Thursday, January 13, 2011

Real Live Boyfriends* by e. lockhart


*yes, boyfriends, plural. if my life weren't complicated - I wouldn't be Ruby Oliver.

Ruby! Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby. One of my all-time favorite YA heroines by one of my all-time favorite authors. One of the many sad things about not being a librarian anymore is the absence of publishers sending me ARCs. Real Live Boyfriends was read by my former colleagues a couple months ago, but I had to wait until my local library acquired it like a normal person. Thankfully they had it right after it was released at the end of December. Good job, bibliographers!

I very much enjoyed reading Real Live Boyfriends, the end of our Ruby journey. We have the great footnotes, Ruby/e's sharp sense of humor, and all our return favorite characters. (Hutch! Meghan! Robespierre!) Of course it is complicated. She has very odd parents who both have mental breakdowns this time, she has Rabbit Fever, and she has panic attack-inducing anxiety. Egads. But Ruby grows up and ends the half-joking/half-terrified self-loathing. She isn't a mental patient. She makes the world shiny and sunlit. She's a-ok. And that is saying a lot.

A satisfying ending to a great series. Viva Ruby!

5 comments:

jenn said...

I love, love, luuuuuuurve Ruby! I was so happy with this book but at the same time so very sad that it was the end. :-(

My sis and I had a very interesting convo about this book. She was absolutely amazed at how spot on Ruby/e was with being in high school. How girls can just be MEAN and that all you think about are boys, boys, boys. She said she felt like she was reading about her life in high school (at least from a feelings standpoint).

Anyway, I'm going to miss Ruby. Is it wrong of me to hope that in a few years Ruby will grace us with some of her awesome knowledge on what she's learning in college??? Cause I really want to hear/see Ruby's perspective on college.

Thank you, E for writing yet another fabulous book!

joanna said...

Man, her mother drove me bananas in this book. She was horrible! And I miss the whimsy covers.

Kate Coombs said...

Haven't read this yet, though I read The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and really liked it. Now I'll have to give Ruby a try--thanks!

Jenn H. said...

Yep, it was wonderful. I'm going to miss Ruby, but she went out in style.

joanna said...

The Ruby books are a real treat. You won't be disappointed!