Play Me

Play Me seems like a gothic Dawson's Creek. Although, unlike Dawson, Eddy is quite the ladies man. In the beginning my first impression of Eddy was terrible; he is a young kid that only has one thing on his mind involving every girls pants. Then once Lucinda enters the picture my impressions of

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Eddy changed drastically. He may be a young man with an overactive sex drive, but I also found him to be a very well rounded character and a genuinely good person that makes many bad decisions. Lucinda on the other hand was a complicated character in my eyes; Eddy's impression of this character sang from the pages, but I saw descrepencies between what Eddy was seeing and what the story was telling me. I felt that Lucinda was very cut throat and a questionably good person. In the end I was comfortable with role that Gina takes on, and Eddy's desicion to seek comfort from her in the end was a very impressive twist. The unexpected trip to see Eddy's mother was quite a shock, but I felt that it was essential to wrapping up this story. This was a good read for the ages recommended, but as a adult that generally loves young adult books I did not find this book to be that great and I can not see myself giving it a return visit.

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I was definitely too old to read and enjoy this book. I didn't understand the many movie references, I felt no sympathy (or empathy) for the main character and I just didn't care what happened to him...I felt like slapping him around and tell him to "get a grip". The little brother was a great (and

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sad) character. This is a book where the supporting characters are more developed than the main character. I have liked this author in the past; but this one just didn't work for me.

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I would recommend this book to a friend because I found it very interesting, it has humor, and some serious stuff in it. It has a good story line. Q4P4 AHS/Jenna G

Eddy likes girls and sex, and doesn’t understand why they so often think it’s more than sex. He’s a jerk and a bit of a slut, but his complete obliviousness to the hurt he causes makes him somehow harder to hate. You want to hate him sometimes because he’s just too confident and so

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thoughtless, but he loves his little half-brother (who might be his full brother) and his parrot Tippi Hedren, who quotes Hitchcock. He likes to drive and make movies with his friends Rory and Joe. They’re currently in an MTV contest to be on a reality show called The Producers. Eddy’s life is their show, Riot Grrl 16.

Then Lucinda Dulko walks back into his life. He falls quickly and ignores the other problems in his life. Like I said, Eddy is thoughtless. He believes Riot Grrl 16 will win the contest and makes no contingency plans. He ignores his dad and other dad’s advice because he believes he knows best. He pays no attention to Joe, who has begun to explore religion. (PLAY ME briefly mentions the events of GOOD GIRLS, but no knowledge of that novel is necessary to this one. It is, however, a good read.)

I like Laura Ruby and I liked Edward Rochester. PLAY ME was less likeable. There are high points, many of them, but they’re followed by dull stretches. The different storylines seem episodic, and some move quickly while others drag. The scene where Lucinda gives Eddy a new tennis racket was vivid, tense, and foreshadowed their break-up. The scene where Eddy and the others met with MTV execs felt like a generic naïve kids meet Hollywood types and couldn’t end fast enough.

It’s painful to see Eddy come apart, because even though he deserves it and will probably be better for it, the book does rest almost entirely on his voice. To see him lose his confidence and cool is painful. But it all comes to a hopeful ending, one that could be happy if Eddy takes the chances he’s been given. Besides liking Eddy, I also liked his relationships with his family and with Gina. Meatball, his little brother, is weird without being overly precious and he makes me think of Harold from Harold and Maude, which is always a plus. Eddy and Gina’s relationship is subtle, and Ruby manages to convey quite a bit considering Eddy’s lack of anything resembling a clue, and their very real relationship is a nice contrast to Eddy’s fairy tale relationship with Lucinda.

It’s also fun to play spot-the-cultural-reference. Sometimes Ruby uses something’s real name, other times she changes it (probably for copyright purposes). However, there’s more than enough material to keep a movie fan happy. I’m glad my ex-roommate was a TCM addict. I know my Hitchcock well enough to understand the references, Vertigo being the only somewhat important one. (By the way, don’t try to watch Vertigo and do something else at the same time. You’ll have no clue what’s going on within five minutes.)

PLAY ME will entertain those familiar or unfamiliar with GOOD GIRLS. Ruby writes wonderful young adult and middle grade novels, and I look forward to her future releases.

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