“The Manifesto on How to be Interesting” by Holly Bourne, Book Review – Teen Drama x2

This is the first book in a while that I actually finished reading, and it wasn’t short either. This book is about a 17 year old girl who’s a writer but her books weren’t being enjoyed. One day her teacher told her she needs to be more interesting so she completely changes her look, attitude and friends in order to achieve that. She then writes about her trials online to tell everyone what it means to “be interesting”.

What I liked:

I liked the relatability of it. As a young woman, a writer and someone who doesn’t know who she is, I felt I could really relate to Bree (the main character) at times. She was a bit dry and mean, which I’m not…I don’t think, but she was like me in other respects and I liked that.
It was entertaining and it didn’t take as much thinking so it was a great escape for me. I felt like a teen again, soaked into the teen drama.

The bad stuff:

The teen drama was kind of an eye roll at times.
Could be rather farfetched with teens doing stuff they wouldn’t (in my experiences) and rich kids acting unlike rich kids.
At times, it also felt as though it was written poorly. It could be that I’m a harsh judge or whatever but at times, the writing felt lazy. If it was written in the first person (with Bree’s actual voice) then I’d understand the poor writing but it wasn’t. It was in the third person so there wasn’t really a viable excuse.

What it taught me:

That yes you have to try new things to become who you want to be but never do it for other people and never lose who you were either.
That even the happiest of people or popular or rich have problems and real emotions too. That their lives may look good from afar but that’s not necessarily the case. We all have our issues.

Overall I did like the book. It entertained me and I could imagine teens absolutely loving it. It was funny, light but also emotional at times as someone going through the same things.

6.5/10

~ Damsel