Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart
Oh, Ruby.
I was admittedly sad when I heard Real Live Boyfriends is the last Ruby Oliver book, but I loved it and I thought it was fantastic and a great way to end the series.
There is so much more to Ruby than boyfriends (past and present) and panic attacks. The book opens during the summer before Ruby's senior year at Tate Prep. She's dating the wonderful Noel (who is a Real Live Boyfriend; one who listens to her, calls her back, spends time with her, and doesn't make her completely insecure), enjoying spending time with Meghan and Hutch, and just loving summer.
Then things begin to go bad ... her grandmother dies (which sucks and destroys her dad), Noel goes to visit his brother Claude in New York City which he does every summer, but halfway through the trip Noel stops calling or emailing Ruby (and misses her birthday), and Hutch is leaving to spend the semester in Paris (heavy metal Hutch? In Paris?). And while some unexpected events occur (Nora approaches Ruby), the constants of school, working at the zoo, and Doctor Z don't change (nor does Ruby's clashing with her mother).
Noel and Ruby get in an argument (during a college prep class, unfortunately) and the relationship ends. Which makes neither happy, but when Ruby finds out that it's not that Noel doesn't love her, but something else entirely, the relationship gets back on track. Ruby realizes that her relationships with everyone will change in the next few years, going to college has a tendency to do that to people. But Ruby also realizes that she has the ability to deal with that, and if it gets too tough, she has people to help her out. And of course, her lists.
Real Live Boyfriends *Yes, boyfriends, plural. if my life weren't complicated--I wouldn't be Ruby Oliver is a quick read; it's a lot like Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series in that the book focuses on Ruby and her friends but it feels that Ruby learns a little more about herself in her stories than Georgia does in hers. The Ruby Oliver series are the types of books that don't make huge, grand statements about humanity or growing up, but just tell a story about being a teenager and how sometimes it's hard to navigate being a teenager. I love the Ruby Oliver series and though I'm sad it's ended, I know that Ruby's heading in the right direction (even if she doesn't know what direction that is).
I was admittedly sad when I heard Real Live Boyfriends is the last Ruby Oliver book, but I loved it and I thought it was fantastic and a great way to end the series.
There is so much more to Ruby than boyfriends (past and present) and panic attacks. The book opens during the summer before Ruby's senior year at Tate Prep. She's dating the wonderful Noel (who is a Real Live Boyfriend; one who listens to her, calls her back, spends time with her, and doesn't make her completely insecure), enjoying spending time with Meghan and Hutch, and just loving summer.
Then things begin to go bad ... her grandmother dies (which sucks and destroys her dad), Noel goes to visit his brother Claude in New York City which he does every summer, but halfway through the trip Noel stops calling or emailing Ruby (and misses her birthday), and Hutch is leaving to spend the semester in Paris (heavy metal Hutch? In Paris?). And while some unexpected events occur (Nora approaches Ruby), the constants of school, working at the zoo, and Doctor Z don't change (nor does Ruby's clashing with her mother).
Noel and Ruby get in an argument (during a college prep class, unfortunately) and the relationship ends. Which makes neither happy, but when Ruby finds out that it's not that Noel doesn't love her, but something else entirely, the relationship gets back on track. Ruby realizes that her relationships with everyone will change in the next few years, going to college has a tendency to do that to people. But Ruby also realizes that she has the ability to deal with that, and if it gets too tough, she has people to help her out. And of course, her lists.
Real Live Boyfriends *Yes, boyfriends, plural. if my life weren't complicated--I wouldn't be Ruby Oliver is a quick read; it's a lot like Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series in that the book focuses on Ruby and her friends but it feels that Ruby learns a little more about herself in her stories than Georgia does in hers. The Ruby Oliver series are the types of books that don't make huge, grand statements about humanity or growing up, but just tell a story about being a teenager and how sometimes it's hard to navigate being a teenager. I love the Ruby Oliver series and though I'm sad it's ended, I know that Ruby's heading in the right direction (even if she doesn't know what direction that is).
Labels: contemporary fiction, e. lockhart, female characters
posted by austentatious at 9:33 AM
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