The Manifesto on How to be Interesting by Holly Bourne

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher Usborne in exchange for an honest review. However, this fact does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Apparently I’m boring. A nobody. But that’s all about to change. Because I am starting a project. Here. Now. For myself. And if you want to come along for the ride then you’re very welcome.

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. Most of the time she hates her life, her school, her never-there parents. So she writes.

But when she’s told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

From the bestselling author of Soulmates comes a fearlessly frank take on school, cliques and crushes.

Source: Goodreads

 

My review:

You might remember that I read Holly Bourne’s debut novel, Soulmates, last year and that I loved it. So when I heard about her new book, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting, I was of course interested in reading it, especially since the summary sounded great.

And while I didn’t love this book as much as I loved Soulmates, I still liked it as it was very entertaining and serious at the same time.

The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting reminded me of the movie Mean Girls because it also dealt with high school popularity and dramas, and since I love the movie, I definitely liked this aspect of the book. And while I had to laugh out loud many times because the narrator Bree is hilarious, sarcastic and witty, the novel also dealt with serious issues such as bullying, forbidden relationships and self-harm.

Bree was a great narrator and I definitely felt for her because she didn’t fit in at her high school and didn’t have any girl friends. But as soon as she becomes more interesting and changes the way she looks, the popular kids start noticing her. But Bree soon learns that even the popular girls aren’t as perfect as they seem and that each of them has her own secrets and issues.

What I didn’t like about the book was the romance because the love interests weren’t really great in my opinion. We have Bree’s best friend who is a nice guy, but Bree isn’t really in love with him. Then we have the typical popular guy who just uses girls, and then we have Bree’s teacher who seems like the only person who can really understand Bree. But none of them really suited her and thus, I didn’t like Bree’s involvement with any of these three male characters.

So the romance let me down a little, but the setting made up for it. I just loved that this book was set in England since I like to read books that are set in the United Kingdom.

All in all, The Manifesto on How to Be Interesting was an entertaining YA novel told by a very clever narrator. The book deals with difficult themes and manages to deliver an important message at the end of the book, and that’s why I really liked it!

Rating:

3.5 out of 4 stars

Note: I would like to thank Usborne for sending me this great review copy!

Andreea