself with a therapist, who recommends Ruby list all the boys who have been a part of her life, the Boyfriend List, if you will. Soon reaching 15 names, Ruby talks about all the boys, and what is happening with her friendships and the mess that is her life.
I don't understand why people seem to like this book so much? Really, I'm not being dramatic, but all I found here was a whiny, self-obsessed teen, who doesn't care about hurting other people, until it hurts her in return. Yes, I'm reading this now in my twenties, but even if I had read this ten years ago, I still would've hated Ruby, her friends, and the whole story. It's just extremely cliched, and dated for even 2016 (when this edition was released). I will force myself to read book 2 - but only because I have a review copy I need to clear from my NG shelf. I think if I was asked to recommend this book, I would have to refuse and tell people to spend their time on something much better.
Dates Read:
February 26-27, 2022
Rating
2 Stars
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