The Disreputable History Of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History Of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart is a cute and quirky coming-of-age story. It's something of a girl-power homage, with the heroine Frankie showing the boys at her preppy boarding school that she is not happy to just be a cute girlfriend, she wants to be their equal. And the way she shows them, no one will ever doubt her potential again...

This story follows Frankie on her sophomore year in an elite prep school after growing from ”a scrawny, awkward child with hands too big for her arms and a frizz of unruly brown fluff on her head” to ”curvy, lithe, and possessed of enough oomph to stop teenage boys in the street when they passed her”. With her new appearance, she finally gets her crush Matthew to notice her and she soon succeeds to become his girlfriend.

But Frankie will soon realize that getting the guy in your dreams is not always as fantastic in real life as you imagined. And when Frankie wants to impress Matthew’s friend Alpha and earn respect as an equal from him and Matthew by infiltrating their secret school club, the Bassets, things start to derail.

This is a fun and quirky story about finding out who you are and who you want to be seen by others. But also the costs it comes with to stay true to yourself and question the social boundaries.

”It’s better to be alone, than to be with someone who can’t see who you are. It’s better to lead than to follow. It’s better to speak up than to stay silent.”

I really like and admire Frankie’s sassiness, toughness and smartness, and how she stands up for herself and doesn’t take crap from anyone. But sometimes she just got on my nerves, being slightly too stubborn and immature. You don’t have to pick every fight all the time, you know… But still, you have to give Frankie credits for figuring out the main thing; it is important to be your own person and not to bend to others expectations.

I also really loved the writing style. It’s so fun and witty, and the dialog is superb. And the thing with the neglected positives was so spot on; I laughed so many times at how Frankie got on Matthew’s nerves by making up her own non-existing words.

So, all in all, this is a great story that I highly recommend. It’s both highly political and incredibly funny, and who doesn’t like to read about a girl totally kicking the boys’ asses?

Find out more about the books and the author here: e. lockhart