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How to Break a Boy

Laurie Devore (Goodreads Author)

3.51 · Rating details · 1,338 ratings · 307 reviews

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

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Hardcover, 342 pages

Published January 31st 2017 by Imprint

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· 1,338 ratings · 307 reviews

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Aug 30, 2018 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it liked it

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

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Jul 23, 2016 Laurie rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

Shelves: i-wrote-this

no boys were harmed in the making of this book

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Apr 14, 2016 Allison rated it it was amazing

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

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Nov 30, 2016 Stacee rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf, read-in-2016, baa-baa-black-sheep

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

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Nov 25, 2016 Rachel (APCB Reviews) rated it really liked it

Shelves: fast-read, 2017-releases, 2017-debuts

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 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 intimidated and scared the student body into respecting her and she and her best friend Adrienne rule their school. I was shocked by the level of malicious attacks and insults these girls spewed at their classmates. This book really gives a deep look at the lust for popularity and the troubles of toxic friendships. The high school drama felt real, but the horrible pranks these girls pulled and the responses of the students were a tad unrealistic. I can't believe there were no huge repercussions for their actions throughout the years and that the students all listened to and revered Olivia and Adrienne.

Olivia Clayton's character is one of the most confusing and complex. I wanted so badly to like Olivia, but she does bad things, acknowledges that they're bad, feels horrible afterwards, and hates herself for it. Why can't she just not do the bad things?? I understand the pulls of popularity, but she fails to draw the line. Her character is what really drives the story and made me kept reading. I wanted to see if she'd redeem herself, and I realized I was rooting for her the entire time. There are so many times in this book when she's faced with a decision to do good or bad, but does she choose to be her best or worst self? It was painful at times to see her choices play out and hurt those around her including herself. But also there were triumphant moments when I saw her make the right decision. Overall the character growth in this book was impeccable.

I felt that Laurie Devore did a great job creating a backstory for Olivia that helped readers understand why Olivia acts the way that she does. Laurie really delved into the reasons why Olivia craved popularity and did all the bad things she did. In no way does that excuse Olivia for her actions, but I appreciated that this book gives such an introspective view on why. Laurie's writing was sharp and impactful. Teens can relate to and learn from so many of the ideas Laurie tackles in this book. The pacing was good, and although I didn't like everything that happened in this book, Laurie did a wonderful job with plotting.

Olivia and Adrienne have a toxic friendship in this book. I'm shocked by so many of their interactions, especially as they fought to take each other down. How to Break a Boy really highlights the manipulation and possessiveness that comes from toxic friendships.

I really enjoyed the romance in this book. I love that Whit challenges Olivia and never lets her get away with anything. He brings out the best in her and holds her accountable for her actions just as Olivia brings out a new side of Whit. The progression in their relationship felt realistic and I loved all of their moments together. They had such great chemistry!

Overall I really enjoyed this book. If you're looking for a book with an amazing romance, teen drama, and immense character growth then I recommend you check this out! ...more

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Nov 16, 2016 Tasha marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2017-release, fake-dating

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

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Jun 18, 2018 K. rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, audience-young-adult, fya-book-club, own-it-kindle, difficult-topics, contemporary, setting-usa

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 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 is so over-the-top evil and manipulative and fucked up, and there's very little explanation for her behaviour other than that she's jealous that her dancing monkey (Olivia) found another friend. Olivia just...folds any time Adrienne is around, and GIRL. WHY THE EFF ARE YOU SPENDING TIME AROUND SOMEONE WHO MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE SHIT BUT CALLS HERSELF YOUR BEST FRIEND???? Like...??????

Don't get me wrong, I 100% buy the concept of the friendship drama stuff. I mean, I work with 1100 teenage girls on a daily basis and I see the havoc that they can create. But this? This was beyond ridiculous. I call extreme bullshit on the idea that not one staff member at that school had gone "You know what, Adrienne is behind all of this shit" and finding out a way to prove it. I also call bullshit on the idea of somebody as manipulative and destructive as Adrienne being the most popular girl in school, because no one likes that girl. Ever.

Let's talk real quick about Whit. He's a slice of plain generic supermarket white bread and I gave zero fucks about him. Forever Young Adult gave this book 8/10 on a the swoon scale. I give it 0/10. Their entire relationship is built on lies and I am not here for it. Also, he plays golf, and therefore in my head he's Chad from Scream Queens and no thank you please.

The thing I hated the most here is (view spoiler)

I feel like my hatred of this stems at least in part from the fact that a) I don't live in the US, and b) I went to a girls' school with a year level of 70 and we all got along pretty well. Like, there was one girl in my year level that I didn't like - it was a weird personality clash from day 1 and she felt the same - but we were still perfectly civil to each other, and hung out together at our brothers' school music concerts because there was no one else to talk to. Are we Facebook friends? LOL NO I GIVE ZERO FUCKS ABOUT HER. But would I stop and make polite conversation for 5 minutes if I saw her in the street? Sure.

So the whole concept of the most popular girl in school being THIS AGGRESSIVE and THIS MANIPULATIVE and THIS HATEFUL is completely foreign to me, and that's coming from someone who's been on the receiving end of an awful lot of crap from 15 year old girls in the past year.

In summary: I hate this cover. I hate the writing. I hate the characters. And I definitely do NOT understand all the 4-5 star reviews of this book. ...more

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Jul 28, 2017 Alison rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite

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

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Aug 09, 2016 Rebecca Barrow added it

Shelves: seventeens

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

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Mar 23, 2017 Caitlyn rated it liked it

Shelves: otp

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

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Nov 23, 2019 Jane (It'sJaneLindsey) rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2019-read

2.5 stars and a big yikes.

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Feb 04, 2017 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it liked it

Shelves: arc

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 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 because I think it does a lot of things very effectively, and it definitely made me feel stuff. But what it made me feel was uncomfortable and stressed and not so much anything pleasant. But it wanted to make me feel that way and it did. But I didn’t enjoy it. How to Break a Boy was largely frustrating read. Purposefully. But still.

Olivia Clayton is a mean girl. She became one when she moved to the boring southern town of Buckley, because top mean girl Adrienne seemed like the only girl in this backwater worth being friends with, so Olivia made fun of a fat girl and became friends with Adrienne. That’s one of her lesser evils throughout the book.

Adrienne clearly has anti-social personality disorder; she manipulates and fucks with Olivia constantly, but Olivia makes the choice to keep playing those games and to treat people like shit. The whole book is about Olivia owning that and trying to escape from Adrienne’s web. It’s a scary and compelling picture of what it’s like trying to get away from a toxic friendship with a psychopath best friend (the way Olivia’s convinced and cajoled by Adrienne over and over).

The book’s clearly doing a character arc thing, and Olivia is learning, but it happens very slowly. Olivia will consistently do absolutely monstrous things to people, including Whit, the fake boyfriend and love interest. Olivia spends most of the book being a pretty terrible person. While I did feel sympathy with her, most of the time I hated her thoroughly. The narrative definitely doesn’t let her off for any of her shit, but it so very hard to watch her constantly make really bad choices.

For the heavy novel that it is, I think How to Break a Boy may have worked a bit better without a romance, and I don’t think you should read this book if you came here for the fake dating. If you’re looking for mean girls, toxic friendships and psychopaths, you are in the right place. ...more

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Jun 26, 2019 mich rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, first-read-from-this-author, good-new-to-me-author, ya, why-you-so-stupid, better-than-expected, awesome-writing, frustrating, crappy-heroine, so-over-the-top

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

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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

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Sep 27, 2016 Christina rated it it was amazing

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

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Nov 11, 2017 Tissy rated it really liked it

Completely unlikeable yet redeemable character. The writing is totally absorbing and although it reminded me of the movie Cruel Intentions it still brought something fresh through the different perspective.

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Jan 10, 2017 Lex rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, favorites, romance

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...

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How To Break A Boy is an amazing and addicting read!

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

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How To Break A Boy is an amazing and addicting read!

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 and I love how complex the story is, the plot and every character were very well thought out and the story is a fresh of breath air for YA, contemporary romance.

This novel follows Olivia and after moving to a small town with her mother and brother, where she decides to fake it and become someone else until she leaves the "dead end town". Olivia becomes one of the popular mean girls but has always been conscience about the things her and her friends do and how wrong it is, but that's who she's faking to be until she starts her "real" life. Believing her life doesn't started until the end of high school and the opportunity to leave her dreadful town, Olivia is hit with reality, when she catches her best friend sleeping with her boyfriend, suffers a family tragedy and her best friend, Queen B, turns on her and manipulates her. Olivia, with below average grades now needs to get her shit together in order to get out of town and away from her so called BFF. This is where she meets Whit DuRant. The only person who can help her get out of her mess and help her with SAT prep. Olivia faces reality and recognizes "real" life doesn't only start after leaving town. It started long ago.

I loved reading How To Break A Boy so much! I gave it a full 5 stars and it has a well deserved spot on my favourites shelf. I will pick up whatever Laurie Devore releases next. This book is too good to pass up. If you enjoy YA, contemporary romances I recommend picking this up.

*A copy of this book was provided to me by Raincoast Books* ...more

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Apr 15, 2016 Karen McManus rated it it was amazing

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

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Nov 24, 2018 Den rated it liked it

Shelves: floab-got-challenges-2018, kindle, light-reads

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

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Apr 22, 2016 Sara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: july-2016, 2017-debuts, aug-2016, ya-fiction, arc

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

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Apr 13, 2019 Ixxati rated it really liked it

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

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Feb 26, 2017 ♥️♥️ Lanae ♥️♥️ rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of Blair Waldorf

Shelves: young-adult, my-two-cents, romance, teen-revenge-story

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

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Dec 03, 2016 Andi (Andi's ABCs) rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, from-publisher

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

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Oct 04, 2016 Erin rated it it was amazing

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

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Oct 13, 2016 Teresa rated it it was amazing

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

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Dec 13, 2016 Lori marked it as dnf

Shelves: from-publisher, family-matters, judgey-mcjudgerson, st-martins, read-in-2016, macmillan, 2017-january, arc-have, to-review

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

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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

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Apr 11, 2016 Rachel 007 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: beta-read

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

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Jun 20, 2018 Knobby added it

Shelves: fya-book-club

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

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Jan 04, 2017 Marissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christopher-ruins-books, favorites

Oh MY GOD THIS WAS SO GOOD. I LOVE HOW COMPLICATED OLIVIA WAS AND WHAT A SWEET NICE BOY WHIT IS. 99% OF THE TIME I WAS LIKE YELLINg/CRYING @ EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED.

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