The Boyfriend List (Ruby Oliver Quartet Series #1)

Reviewed by Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius" for TeensReadToo.com

The additional title of THE BOYFRIEND LIST is (15 guys, 11 shrink appointments, 4 ceramic frogs and me, Ruby Oliver). It's very enlightening, entertaining, and oh-so-paramount to the book. This is the life and times of nearly sixteen-year old Ruby Oliver, former girlfriend of Jackson, former best friend of Kim, former semi-popular Sophomore high-school girl. Now just a girl with panic attacks, a Xerox-copied "Boyfriend List" circulating through school, and a shrink named Doctor Z.

Ruby's life used to be pretty normal, until her boyfriend broke up with her to date her best friend. Then the panic attacks started--shortness of breath, a tightening sensation in the chest, dizziness and nausea--that had her parents shipping her off to a psychiatrist to work out her "issues." Those issues would mainly be, in chronological order:

1) Adam
2) Finn
3) Hutch
4) Gideon
5) Ben
6) Tommy
7) Chase
8) Sky
9) Michael
10) Angelo
11) Shiv
12) Billy
13) Jackson
14) Noel
15) Cabbie

It might sound, in retrospect, like a lot of guys in a short period of time. But Ruby's made a list of every boy who has ever meant something to her, and these are the fifteen guys that make up the list. In THE BOYFRIEND LIST, we learn about all the guys in Ruby's life, from Adam to Cabbie and everyone in between--and the result is a laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story that is well worth reading.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

A Laugh Out Loud Novel

I absolutely loved, loved, loved, The Boyfriend List! It had me laughing out loud and I couldn't put it down. The main character, Ruby, has been having a tough week. Her boyfriend of six months dumped her, she has been labeled a slut by her entire school, and lost all of her friends. So after having five panic attacks, Ruby ends up at a shrink's office. The shrink, Dr. Z, has her write a list of all the boys she's ever dated or had a crush on or kissed. By making this list and reliving her past experiences with boys, Ruby starts adressing some of the issues in her life and finding herself. The story is told in a series of shrink appointments with Dr. Z, flashbacks to her experiences with the boys on her list, and the events leading up to her panic attacks. E. Lockhart tells this very interesting story with humor, wit, and sympathy. She is an author comparable with Meg Cabot, but she has a writing style all her own. Details about Ruby's life make this story come alive: that's she's a vegetarian, that she lives in a cramped houseboat with her gardener father and theatrical mother, that she wears glasses. By the end of the story Ruby feels like your best friend. I know I was rooting for her the whole time, feeling for Ruby during all her misadventures but also laughing because of them. The Boyfriend List is a great book and a pleasure to read; it's a very accurate depiction of high school life.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

WOW...AMAZING

I must say, this book rocked! E. Lockhart could not have done a more splendid job. The Boyfriend List wasn't confusing, it was packed with humor, and a great read. The characters are seriously really funny, especially main character Ruby Oliver. She's an average, everday teen. Except for the fact that she gets panic attacks, earns a name she doesn't deserve, and has some issues, not to mention TONS of drama going on in her life. I like how she's so easy to relate to. Not that it matters, but I liked how Ruby had glasses and lived in a boathouse. Just these little things added a lot to this book. Ruby Oliver isn't perfect, which makes this book perfect! With snobby girls and rumors spreading, The Boyfriend List is a perfect example of what high school is really like. Ruby must naviagate a pretty ugly rocky road in order to survive high school. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that this book was amazing. I suggest you go out and buy it ASAP! This book won't let you down. Her parents, friends, boyfriends, shrink, Ruby herself, will not leave you disappointed.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great book

This book is totally relatable to any teenage girl. One of the best books out right now.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Don't panic!

15-year-old Ruby Oliver understandably starts having panic attacks when her first real boyfriend dumps her for her best friend and her other three best friends stop talking to her (in dramatic, public, and spectacular fashion, naturally), all within a relatively short period of time. Her parents start taking her to a therapist, Dr. Z., who tells Ruby to make a "boyfriend list", a list of every guy who Ruby has ever had any sort (real, imagined, less-than-24-hour, or slightly longer) of relationship with at all. Told from Ruby's point of view, readers hear the blow-by-blow account of each and every boy, from the one she used to play in the splashy pool with when she was four (Adam, the mermaid) to the one who dumped her out of the blue and mere days later was discovered at a party, stark naked with her former best friend (Jackson, the actual boyfriend...not that Ruby was at the party, mind you, but an oh-so-helpful acqaintence gave her a detailed description of the event after). An entertaining look at one girl's journey to self-discovery that leaves readers wanting more--which is good, since it's the start to a series!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I Loved The Book!

I love books with first person point of view! e. lockhart was really into the catchy dialogue and ruby's sarcasm. The book was flawless!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

MUST READ

I read this on my NOOK and I loved it!! Read it in less than a day!! Couldnt put it down so neither shoukd you!!!

The book itself was fairly entertaining although sometimes I wis

The book itself was fairly entertaining although sometimes I wish that we didn't always hear Ruby (main character) talking to her therapist explaining what happened to her (she was seeing a therapist because she was having panic attacks) I wish we "saw" things happen in her life real time. Overall, the book was pretty good I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Good

I loved this book. It was interesting and entertaining. I wasn't bored at all when reading it

Book

Want 2buy read it a library need book bad

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The whole mess started with Finn. But it started a while ago. Before Finn was all cute and tall and athletic. Well, technically it might have had more to do with Kim. But Finn is definitely involved. So is Jackson. And his four ceramic frogs. Tommy Hazard, as usual, is blameless. Angelo and Noel aren't really involved. But they might have helped make everything worse. When it's all said and done Nora, Cricket and Meghan are all not speaking to her. Kim isn't either but that isn't really a surprise.

And that's almost all before fifteen-year-old Ruby Oliver starts having panic attacks that lead to her eleven shrink appointments.

The first step in stopping the panic attacks is probably understanding what happened. Which requires looking at how things started (with Finn, obviously) and where they wound up (losing her best friend Kim, again duh). And a good way to figure things out is by making lists, right?

It's not like one list could make Ruby's life even worse by ruining her reputation and making her a social outcast. Right?

Wrong. One list can actually make Ruby's life even worse by ruining her reputation and making her a social outcast in The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (2005) by E. Lockhart.

The Boyfriend List is the first book in E. Lockhart's Ruby Oliver series.

Deceptively slim at 229 pages (paperback), The Boyfriend List is a complex story told out of chronological order. While Ruby's life is essentially falling apart around her she also starts seeing Dr. Z and looking at her past interactions with boys to see what, exactly, happened. Lockhart moves seamlessly through distant and near past as she moves the story toward Ruby's immediate present (the point from which she is narrating).

The resulting story is satisfyingly complex while still being straightforward. Despite what the title might suggest, this isn't a book about boys. It's about friendships and social interaction. And, okay, yes it's also about boys. Lockhart brings humor and compassion to a book that is simultaneously zany and deeply authentic (I think, more on that in the Exclusive Bonus Content). Even more impressive: She does it all while creating a convincing cast of oddballs, smarties, and other likely suspects who are all fun to read about--even if some of them might be jerks (like Jackson). All in all a delightful book.

Possible Pairings: Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson, Vibes by Amy Kathleen Ryan, The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott, Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Highly Recommended

I read this book to my daughter, since she hates to read on her own. She's 12. I don't remember now if the main character was in middle school or high school, but either way....I thought it was a fine illustration of the sorts of "stuff" that goes on there, the difficulties kids face at this time of their lives, miscommunications, misconceptions, etc.. Very well written, certainly kept our interest.

Loved it

It was ssuch a funny easy read she is such a great auther i look foward to reading more of her books

17

I am a seventeen year old girl and can relate so well with this. It is absolutely amazing.

AWEMAZING!!!!!!

Omg this book is amazing its really funny!! Its really hard to put down but you need to have a certain maturity level to be able to read it but over it was GREAT!!!!!

??

How many pages is this.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Unexpected

Great book, bought it because I liked the cover loved the book!

Ahhhh

I by accsendintly bought ths horrible

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

One of my favorite books.

Not only enlightening and funny, but also leaves you with life lessons. Helped me get through a lot of stuff.

I loved this book

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