I love Holly Bornes book and although this was YA i found it very relatable, I wish the YA had been as great of this when i was younger!

Great read for teens. This deals with many issues: bullying, relationships, family, abuse and friendships. The main character was likeable and you couldn’t help but root for her. The complexities of her family life were heartbreaking at times. I also liked the way it dealt with how friendships change over time, and sometimes end. A powerful read.

The book was sadly archived before I could download it on my Kindle, though I'm sure I would have enjoyed it, because I just love Holly Bournes books and always have!
I'm excited if I get the chance to read another one of her books!

I enjoyed this book a lot but I found the bright cheery colours of the cover very misleading considering the serious and sometimes dark subject matters of the story. I was expecting more of Mean Girls style story but what I got was a lot more adult than I’d expected.

I love Holly Bourne's writing. Everything I have ever read of hers has packed an almighty punch and The Yearbook is no different.

The Yearbook follows Paige's story. She is a quiet, unobstrusive girl who has made it her mission in life to blend in and not be noticed by anyone. It is her method of successfully getting through high school unscathed. However, when she is drafted in to work on the school yearbook her social anonymity is threatened.

But Paige has secrets of her own that she doesn't want anyone to find out. Her new role puts these secrets in danger of being discovered.

Holly Bourne absolutely nails the meanness of high school - this comes from a high school survivor and also someone who currently works in one. Bowling for Soup were right: High School Never Ends!

However, Holly Bourne doesn't just deal with one difficult issue. She peppers the story with others too and they really make The Yearbook feel complete. What Bourne is perhaps best at doing is how she doesn't patronise her readers. Not everything works out well in the end and sometimes life can suck harder than you ever thought it would. She trusts her readers to be able to handle harsh realities. This is Holly Bourne's strength as a writer.

They Yearbook by Holly Bourne is available now.

For more information regarding Holly Bourne (@holly_bourneYA) please visit www.hollybourne.co.uk.

For more information regarding Usborne (@Usborne) please visit www.usborne.com.

I loved this so much , yes it wasn’t an easy read at times, but so rewarding , although I had to give myself a breather at one point, Holly knows exactly how to create an atmosphere , but there is also plenty of humour , light moments and it is an uplifting story. This book is such an authentic insight into teen and school life, this covers a lot of issues but in a really sensitive and realistic way

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Yeaaaah.... Nope. This book is not gonna work for me. This is my first Holly Bourne and I could not connect to the book. The writing is all over the place and a lot of telling and not showing, which is just bad storytelling for me. I really hoped I would like it, because my best friend loves her books, but nope it's not for me.

DNF at 11%

I normally love Holly Bourne books but even as a 30 something year old reading this, I found it too triggering and had to DNF it. Not for me. I will not auto buy/ request Holly’s books anymore - I will thoroughly research the topics discussed in the book before buying in the future.

An AMAZING read! It was so hard to read at times but I believe it's such an important one. It reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower in all the best ways. This book is incredible, so quick to read, has adorable characters and is simply amazing.

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.

Holly Bourne blew me away again. She knows how to create an atmosphere and in this case, she did it so well, creating an oppressing atmosphere, that I had to take a little break from the book. But luckily, later on, there are some uplifting and humorous moments.
All in all, I think that Holly Bourne handled the themes of bullying and domestic abuse really well.

Holly Bourne writes real characters with plenty of humour and true to life drama. She is an author I am always happy to recommend as she has so many relevant and important messages in her books!

Another witty, true-to-life YA from Holly Bourne about navigating secondary school and the minefield of teen friendships.

Slightly disappointing YA; Holly's writing is great, but this did feel a little like a long Twitter thread in places. The main character is very very negative so I found it hard to get into this but once I was used to her narrative it was an easy enough read.

Thank you for providing access to this book. I'll be reviewing/featuring this book separately from NetGalley as I have purchased a copy.

Really enjoyed this, this is the first book I have read by Holly and now i am a bit addicted to her writing, this book covers some pretty intense topics and it was a little surprising because at surface level I thought this was going to be a much lighter read but saying that i still enjoyed this, loved the writing style and the MC's were likeable enough. I like the mean girls vibe of course, one of my favourite films when I was a teenager. It really didn't disappoint and I have even bought a few copies for a few different friends!

Thanks to Netgalley for the free arc in return of an honest review!!

I really enjoyed this book. It felt like a very authentic insight into school life and it touched up some important aspects of that. This is a book that would have been great for me in my early teenage years.

Holly Bourne is just one of those authors that I absolutely ADORE, each book brings something completely new and always gets to me in all of the right ways!

I think seeing Paiges home life and and her struggle, it genuinely puts things into perspective and it makes you feel all of the emotions.

Really really good!

I love, love, love Holly Bourne's books! Saying that, it took me a while to warm to Paige in The Yearbook. She was so withdrawn and isolated at the start of the story, which made her so much harder to get to know. Paige's home life is beyond awful and it’s no wonder that her character was so hidden. A victim of abuse, neglect and bullying, it’s not surprising that she has a hard time engaging with other people. A mysterious message in a school library book resonates with her and she eventually agrees to meet the defacer of some of her favourite stories. Potentially this could either be a complete disaster, leaving her open for more ridicule, or a genuine meeting of minds and a new start. You'll have to read it to find out…

Wow, wasn’t this book SO sadly relatable, even for those like me, who have finished high school a long time ago. Truth is I still remember being bullied back at school and it made me realize there are things you just don’t forget. I even remember my own yearbook and how one of my classmates accused me of “not being able to take a joke”, thank you for calling that out, Holly! Those jokes that were only funny for the bullies, not the ones being bullied. Looking back, for a moment, it feels silly even. “We were kids” is what always seems to come to mind. Reading this book, however, reminded me of how much this is an actual problem — a serious one. And Holly Bourne did an amazing job depicting it through this not-so-light read.

This is what I particularly loved about this book:

🧡 The growth of the main character
It’s amazing to see how Paige grows; first, literally, through the school years; then mostly as part of her inner journey towards self-acceptance and discovery. This is also where things get heavy though, because Paige deals with so much more than what happens at school.

🧡 The fast pace
Despite the book being much heavier than what the cover made it look like (not that much of a Mean Girls vibe), it never gets boring. It kept me curious to know more about Paige and her personal struggles, and what the next move of hers would be! Her path towards self-discovery until she was able to understand her core values and beliefs was an exciting one.

🧡 The romance
Who doesn’t like a little bit of romance? While it was not the central part of the story, it was sweet, cute, and even a bit unpredictable.

What I didn’t like so much:

🌧️ The cover-synopsis-content mismatch
I was in the mood for a light read, and I got everything but! While this ended up not being a bad thing, I wonder who might miss the content of this book because of the misleading cover and synopsis, or those who might feel disconnected from the book due to having wrong expectations.

Overall, “The Yearbook” was an emotional rollercoaster of a book that spoke a lot to me. I’m sure many will enjoy it, as long as they see past the colorful cover.