Real Live Boyfriends: Yes. Boyfriends, Plural. If My Life Weren't Complicated, I Wouldn't Be Ruby Oliver (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I'm writing a new review on top of my original one. As I said before, I read this first, not realizing it was the 4th book in a series. After reading all the prequels, I decided I should read this again and see how it impacted me the second time around.Mostly, it all just made a lot more sense, which seems pretty obvious, but still. Lockhart tries her best to waste as little time as possible recapping the previous books, which I love, but since I hadn't read them, I realize now that I really didn't know what had happened at all. My bad. But reading them all now really gave me a much better insight of all the progress Ruby makes throughout the books, so that was cool to see. Also, reading it knowing what would happen (um, spoiler alert), made the whole thing a lot more poignant. When Noel finally, finally, FINALLY sits down with Ruby and talks about his brother's boyfriend being killed, the emotional impact of it all left me sobbing.So, yes, I liked this book. I liked it the first time, but I liked it oodles more when I had it in the proper context!* * * * *This was my original review:About halfway through this book, I glanced at the back cover and realized it was the 4th in a series. So I totally blew it by reading it all out of order. So that probably had a negative impact on my impressions of it. But I still enjoyed it. I think Lockhart is really good at portraying how the idea of having a boyfriend is usually so much more fun and easy than the reality of an actual (real live) boyfriend. I think so many girls are shocked when they learn that fact. And I love how the main character, Ruby, kept wanting her happiness to be dependent on having a real live boyfriend, but the reality is that it is so much more complicated than that...I didn't love the character of Ruby, though. She was a little too much, but again, if I'd read the other books and seen how far she (seems to have) come, I'm guessing I'd probably like her better. And in her defense, she has a lot she's trying to deal with, between the boys, school, and her whacked out mother.So, a nice quick read, but maybe figure out which book comes first in the series and read that one first! When I finished this book. I felt like I'd parted ways with a good friend. I know it was a good story when I look at it and feel sad there isn't going be another. I wasn't sure when I started with the first of the four books. But I've come to realize that Lockheart is a great emotion writer. You can feel in her words just how the character feels. Ruby was zany, so the writing was zany. It worked very well.
What do You think about Real Live Boyfriends: Yes. Boyfriends, Plural. If My Life Weren't Complicated, I Wouldn't Be Ruby Oliver (2010)?
Best of the four. Don't know if I'd tell my past self to bother reading the series though.
—sunnyd
4.5 starsIts more than just a girl obsessing about boys. So much more.
—AncientToaster
