#18 of 2012: Real Live Boyfriends by e. lockhart
It’s the last book in the series (but let’s not cross our fingers on that!), and while it has a lot of things I would have wanted NOT to happen (like her and Elaine’s (her mother) fight over carnivorous-related stuff), I realized it was just exactly how Roo’s journey to finding luuurv and her self should turn out to be: real as it can be. List-maker Roo is still madness all around, such as she still writes to the goats in the zoo where she works, but I must applaud Lockhart’s brilliance in the careful crafting of her character, because in spite of her self-loathing and denials, Roo showed how far she had come from the horrors of sophomore year past, emotional and mental-wise. (Man, am I going to miss her sessions with the distracting poncho-and-Birkenstock-wearing Doctor Z!) She has even picked up an overdue hobby for her: docuventary, which I immensely enjoyed apart from the footnotes on films I should really get to watching!
Yay!s
-I am tempted to say LESSONS ON LOVE ARE THE BEST THINGS I’VE PICKED UP FROM THIS BOOK but to avoid making you cringe, I am going to narrow it down and say: SELF-APPRECIATION. Roo was not perfect but in time, she grew to accept her flaws, and even managed to WORK IT TO HER ADVANTAGE. How is THAT for inspiration??
-The poems Noel wrote to Roo via email when he was in New York!
-Hutch, her France-touring rock-metal fan of a friend! How nice is it that Roo could actually be JUST friends with a boy?? And E. Lockhart, would it be possible in the near future to write a story on this roly-poly? I would love to find out if French patisserie will be able to help him find someone who appreciates random AC/DC references!
-Roo had some happy times with her long-time crush and brother of her friend Nora, Gideon, who is in my imagination the epitome of hot surfer boy! (The bit about him a kissing slob is forgivable.)
Boo!s
-The girl on the cover, who is supposed to be Roo complete with the fishnet stockings BUT without the glasses, is adorable, sure but the animal covers - counting the snowman! - of the previous books in this series were radder! I tweeted E. Lockhart about it, and she did reply, but only to give me a repeat of a disappointment: No animal covers for RLB. Must be the change of publisher. I wonder what was wrong with Delacorte.
-Roo and Noel’s VERY ROCKY ROAD RELATIONSHIP. When I said there were things I didn’t want to happen in this story, I was talking mainly about this.
-The fact that I didn’t see more of Cricket and Kim, Roo’s old friends. YES, THEY ARE OLD FRIENDS, OLD BITCHY BACKBITING HORRIBLE FRIENDS, and that maybe E. Lockhart thought Roo was above such petty issues, BUT I WANTED CLOSURE. Maybe this is a sign that there could more books to come???
