Love. This. ( )

I liked this book and tagged it as a Twilight-alternative because girls who want to be Bella should get a load of Frankie Landau-Banks. She will rock their worlds.

This book wasn't perfect (I agree with Michelle that the author overused the imaginary negatives, and I agree that the first half was better than the second), but I couldn't put it down.

I also studied Foucault's take on the panopticon (but, uh, in my junior year of college, not sophomore year of high school) and I thought it was great to bring that level of criticism into what is essentially a teenage saga of love and revenge.

But is it really just a saga? There are a lot of big ideas in this book. It could spark some really interesting conversations about feminism, gender equality, class distinctions, civil disobedience, and social hierarchy.

I think it totally should've beat [b:What I Saw and How I Lied|4052117|What I Saw And How I Lied|Judy Blundell|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41IFVJpVjjL._SL75_.jpg|4099124] for the NBA.
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both the language and plot were smartly written, and i like that. story line was intriguing enough to keep me turning pages. language and frankie's neglected positives were an added treat and delight. frankie is the girl i wish i was in high school. ( )

An extremely smart book. Finally, an empowered teen girl! What a refreshing concept. ( )

Read this for my Gender Construction in YA literature class. I really liked it - and paired with the readings from class, found the story quite interesting ( )

My disappointment in this book is probably to be expected considering that it came so highly recommended by a friend, and that I had immediately read The Fault of Our Stars by John Green before picking up The Disreputable History. There just is no comparison, and I was expecting something utterly amazingsauce.

It was okay, I guess. The plot was amusing even if I didn't happen to like any of the characters much - it's hard to like a character if you're not sure who they are. I built no emotional attachment to Frankie, who I thought was a bit of a brat. A genius brat, but a brat still the same. Even she didn't know why she did the things she did.

Also, the ebook was horribly formatted, which just annoyed me. ( )

I felt better about this book after I learned from an author interview that the narrator - a teenage girl at a prestigious boarding school - was supposed to be a little crazy. Don't get me wrong - I really liked the book. It is about a girl who gets involved in an old patriarchal tradition at her school and secretly messes with the boys who are in it, which involves tricking and lying to her boyfriend. The characters are very complex and intriguing, and the story addresses some very large social questions about tradition and gender. However, I was a bit creeped out by how obsessive the narrator was. ( )

Woah! Hard-core rebellion. Frankie, you rock! God bless, conquer the world! I dare you.
If a girl need inspiration for world dominance this is it.

FINAL VERDICT: READ IT! SPREAD THE WORD! ( )

Young girls need to read books like this and figure out what exactly it means to be a teenage girl. I hope Frankie grows up to be of the criminal mastermind variety rather than go the legal route and she should set her sights on taking down Matthew Livingston first. ( )

This book enlightens and entertains! Young Adult literature geared towards girls nowadays is filled with inane plots, reckless label worship, and shallow characterizations. Any novel that tries to elevate above the trend gets lost in its own self-important message. With The Disreputable History…, E. Lockhart comes at the reader hard with an important message but the story never loses is humor or warmth nor does it every come across as preachy. To quote The New York Times, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is “A homage to girl-power, the novel offers biting social commentary throughout [but] not the kind that deadens a story but the kind that gives it punch….” The novel will give girls “who have experienced a double standard but lacked the precise words to name it.”

The chapter “The Neglected Positive” gives a rather lengthy etymological lesson about Frankie’s language quirks. This chapter jerked me out of the story and nearly brings the smooth readability of the book to a screeching halt. Once you get past those ten pages, it was easy to fall back into the flow of the novel.

The big reveal at the conclusion of the novel had an unexpected emotional punch to the gut that adds to the book’s ability to be unforgotten. When Frankie pleads with her boyfriend to understand why she did what she did, I dare you not to get choked up.
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Teen fiction. National Book Award Finalist. A lot cleverer than I expected, with a heroine that anyone would admire. She does get a bit tiresome with all her neglected positives (a la Wodehouse) but all in all a splendid story.

Readalikes to recommend: Getting the Girl ( )

I just couldn't get through this book. It might have won literary awards, but wasn't a winner for me. ( )

Cute story. ( )

in the parlance of the people I love best: Frankie Landau-Banks is a fucking Edna in training, and I salute her. ( )

Such a funny read, the voice on the audio book I listened to was perfect. ( )

A YA book set at a prestigious private mixed-gender boarding school in the US. It was fun and I enjoyed how angry Frankie was, but it did seem a bit unrealistic and elitist in ways I can't quite put my finger on. ( )

Substituted for paperback advance copy. ( )

Advance copy. Withdrawn in favor of hardcover ed. ( )

Frankie spends her sophomore year at her prestigious boarding school trying to discover the history of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, the secret fraternity that fascinates and excludes her. Intent on proving her worth, she hatches a plan to show them who's really in power on campus.

The mock-documentary narrative turns Frankie into a specimen of typical adolescent girlhood and potential evil genius. In less adroit hands, the distant, omniscient voice may hinder the reader's emotional investment in the characters, however Lockhart deftly incorporates Frankie's thought processes to give intimacy to her character. Similarly, the author varies between panoramic views of the school and community with descriptions of the innermost workings of specific characters, much the way a filmmaker combines aerial and close-up shots.

While the book acknowledges the existence of sex amongst teenagers and shows underage drinking, it is really rather tame, and therefore this book may be appropriate for mature 13-year-olds. Yet the unusual voice and intriguing storyline will appeal to a wide range of ages. Sophisticated readers will especially appreciate Frankie's playful use of language.

Personally, I enjoyed this book very much, even as I wondered if it would stand up to the hype. Even more than the unfolding of the story, the ending is thoroughly satisfying. It empowers and uplifts teenage girls without resorting to platitudes or stereotypes. Highly recommended for all. ( )

Six word review: Bunny Rabbit trumps Basset Hounds

Imagine if the Boys Club at MX not only did not admit girls, but was also a secret society…one that no one was really sure existed. This is the situation at Alabaster Prep, a school eerily similar to Middlesex in many ways. Frankie Landau-Banks, still called “Bunny Rabbit” by her family, was always closer to “geek” than “popular” on the spectrum, until she (ahem) “develops” over the summer and comes back her sophomore year totally hot. Uncomfortable with her new role, Frankie decides she has had enough of being seen as just a pretty thing and becomes determined to infiltrate the Order of the Basset Hounds, which represents everything macho and patriarchal. As she plots and strategizes, Frankie struggles with wanting not to alienate her senior boyfriend and his group of friends, but wanting to prove herself as more than just eye-candy. Besides this being a story of one character’s “journey”, this book contains some seriously fabulous school pranks!


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Now I know why everyone raves about this book! So great! ( )

This is an awesome book. Really, the title and blurb say it all, the second I heard about this book I just knew that I would like it.

An amazing look into the psychology of a slightly crazed girl who is sick of being underestimated by her boyfriend and his "secret society" mates, and who throws the rule-book out the window.

I really loved the way Frankie analyses things, the way she thinks before responding to a question, things like "How can I respond to that without sounding desperate or being humiliated?" This book gives a good portrayal of those awkward conversational curve-balls that people throw at you and shows you how to beat them. ( )

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is the story of Frankie, your typical, awkward high school girl, just trying to fit in. At the private boarding school she attends, she does end up getting the attention of an older popular boy, and falls into his crowd. Even with her new status, she feels like she is being look down at, mainly for being a young female.

I enjoy some parts and messages of this story, others not so much. I appreciate that Lockhart is attempting to show a young girl, standing up for herself and her rights. And it does show that your actions do have consequences, which I believe in a young adult novel, has its place and can be important. However, and maybe this is just me reading too much into it, I don’t like how black and white they portray Frankie wanting to get acknowledgment that she can take care of herself, without a guy viewing her as property. It seems that her options are to be brutal and a monster, or meek and timid. There is not in between, of a strong girl standing up for herself, without stooping down to immature pranks to get what she wants.

With that said, a cute story, if you do not read too much into it. ( )

Things changed for Frankie Landau-Banks between her freshman and sophomore years at Alabaster boarding school. She got curves and got prettier and suddenly she's caught the eye of Matthew Livingston: rich, smart, charismatic, and the most popular senior at the school. As his girlfriend, Frankie gleefully gets caught up in his world of charming, carefree, clever rich boys. But they'll never truly let her be one of them, because she's just a girl. Matthew is always sneaking away and lying to Frankie about the existence of a secret society, for boys only. They'll never see how great she truly is, and they don't care to, because she's just a girl. So she'll have to make them see.

The biggest disservice I have ever done to myself is not reading this book until now. I feel Frankie deep in my soul and if this book had existed when I was in high school and early college it would have changed the way I see the world. I feel the way that Frankie's demand for equality based on her gender sets her apart from everyone. She's self-assured enough to hang out with the boys but no matter how smart and confident she is, they will never let her be one of them. The boys treated Frankie like garbage in that way that's not really abuse and they don't know they're doing it, but they have just been trained since they were born that girls are less than boys (and live in an institution that reinforces that). I loved how Frankie really liked Matthew and wanted to do everything to earn his respect, while also knowing that she should not have to do so much to earn his respect. I loved the incorporation of philosophical concepts like panopticism. (I'm very into philosophy lately, can you tell?) I loved Frankie's word games. I loved the narrator's constant reminders that, no matter how this story ends, this is just a brief sliver of Frankie's life and girls like Frankie will change the world. ( )

An amazing feminist masterpiece. Also, as someone who spends a lot of time hanging out with guys, a lot of this resonated with me so hard, this bit in particular just fucking nails it:

Most young women, when confronted with the peculiarly male nature of certain social events will react in one of three ways. Some will wonder what the point is, figure there probably is no point and never was one, and opt for typically feminine or domestic activities, leaving whatever boyfriends they have to "hang with the guys". Others will be bored most of the time, but will continue attending such events because they are the girlfriends or would-be girlfriends of said boys, and they don't want to seem like killjoys or harpies. The third group aggressively embraces the activities at hand. These girls dislike the marginalised position such events naturally put them in, and are determined not to stay on those margins. They do what the boys do wholeheartedly, if sometimes a little falsely.

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