How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation

I am so glad that I ended up reading How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation on a weekend night so that I could read it in one sitting, without any guilt that I had to get to sleep in order to work the next day! I am not surprised that I loved the book as Elkeles is one of those authors that I can depend on to love everything that she writes.

Since I had just finished How to Ruin My Teenage Life, I could not wait to see the next chapter in Amy and Avi's life. Now I am left hoping that there will be notice of another book in the series. I loved seeing how the newest circumstances in the main characters lives taught me even more about their character and relationship. As can be expected, humor was a big part of the book, balanced out with more serious teenage drama/coming of age themes. I have previously mentioned that Elkeles' books always make me laugh, but I cannot remember if I pointed out that I also love how they also have a perfect blend of conflict mixed in to create a satisfying plot.

This scenario of having Amy agree to sign up for a military boot camp in Israel for the summer in order to get close to Avi had me snickering from the beginning. I was glad to see that some of her friends were going with her on the adventure and surprised that it was actually their idea. It was nice to have more familiar characters in the book than if Elkeles would have decided to just have Amy participating in the program. I enjoyed seeing how Amy's character evolved.

I always love to analyze the covers of books, to spend time taking in all the details and imagine what part of the book inspired the cover. I loved the cover of this book, but then it struck me that it does not really match up - the girl on the cover can't be Amy. For three books now a main topic that surfaces multiple times in each book is about her insecurities with the size of her chest. Last year in book clubs one of my students mentioned that a book cover bothered her because there was a little detail that just did not match up with the actual words. I wish that the book really captured Amy; however, the more I read books the more I realize that covers are not always a perfect match up. I guess I will just have to appreciate the aspects of the cover that do represent the way I imagine the words!

Although there are patterns that I have come to recognize and love with Elkeles writing, each book has its own unique events, making me wonder to the end about exactly what will happen. I can't wait to read more of Elkeles' books. I will take a little break before reading Leaving Paradise. After all I will need to get some rest, so I should probably save it for a Friday or Saturday night! Or it just might be a perfect read for winter break that is quickly approaching...