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A review by labunnywtf
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
5.0
Despite the fact that it is She Who Shall Be Shunned who recommends this, I am interested in giving it a try.
(It is, after all, her fault I'm a fan of John Green)
-----
When there's a negative word or expression-- immaculate for example-- but the positive is almost never used, and you choose to use it, you become rather amusing. Or pretentious. Or pretentiously amusing, which can sometimes be good.
----
He had brought her Strawberry mentos, after all. Shouldn't that be enough?
See status update re: stupid fucking themes in Twilight done properly in other works. The "I want to be with my boyfriend no matter what" is in play with this book, but it's done the right way, and it thrills me to no end.
-----
I will admit here and right now (for now) (only) (and only about books) that Lisa is right in her book recommendations.
And only books recommendations.
Because otherwise she sucks. Ask her to show you the John Green-signed proof of such.
This book is beyond every definition of awesome. Frankie is such a fantastic heroine. Not a Katniss heroine, kicking ass and taking names. She's smart, and sharp. You see that intelligence and wit grow as the book progresses, though she's not too shabby when we open.
She starts as Bunny Rabbit, a name that is given to her to equate her with softness and fluffiness. She's just a girl, a girl who's blossomed and is beautiful, but is still not really meant for much other than looking pretty and eventually finding a boyfriend to take care of her. She mentions it herself, that she's being put into the box. The box of beautiful, sensitive (not too sensitive), attentive, but not too curious. All these bunny boxes that she's not interested in nesting in.
Being that my nickname has been Bunny for almost 20 years, I don't consider being a Bunny to be anything close to softness and light.
Luckily, Frankie doesn't end up being quite the sociopath I am.
And it actually irks me that at the end, after all of these amazing and fantastical escapades she's masterminded, everyone starts shoving her into a new box. The Psychopath Box.
I can understand the headmaster flipping out (though not really, the pranks were harmless and brilliant), but for everyone to tell her she needs medication and therapy?
Pfft. Rich people.
There is a thread that was left hanging, though. All through the book, Alpha and Matthew seem to be having some kind of pissing contest when it comes to Frankie. It didn't seem in any way like a jealousy thing, neither that Alpha was jealous of Frankie for taking away Matthew, or that he was jealous of Matthew for dating Frankie. But this whole, "I can't talk to Matthew, and you know why."
No. No, we don't. Why, again?
A part of me was hoping it would turn out that Alpha was actually gay, and was interested in Matthew, but that didn't happen. Would've been a fantastic twist.
The pranks were so brilliantly thought out, I am in awe of Ms Lockhart. The neglected positives, I wish my brain worked fast enough to come up with those on the spur of the moment. So fun, so unexpected. It takes my obsession with using vocabulary too big for regular conversation and turns it up to 11.
Indubitably.
Lastly, here's my thing about themes in YA done better than Twilight.
Frankie becomes obsessed with keeping Matthew in her life. She wants to be part of his life, part of his world (insert singing here), and goes so far as to essentially stalk him to find out what the hell is going on.
Now. In the hands of some Stephenie Meyers who shall remain nameless, this is pathetic, and sad, and sets women back about 100 years.
But here's the thing. She doesn't just want to keep her boyfriend. She wants to keep the life that exists around her boyfriend. The dog pack, as they were, were this group of guys (and their occasionally vapid girlfriends...did anyone else picture Sara Gilbert from Roseanne as Elizabeth She-Wolf?) who lived larger than life. She came from a group of "geeks" who were great fun, had parties, were a world she was good at.
But she wanted more. She wanted in to this world. Sitting at the senior table when no one else was there was trying to become part of the world. It wasn't about needing to be there to spend time with her luuuurve, it was about, "Hey, I'm part of you guys now, so I will sit here in my spot until the rest of you arrive."
Being part of the Snoopy Dog Society (heh) was part of that. It was part of that world. And sadly, being part of it was a HUGE let down. She wanted to enact change. She wanted to plan these over-the-top pranks and damn the man, save the empire, and the pack she wanted so badly to be a part of were like, "Cool. Let's go drink beer."
This is the theme of, "Oh, no, my boyfriend is going to leave me," but with the best. possible. twist. I cannot express enough how much I loved this book.
FLB, if she were a real person, would grow up to smash the patriarchy to bits and pieces. I hope there are millions of FLBs in the world, just waiting for their chance.
(It is, after all, her fault I'm a fan of John Green)
-----
When there's a negative word or expression-- immaculate for example-- but the positive is almost never used, and you choose to use it, you become rather amusing. Or pretentious. Or pretentiously amusing, which can sometimes be good.
----
He had brought her Strawberry mentos, after all. Shouldn't that be enough?
See status update re: stupid fucking themes in Twilight done properly in other works. The "I want to be with my boyfriend no matter what" is in play with this book, but it's done the right way, and it thrills me to no end.
-----
I will admit here and right now (for now) (only) (and only about books) that Lisa is right in her book recommendations.
And only books recommendations.
Because otherwise she sucks. Ask her to show you the John Green-signed proof of such.
This book is beyond every definition of awesome. Frankie is such a fantastic heroine. Not a Katniss heroine, kicking ass and taking names. She's smart, and sharp. You see that intelligence and wit grow as the book progresses, though she's not too shabby when we open.
She starts as Bunny Rabbit, a name that is given to her to equate her with softness and fluffiness. She's just a girl, a girl who's blossomed and is beautiful, but is still not really meant for much other than looking pretty and eventually finding a boyfriend to take care of her. She mentions it herself, that she's being put into the box. The box of beautiful, sensitive (not too sensitive), attentive, but not too curious. All these bunny boxes that she's not interested in nesting in.
Being that my nickname has been Bunny for almost 20 years, I don't consider being a Bunny to be anything close to softness and light.
Luckily, Frankie doesn't end up being quite the sociopath I am.
And it actually irks me that at the end, after all of these amazing and fantastical escapades she's masterminded, everyone starts shoving her into a new box. The Psychopath Box.
I can understand the headmaster flipping out (though not really, the pranks were harmless and brilliant), but for everyone to tell her she needs medication and therapy?
Pfft. Rich people.
There is a thread that was left hanging, though. All through the book, Alpha and Matthew seem to be having some kind of pissing contest when it comes to Frankie. It didn't seem in any way like a jealousy thing, neither that Alpha was jealous of Frankie for taking away Matthew, or that he was jealous of Matthew for dating Frankie. But this whole, "I can't talk to Matthew, and you know why."
No. No, we don't. Why, again?
A part of me was hoping it would turn out that Alpha was actually gay, and was interested in Matthew, but that didn't happen. Would've been a fantastic twist.
The pranks were so brilliantly thought out, I am in awe of Ms Lockhart. The neglected positives, I wish my brain worked fast enough to come up with those on the spur of the moment. So fun, so unexpected. It takes my obsession with using vocabulary too big for regular conversation and turns it up to 11.
Indubitably.
Lastly, here's my thing about themes in YA done better than Twilight.
Frankie becomes obsessed with keeping Matthew in her life. She wants to be part of his life, part of his world (insert singing here), and goes so far as to essentially stalk him to find out what the hell is going on.
Now. In the hands of some Stephenie Meyers who shall remain nameless, this is pathetic, and sad, and sets women back about 100 years.
But here's the thing. She doesn't just want to keep her boyfriend. She wants to keep the life that exists around her boyfriend. The dog pack, as they were, were this group of guys (and their occasionally vapid girlfriends...did anyone else picture Sara Gilbert from Roseanne as Elizabeth She-Wolf?) who lived larger than life. She came from a group of "geeks" who were great fun, had parties, were a world she was good at.
But she wanted more. She wanted in to this world. Sitting at the senior table when no one else was there was trying to become part of the world. It wasn't about needing to be there to spend time with her luuuurve, it was about, "Hey, I'm part of you guys now, so I will sit here in my spot until the rest of you arrive."
Being part of the Snoopy Dog Society (heh) was part of that. It was part of that world. And sadly, being part of it was a HUGE let down. She wanted to enact change. She wanted to plan these over-the-top pranks and damn the man, save the empire, and the pack she wanted so badly to be a part of were like, "Cool. Let's go drink beer."
This is the theme of, "Oh, no, my boyfriend is going to leave me," but with the best. possible. twist. I cannot express enough how much I loved this book.
FLB, if she were a real person, would grow up to smash the patriarchy to bits and pieces. I hope there are millions of FLBs in the world, just waiting for their chance.