Wow..this book!!! There is just so much about it that is just so real and so relevant. There were so many times I found myself thinking "YES!!!!" and I think I've highlighted half the book as it just spoke to me.

This is my first book from Holly Bourne (and the first adult book she's written) but it won't be the last. From the blurb I was expecting the standard chick lit or romcom type book that is all too common but this has so much more depth and realism to it than I ever could have anticipated.

As someone who is single and in their thirties I could really relate to so much of this story. How it seems that at a certain age everyone suddenly starts getting married and having kids and how this creates a barrier between you. How scary the thought of being on your own, or never having children can be and how sometimes it feels like you're losing at life if you're not blissfully happy, married and popping out babies. How you can feel judged and inadequate for putting your career first, or for those with kids, for not being the right type of mother.

I don't really like making comparisons but for me it had echoes of Bridget Jones Diary. This is a lot less of a romance but while Bridget was made to feel like there must be something wrong with her for being single by the smug marrieds, Tori is made to feel the same for not being a mother. Some of the things said to her are truly awful but I know from personal experience that it does happen. I could completely understand her jealousy and the feeling she had that she was trapped on the wrong side of a wall.

There are a number of other very relevant themes prevalent throughout this story. Our obsession with social media (if there's no pictures on insta it didn't happen) at the expense of enjoying the moment, the endless quest for validation from a bunch of strangers on the internet, how success is determined by how many likes or comments something gets. It really made me question my own obsession with twitter and instagram. Tori may have driven me nuts with how obsessed she was with presenting the best image of herself, the idea that she has the perfect life and all the answers but really she was just an exaggerated version of a lot of us.

I did love the strong feminist vibe that runs through this book. I may not have loved Tori but I loved how she challenged those claiming to be feminists. One of my favorite moments was when she was on a panel with a man claiming to be a feminist, she may have been drunk but she was hilarious and absolutely spot on.

Her relationship with Tom made for some difficult reading and I absolutely hated it and kept praying she would end it but as the book points out starting over in anything is a much more daunting prospect in your 30s than in your 20s. There's a definite feeling that you're locked into the decisions and the path you're on and just have to make the best of it.

If I had one minor qualm about this book and it is minor it's that I just couldn't understand Tom's behaviour. He was just so horrible and manipulative. I can't believe it was deliberate but I can't accept that he didn't know what he was doing.

I've probably made this sound like a really dark and intense book dealing with heavy and depressing issues but it's not like that at all. There was the odd heartbreaking moment but there were more than a few that were hilariously funny, many of which involved best friend Dee (and often some kind of celebratory event). My personal favorite was a baby shower and some discussion over landing strips, I'm saying no more except that Tori is truly gifted at saying exactly what I would be thinking.

Thank you Holly Bourne for creating such a wonderful book and if you're still reading after all of my waffling thank you too. If you can't tell I absolutely loved it and I hope it'll encourage women everywhere to maybe be a little less judgemental about how others choose to live their lives.

Holly Bourne is hugely popular in my school especially with younger teens, including boys, so when I saw she’d written her first adult novel I was really pleased to get an advance copy for review from netgalley. Sadly it just wasn’t my thing and I couldn’t finish it but there’s already a demand from kids at school to read it so I shal still be buying it, although I suspect the younger ones will quickly get bored with it and the boys won’t be too keen on the way the men in the novel are portrayed. Maybe one for young thirty somethings who can empathise more with the characters.

As a long term fan of Holly’s YA books, I was really excited to get my hands on this book - particularly since I am edging much closer to Tori’s age than the age of her teenage protagonists! I loved how relatable Tori’s problems were, and I loved the fact that I could recognise things she was talking about from my own experiences of London and publishing and so on. However, at times, the feminist agenda felt a bit forced, and I had a real issue with the amount of pressure surrounding Tori’s weight. Whilst I entirely understand that this is a problem with the society we live in and that the book is representative of that, and also of Tori’s disordered thinking, because we are in Tori’s head it grated as it felt like Holly was presenting this as a positive! I thought the book was funny and I enjoyed the fact that I could relate to Tori far more than I could with Holly’s other protagonists, but I had some real issues with a couple of elements that has knocked my rating down a little! Thank you for the read, I’m really glad I had the chance to review it!

Honest and relevant - a really interesting, real and true reflection on modern life with social media

A fabulous read. I was completely compelled with the story, the characters. I would love this to be the start in a series and would hapiily read what happened next for Tori. A laugh out loud heartbreaking tale, 100% recommend to all of my girlfriends!

This was such an amazing book I don’t know where to start. Tori, I love this character to bits. Relatable, flawed, funny and I felt that I was with her every step of the way. Definitely one of my top three books of the year!

I did not like the main character now, not one bit. She seemed to be trapped in a mind ten years (at least) to young for her and I know this was the point but do all heroines have to be so... Vapid? Anyhow I liked the fact we were hurtling towards a change (thank god) and that it didn't meet all the stereotypes. And to my shock towards the end I cried ugly tears so I must begrudgingly admit something worked, somewhere along the line. It just took a bit to long to get to. Mildly entertaining, improving as it finished!

Tori Bailey is a bestselling author and a guru to the twenty something market with her self help memoir 'Who the f*ck is Tori Bailey'. She is going through a crisis in her early thirties as she is writing her follow up novel..She is held up as the shining example of the girl who has got her life sorted but her life seems to be falling apart around her. She is in a relationship with Tom, 'Man on the rock', who she met and wrote about in her last book.

All around her friends are getting married and having babies and Tom won't even talk about any of it. Her best friend, Dee, meets someone at a wedding and falls in love and becomes pregnant very quickly and this chain of events makes a last impression on Tori.

We go on the journey with Tori as she realises that perhaps she is not living the perfect life she thinks she is. This is a very frank, funny and observant book that takes the reader on a journey along with Tori

I've read Holly Bourne's teen/YA work and found it utterly refreshing. It's page burningly readable, very enjoyable and yet does not shy away from dealing with topics like mental health and how to balance a young woman's sense of self with her desire to have boyfriends and find love. My fourteen year old daughter is addicted to her work and rates her as her favourite writer, which I think demonstrates more amply than I could, that she has found her ideal readership with regard to her teen books. How Do You Like Me Now is an interesting book. It's her first novel for adults, and confess that I was torn. It was still utterly compulsive. I could not put it down and motored through it in a single day. I was however, conflicted because I really didn't like Tori at times. By the time I did come to really like her, the book was almost finished, and I felt rather short changed. What I really wanted was to read on, after the book had finished and find out what Tori does next. I loved the fact that Tori was awkward and imperfect. I loved the fact that she had strong and sustaining female friendships and family ties that were nurturing. I identified with her staying with her partner and talking herself back into the relationship every time they hit a bump in the road. I've done this, this was all very real to me. I think the thing that jarred was Tori's being the author of a self-help book. Given where she was emotionally, I found it hard to reconcile the two Toris that were being depicted. I understand that this was supposed to happen, that the guts of the book was this disconnect, and mostly it worked, but at times it really didn't and then I found myself being frustrated with Tori. Having said that, it was incredibly well written, compelling, and I'd be really grateful if Holly Bourne would write another very soon, particularly if that other was a sequel to this book.

Thanks Netgalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I've liked every single one of Holly Bournes novels that I have read. Am I Normal Yet?, What's a Girl Gotta Do? and most recently, It Only Happens in the Movies. All of these novels have held something special for me: whether it's important and good discussions on mental health, feminism, consent, I have loved them all. Bourne has a distinct narrative voice: she is able to take serious issues and be brutally honest about them. There is no sugar coating, and it's exactly the same within this one.

Bourne doesn't sugarcoat sex. It's not all magical. It's not the romanticised portrayals you see on screen or often read about books. It's honest. What I think is great about this is whether you've had no sex, a little sex, tons of sex, its having a conversation with you. It's not lying to you and telling you if your not doing this your not doing it right / you have to do this. No. It's opening that discussion up with it's audience - whether YA, or adult - and I think that's hella good. I find too often in YA and some of the adult books I have read (it's not my fave genre) that everything is perfect and magical and problematic issues are pushed under the rug because *romance* and what Bourne does is stamp a big fat "NO" over that. This isn't her saying that it can't be like that, this is her saying that it DOESN'T have to be. Isn't that great?

As I've said, I love how Bourne takes on her female characters. While throughout all of this I didn't particularly love Tori, I appreciated what Bourne was doing with her character. The whole discussion on success and how to most people that means nothing, rather you have to be a mother, was heart wrenching. It sucks, because it's true. Too often I see career women being degraded because they haven't had kids yet / never want to, and somehow because of this they are "missing out". That isn't freaking fair. And also, that isn't freaking feminism. Whole point of feminism is giving women A CHOICE. Just saying. And I like how Holly displays that in this - that is up to you when you want to make that choice, and your the one to take control of it.

Ah, the feminism in this.

Women OWN THEIR FREAKING SEXUALITY IN THIS. I love it. And when there is some slut-shaming it is REFUTED. But I love this. Women being allowed to own their freaking sexuality.

I also love this:


I'm sure he has good intentions and all, but I just cannot handle men who get applauded for not being an arsehole. It should not be rewarded, it should just be a given.


This reminds me of a discussion I was having the other day about how it's sad we get excited about saying "wow! this book is so feminist/diverse!" like that's something we are still excited about. All books should simply just be feministic without it having to be pointed out you know?? It should just be a given that going in to a book you're going to have this.

But while I really enjoyed it, I can't say I loved it.

- I feel like this book didn't really have much of a plot. It definitely wasn't a juicy enough plot to go on for as long as it did. For a while it really did just feel like I was reading someones diary about them whining about their day.
- While this book is very female power, I feel like it is let down by all it's male characters who do act like pieces of crap. I mean Nigel was alright, there wasn't much of him, he was just so bland. And Tom??? Arse wipe. I often find that with Holly Bourne books. There's so much female power (which I love) but yeah.
- Something happens with Tori / Tom (I think that's his name, I'll just call him Rock man) that was NOT OKAY. And it's not really elaborated on. Tori just feels bad and cries and then tells herself it's all okay and tries to forget about it. No. . . I wish their was more discussion that just because your in a relationship doesn't mean that's okay. Same with her and something she does even though Rock Man is like "no". It's like !!! just don't be a dick and be a bit more respectful, you know???
- Like I know the plot of this book was Tori / Rock Man and what shit was going on between them etc BUT I JUST WISHED THEY'D BREAK UP AFTER A PAGE.

I also think - and to no fault of Bournes - that this book wasn't for me. I'm only 19, and considering this book was about feeling like you've wasted your twenties/regretting, I couldn't really relate. I mean, I do feel like my teenage years have gone nowhere and that I probably have wasted most of them (no - I find staying at home and netflixing and reading is a perfect way to spend any of your decades) this wasn't exactly what the book was about. So most of the time I did find it hard to connect, but I tip my hat off to Bourne for still keeping me reading despite the fact this novel wasn't particularly for me.

So all in all, I did think this was a good debut to Bourne's dip in the adult novel genre! While I do prefer her YA, I can say I did like this and will pick up anymore adult novels she writes.

I spent the whole book wishing Tori was a real person and I could read her self help book.
I really enjoyed this book, the fiction pulled on alot of real life issues that society makes us deal with today. its a brilliant realization on modern life and the struggles we face wrapped up in a self help bow.

I loved this book so much such that I ended up reading it in two days, when I suppose to be working on my university assignments. When I first requested this, I was little bit apprehensive because I’m such a huge fan of Holly Bourne’s YA books I didn’t want to be let down by this and thankfully I wasn’t. The story is about Tori a 31 year old successful author who everyone thinks has it all, but who is really have an internal crisis and is unhappy with her life in general. The writing style is relatable and funny, you feel as if Tori is a friend who you want to shake. As a character Tori is flawed which makes you sometimes hate her but at other times feel sorry for her. The best thing about this book is that it was realistic, truthful and comic all at the same time.

I love Holly Bourne and when I found out she had written a book for adults I had to request it straight away. It was exactly what I expected - Holly, but with swearing and with slightly more explicit sex. Gone are the idealistic teens of her earlier books, and instead we meet a woman in her earlier thirties who has made her success off the back of her quater life crisis.

Tori is 31 and when we meet her she is promoting a book she wrote when she was twenty five, as a guide to other young adults, and has since become a self help guru. However, despite the sparingly honest persona she is known for, she is ashamed to admit that she doesn't follow her own advice, and feels like a hypocrite when her readers talk about how much she inspired them. She is hard on herself and her appearance, resents her friends who are suddenly only concerned with getting married and having children, and can't admit to herself that her relationship with the man she met in her twenties and wrote famously about in her book, is no longer working. 

Holly Bourne, as always, manages to make me feel for her never perfect, but always realistic main character, but I didn't connect to this book as much as I thought I would, perhaps because I am aged between the characters in this book and her teen novels, and had a foot in both camps instead of being anle to properly relate to this 'grown up' book. The end was far too quickly wrapped up for me, even though I liked what had happened. I think I would have rated the book higher if the ending could have been less jarring.

I didn't think it was possible to love Holly Bourne any more than I already do but damn it she did it again.

Tori Bailey, author of a successful self-help memoir about finding yourself, is a feminist role model for thousands of young women. She appears to lead an enviably together life - she’s even given a TED talk - but the reality is far different. Her boyfriend Tom - her great love story, the Man on the Rock - appears increasingly detached, even hostile at times, seeming more engaged with the cat than with her; she’s desperately insecure, obsessing over her appearance and body, and addicted to the fleeting validation of social media likes from her legions of devoted followers. Even her best friend seems in danger of drifting away.

What on earth has happened to Tori’s life?

I have to say, Tori’s social media persona irritated me - I wouldn’t follow her, but then I’m old and cynical. I think her persona probably is fairly representative of many, possibly with more swearing. (Her memoir is called “Who the F*ck Am I?”and she refers to her followers as “f*ckers”.) But the point of course is that like so many others, her carefully crafted online image - complete with “spontaneous” selfies that are anything but - doesn’t truly reflect the reality of her life.

This is really an insightful account of living in a toxic relationship and the damage done as a result. It’s often very funny but also painfully honest at times, with some teeth-grittingly awful moments which I’m sure many women will unfortunately recognise. While I liked Tori’s character, I wouldn’t say I related to her strongly, but there were definitely familiar aspects.

In terms of plot action not a huge amount actually happens - Tori goes to some weddings, gives talks, appears on a panel, tries to write a new book - but it’s mostly about her internal dialogue and struggle to figure out what’s going on in her life and particularly in her relationship. Interspersed with lots of social media snippets. This might not work for those who like more action, but I really enjoyed it.

This is YA author Holly Bourne’s first foray into adult fiction. It’s observant, honest, funny, feminist and clever. I liked it a lot.

Review will be published on my blog http://atickettoeverywhere.blogspot.co.uk closer to publication date. Thanks to Hodder and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

I am a big fan of Holly Bourne. Although I am 29, I have read all of her YA books so I was keen to read her debut adult novel. It didn’t disappoint.

As someone who reads a lot of ‘self help’ books, the premise grabbed me from the start. I really liked Tori, the main character. I also really liked the way this book examined the gaping chasm between how we present ourselves on social media versus the reality of life. One thing that bothered me was how long it took to reach the (inevitable) conclusion. Tori became a bit of a whiner as this dragged out - this is why I have dropped a star.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others who like contemporary fiction.

In a world where social media is ruler of all things, we find ourselves broadcasting every minute detail of our lives as a shop front of who we want people to think we are. We compare our lives to those of our friends and we judge who is doing best. This is the world in which Tori lives and she contributes to it, cannot detach herself from sharing, checking, posting so much so that understanding her real feelings towards her relationship are veiled by what people will think. Added to that are the pressures of turning 30, which to me felt a bit cliché: do all women real still feel that once they turn 30, they must all get married and have kids? I would have thought that such pressures had started to subside. But I guess that if Holly Bourne has felt the need to write about it then it must still be felt and I must be quite lucky not to feel them. Despite this, the story kept me interested.

I f*cking loved this book!! though I’m a woman in my 40’s I could still relate to the story. Gutsy main character Tori who I really really liked. Would highly recommend.

In her first adult novel 'How Do You Like Me Now?' Holly Bourne writes how it really is. So if you are a fan of fairy tales / chick lit romances - stay away from this book! I love how Holly's books are deep and meaningful. In the era of Facebook and Instagram 'How Do You Like Me Now?' is something that all modern women will need in order to remember that life is life and all sorts of things happen and at least half of them is not Instagramworthy. The novel is about Victoria, a successful author of one self-help book. And now turning 32 she really needs some help to sort out her not so perfect life. Most of the 30-something readers will feel the vibe that it's at least partly about them. Holly Bourne, great work as always!

I loved this so much. It was honest and refreshing and brilliant, just truly, truly brilliant. I haven't read any of Holly Bourne's work before but I'll definitely be looking at her YA titles now!