How to Ruin My Teenage Life - Simone Elkeles

Title : How to Ruin My Teenage Life #2

Series : How To Ruin

Author : Simone Elkeles

Date Read : January 17, 2013

Synopsis :

In this sequel to How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, EVERYTHING in sixteen-year-old Amy Nelson Barak's life is going wrong! Her mom got married and moved to the suburbs, and now they are going to have a baby. Amy moves in with her dad in Chicago and signs him up for an online dating service. His first four dates are that night . . . What else? Her dog Mutt impregnated her grumpy neighbor's prized poodle, so Amy will actually have to get a part-time job to pay for half the veterinary bill. And there's this totally annoying boy, Nathan Rubin, who just moved into her apartment building. Luckily, Amy has a cute boyfriend named Avi. Only he's more like a non-boyfriend considering Avi is in the Israeli army for the next three years. What's a girl to do when everyone is conspiring to ruin her life?

Review :

This is the second book of How To Ruin series. Amy has returned to her homeland Chicago and Avi is currently joining the army and training to be a commando for three years. Their relationship is still complicated and Amy can only call him as her non-boyfriend. Reading Amy's POV is very entertaining because she is the real picture of a teenager. Amy is the typical of girl who do/say things now and regret it later. She is so spontaneous in everything but so loyal to her best friend Jess. 

Nobody's life is perfect. Not yours, not mine, and certainly not Amy's. She's sixteen turns to seventeen, and she's about to have a sister. Avi is a million miles away from her, her father Ron is very protective when it comes to boys, and there's a new neighbor named Nathan who called Amy 'Barbie'.  

I always love the conversation between Amy and her father. It's very intriguing to see how Ron tries to deal with her teenager daughter. He is very protective and caring to Amy which sometimes will make Amy rolled her eyes. Seeing how her mother has married with another man, Amy wants her father to find his love partner as well. So Amy secretly signed his father on online dates which gets her into big trouble.

"You know what your problem is?
"Yes, I have a daughter who insists she knows everything."
"That's not your problem, Aba. That's your blessing."

Before Amy went to Israel, she hates her father, but now she is so thankful that she's been there and met all of his father's family and Avi, his non-boyfriend. 

"I love you, Amy Nelson-Barak. From the moment I laid eyes on you I couldn't stop looking at you. From the moment we talked I couldn't stop arguing with you. From the moment we kissed I couldn't stop kissing you. And from the moment we shared our hopes, fears and insecurities I couldn't stop loving you."

I was a bit frustrated at first when I thought Amy will forget about Avi and fall in love with another guy, but I guess this is part of her being a teenager, to find her true identity, what she wants to be, who she wants to be with, etc. Amy isn't the one who misses Avi, I also miss that guy. And I appreciate that there's no SBM yet until now.

"You don't need handcuffs to bind me to you. I'm yours without them."

"You're the only girl I know who expect life to be perfect and get pissed off when it's not. You're the girl who's not only beautiful and has a kick-ass body, but you're funny when you don't mean to be and would rather eat dirt than back down from a fight."

Rating : 4/5
Series : How to Ruin
1) How to Ruin a Summer Vacation - Simone Elkeles
2) How to Ruin My Teenage Life - Simone Elkeles
3) How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation - Simone Elkeles