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'The Disreputable history of Frankie Landau-Banks' by E. Lockhart book review










Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22907596-the-disreputable-history-of-frankie-landau-banks

 My rating: 5/5

Utterly brilliant.
I actually went into it with pretty high expectations,I didn't intend to at first(since I basically knew nothing about it but what it was written on the back),but then after I heard E Lockhart talking about what the book is about and what made her write certain things (and also reading out an extract of it),I decided that I was expecting great things from it.Even so,I was still blown away.The story itself is pretty fantastic,I will say that,starting from a premise like that,it would be pretty hard to end up having something I don't like.There were so many brilliant things about this I don't even know where to begin.
The setting E Lockhart created for the action to take place in was probably the first right choice of many.I think the idea of a private school with all the different buldings and facilities was a great one,plus it provided her with opportunities to develop many things regarding the plot,which was great.
Although I can see why a lot of people would strongly dislike Frankie,the main character,probably finding her obnoxious,pretentious or simply psychotic,I honestly fell in love with her as a character and honestly felt like I could truly relate to her,although our situations aren't really alike at all.I loved what she believed in and stood for,I loved the way she thought about and approached things,I loved her little quirks such as using "neglected positives".Especially close to the ending of the book,I could really empathise with her.
This is also one of the first(if not the actual first) books I've read that approaches feminism straightforward and actually calls out talking about it.Although we have quite a lot of books with strong female characters (who happen to be protagonists as well many times),we rarely actually talk about 'feminism' and use that word.This was actually the element that made me really excited about the book and that set it apart from others for me,since I strongly identify myself as a feminism.
I could really appreciate something that I find is part of E Lockhart's style and of who she is as a writer,which has to be the use of letters and e-mails.She admitted that she tends to use this kinds of things so often because they are the kind of things that she herself loves coming across while reading and I share that belief,they just add a little more dimension and are fantastic to stumble upon.
All in all,this book was so brilliant and might just be one of my favourite contemporaries.E Lockhart's writing style is so unique and incredible and although most people would probably consider 'We were liars' as her greatest work (and although I truly love that book as well),I think this one is infinitely better and a must read.

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