Customer Reviews

How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Camo is back in fashion for the summer, and Amy Nelson-Barak is ready to show off her style. Not in the states, however, but all the way in Israel.

After learning that her boyfriend, Avi, has to stay back for more training, Amy, along with her friends Miranda, Jessica, and the infamous Nathan, have all signed up for military boot camp that just so happens to be at the same base where Avi is currently training. SURPRISE!

Amy's plan is simple: go to boot camp, have the fun which the brochure advertises, and spend time with her Avi. But Amy should know that summers never turn out the way she expects.

Once there, Amy notices the lack of indoor plumbing, gourmet food, or ideal mattresses. It gets worse. They actually want her to train like how the real soldiers would! Even though the whole ordeal may not be Amy's cup of tea, she not only wants to make Avi proud, but she wants to prove her dad wrong. She vows to show him that she can survive without all of her necessities from back home - well, with the exception of make-up, hair straighteners, and designer sunglasses.

Already hating the environment, Amy is glad to finally see Avi, who just so happens to be the leader of her group. Little does she know that Avi has to keep their relationship professional, meaning they still won't have time to be alone together.

When things get bad, it has to get better... right? So what if Amy has to deal with bad meals and cold showers. The pretty girls there do not bother her either; she's the one that has Avi. Seems like the only thing that can bother Amy is a little secret that Avi has been keeping from her, that could just possibly tear them apart. Whoever said karma wasn't a big meanie?

Simone Elkeles makes each installment of this series better than the previous one. HOW TO RUIN YOUR BOYFRIEND'S REPUTATION is laugh-out-loud hilarious, all while Amy Nelson-Barak stays true to her character and true to her culture.

What I like best about this installment is that Simone Elkeles lets us into the minds and thoughts of soldiers and how they are proud to fight for their country and freedom. She delves into the misconceptions and beauty of Israel and lets us all see what a wonderful country it is. Amy Nelson-Barak is back, and this time she's a "warrior woman!"

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

This is more of a 3.5 rather than a 4. This time Amy's adventure takes her to Israeli Defence Force boot camp. And she has her friends with her also. But her motives are far different from theirs. She only wants to see Avi and spend time with him. Except he's a soldier now and can't just drop out of duty just to be with his girlfriend ( he has no idea she's arriving, I might add).

For the most part, again, this story was fun and Amy was as witty as ever. However she's taken a turn for worse by becoming a little too ignorant and whiny. She doesn't get why Avi can't spend time with her, or why they can't just make out like a boyfriend/girlfriend. She's naive to the max and it does become annoying after a while. She also gets a little too self-centred when it comes to her friends. Her whole world suddenly revolves around seeing Avi, speaking to Avi and getting Avi into trouble.

But by the end she does redeem herself and all loose ends are tied up. The ending didn't seem like a proper finale so I do hope the Elkeles thinks about writing a 4th.

Overall, not as good as the first two but heartwarming, funny and lighthearted.

What a great end to a great series! Amy's summer vacation is going to turn out a little different than she expected. She signs up for a program that lands her in a ten day army-training program in Israel. Others signed up for the program to become closer to their Jewish roots. However, Amy had ulterior motives; Avi is stationed there! Leave it to Amy to cause trouble within the first five minutes she lands on the army base. When Amy first sees Avi she expects him to be jumping for joy; of course, he doesn't. He even admits to Amy that he doesn't want her there. After a few arguments and sum unraveled truths, Amy and Avi end their struggling relationship. Regardless of how heartbroken she is, Amy decides to tough it out the rest of the army experience. Can Amy learn to put the past behind her and learn to fight for her relationship with Avi? The whole ten days is filled with funny, awkward, and sometimes sad moments; mix that with break-ups, hook-ups, and make-ups, then you know you have an excellent book!

This is my favorite of the three "How to Ruin..." books by Simone Elkeles. All the characters have been fleshed out in the previous books and are up to their hilarious antics in this book. Amy is impatient to see Avi and decides it would be great to surprise him at his military camp. She enrolls in summer boot camp with her friends from home and Avi is one of the instructors. He is surprised to see her and has some secrets of his own that are quickly discovered by Amy. Let's just say that the summer does not go as she planned, but it all works out.

First page:

Hi, my name is Amy Nelson-Barak. If you don't know me, I'm a seventeen-year-old American teenager with red, white, and blue blood running through my veins. You're probably wondering why right now I'm on a bus in Israel on my way to an Israeli boot camp.
Yes, I did say I'm in Israel. No need to rub your eyes and reread that.
And yes, I did say boot camp.
And before you think it's a boot camp for teens with behavioral disorders, I volunteered for this summer program all on my own. My friends signed up, too. Normally I wouldn't go anywhere near a program with the word military in it, especially during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, but when I realized what "military" base the boot camp is held at, I jumped to sign up - as a volunteer trainee.
You see, my boyfriend Avi is Israeli. He's in the IDF. I haven't seen him since he visited me over five months ago. He's a commando, he's nineteen years old, and is just about the hottest, most gorgeous gift God has ever put on this planet. And he's all mine. Well, to be technical, the Israeli military owns his body until he turns twenty-one, but I own his heart. And he owns mine.

I enjoyed reading this series and recommend it for summer reading or a long plane flight.

Would I/Did I buy it? Yes
Would I read it again? Yes
Would I recommend it to friends? Yes

I love all of Simone Elkeles' books but this series is definitely my favorite. . . in fact, after a summer spent reading about 5-6 books a week, I would say that this book is probably my favorite of all of them!

Amy is a wonderful Main Character. She is feisty and spunky, but also sensitive and a loyal friend. While it pulls on your heart strings in several places, and makes you swoon in others, my favorite thing about this book is the fact that I start smiling at page one and don't stop until the end - well, with the exception of when I spit coke all over the place from laughing out loud!

I really hope Simone decides to continue Amy and Avi's story one day. As much as I love the Fuentes brothers series, and believe me, I love that series and can't wait for the final book to come out, and as much as I love Leaving Paradise, THIS is her true masterpiece I think.

I seem to be reading a lot of books lately that are to a series and now knowing until after I have read the books. But knowing that about this book did not confuse me at all. I just learned that this was book 3. I had no problems following along and enjoying the book. So just to let everyone know, this is book #3!! =)


This was a very cute, fun and quick book to read. It had a lot of humor in it. Amy is a princess, not a real princess, but in the sense that she needs the best of everything. But when she gets to military camp and realizes that it's not a 5 star hotel, she wonders why she ever agreed to go.
The best part of the book is that her boyfriend, Avi, is her team leader. But the way that Amy remembers him from back home isn't the same way that Avi is now that he is back on his home land. In the military Avi can't pay attention to Amy and spend time with her, like the pictures in Amy's head as she was thinking about seeing him. But there is one big blow-out in the book that I did not see coming.. Avi has a little secret of his own and when Amy finds out, she is not happy!
This was a very cute YA book. Would recommend it to anyone who likes a quick, fun, and funny read!

I loved the first two in the series, and was really excited to read this one. Once I finally got to read it, there were a lot of things about it that disappointed me. First of all, it's the shortest book in the series and the pacing was pretty rough. This one had a really interesting premise and I know Simone Elkeles could've fleshed the boot camp experience out more. Character development was also kind of sketchy. In the last two books, Amy did a lot of soul searching and matured drastically but I felt like she was even more immature in this book than she was at the beginning of the series. This one was funny like all the others but not as much, and the romance wasn't as entertaining mostly because the same old thing happens: Amy and her boyfriend spend all this time apart, they finally get the chance to see each other, they end up fighting the whole time and break up, and then they work through it and get back together just before they have to say goodbye again. I loved it when Amy and her boyfriend got back together in the second book but, in this one, I was too tired of all the drama to really appreciate it. And their relationship is becoming more shallow to me the further in the series I go.

On a brighter note, I enjoyed learning more about Israel and the Israeli army. Even though this one wasn't my favorite, I have faith in Simone Elkeles as a writer and look forward to the other books she will publish in the future.

Where to begin? How about that this book is downright amazing. Amy goes to visit her boyfriend in Israel and she has to deal with surving in the desert for two weeks while figuring out something Avi was trying to hide from her. Amy is once again: hilarious and you get to have a better intro to Nathan and Jessica (Amy's best friend).

The first book in this series is still my favorite but this one comes close behind, leaving the second one for last (which I didn't enjoy as much as I wanted to).

Will I reread it?
Oh yeah, of course. I absolutly adore this series and everything Simone Elkeles puts Amy through.

Hopefully Simone will pull a few more books out of her creative sleeve so we all can read more about Amy and Avi.

Hi, my name is Amy Barak-Nelson. My mom is a Nelson and my dad is a Barak and just in case you were wondering, I'm aware I have two last names. If you don't know me, I'm a seventeen year old American teenager with red, white, and blue blood running through my veins. You're probably wondering why right now I'm on a bus in Israel on my way to an Israeli boot camp.
In Simone Elkeles' third book of her "How To" series, How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation, you don't have to wonder long. Amy Barak-Nelson--drama queen--holds nothing back. This Chicago princess has signed up for one week of Israeli boot camp in order to see her boyfriend, Avi, who is stationed there. Accompanied by her friends, Amy deals with the heat, her hair, the language, and the unexpected discovery that her boyfriend has kissed another girl behind her back. The Israeli boot camp experience provides challenges for the Americans, but no real danger. Although the tone of the narrative is always fun and light-hearted, this book offers themes that include friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, as well as pride in Israel. Some readers might find Amy shallow or superficial, but all will find her fun loving, and when it counts, able to pull it together. Chick lit readers will love this series. The humorous tone and content is suitable for readers as young as 12. For readers 12 and up. Sara Aronson