The Boy Book is a YA contemporary novel by E. Lockhart, and the second of the Ruby Oliver books.Here we are in the second installment of “Ruby Oliver Week” and despite the fact that each of these books probably has great stand-alone potential, I do warn you that these books are meant to be read in order if you want the full power of a continuing storyline! So – you have been warned.
Ruby Oliver has survived the dilemmas of the end of her sophomore year and is now a junior – so she’s totally over everything that happened right? Right.
But of course things get all wonky when Ruby starts getting mysterious notes from Jackson, her ex-boyfriend who is now dating her ex-best-friend. Not to mention becoming privy to a secret about Noel and dealing with her friendship/maybe-more-than-friendship feelings for him. Plus, she’s feeling guilt over an attraction-only relationship that might be developing with yet another boy.
Oh dear. Why can’t life be uncomplicated?
Ruby would rather just hang out with the penguins at her new internship at the zoo than deal with all her borderline psychotic boy issues.
Isn’t this what her parents are paying her therapist for?
The Boy Book is an excellent follow-up to The Boyfriend List. We have our overthinking, overanalyzing Ruby back with her relatable quirks and social trouble! And now she has a license and a job!
This second novel continues Ruby’s growing process as she struggles with lingering mixed feelings about her ex-boyfriend, ex-best friend and new friends and potential boyfriends. Yet again E. Lockhart brings the drama without the melodrama, making it realistic and psychological as we get to some of the deeper roots of Ruby’s issues and insecurities.
Though of course, you can’t deny that The Boy Book is stock full of hilarious lists and entries in her own copy of the Boy Book, in which Ruby and her old friends have written notes and essays about the odd tendencies of boys and their semi-scientific ways of trying to figure them out.
Not to mention the way that The Boy Book sometimes feels like a delicious romantic-comedy, but with more depth, wit, and smarts. It has fun and sweetness and is filled with hope that Ruby will one day have a true, good romance.
This time around, Ruby’s resistance to therapy reaches new highs, however – and I did find myself more frustrated with her than in The Boyfriend List. But it was that good kind of frustration – the kind where you’re irritated because you care so much, and you know that she’ll be happier if she would just do this, and WHY ISN’T SHE DOING THIS?! That kind of frustration. Where you’re kinda happy the entire time, because it’s awesome.
You bibliophiles know what I mean. ;)
So, join me back here tomorrow for the third installment of “Ruby Oliver Week” when I tackle my thoughts of The Treasure Map of Boys. See ya!
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