3.75

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The characters were interesting and the plot was good too. It was very reminiscent of older YA dystopian in tone.
Easy and fast to read, with some interesting comments on society and its beauty standards.
I will say that some of the language used in replacement of the words we'd use in real life, felt a bit weird.
But overall it was an enjoyable read.

Set in a dystopian near future, where girls are expected to conform to exacting beauty standards and are constantly scrutinised and graded. Beauty comes at a price. And girls must pay. In Belle and Joni's world there are two options for girls: like Belle - follow the rules of the Doctrine - apply your Mask, work hard to be crowned at the Ceremony, be a Pretty. Or be like Joni - leave your face bare, work hard to escape to the Education, be an Objectionable. Bella, the highest rated ‘pretty’ in school, clashes with Joni, an ‘objectionable’ who refuses to follow the norms and wishes to be herself. The two girls initially clash and eventually work together to subvert the Doctrine.
This novel was really enjoyable and will hit a nerve with many young people today – is this so unbelievable when we look at our own attitudes and exposure to social media? It has been described as Uglies meets The Handmaid's Tale for the new YA generation, and that’s a pretty fair description. Read it and throw away your eyelash curlers forever!

Thank you for my earc of this book. Though I liked the premise, I found the world building a bit frustrating and struggled to get into it so I DNF

A great book from Holly, I really enjoyed the plot and the characters and I found myself hooked. Thank you netgalley for the review copy!

This was such a powerful read. I'd head good things about this book but it was so much more impactful than I was expecting. Holly is such a skilled writer, really simple (but deliberate) changes to ordinary phrasing e.g. 'make up' to 'mask' was so jarring and really makes you realize just how dystopian our own world is.

I have reviewed this book as part of my monthly reading wrap-up upn my YouTube channel. My full thoughts can be found in this video https://youtu.be/1KHzjIO0HvQ?si=OsEWu49BfztMnH9L

The kind of book that everyone should read. The barbie movie in a book, but angrier. I truly think this is a book that could be added to school/uni reading lists in years to come for the discussions it provokes and the mirror it holds up to society.

This book puts you through it. I was angry throughout - angry for what Belle was putting herself through to please other people, angry at myself for wanting to see her Validated and “succeed”, angry about what Joni was being put through for being her genuine, compassionate self, and angry at the Doctrine entirely and everyone (especially the male characters) for upholding it. The dual POV worked fantastically to show you the duality of trying to exist in this society, between being a Pretty or an Objectionable.

I thought the ending was fantastic and the most authentic it could have been to fit the rest of the story, and I like where things ended on a indefinite and vague note with Belle and Joni. A book I will be recommending to people for a long time!

I inhaled dystopian YA books back in the day, but I think I over binged on them and they don't really do it for me anymore. However Holly Bourne wrote this one, and I love her smart feminist themes, so I had to add You Could Be So Pretty to my TBR.

YA dystopia is the perfect outlet for exploring rebellion against oppressive regimes, and I think the premise worked well here. However the world building felt a little bit simplistic, and straight forward for me personally.

But I enjoyed Holly's thought provoking social commentary, and watching the growth of her main character was inspiring. I think it's an engaging read for younger people, and I'd recommend as a great place to start empowering discussions around gender equality.

This is on my teen MUST READ list. A dystopian future or reality today? Barbie movie fans, you’ll like this one!
When I started reading this book I thought it a bit far-fetched, but as I read through it, I was shocked to realise that this is today’s reality. Whilst gender equality is a topic that gets more vocal by the day, the underlying bias still exists and needs a lot more work to see true change vs lip service. Only by calling it out and making this unconscious bias more visual and thus more recognisable will real progress be made. Holly Bourne captures the angst, insecurities and pressures of the teen years. The underlying issue is not new, but technology exaggerated the unfairness and puts a spotlight on it.
There shouldn’t be a divide of pretty but useless or intelligent but ugly. Women must be seen for their whole selves and not judged solely on external appearance. Take care of yourself of course, but don’t go to extremes. No-one should have to sacrifice mental and physical health to achieve a look simply to please other people. It’s a mind-shift that’s needed.
Why are women still used as “eye candy”? How many almost naked men do you see in advertising. How many men are seen as props at car shows or race meets?
A note to parents. This is a teen book and has content around relationships. Although aimed at teenage girls, I think that if you have sons to, try to get them to read it too and read it yourself. Have a family discussion about it; whether they resonate with the story, what do they think? Are there elements of their views and behaviour that they will modify based on what they read?

This well written dystopian novel has to be read to truly experience its brilliance.

It truly makes you think and is such an important subject matter for all women and anyone really to experience first hand and read about.

A must read!

You Could Be So Pretty

I wasn't sure how I felt about this on upon starting it, reading it made me uncomfortable but as I read further in I feel like Holly Bourne is a genius. It is supposed to be based in an dystopian future but how far is it into the future as it felt pretty real to me it is disconcertingly accurate to how such things are viewed in society today and how girls and women are constantly being told how important looks are. Some of the pressures that have been thrust upon young girls to always strive to look their best and that if they don't look the best that they can how others judge their appearance and that they won't be offered opportunities based on other abilities or if they are the right person for the job.

I absolutely loved the way Holly told this story, through two scintillating characters who are polar opposites despite this and their differences they changed each other’s lives in such a positive and enlightening way.
There were some comments on p**n and how men have this presumption that they are entitled and can just take what they feel is rightfully owed to them hit the nail on the head for me.

It is a scary thought that we live in such a world now, there is so much focus on social media, young girls dream of being tiktok stars and follow influences they see on these forums. it is a dangerous game and Holly Bourne has wrote a book that has me feeling thankful that I parent boys.
I honestly just think it’s a must read not only for girls but for boys because it is very insightful even in this day in age, I think it would be a good one to read and discuss with teenagers.

Thanks to Usborne Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.

I am a huge fan of Holly Bourne books and was very excited to read this one. We have already purchased it for our school library. I found this one harder to get into than her other books and it has taken me a long time to get through it. I really like the idea of the story and the dystopian feel. However, I feel that it was a little too obvious what the storyline was about which made it feel a little predictable. It wasn’t one of my favourites of Bourne but I will still recommend it to my students.

If you loved Barbie you will love this. So many times I couldn’t tell if this was dystopia or our actual reality. What a great read.

I absolutely loved this take on dystopian fiction. The entire concept was well executed and even the finer details were really well thought out. I will be recommending this to all the teenagers I teach!

Holly Bourne back again with a hard hitting, painful, amazing book.
This one hurt at times. It was raw and amazing. I fell into it and could not stop reading. I thought I was reading it sapphic cause I read a lot of sapphic books and I just transferred it there but no, this one is for gays. Be careful though. Read the trigger warnings.
Anyway, this was great, I loved both main characters. I loved seeing the growth in Belle and I was rooting for them the entire time. This is the kind of book I was to buy for everyone and I'd like everyone to read. Basically, another masterpiece by Holly Bourne that will leave a mark.

What I thought was going to be a book based on body image, with a natural vs made up highschool drama, was a serious, dark tale that warns of where society is heading and the issues surrounding our young people. Nothing gets missed, with male entitlement, porn, social media, peer pressure, filters and plastic surgery all getting highlighted for the dangers they are.
I really enjoyed this and thought that the development of the two main characters was excellent.
An important read for all, but particularly our young adults.

This was very well written but I couldnt get into the topics being covered.

I love the way Holly explored some very serious issues and was able to play them out through her characters

An absolutely wonderful, feminist powerhouse of a novel from Holly Bourne! It has the usual Holly wit alongside some incredibly impactful messages that will stay with you long after finishing.

I've read and enjoyed Holly Bourne's adult books previously so requested this one without realising it was YA. Regardless, the characters are really strong, I liked and empathised with both of the lead characters and I enjoyed the - somewhat predictable - premise. I do think there is a lot left out though that we are expected to just accept. I would have liked to have seen some chapters set in the past that delved into exactly how the world got to this point where The Doctorine rules. It felt a bit like all that was glossed over which ultimately made it hard to grasp exactly why everyone became some accepting of this way of life. I was also disappointed by the ending, it felt like things ended pretty abruptly and there was a lot left open although perhaps this will eventually pave the way for a sequel. Overall, this is a powerful and very thoughtful read that tackled a lot of emotive and important topics and I'd highly recommend it for young adults.

Unfortunately I just didn’t get on with the language used in this book - I felt like there were too many code words used to make the story feel more dystopian and I think it just made the story difficult to enjoy.