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Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Corgi Children's (4 May 2006)
Source: Library
Rating;
The Boyfriend List goes a little something like this
1) Adam (But he doesn't count)
2) Finn (But people just thought so)
3) Hutch (But id rather not think about it)
4) Gideon (But it was just from afar)
5) Ben (But he didn't know)
6) Tommy (But it was impossible)
7) Chase (But it was all in his mind)
8) Sky (But he had someone else)
9) Michael (But I so didn't want to)
10) Angelo (But it was just one date)
11) Shiv (but it was just one kiss)
12) Billy (But he didn't call back)
13) Jackson(Yes, okay he was my boyfriend, Don't ask me any more about it)
14) Noel (But it was just a rumor)
15) Cabbie (But I'm undecided)
My thoughts - The Boyfriend List is told by the main protagonist Ruby Oliver. She used to be popular and she had good friends. In other words life was looking good, until her friends decided that they didn't want to know her anymore. Her boyfriend dumps her and her friends leave her for good making her a social outcast for life, and to make things worse she starts having panic attacks and is signed a therapist by her parents who are completely loony.
The reason I picked this up was because I wanted to have a change, and it's nice sometimes to just lie down, relax, cringe and laugh away. The Boyfriend List made me do that countless times.
What I loved about Ruby is that she's frank about her feelings and will happily tell you just how annoyed she is. There were so many moments in the book which resulted in me laughing so loud with horror that I had to calm myself down. Fortunately, I haven't had some of those experiences and I'm so glad because they sound horribly embarrassing! What I can say though, is that this book was a lovely package and a promising treat. What I did not like, however, was how she was so smitten with Jackson to the extent that she was literally like his puppet. That it took her so long to see his faults and yet admit she would go back to him time and time again.
Also, I couldn't comprehend how her best friend could be such a conniving idiot and say that Ruby was in the wrong. I felt like shaking that girl and putting her in her place! More - so I felt sorry for Ruby, yes, but I also felt she had a lot of growing up to do. I wanted her to stand up more to her so called friends rather then be so eager to forgive, to grow from the experience, move on and walk away. Friends like that don't get better with time, they do it over and over again. I felt she was too much of a pushover yet I felt that made her much more of a realistic character on the flipside.
The novel takes you through that feeling when you have your first crush, your first kiss and even *uh hum* your first so called grope *cringe*. The Boyfriend List was set as a task for Ruby to do by her therapist Doctor Z so that she could go through each and every boy whether she had kissed them, held their hand, or just crushed on them from afar in order to see what part they had to play in her life regardless if it was consciously or subconsciously.
At first she just wrote down the odd few that she might have had a secret thing with but soon enough she is adding a bunch of boys who she may have just liked or crushed on. I had two personal favorites in the book being Angelo & Noel because in my opinion they both genuinely cared for her, and also because they seemed like such nice guys even though unfortunately Ruby had the habit of pushing the good guys away whilst embracing the bad boys and that annoyed me. The end of the book leaves a lot open with even more possibilities but not before giving us an insight of how Ruby has matured and is moving on.
Even though I was glad to see that she had made progress I felt sad that there was so much left unsaid until I found that there is a sequel out with a third installment on the way! As you can see I really enjoyed this book, I mean, it was such a fun and delightful read that I devoured it within hours!
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