Reviews

The Yearbook by Holly Bourne

Only show reviews with written explanations

Mean Girls with a booksy twist.

Loved. As one 'high school' social misfit with my own book-related passion, I could identify very strongly with Paige. The British secondary school setting feels pretty realistic in this, takes me back 25 years. The technology may have moved on, but the worries and sorts of students that exist there - haven't.

Paige watches and stays quiet. She notes the bullies, the incidents, the lies that go on all the time around her at school. Not to mention at home. And feels she could say something, but doesn't. She wants to keep herself safe, to get through it, to come out the other side and leave. Not too much to ask is it?

But being given a special assignment for the class yearbook, and then finding hidden messages in library books sets her off down a path she hadn't dreamed she would follow. To finding, potentially a kindred spirit within the same school walls she suffers inside every day.

Her repressed life and world, one of books and keeping to the shadows, of observing but not doing. It was her world. Is it now?

Ohh this took directions that had me grinning. I just love a book about teenage readers, with quotes and passion for literature. Thank you Holly! There are some quite funny moments as we watch the bullies with Paige, as they celebrate their own gorgeousness and amazingness, and some equally sad ones as we see rumours lit and set ablaze for fun. Paige amuses, as she narrates for us the microcosm of the school world: "... there on the threshold... There they were. The terrible trio of tw*ts - a clusterf*** of populars." I might have choked.

The two main characters here are quirky-adorable, strong and unique and would make wonderful screen protagonists too. Paige's home life is a story in itself, with tension and some serious psychological unravelling to do, a lot there to unpick. But with a formidable aunt and d plot that you'll become entangled in.

Bourne dovetails Paige's home and school life nicely to show how her character set in the one has bled into her daily struggles in the other. And how in both she is constrained and unable to move outside her own boundaries without help.

It's a buoyant feeling I had at the end, with the end of the school year, with both storylines concluded, with a lot of development and action - please someone make this a film! We need these sort of characters on the screen as role models.

Paige's constant questioning of Alexa, her only friend at home to talk to, was both amusing and desperately sad. "Alexa, seriously, what is algebra?" "I felt a twinge of loneliness as I reminded myself how un-normal it is to have a robot instead of a friend."

This will hit a nerve with many, even those who aren't particularly bookish. Anyone who feels victimised, bullied, alone, not part of the social world of their school, anyone with dysfunctional families - this may bolster, cheer, motivate, or certain entertain and give some sympathy.

For ages 13 and above.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

ruusaer's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

greenpen's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Oh how I LOVE this book.
everyone felt real and not just a "character" in a book yk?
Didn`t feel bored while reading this book, not even once!

annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review

Go to review page

5.0

I think I read one Holly Bourne book until I started this one. What especially touched me in her book Soulmates was the rawness of it and how she managed to get me to feel all those emotions. I'm not much of a contemporary lover. I prefer my books with a little bit of magic and a little bit of fantasy, but the moment I saw this book and who the author was I got curious. I put it on the wishlist for the bookswap and I was so happy when I eventually got it!

The moment I started reading I could barely put the book down. The writing is addictive, the story is addictive and wanting to know how everything will end is addictive. It's not an easy or light story. It's a very raw story and especially when you grow attached to the heroine of this story, which you will, reading this story will hurt. She has the kind of life I don't wish on anybody. Luckily she also has the strength to slowly free herself from everyone who's holding her back.

Because that's what this story is about. In life there are countless of people thinking they can determine who you are. And if we believe what they say, if we let them tell our stories, there might come a point where you believe that all those stories other people have fabricated are true. The great and amazing and heroic ones. But also the ones making us helpless and powerless and invisible. But taking matters into your own hands and telling your own story, that's far from easy.

But this book shows us that it's doable. It's hard. It's not easy. It takes time and courage. There will be moments you're afraid, just like Paige. But you only need to find the right people and an opportunity. And Paige does that and I had the honor to watch her grow towards that one moment. I had the honor to see the ugliness of her life, the moments of loneliness and despair. But I also had the honor to see her overcome that.

It was amazing.