Such a good read! I loved the characters and the plot sucked me in from the get go. It was laid back enough for me to read fairly quickly and, as it appears to be aimed at younger readers I think this also helped - we all need to read something light hearted and easy at times and it definitely ticked that box!

#Gifted I obtained this arc for free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I enjoy retellings. There is something comforting about them. This and the fact the main character Barb suffers from alopecia. A patchy scalp is something I understand, so this felt an interesting pick.
The story is told exclusively from Barb's pov, which subtly creates a tone of loneliness. The background information is told in an honest, natural way.
I liked the modern references to the fairytale.
Sorcha the emotionally manipulative aunt was well delivered.
I'm a wary reader of a certain trope (I won't say which), but it was handled well. It didn't throw off off the narrative.
There is disability rep with one character being blind.

Overall I found it to be a sincere, enjoyable read.

A big thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for approving me of a copy of an e-arc of this book.
SO GOOD! I just...I can't. I can't put my feelings towards this book in words. It's perplexing.

A modern take on the Rapunzel story, focusing on our societal obsession with appearance and how social media impacts the lives of teens.
Our main character has a dedicated following online. Having just left school to pursue her social media work, Bryony has become accustomed to being seen for her hair. Her crowning glory, Bryony is used to her daily posts and the need to keep her content up to date. So, when she discovers a bald spot on her head Bryony is unsure about what to do.
After a falling out with her childhood friend, Bryony has nobody to turn to. Her aunt is fixated with the social media algorithm and gaining wider views. So, Bryony locks herself away and pretends all is okay.
Eventually, Bryony gathers the strength to challenge the role her aunt has forced on her and finds out some surprising news.
The book ends with a rather obvious focus on her hair, but this will certainly act as a good starting point for discussion. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication.

First of all I'd like to say that I'm a fan of Bryony Gordon's writing but I'm not the target YA audience so please bear this in mind when reading my review.

I'm afraid this book left me cold as I've seldom had a more depressing read. I've read many stories about people with depression where somewhere/somehow there's some enjoyment in the reading but this book is just so incredibly dull that I couldn't wait to finish it. The aunt is so unbelievably horrible, the school friends so vicious, the 'influencers' so fake. I really hope that her YA target audience enjoys this more than I did.

3.5 stars
I received an electronic advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to Hachette and Bryony Gordon for letting me read this before it’s release.

Let Down Your Hair is a modern day reimagining of the beloved fairy tale Rapunzel. This book revolves around social media in the modern world, and the main character’s journey as she develops alopecia as a hair content based social media creator.

Barb is a 16 year old girl who has recently finished school, but for many she is better known by her social media tag @letdownyourhair. With hundreds of thousands of followers and an aunt that is obsessed with making her a social media star, Barb spends her days in her room filming content. Her friends are no longer her friends and she is weighted down with the guilt of her mothers demise during her birth.

Honestly, the star of the show here was Barb’s journey with Alopecia. While I enjoyed the book as a whole, I really think it would have benefitted from less of the story being taken up by her life pre condition, and more of her life as she discovers it and her development on learning to love herself regardless of her hair. I’d have loved to have seen more after the end chapter, to see how Barb developed as a person after being faced with losing what at the end of the day, was all anyone appeared to focus on. As a consequence, I feel like the story rushed to tie itself up near the end, which could have been fixed easily by either shortening the pre condition section, or lengthening the book as a whole.

That being said, this book brings important focus upon a health condition that can so easily affect a persons self esteem in a world that is so focused on being picture perfect, on societal beauty standards and upon the pressures of social media. It was an interesting take on reimagining a fairy tale I love so much, and it is worth a read.

Let Down Your Hair is a modern take on the rapunzel fairy tail. Barb is born with the most beautiful golden hair and it’s been her defining feature her entire life. Living with her evil aunt, who is also her manager, she creates a social media account for herself or more importantly her hair. Her entire life is controlled by her aunt and she lives practically trapped in her room at the top of an apartment block. It takes getting to the top of the influencer game to realise that her current life isn’t what she wants and is actually making her unwell. One day she finds a bald spot on her head and discovers she has alopecia. Barb has to find a way to truly love herself for who she is and not just for her hair. Along the way she finds out what and who it is that really makes her happy.

Barbs character is very naive and shy but it was nice to see her find her own voice and make her own decisions as the story goes on.

There was good development for the majority of characters and the ending really brought everything together nicely.

Overall this is a nice simple story following a girl trying to make her dreams come true. The alopecia and visual disability awareness were great to have represented in a positive light!

Barb’s internet presence is a bit more than just a hobby, it’s her lifeline. She’s determined that her life is going to change for the better once she can go full time making content for her dedicated followers after all with her luxurious hair, she’s got something that everyone wants. But

I found this tale difficult to hold my attention, and I only really found it interesting near the end when all the strands are fully revealed. Before that, I was struggling to actually care about the main character and the world that she was so obsessed with. I’m sure this will appeal to the target audience but it just didn’t hit the mark with me. There was nothing wrong with the quality of the writing, I just didn’t feel any kind of connection with Barb and nearly gave up reading it several times.

This is a twist on the Rapunzel tale. We have a girl called Barb, who has amazing hair, a decent sized social media following and lives in tower block. it is a bleak life though for Barb, she has no friends, no qualifications and an aunt who only seems to be interested in her potential fame. Every time something comes along that makes you think Barb’s lot will improve, it seems to make things worse. Thank goodness for Zal, a decent character amongst a horrible people . Eventually Barb’s hair starts to fall out, causing her to evaluate her life and the people around her.
This is scathing look at social media influencers and the ‘reality’’ behind their personas. It is sadly all to believable and hopefully will help people question what they see. Unfortunately, what it isn’t is a useful book for someone with Alopecia. I didn’t feel that Barb’s reaction was that realistic. I think it would take a long time and lot of heartache before coming to terms with something like this.
The ending was a bit weird too, with everyone Barb had encountered (friend and foe) being invited to a party where Barb did a big social media post, but didn’t confront any of the people who had not treated her well. Why invite them?

I've loved Bryony Gordon since the hilarious 'The Wrong Knickers' cheered me up during a dull conference in Birmingham. More recently, I've enjoyed her overcoming her addictions and embracing personal growth in Eat, Drink, Run and Glorious Rock Bottom. I was still pleasantly surprised at how good this YA novel is. Barb is a sheltered teenager with naturally amazing hair who lives in a South London tower block with her social-media-obsessed aunt/Mother Gothel, Sorcha. She has thousands of followers but part of her just wants her best friend Jess back - and her mum. Will she get what she wants? A real pleasure to read this modern-day take on the Rapunzel story, based on the author's own experiences as an anxious teenager losing her hair.

Frustratingly not for me. I wanted to love it but just didn't care enough about the influencer side of the story to want to continue

A glorious young adult story about the realities of social media and the world of influencers, and about how not everything is all its cracked up to be.
I really enjoyed Zal's character and how Bryony talked of the importance of making social media, and the world in general, accessible for all. Would also like to praise this book for raising awareness of alopecia.

This was a super fast easy to read book, one I thoroughly enjoyed, and I think it could be an important read for young people in a social media obsessed world.

As far as retellings go Bryony Gordon's retelling of Rapunzel is pretty good.

Set in modern times with modern day problems - social media being the biggest, Bryony Gordon revisits the tale of Rapunzel placing her in a London tower block instead of an ivory tower and making her an online content creator instead of a princess. Instead of dealing with just a crazed mother figure locking her in a tower our new Rapunzel Barb has to contend with school bullies, passing her GCSE's and now the biggest problem of all - alopecia - not great when your content is all about hair care.

What Bryony Gordon does so well is concentrate on the mental health worries of children and the impact that social media can have. She looks at low income families, the growing desire for the fairy tale life that is presented through our screens and also alternative families.

Another strength in Let Down Your Hair is the relatability factor. No one is immune from the insecurities that our characters face. It is a real strength in Bryony Gordon's writing.

Let Down Your Hair by Bryony Gordon is available now.

For more information regarding Hachette Children's Group (@HachetteKids) please visit www.hachettechildren's.co.uk.

While I’m all for books that reveal the truth behind the influencer world, I felt this book to be a bit predictable with an obvious plot line

This book was a breath of fresh air! I thought it was going to be a ‘I need to be an influencer and I need to be my true authentic self’ kind of book…and to a degree, it was this - but it was done right. I felt genuinely sorry for barb and was rooting for her to find her voice, find her identity and who she is, and definitely stand up to her aunt and take control of her life! This book was written in such an easy way, I flew through it in a matter of days. I also found the take of being an influencer not all it’s cracked up to be so refreshing to read. I actually liked how this book is a bit of a reality check - especially for teens today. In fact, I hope lots of teens read this book and see the reality of the isolation, that trying to please everyone. Barb’s battle with her identity and her hair being almost being a character of its own really clever. This was a quick and easy contemporary I flew through but think it’s one that will definitely linger on my mind in a social media obsessed world. I loved barb as a character and was rooting for her every step of the way. I loved getting to go along with her on her story!

🎉 Book Review 9 🎉

I was sent this book on NetGalley in return for an honest review ❤️

Triggers: DEATH, SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Let Down Your Hair
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was so lucky to be sent this book before it was released! I love young adult books and I was really looking forward to reading this but unfortunately it read a little too young for me. I think this book is suitable for pre-teens, more than young adults.

Synopsis: Introducing the YA fiction debut from bestselling author and journalist Bryony Gordon in a modern twist on Rapunzel and one girl's quest to find a different sort of happy ever after. Barb may have zero friends IRL, but online, she is popular. Like, several-hundred-thousand-followers popular. Or at least, her hair is popular. (WHSmith)

My thoughts: I really liked Barb as a main character, I felt she was really personable and I wanted her to do really well throughout the book. I also hated her stepmom throughout the book and felt all of the things she felt. I thought the storyline was very predictable in places and is definitely aimed at young teens who may be more obsessed with social media and getting likes. I think it definitely showcases the drawbacks and downsides to social media and puts the technology world in perspective. I enjoyed the end of this book way more than the start. I do think the book was written well and the characterisation was good. I just wanted a bit more surprise with the storyline.

As a woman in her 40s I don’t usually read Young Adult fiction, but as Bryony Gordon is hilarious in real life (and also a 40 something woman) I thought I’d give it a go.

Loosely based on Rapunzel, Barb’s was orphaned at birth and brought up in a flat on the 12th floor of a south London estate by her controlling aunt Sorcha.

She’s just finished her GCSE’s and dropped out of school after her closest friendship has fallen apart, encouraged by Sorcha to focus on her social media profile - based around her beautiful and eye catching hair. As @letdownyourhair she has hundreds of thousands of followers and freebies and income to help her pay her keep. But is that enough to achieve happiness? As Barb realises she’s developed alopecia it forces her to reflect on her life.

I really liked this. I think it very cleverly exposed the controlling influence and bad side of social media, particularly from those who benefit from the profile of others. But it also highlights some of the positives through and explanation of how to adapt posts for those who are blind (through the character Zal).

It also gently explores mental health concerns including anxiety and gives a really good insight into alopecia, which I understand Bryony Gordon has suffered from.

It builds to a satisfying crescendo at the end of the book and I really enjoyed it and will be sharing with my teenage daughter next. Thank you to #netgalley for the advanced copy.

I'm a big fan of Bryony Gordon and all that she has done as a mental health campaigner. I have read all of her books, so was super intrigued to read this - Gordon's first YA fiction.

I love how it was a fresh and modern retake on the story of Rapunzel. I love good retelling!

I found this book to be fun, but it was fairly simple in terms of plot (I appreciate it's for younger readers than myself - but there's no need for patronising) The book was an easy cosy read, and I have never read anything that reps alopecia before. Think it's really unique in that sense, and of course will be super important for those people who suffer from the condition.

Overall this book was OK and it's the alopecia references that make this book special - not the plot or the characters.

So. I'm not a creator...unless you count one very small blog...and I'm certainly not an influencer. However, I did, once, have alopecia. I was lucky, and it never progressed beyond the initial spot; it's grown back in now, and even while it was there my hair is thick enough to cover it. It wasn't a fun time, though.

It's a feeling that Byrony, who has suffered alopecia on and off for years, captures beautifully in this new book. There are increasing numbers of reads out there about the dangers of social media and influencer culture (though Bryony beautifully shows us the upside as well in the character of Zal) but few have looked at it from quite this angle, and it makes for an amazing read.

I'm still not sure how I feel about Sorcha, which is probably the sign of a good character. I did think that Jen and Barb made up a little bit easily. But all is forgiven with that triumphant ending scene, which I just want to keep and reread on a bad day. It's amazing.

This is a great read and a really clever way to update a fairy tale. Highly recommended.

This was such a good YA debut! I really loved how the reality of social media fame is shown as it’s not often spoken about. Barb’s personal growth during her journey with alopecia was well written and I enjoyed seeing her come out of her shell. I also liked how her relationship with her aunt was explored. The modern twist on Rapunzel was really cool to see as most fairytale retellings are in a fantasy setting rather than a contemporary; it was executed really well and felt organic! I loved how this book had a positive approach on alopecia and raised awareness for it too.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the DRC!