The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart Review {with Audiobook Notes}

The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart
Series: Ruby Oliver #1
Published by Ember/Delacorte
Publish Date: March 22, 2005
229 Pages
Source: Ebook – Library, Audiobook – Library
Find it here:  Goodreads / Amazon / B&N


Fifteen-year-old Ruby has had a rough ten days. During that time she: 

* lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list) 
* lost her best friend (Kim)
* lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket)
* did something suspicious with a boy (#10) 
* did something advanced with a boy (#15)
* had an argument with a boy (#14)
* had a panic attack
* lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie)
* failed a math test (she’ll make it up)
* hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends)
* became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)
* had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!)

But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists. (from Goodreads) 


My Thoughts: A while back I noticed that my library had both the digital and audiobook formats of this book available while I was browsing SO! on a whim, I downloaded both for my reading and listening pleasure. I’ve seen so much about Ruby Oliver everywhere around the internet and blogosphere – I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see what this gal had going on for myself. 


Oh my goodness gracious, Ruby Oliver. Bless your heart. 

Ruby is urged by her therapist to make a list of all of her boyfriends. Alright. Okay. Well, Ruby decides to do this on personalized stationary and probably goes a little too far with her list – meaning she puts a few more people on there than are truly necessary. In a moment of “what-was-Ruby-thinking” – she balls the list up and throws it away at school. IN THE SCHOOL TRASH CAN. Naturally, her boyfriend list with her name on it is found and the worst is presumed about Ruby: she’s the school slut. 


Great. Just great. 


And all of this happens around the same time Ruby has just lost her first boyfriend Jackson (a couple of days ago) and her best friend Kim (because Kim is now dating Jackson, who became her ex-boyfriend a couple of days ago). DRAMA. Ruby Oliver’s life is TOTAL DRAMA. 

So, to recap: Ruby is now the school slut – thanks to the list – but she can’t lean on her friends because she doesn’t have any friends anymore, nor does she have a boyfriend. She can’t really lean on her family either because they’re pretty certifiably crazy odd. 

Basically Ruby Oliver simultaneously broke my heart and made me laugh the entire time she told me her story. 

Audiobook Notes: The audiobook format of The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart is published by Listening Library and is 5 hours, 48 minutes, Unabridged. It is narrated by Mandy Siegfried, who is no stranger to narrating young adult audiobooks with titles on her resume belonging to such authors as Laurie Halse Anderson, Aprilynne Pike, and others. This was my first experience with her reading and she was absolutely perfect for the part of Ruby Oliver. She sounded exactly the way I imagined Ruby would sound, and I will most likely continue this series in audiobook format (with print readalong) if I am able to. 


I recommend E. Lockhart’s The Boyfriend List to fans of Young Adult Contemporary Fiction with plenty of humor and a quirky female lead. I’ve seen this series compared to the this series but I don’t want to make that comparison at all. I agree that both have quirky and funny female leads but both seem different enough that I can enjoy them both without feeling like I am reading the same thing twice. 


**Sidenote: I like the cover I have pictured above WAY better than the cover with the frog on it. The white covers with the little figurines are kind of odd and creepy to me, although I can’t really describe why.