The Boyfriend List

The Boyfriend List by Emily Lockhart, or as printed on the cover of her books: E. Lockhart, is a remarkable book for teenage girls. The protagonist, Ruby, is faced with what seem to be a million problems that have spiraled out of control, consuming her entirely. She is facing all these conflicts at once and with everyone else blinded by lies and rumors, she has no one to back her up. Ruby’s anxiety continues to pile up until she is forced to let out her suppressed feelings in panic attacks.

Ruby is the typical teen and part of the great “Tate Universe.” Ruby, known to pretty much everyone as Roo, isn’t the evil slut she is accused of being. In fact, I would say that it’s the opposite. Roo is perfectly innocent and she’s just trying to hang on while all the Tate drama rips her to pieces.

Her (over-protective) parents, worrying that she may have an eating disorder, or that she may be suicidal, have sent her to a “shrink” to get to the bottom of things. Doctor Z, orders her to write out a boyfriend list to help figure out where all the stress is coming from, something that Ruby doesn’t appreciate at all.

As Ruby goes down the list of her so-called boyfriends she reveals the trauma between the terrible ten days in which she lost her boyfriend, lost her best friend, lost the rest of her friends, became a social outcast, and had graffiti written about her in the girls bathroom. This all dangerously spinning out of control when the rough draft of the boyfriend list falls into the wrong hands. What occurs within those horrible ten days is what turns into the greatest social debacle Ruby has ever known.

The Boyfriend List falls under the coming of age genre of writing, however this story remains unpredictable despite the fact that you may think that it will be the regular, run-of–the-mill story about a girl who likes a boy. This novel kept me guessing at what would happen next. When the next step was finally revealed I felt the pain, confusion, and anger Ruby feels.

This book is a perfect read for teens and I definitely would recommend it. This novel is more geared towards teen girls, but I feel that some boys may enjoy the story too. Although Ruby has been blamed for many things, she is still the girl every reader will want to succeed in the end. At the end of every chapter you will be left hungry for more.