Introduction
The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting is a Young Adult novel published in 2014 by English author Holly Bourne. I thought it would be a good way to start this blog off, as it follows an aspiring writer who starts a blog of her own, albeit with vastly different intentions. Before we begin, a warning that this novel contains themes of mental illness and depression, rape and a teacher-student relationship, and all of these will be mentioned and/ or discussed in the review in some detail.
Summary
The novel follows seventeen-year-old Bree, an aspiring novelist struggling with depression, rejection and isolation. We first find Bree after she has been informed that the second novel she’s written has been rejected by every publishing house in the UK. Later that same day, she’s advised by her English teacher, who she’s in love with, that perhaps her writing would be better if she lived a more interesting life, if she had more experiences that were worth writing about.
Bree decides that, in order to have a more exciting life, she ought to be more like the popular girls at her school, and infiltrate their clique if she can. Realising that, for all their apparent vapidity and shallowness, that people find their lives interesting, Bree sets out to slip into the In crowd with a makeover and exclusive makeup from her father.
Her scheme works far better than expected, and before she knows it, she’s got exclusive access to the inner workings of the popular group. And this is only the beginning of Bree’s journey. It does not take long for her to get in over her head, especially after she attracts the attention of the most popular boy in school, Hugo, and her relationship with her English teacher takes a more serious turn.
What I Liked
There were a lot of things that I liked about this book. I liked the way it was written- the voice felt authentic. Additionally, I found that I saw a fair amount of my teenage self in Bree- that loneliness, that bitter cynicism that can form when you feel rejected by your mainstream peers (and the assumptions you can make about the shallowness of said peers) and the liberating joy writing can bring to that kind of life.
I also admired the unflinching way in which the novel deals with Bree’s mental health, showing her struggles with self-harm, her attempts to find healthier coping mechanisms, and her eventual road to recovery. The novel deals with a fair amount of dark subject matter, including rape, revenge porn and a student-teacher romance, which, trust me, we will get to. Bourne’s approach to these is sensitive and honest, something which is consistent throughout her novels.
Finally, one thing which I appreciated that the novel touched on was the importance of letting in those who love us, being honest with those who want to let us in, and not letting ourselves fall into the trap of assuming that we are the only people capable of having rich inner lives and emotional depths. We can all learn a few things from Bree’s journey, I think.
What I Didn’t Like
This is less an issue with the novel itself and more of a personal problem, but I really don’t like teacher-student romances as a general rule (which may seem odd given the choice of next week’s book, but I digress.) My reasoning for this is that I rarely see these sorts of stories treated with the sort of tact and grace I feel they deserve. Far too often, they’re romanticized and viewed as an exciting, forbidden love story, rather than something that would be pretty horrifying were it to happen in real life. While this novel never fully committed to doing that- and certainly not to the extent of other stories I’ve seen of this nature- it crept a bit too close for me to fully be on board with the way it handled the subject, and it was deeply uncomfortable in a way that did not feel entirely intentional.
Another weakness of the novel was that it’s a bit, well, weaker than some of Bourne’s other work. This, I suspect, is a natural consequence of the fact that it was only her second published novel, and therefore, I don’t want to go too hard on this point, because it seems redundant. I did think it was worth mentioning, though. I’d like to return to Holly Bourne at some point, with a review of one of her more recent novels- maybe The Places I’ve Cried In Public- which should help to really prove this point.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While there were some parts that made me uncomfortable, or that were not very pleasant to read, this was a book where the pros outweighed the cons, and it’s one I would recommend, especially to young girls struggling with some of the things that Bree does, or who have struggled with those things in the past.
Alice Reads Stuff 