215 books
—
1,568 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “How to Break a Boy” as Want to Read:
How to Break a Boy
by
Keep your enemies close, but your friends closer.
Olivia Clayton has mastered the art of tearing others down to stay on top. She and her best friend, Adrienne, rule their small southern town like all good mean girls do--through intimidation and manipulation.
After Olivia suffers a family tragedy and catches Adrienne sleeping with her boyfriend, Olivia is over it. She decides ...more
Olivia Clayton has mastered the art of tearing others down to stay on top. She and her best friend, Adrienne, rule their small southern town like all good mean girls do--through intimidation and manipulation.
After Olivia suffers a family tragedy and catches Adrienne sleeping with her boyfriend, Olivia is over it. She decides ...more
Get A Copy
Hardcover, 342 pages
Published
January 31st 2017
by Imprint
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
How to Break a Boy,
please sign up.
Recent Questions
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of How to Break a Boy

This book is SO HARD for me to rate. There were things I loved about this, and other things that I really fucking hated about it. This is honestly one of the weirdest reading experiences I’ve ever had and I don’t really know how I feel. All I can say for sure is that this is DEFINITELY not for everyone, and I’m not even sure it was for me. What a strange book. I 100% want to read more from Laurie Devore in the future though because even though I didn’t necessarily like this book all that much, I
...more

How to Break a Boy had me up til 1 am yelling "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" and "YESSSSSSSS" at literally every single character besides maybe Claire who is a total marshmallow.
This is a book that demands a pack of beer, a bowl of popcorn, and a box of tissues.
**Honestly, with the release coming up on us, I've been thinking about this book A LOT (a friend was yelling about the ARC I sent her and I ended up mentally and EMOTIONALLY revisiting it). Devore is one of the BEST new voices in contemporary YA. ...more
This is a book that demands a pack of beer, a bowl of popcorn, and a box of tissues.
**Honestly, with the release coming up on us, I've been thinking about this book A LOT (a friend was yelling about the ARC I sent her and I ended up mentally and EMOTIONALLY revisiting it). Devore is one of the BEST new voices in contemporary YA. ...more

DNF on page 127
First off, this is no where near the angst-light contemp I was expecting. I knew there was going to be a mean girls aspect, but this was just too much for me.
I didn't like Olivia at all. And yeah, I settled in for the redemption set up, yet it never came in the pages I read. Instead, I found a MC who outs one of her BFFs to the entire school to get back at another BFF, a shit load of slut shaming, and threatening sexual assault to 14yo girls who want to be cheerleaders.
Olivia an ...more
First off, this is no where near the angst-light contemp I was expecting. I knew there was going to be a mean girls aspect, but this was just too much for me.
I didn't like Olivia at all. And yeah, I settled in for the redemption set up, yet it never came in the pages I read. Instead, I found a MC who outs one of her BFFs to the entire school to get back at another BFF, a shit load of slut shaming, and threatening sexual assault to 14yo girls who want to be cheerleaders.
Olivia an ...more

If I were to pitch this book I'd say it's reminiscent of Mean Girls. While some compare it to Pretty Little Liars I have to disagree. PLL is more juvenile and superficial whereas How to Break a Boy is much more powerful. And the pranks are downright cynical.
How to Break a Boy was not the light, fun read I thought it would be. It was addictive and I did like it in the end though. This book contains the most frustrating and unlikable protagonist ever. Olivia Clayton is a mean girl. She has intimi ...more
How to Break a Boy was not the light, fun read I thought it would be. It was addictive and I did like it in the end though. This book contains the most frustrating and unlikable protagonist ever. Olivia Clayton is a mean girl. She has intimi ...more

skimmed the blurb, read 'fake boyfriend' and added it
...more

Trigger warnings: alcohol abuse, death of a sibling, cheating, car accident (in the past), bullying, slut shaming, (view spoiler)
Words cannot even begin to describe how much I hated this. Olivia is a godawful character. There's basically nothing redeemable about her. She's a bully, and has been for years, and now she's using her brother's death in a car accident as an excuse for her behaviour. Adrienne ...more
Words cannot even begin to describe how much I hated this. Olivia is a godawful character. There's basically nothing redeemable about her. She's a bully, and has been for years, and now she's using her brother's death in a car accident as an excuse for her behaviour. Adrienne ...more

I don't even really know what it is about this book I love so much (probably fake relationship trope, that is my FAVORITE).
This follows the high school mean girls. I was thinking that I wasn't going to like this since the main character, Olivia, is fairly unlikable, but she knows it. She admits that the things she's done are wrong, and she knows she needs to stop, but she is overcome by too many feelings of anger and hurt to really stop. Every time she annoyed me with something, I still felt ba ...more
This follows the high school mean girls. I was thinking that I wasn't going to like this since the main character, Olivia, is fairly unlikable, but she knows it. She admits that the things she's done are wrong, and she knows she needs to stop, but she is overcome by too many feelings of anger and hurt to really stop. Every time she annoyed me with something, I still felt ba ...more

I don't think I can accurately convey how much I loved this book. Like, is it enough to say that every other page made me stop and say, out loud, "OLIVIA STOP THIS IS TOO MUCH" but also "YES YES KEEP GOING"? And that every other page has a line on it that I want to cut out and keep forever? And that Olivia is terrible and wonderful at the same time? Look, I am just helpless in the face of books about complicated girls doing horrible things for often heartbreaking reasons and this book is exactly
...more

3.5 Visceral, jaggedly raw, ragged with desperate pain. HOW TO BREAK A BOY is exquisite in its broken, almost violent examination of the "hot, cruel, slutty cheerleader" stereotype: the crackling allure of power, compulsive lies slipped between teeth, and a monstrous, abject girl who wishes she weren't monstrous. Superlative, ravishing. I fell in love.
Because mean girls are girls too. ...more
Because mean girls are girls too. ...more

Devore’s How to Break a Boy wasn’t remotely what I was expecting. The cover and title had me ready for an adorable fake dating contemporary romance. I mean, obviously I saw the darker stuff in the blurb, but the marketing made me think that would be more of a back story than it was. Instead, How to Break a Boy is a hard to take story with an often unlikable heroine who is struggling to escape an incredibly toxic friendship.
This falls into that category of books that I really struggle to rate bec ...more
This falls into that category of books that I really struggle to rate bec ...more

This is one of those books that I REALLY liked, but I'd never actually recommend to anyone. I feel like it probably wouldn't work for a lot of people.
Misleading book cover and blurb.
Looking at that cover and blurb, you'd think this was a cutsey high school fake-boyfriend-storyline read, right? Well, it's NOT. There's hardly any lightheartedness in here at all actually, and it deals with some pretty heavy issues.
I started this book thinking I'd be reading something light and fluffy, prepared for ...more
Misleading book cover and blurb.
Looking at that cover and blurb, you'd think this was a cutsey high school fake-boyfriend-storyline read, right? Well, it's NOT. There's hardly any lightheartedness in here at all actually, and it deals with some pretty heavy issues.
I started this book thinking I'd be reading something light and fluffy, prepared for ...more

Aug 09, 2016
Debra Driza
added it
I need more Laurie Devore books in my life. I gobbled this book up in all it's gleeful, mean, broken-hearted, turbulent, hilarious, smart, and romantic deliciousness. For fans of Courtney Summers and basically everyone who likes YA with complex and/or #MorallyComplicated characters.
...more

Wow. I have to say that after finishing HOW TO BREAK A BOY, I'm a little bit afraid of Laurie Devore. Rarely have I had such a physical reaction to characters in a novel and therein lies the beauty of Devore's talent. Don't let the sunny yellow and bubble gum on the cover fool you. This is a dark book that tackles heavy subjects--grief and relational aggression at the top of the list--though there are moments of humor that round it out. I kept turning the pages as fast as I could to find out wha
...more

I, obviously, loved this book considering my 5 stars and it's new spot on my favourites shelf.

This book is absolutely amazing. I love the writing style. I love that it's set in a small town. I love that the main character stuck her ground through the entire book. I love how complex the story is - it has in depth characters and plot. How To Break A Boy is well thought out, I couldn't predict a thing.
Whit DuRant...

-
How To Break A Boy is an amazing and addicting read!
I love the writing style. ...more

This book is absolutely amazing. I love the writing style. I love that it's set in a small town. I love that the main character stuck her ground through the entire book. I love how complex the story is - it has in depth characters and plot. How To Break A Boy is well thought out, I couldn't predict a thing.
Whit DuRant...

-
How To Break A Boy is an amazing and addicting read!
I love the writing style. ...more

Olivia Clayton is a mean girl with a soft side, but it’s buried so deep even she can’t see it. She and her best friend, Adrienne, rule their school until Adrienne betrays Olivia. When Olivia tries to get revenge, her anger slams against Adrienne’s ruthlessness and loses, taking nice guy Whit DuRant—Olivia’s faux boyfriend who’s becoming all too real—down with it. Olivia has to face up to the damage she’s done, and figure out whether she can use her finely-honed fighting skills to save her true f
...more

Read this if you like stories about: YA Mean Girls fic, high school drama, hypocrisy, fake boyfriends, keeping up appearances, people trying to get the hell out
The characters in this book are mean. Just plain mean. I often have to take chapter breaks to get away from the meanness of the characters. Like, wow. It's hard to think of the fact that they are all sixteen and seventeen year olds making everyone's life miserable. Ava and Olivia actually reminds me a bit of Serena and Blair.
It was a ni ...more
The characters in this book are mean. Just plain mean. I often have to take chapter breaks to get away from the meanness of the characters. Like, wow. It's hard to think of the fact that they are all sixteen and seventeen year olds making everyone's life miserable. Ava and Olivia actually reminds me a bit of Serena and Blair.
It was a ni ...more

I was lucky to be able to read an ARC of HOW TO BREAK A BOY, and luckier still that I got to read it while relaxing on vacation at the cabin. Because these characters and their flaws and their raw emotions stressed me out - but in a good way. I could not put this book down, especially during the painful moments. I had to know how/if it would all work out.
And there's this one line at the end that really struck me, and I believe that line, in its profound, simple truth, will stay with me. ...more
And there's this one line at the end that really struck me, and I believe that line, in its profound, simple truth, will stay with me. ...more

Hello everyone!
I cried again reading sad plot! Goshh I'm freaking sensitive these days pheww
Olivia's and Adrienne friendship are pretty scary. They hurt each other! They are so toxic goshh
Synopsis:
Keep your enemies close, but your friends closer.
Olivia Clayton has mastered the art of tearing others down to stay on top. She and her best friend, Adrienne, rule their small southern town like all good mean girls do through intimidation and manipulation.
After Olivia suffers a family tragedy and catch ...more
I cried again reading sad plot! Goshh I'm freaking sensitive these days pheww
Olivia's and Adrienne friendship are pretty scary. They hurt each other! They are so toxic goshh
Synopsis:
Keep your enemies close, but your friends closer.
Olivia Clayton has mastered the art of tearing others down to stay on top. She and her best friend, Adrienne, rule their small southern town like all good mean girls do through intimidation and manipulation.
After Olivia suffers a family tragedy and catch ...more

This novel got the tear-factory up and running.
And yes, it's true that I'm a TOTAL marshmallow. But I'm also someone who avoids popular books like Fault in Our Stars and anything Nicholas Sparks because I hate when it feels like a story is trying to manipulate me into the FEELS zone.
Seriously, Fuck that .
How to Break a Boy is a novel that begs to be compared to one of my former CW guilty pleasures: Gossip Girl. "Best Friends" Olivia and Adrienne are pretty much an Alternate Universe where ...more
And yes, it's true that I'm a TOTAL marshmallow. But I'm also someone who avoids popular books like Fault in Our Stars and anything Nicholas Sparks because I hate when it feels like a story is trying to manipulate me into the FEELS zone.
Seriously, Fuck that .
How to Break a Boy is a novel that begs to be compared to one of my former CW guilty pleasures: Gossip Girl. "Best Friends" Olivia and Adrienne are pretty much an Alternate Universe where ...more

This review was originally posted on Andi's ABCs
Holy anxious batman! How to Break a Boy made me so anxious while I was reading it. I was completely fascinated and enthralled by everything that happened, but Olivia and Adrienne terrified me and maybe me a nervous wreck. This was one of those experiences where you hate the main characters yet you enjoy the book and think people should read it. Because make no mistakes, Olivia and Adrienne are horrible, terrible people and yet I really enjoyed this ...more
Holy anxious batman! How to Break a Boy made me so anxious while I was reading it. I was completely fascinated and enthralled by everything that happened, but Olivia and Adrienne terrified me and maybe me a nervous wreck. This was one of those experiences where you hate the main characters yet you enjoy the book and think people should read it. Because make no mistakes, Olivia and Adrienne are horrible, terrible people and yet I really enjoyed this ...more

Read as an ARC
I have so many feelings about this book- it's one of those books you kind of hate because the characters are such awful people and it reminds you of a time and people you'd rather forget. Olivia is a sterling example of an unreliable narrator, even when she is examining herself clearly. I was very glad to see this wasn't a book where the bad best friend goes one step too far and then her #2 turns around and gets sweet revenge. No, Adrienne gets the best of Olivia constantly, and Ol ...more
I have so many feelings about this book- it's one of those books you kind of hate because the characters are such awful people and it reminds you of a time and people you'd rather forget. Olivia is a sterling example of an unreliable narrator, even when she is examining herself clearly. I was very glad to see this wasn't a book where the bad best friend goes one step too far and then her #2 turns around and gets sweet revenge. No, Adrienne gets the best of Olivia constantly, and Ol ...more

Great novel that I devoured...I couldn't put this one down. I was really impressed by the authors idea to write a book from the mean girl's perspective...especially one as mean as Olivia Clayton. As the story progress, and you learn more about Olivia's background, you feel pity for her but you can kind of understand why she acts the way she does.
I could go on and on and on about Whit but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone! Just go pick this book up as soon as it hits the shelves...the co ...more
I could go on and on and on about Whit but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone! Just go pick this book up as soon as it hits the shelves...the co ...more

Dec 13, 2016
Lori
marked it as dnf
I'm DNFing this because I just don't care. I thought it would be more on the fun side because of that cute cover but it's just mean and kind of depressing. I didn't like Mean Girls so I should have assumed that this wouldn't be for me, but I was hoping I would at least be starting to side with the MC by 100+ pages into the story. But at 120, I still hate her and find very little redeeming about her. I know that's all part of the story and based on the other reviews coming in, I have to assume th
...more

Oct 08, 2018
PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
We all know mean girls like Olivia. Second in command to Adrienne these girls take bullying to a sociopathic level. When Olivia wants out, her so called best friend blackmails her. At the urging of her guidance counselor Olivia is tutored by Whit. The two decide fake a relationship only Olivia doesn’t realize she’s falling for him.
Olivia has a conscience, she just doesn’t listen to her inner voice. She makes bad choice after bad choice, actions that hurt others. Somehow, Laurie Devore had rootin ...more
Olivia has a conscience, she just doesn’t listen to her inner voice. She makes bad choice after bad choice, actions that hurt others. Somehow, Laurie Devore had rootin ...more

I was lucky enough to beta an early draft of HTBaB and fell in love with Laurie's darkly sassy main character and the high school world she lived in. HOW TO BREAK A BOY feels like Courtney Summers meets the South and I can't wait for others to devour this one :)
...more

For those of my book club friends who quit this book before finishing it, let me tell you...
You did not lose out on much.
Yes, it was a quick read (finished it in a day) but it was frustrating. Adrienne is a psycho or a narcissist (or both) and even though the author writes a huge backstory to try to explain why Olivia would go along with Adrienne's terrible behavior, I did not think she was redeemable. Ethan's excuse for cheating on Olivia is inexcusable, Whit is a fool, and basically the only p ...more
You did not lose out on much.
Yes, it was a quick read (finished it in a day) but it was frustrating. Adrienne is a psycho or a narcissist (or both) and even though the author writes a huge backstory to try to explain why Olivia would go along with Adrienne's terrible behavior, I did not think she was redeemable. Ethan's excuse for cheating on Olivia is inexcusable, Whit is a fool, and basically the only p ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
FYA Book Club of ...: June 2018 - How to Break a Boy | 1 | 3 | Jan 06, 2019 01:49PM |
Related Articles
As dedicated readers already know, some of the best and most innovative stories on the shelves come from the constantly evolving realm of...
64 likes · 12 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »