Paige is a girl after my own heart. At least, the introverted, clinging-to-walls part of my heart, which, like Paige, I've mostly grown past. And like Paige, it was slow and painful and I took much longer than she did.

Of course, my school was also not as bad as this one. I was in shock reading some of the things these girls thought were ok, but sadly I had no problem believing it could happen. Kids that age can be vicious. (People any age can be vicious, but most adults can understand the long term consequences of their actions. Kids can't.)

Paige's home life broke my heart. I don't want to spoil too much of the story, but it was really rough, in an unusual kind of way. I felt so bad for her, and so happy that she had Aunt Polly.

The romance - well, I think they worked really well as friends. I was actually half expecting Red Pen to be one of the popular girls, to make a point about subversion, but it worked really well this way too. They made a great team and I loved their enthusiasm about books. (It's always the same books though! No one ever loves the less famous novels.)

I loved this book, I loved the comedy and the scary parts and the heartfeltness of it, I loved Paige's first tentative attempts to fight back and her huge dramatic gesture at the end. This is a great read and I will be recommending it.

I loved this book. Holly Bourne is fast becoming a must-read author for me. She writes so brutally and truthfully about the teenage experience that I'm transported back.

The only comment I have is on the blurb. I was expecting the big revolution to come far sooner and be the bigger focus. I wasn't prepared for the family issues or for Elijah to be the focus. I'm not sorry that they were but I think the blurb was slightly misleading.

I will read anything that Holly Bourne publishes because she perfectly makes you feel how the main character does, while building an interesting story around it!

I loved this book though I occasionally got chills remembering how it feels to be a teenage girl.

I had only previously read one Holly Bourne book before this one, and I adored it. This one was equally fantastic.

The Yearbook is the story of Paige, a wallflower who prefers to stay invisible in school just to survive it. She notices all the injustices and mean ways of her peers, but no-one notices her. It's Mean Girls, meets Perks of Being a Wallflower meets Moxie.

I had the same feelings I got when I read Moxie during my read of this. Fighting injustice, standing up for the downtrodden - yes. I loved that. But it wasn't a superficial story. Despite the fairly lighthearted look and feel of the book, there are some deep, dark themes inside. This book dealt with some really tough issues, and it felt so entirely real, sad, traumatic. I felt so sick sometimes when I was reading parts of this book. It was really tough to get through at times and I found myself reading those parts faster just to be able to get through them.

I loved the characters of Paige and Elijah, I loved their quirks, but I also found sadness in them. But I adored how they found each other. It was unique to me, and it was so satisfying and exciting to read.

I thought this book might be too long for what it was, but because it was so much deeper than I initially expected it was the perfect length.

Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and Holly Bourne for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

The Yearbook follows Paige in her final year of secondary school. She is a quiet person who keeps to herself. Unfortunately the student newspaper, which she writes for, has been coerced into helping with the yearbook. The book follows how she navigates the mean students of her year group while also discovering a new friend through a love of books.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt so deeply for Paige and her not so nice home life. I am pleased that she had her aunt as a support network. I absolutely loved Elijah. He was just so nice and that felt refreshing. I love their sifting although as a librarian I do not approve of writing in library books!

The Yearbook really rekindled my love for Holly Bourne’s writing! At first, I was a bit worried by the tone that it was going to be very dark throughout but, considering the heavy material (TW: bullying and domestic abuse) which is handled sensitively, I was surprised to find a lightness and humour to balance. The concept and layout of the book was really well done and I loved Paige’s personality and how she grew as a character.

Paige goes through a lot in The Yearbook. At school and at home, she anticipates constant verbal abuse, witnesses cruelty and feels powerless to do anything about it. You understand her need to stay under the radar and just make it to the end of term but at the same time you sense something building inside of her; a need for accountability and change. I really enjoyed the thrill of the storyline where Paige finds someone on her wavelength in the margins of library books. Did I need the romance arc? No. I still enjoyed it but personally, I would have preferred a friendship. I really like Elijah and his supportive nature but a lot of YA seems to present romance arcs as ‘everything will be fine if you have a boyfriend’. That’s not the case here, Paige is her own person and stands on her own two feet but it would have been refreshing to see a strong platonic friendship instead. I would have loved a few more female friendships as I loved her growing confidence in the tentative exchange with Daisy and her protectiveness towards Cara but I really liked that there was closure to a friendship that had caused Paige pain when they drifted apart. You don’t see that very often.

I loved the honesty and insightfulness to Paige’s perspective in the narrative but more than anything the significance of her choices; whether it was reaching out to her Aunt or choosing to confide in Elijah, it was so important to see that the responses were rewarding and loving even if the characters weren’t quite sure what to do. I was so happy that she found unconditional love from a parental figure and security. I loved that she was able to find a sense of freedom from fear and hold people accountable for their actions simply by telling the truth. What a beautiful message for a book!

Holly Bourne showcases her incisive insight into the teenage mind and experience again. I don’t know how Bourne keeps doing it, but each of her books is brilliant, heart breaking, utterly relatable, and wonderfully enjoyable, while still being fresh and distinct from those which came before. The Yearbook tells the story of Paige Vickers, quiet, introverted, almost reclusive. Unwillingly forced into the Yearbook committee, she’s drawn into a rose-tinted retrospective of five years of secondary school which is, in actuality, tainted by a history of cruel, merciless bullying, social strife, and needless rumour-mongering. But faced with lies at home (of how perfect her family is) and lies in school, and with the backing of an absolutely kick-ass aunt, a well-meaning librarian, and a mysterious, red pen wielding student writing acerbic commentary in the margins of school library books, Paige is going to learn how to speak her truth, and the power that comes with that.

This isn’t an easy book to read, and it comes with several content warnings at the beginning, as well as a list of resources at the back. It deals with fractured families, abusive dynamics, chronic bullying, touches on mental health problems and deals with them all delicately and realistically.
Before becoming a full-time author, Bourne worked for a teen magazine as a relationship adviser, editor, and agony aunt, so she has a wealth of experience which, I can only assume, is what makes her writing so real and achingly raw. She doesn’t pull any punches, and there are no glossy endings in this book. It’s real and it’s powerful and it’s painful, and at the same time it’s brilliant and uplifting and empowering. Paige doesn’t solve all her issues by the book’s end, her family aren’t fixed, and her school life is still difficult. But her personal journey, juxtaposed with her role in the Yearbook committee, is incredibly moving and really satisfying to read.

Review of The Year Book by Holly Bourne
WOW…what can I say? This is another Holly Bourne masterpiece. I couldn’t put it down, it had me hooked from the get go and it’s a book that you’ll want to start again as soon as you’ve finished!

Paige Vickers is a nobody - and she wants to stay that way. Dysfunctional wall-flower masquerading as school journalist. Her speciality is reporting everyone else’s news and making sure she stays well away from the spotlight.
When she meets someone who gets her, through some scribbled notes in the margin of a book in the school library, all that starts to change, and she finds the courage finally to do something about the bullying that has been going on for years by the ‘in crowd’ at her school.
How will she stop the bitchy girls’ lies? Will her new friend with the red pen turn into something more? Will she find peace at home away from her abusive, manipulative father and emotionally unavailable mum?
This book is a multi-layered tale dealing with a dysfunctional family, mental and physical violence, sex, bullying and a lot of swearing.
Holly Bourne does what she is best at, deftly weaving together complex stories on so many different levels, to make a stunning finale. This book deals with bullying at school, but not only that, snide comments and put-me downs can wound deeply, and Bourne explores the kind of sarcasm and sniping that also goes on in couples and can be just as destructive as physical violence. She paints an accurate picture of Paige’s mum in a soul-destroying abusive, relationship with no easy way out.
Everyone needs to read this book, so they can avoid destructive relationships with friends, family and romantic partners.
I recommend this book to all teenagers, male and female, 16 years and over, as well as those of us who want to go back in time for better or for worse!
Potential triggers Gas-lighting, emotional bullying, domestic violence.
Watch out for LOTS of swearing and sexual references.
CEFR B2
FIVE FANTASTIC STARS

* * * * *

Working on the school newspaper, Paige is used to dealing with fake stories. How popular girl Grace is such an amazing person (lie). How Laura steals people's boyfriends (lie). How her own family are so perfect (lie). Now, Grace and friends have picked their "best" high-school moments for Paige to put in the all-important Yearbook. And they're not just fake. They're poison.

This is a lovely, easy, typical YA read. Does not matter what age you are, a good YA is always enjoyable! This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

There’s a reason why books set in secondary or high schools work: everyone can pretty much identify with at least one of the characters. In this, Paige, who works on the school newspaper, has to sort fact from fiction, the truth from the fake news that dominates the school. But as the yearbook arises, and people want their version of what’s real to be published, Paige decides it’s time to take a stance against those who seek to make life hard for others. Grace and her friends want Paige to publish their ‘best’ high school moments, but they’re pretty nasty. If only someone decided enough was enough and to reveal the reality of life… You feel right back in school reading this, and you can’t help but remember the good, bad and ugly of being a teenager. Holly’s telling captures all the emotions of being in that inbetween stage of life.

I love Holly Bourne's writing, and this book was no exception. It gave a true account of secondary school life, and took me right back to my own teenage years. I know the readers in my library are going to love it (I couldn't resist reading extracts to them) , and cannot wait until I can buy copies for our shelves.

I loved this book. Could really feel for Paige and her problems with school and family.
The characters were well portrayed and the storyline believable

This was just incredible! I am a huge fan of Holly Bourne and this latest read held up to my high expectations.

Holly captured life in Year 11 in a British school just perfectly and it was completely refreshing as often YA fiction is set in US high schools (at least in my reading experience).

I completely sobbed as my heart broke for Paige as she struggled with her identity because of her home life.

I will be recommending this to EVERYONE!

Maybe Bourne's best book to date?

The cover and synopsis are deceiving. While this is certainly an entertaining novel that's kinda about a school yearbook, it's also a pretty heavy story about bullying and domestic abuse. Is it possible for a book to be an easy and a tough read at the same time? The pages flew by, but it goes to some of the darkest places the author has been to yet.

Mean Girls, but in the UK!
I loved this book! I felt like I was right back at secondary school, it reminded me of mainly the bad bits of school, but it felt realistic at least!
I empathised with Paige throughout, the Girl Bullies descriptions were completely accurate. Her family were awful though.
I really liked that we had the difficult home life as well as the school life- it made the characters more rounded and much more interesting. While I'm not usually a fan of the friends to lovers plot, it worked here! Highly enjoyed and might need to buy the beautiful finished copy too!

JUST WOW! This is easily Hollys best book to date, and I love all her books.
A wonderfully told story which is about so much more than just the schools yearbook.
We are introduced to Paige, a girl from a small town with a love for reading but a horrendous home life and an invisible school life. Until she’s forced into doing the schools yearbook. Then she meets Elijah, another book lover from Sixth Form.
With his help, she becomes not so invisible.
I don’t want to spoil this too much, but there’s people who enjoy reading, old bookshops, mean girls and not so perfect families.
This book is full of dreams and ideas about the future. And maybe not fitting in is not a bad thing.
We all exist, after all.

Thanks you to NetGalley for providing an early copy of this for review.

I love holly bourne I think everyone should read her books.
So easy and light hearted and great characters. I enjoyed this and didn’t take me long to read either.
I loved mean girls and this is a bit like that.

DID NOT FINISH

I was excited for this book but I just wasn’t feeling it, I read about 25% of it and then I had to quit it. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been into - and reading - more new adult and mystery books, but this one was feeling way too juvenile for me. I was also finding it too slow paced and exaggerated.

I liked this book. I feel like it is a solid young adult book about friendship and standing for what you believe it. I really liked Paige as a main character and I really loved seeing her friendship with Elijah blossom throughout the book. I really loved how Paige and Elijah became friends through communicating in the annotations of the books in the library.

This book touches on a lot of hard hitting topics such as emotional abuse, domestic abuse and bullying, so I don't recommend picking this one up if you are in anyway triggered by those topics as they are very prominent in the book.

"It always struck me as hugely unfair that you could never take your head off at the end of the day, like an uncomfortable underwired bra, and have a little break from it for a while."

The Yearbook- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What is it about? Think Mean Girls meets To All the Boys Ive Loved Before meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower!

Set in a high school, this story made me itch to buy a copy of the catcher in the rye and a red pen, to leave notes in library books for strangers and highlight my favourite passages.
If this book was released when I was at school- it would have been an instant favourite. Holly Bourne tackles bullying in a way that makes you reflect on your high school experience, the writing is brilliant, the message something everyone needs to hear & a romance I wasn't expecting (but loved!)
Tip- The Yearbook is best read with Taylor Swift playing in the background!

The Yearbook is out May 13th!

(P.S - There is a gorgeous Waterstones edition with sprayed edges available too)