boyfriend buzz

I recently reviewed Lockhart's The Boyfriend Book, which is the sequel to the previously quite hot Boyfriend List. Well, I wanted the full picture, so I checked out the audio of the first book. So, today, I can discuss both books with you. First off, I wanted to know, "What is all the buzz about?" Well, let me tell you, I don't know the answer to that. I mean, they were pretty good, but no Harry Potter or Twilight or anything. Nonetheless, let me tell you a bit about it and let's just see if you are interested in reading it for yourself.
We have the same main character of each novel: Seattle-based Ruby who attends a private school and is a high school underclassman. The main issue is her breakup with Jackson and subsequent events, one of which involves accepting an invitation to the dance with him AFTER he has begun to date her former best friend. I should mention the very non-linear format of this first book. At some point Ruby explains that she is seeing a therapist because of the post-breakup panic attacks she suffered. The therapist recommends writing a list of any and all semi-boyfriends and crushes. Each "chapter" is a discussion of that guy with her therapist and then flashbacks of the stories about them. But they are in no way in chronological order. Eventually you do get around to the actual breakup story, which reeks of him cheating on her with her former best friend. Then you wonder about what she did after the breakup that was so awful that all of her friends abandonded and isolated her. Well, it comes around at the very end FINALLY. She initiates a kiss with him during the dance. She shouldn't have accepted the "date" anyway. That's my opinion. It was ok- I guess teen girls like it because they relate to the different stories of dating life. And I was enjoying it, but at the end, we got into a bit too much detail with her older friend's personal relationship.
Now, on that note, the second book was a lot more of that TMI. So, first a warning, you'll be reading quite a bit about what the girls do and don't do with their boyfriends- and random guys that they sometimes just hook up with. OKAY. Not a cutesy little teeheehee we're holding hands book. This title is The Boyfriend Book, which comes from the first novel. Ruby mentions the boyfriend book created by her and her three friends many times. She talks about referencing it and making entries with her friends. So here the author includes many excperts from said book. They fit in with her stories as she remembers the good times, tries to reconnect with some of the alienated friends, and works to make new friends. I don't think it will be as sought-after as the first. But it's got a pretty good message at the end, which the first novel kinda lacked. So together, they make a whole.