The Yearbook

Wowzers! After every Holly Bourne book you’re convinced that’s her best work... until the next one. This was a brilliant read, I absolutely love YA and there is nobody who does it better.
Following Paige in her final year of secondary school was certainly a rollercoaster, she has so much going on at home, at school having a very small support network. It certainly plays with your emotions.

I love Holly Bourne, I think she is one of the best YA writers out there at the moment. Every new book I read by her is my favourite of hers.
I loved this so much. Paige's father and mother just broke my heart, and I think every girl who has been through secondary school will relate so strongly to the mean girls. It was also interesting to have the main character be someone who (because of her home life) keeps her head down and desperately tries not to be noticed and not to stand out. Again, I think this is something a lot of YA would be able to relate to.
Also, loved the love story. It was so classic.

4.5 stars ~

Okay, I loved this...

Our MC, Paige, is not diagnosed with any mental illness in the book...but she is quite obviously dealing with a lot of anxiety and paranoia over how people view her and feel about her, and it is SO well done. I saw a lot of my younger self in those issues. I just wanted to give her a hug and let nothing bad happen to her ever. I feel the description and the blurb of the book are a bit misleading...the book is more about Paige's journey to finding courage to deal with all the crap in her life. We know from the blurb and the foreword to the start of the book that is a foreword to the yearbook that Paige will end up changing the yearbook as the editor, but this is mostly dealt with in the last 5% of the book. The book is us getting to know Paige, her family, and her school life and her gaining the courage to tell the truth and stand up for herself and others. She makes a friend along the way by writing in the margins of library books, he's a little bit of a cliché but...an aware cliché - he doesn't care what people think about him and his favourite book is The Catcher in the Rye - he's all a bit manic pixie dream boy but it's a nice change from the opposite.

Anyway, if you want to dredge up memories of dumb rumours about you from secondary school that you forgot about, this is the book for you.

I loved this. As someone who experienced the hell of secondary school and who now teaches in one this resonated.

I'll be buying a copy for my classroom bookshelf!

The Yearbook is marvellously entertaining and brutally honest,tackling issues such as bullying,slut-shaming,self-esteem, anxiety and emotional abuse.

Paige Vickers is a quiet girl,she writes for the school newspaper and keeps to herself, trying to stay as invisible as possible.At school and a home. Now, the popular girls have decided to take control of the year book,and have enlisted the newpaper to help.

But their chosen school “memories” are nothing but fabricated puff pieces and malicious rumours- and Paige has had enough.

To cope with her awful home life and trying to survive those dreaded school years Paige begins writing and answering messages in the margins of library books,where she meets a kindred spirit.

Her friendship with “Red Pen” finally gives her confidence (and a newfound voice to stand up to those bullies),she decides to make The Yearbook her battleground.

I loved Paige soo much, she was an incredibly relatable character, her longing for friendship coupled with her problems at home made me want to give her the biggest hug. There were also some eerily similar situations (like the rumours,etc.)that transported me back to my own school years, which led to a sense of Déjà vu (though I promise nowhere near as bad as the situation here).

I’m also impressed with the skill in which Holly Bourne raises awareness of, and tackles some rather important social issues such as,the emotional abuse and neglect Paige faces from her parents and how both this abuse and bullying can (and does) affect young people’s mental health.

Overall,I really enjoyed the YA Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower premise and the ending was absolutely satisfying.Holly Bourne has expertly proven once again, why she’s the Queen of YA fiction.

And lastly a massive thank you to Usborne Publishing and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

This book was a warm hug to a shy and unsure former version of myself and one I think would resonate with any teenager who doesn’t find themselves amongst the popular kids at school. Paige is unsure, scared and doing her best to keep her head down and just make it through. Then between the pages of an annotated book she finds an ally and a voice of her own, maybe just making it through isn’t enough. A story for any teenager who wants to be heard and to be remembered as more than a side note in a popular kids story.

I really liked this, Holly Bourne's books are getting better in my opinon! The story made me feel so uncomfortable, I went straight back to school and how horrible kids can be, and how adults can be ignorant to the bullying and cliques that are around them every day.

I loved the main two characters and I'm so glad she had a family member who loved her. Thank you to the publisher for letting me read an advance copy of this book!

Holly Bourne's done it again. Everything she writes is fantastic but The Yearbook taps into the systemic bullying that we're led to believe is a part of high school we should accept. Paige, who has always tried to blend into the background to keep the peace, is unwittingly roped in to helping produce the leavers' yearbook alongside the popular mean girls of year 11. A wonderful book about finding your own voice, and the people who encourage you to use it.

This is by far my favourite Holly Bourne YA book to date. She cultivates the exact feeling of high school from the perspective of a girl already experiencing the pain of domestic abuse. The way the two storylines merge and the way both issues of bullying are written about, is captivating and utterly heartbreaking. Elijah is every teenager,s swoon worthy side kick, empowering truth. I know my pupils will adore this book, and I needed this book when I was at school!

This review won't do the book the justice it deserves, but I'll try anyway. Holly Bourne is one of the Queens of contemporary YA (I'd argue THE queen...) and her reigns continues with this, her tenth book with Usborne. This may just be my favourite yet.
Holly is unafraid to tackle big issues with her books. In this one alone there's family abuse, slut-shaming, bullying, harassment, friendship break-ups, anxiety and loneliness. I quickly and deeply fell in love with Paige, the main character, and found finishing the novel so devastating as it meant leaving her behind. She's so well constructed, achingly believable and profoundly real-seeming. She lives and breathes beyond the page. Her feelings over the joy of finally being seen are painfully beautiful to read, the friendship that follows just so so joyful.
I hope every Paige finds this book and find within its pages the solace they so desperately deserve.
Just wonderful.

My 13 year old daughter will handle this one:


I really enjoyed this book. It was very relatable and it showed what school is really like. It is a very well written book. I love the character of Paige, and the ending was very satisfying. The description was kind of misleading because only a small portion of the book was dedicated to Paige standing up to the bullies, however it was still a really good book and I enjoyed it a lot. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a book that shows what secondary school is actually like.

One of those books, without hyperbole, that every teen should read. There is so much going on here - dysfunctional family relationships, bullying, coming of age, first steps into relationships - all interweaved with brilliant literary references. It helped that the books referenced are some of my absolute favourites too, of course.

Impeccably written, easy to relate to and with fantastic characters that are just so real, I made my way through this in half a day because I couldn’t put it down. An absolute masterpiece.

Me crying at another Holly Bourne book? Are we surprised? I’m not.

This book is so important. It touches on some really important topics, that can effect people of all ages; the affect of toxic people on our feelings about our self and out self worth. The importance of unconditional love. Feeling utterly alone in a world where everyone seems to be so fake they might as well be made out of wax.

As always, I found Holly Bourne’s writing so relatable, so touching and so heartbreakingly true.

There were so many lines in the book that touched me, but here is the one I loved the most:
“‘I’m going to take care of you’.
Someone, finally, was going to take care of me.”

ThIs book is just so important. I wish I could give it to any teenager who is struggling to be their true self in a world where authenticity is laughed at and not valued. Always be your true self. Always live your truth.

Wow, this really is something special. Congratulations Holly Bourne on a cracking, emotional, heart-lifting, heart-wrenching story.

If this story doesn’t tug at your heart strings, make you well up with tears, and make you keep reading, then maybe you’ve been lucky enough to have never dealt with any of the issues that Paige has to in this amazing story.
Maybe, people will read this and see themselves in this story. Hopefully, it could bring about change for the good.

I loved this....it is a story that fills you with every emotion, and has the most perfect ending. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I am a huge fan of Holly Bourne’s books and this did not disappoint. In this relatable new novel, Holly explores the life and dramas of secondary school life whilst adding comedy traumas.

I think most young people (and adults) will find the content of this amazing book relatable. Even as I was reading this it took me back to my own high school days and I was placing fellow students against these fabulous characters…. How bad is that? But high school is different for everyone and I think every school has a Paige, a Grace, an Amelia and a Cara. We have a Yearbook in our school but I know it is managed very well by a member of staff with the help of students so horrible comments do not end up appearing but I can see how it could happen in some schools.

I loved the character of Paige and how she stands up for what she believes is right in the end. I adore her awkwardness and saw a little bit of my high school self in her. She is brave, courageous and really makes a difference to other students even though she may not see it. I love her relationship with Elijah and how he encourages her to make her own decision but guides her secretly to making the right decisions. I felt sorry for her home life (to clarify this I did not experience, I had a very happy childhood but know others who didn’t) and the fact she is overshadowed by her brother Adam made me feel quite emotional for her. Parents should love all of their children and Paige has so much to put with but I am glad she speaks out about her homelife in the end as many wouldn’t! Her dad infuriated me and I had to keep reading on to see how her homelife would turn out… I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to give anything away.

The Yearbook is Perfect for fans of Sara Barnard novels, All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I think this is now my favourite Holly Bourne novel and that is saying something. She always tops it! Thank you, Holly, for once again writing a novel covering ‘issues’ young people of today can relate to. This book will really support those who need it.

Genre: Young Adult | Fiction

Release Date: 13th May 2021

TW: Bullying, Abusive Relationships, Mental Health Issues, Illness, Mentions of Cancer and Cancer Recovery.
Most likely to be forgotten: Paige Vickers.

Paige is the quiet one. The one you never really notice, but who notices everything. She knows all the secrets and lies you've told but never tells anyone. Not a word to the bullies in the classrooms, to her agressive father or her passive mother. But now, that's all going to change.

One day she does the unthinkable and makes a scribble in the margin of a library book; just a small reminder that she existed in this place, in this time. But there, in bright red ink, someone has done the same and they begin a journey through the library with their secret notes. When her new confidant comes into the real world, she realises that books are always the perfect place to tell her story - the yearbook maybe?

Oh, look, I gave five stars to a Holly Bourne book again. But she is the Queen of UK YA for a reason and her tenth YA novel is no exception. From the first page, I was pulled back in time to the 'best years of my life' and right away felt myself connected with Paige. For anyone who looks back on their formative years miserably like me, this hits hard. Dealing with the things we turn a blind eye to, the systemic bullying that never seems to stop, the women trapped in miserable relationships because they don't know how to leave, the way a simple rumour can change everything.

It was a perfect journey of self-discovery and self-worth, and as the former quiet kid in school I felt every single thing. Bourne always manages to bring beautiful inclusivity and a feminist streak to her work in such a natural way that makes my heart ache every time.

And the romance? This is any book lovers dream romance. Leaving a note in a book for nobody in particular, and journeying through your favourite books until you can finally meet in reality - even though you both existed in each others lives long before you even knew each others names. But this didn't take over and stifle the plot, we see everyone go on their individual journeys just as clearly as their journeys together.

The Yearbook is a YA masterpeice; an inspiring and witty story for women who are quietly angry in the world finding their voices.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



Thank you to Holly Bourne and Usbourne Publishing for an ARC in return for an honest re. view.

I have been a fan of Holly Bourne for a long time and her latest novel, The Yearbook, does not disappoint. I laughed and cried as Paige let us into her life and story, tackling big issues such as emotional abuse, bullying and neglect but ultimately being a story about the importance of love and kindness.

Beautifully written and prompting thought and contemplation on your own teenage years this book left me thinking about what I wish I had written in red pen!

I would recommend this book for both adults who enjoy teenage fiction and want to look back on their final year in secondary school and also for young people who are living through it and may need a book like this to find their voice and realise they are not alone.

I’m always excited by a Holly Bourne book and this did not disappoint. Set in a secondary school in England, this could have been my school back in the 80s. The mean girls, the in-crowd, the weirdos, the quiet ones, and the teachers who don’t always see beyond the fakeness. Everyone is fighting to fit in in their own way. Reading this brought me right back to secondary school and although could resonate with so much of what goes on in the 5th year and mixing with boys from the 6th Form when you are not in the cool crowd.
A beautiful story of love and friendship amidst hidden traumas and home life, all bound up in the love of books as an escapism.

I hope all the mean girls and the girls who get mixed up with meanness can take a step back after reading this and understand that people are not all that they seem. Be brave, be kind, stand up for yourself and Do the Right Thing!

It saddens me that many schools are still not able to deal with this bullying behaviour as it is often so hidden.

A fabulous read for any teenager or adult who needs a reminder what their teenager may be going through.
I loved it!

Holly Bourne does it again, with a timely reminder that school is not - for everyone - the best time of their lives.
After a fairly slow start that had me unsure if this was quite what I expected, the story finds its stride and culminates in a positive message that will inspire hope (even if it might not seem wholly credible).
Paige Vickers has got used to seeing herself as a nobody. She’s so used to living under the limelight of her brother and managing the fallout of a toxic home life that she tends to hide in school. Quiet, but highly observant and genuinely amusing, Paige is the voice for all those who wish they had the chance to tell it like it is.
When the school Mean Girls posse - who have spent years systematically bullying anyone deemed unworthy - take over the Yearbook preparations we can see there’s something big brewing. Paige watches in horror as she sees them prepare to leave their legacy...a book full of falsehoods. But, is it up to Paige to call them out?
With the confidence from finally being heard - a side story romance that is straight from the silver screen in its adorable factor - Paige decides it’s time to tell her truth.
Thank you so much Holly Bourne for another must-read for me to recommend to students, and to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read this prior to its May release.

I don't think there is anyone else who "gets" teenagers as well as Holly Bourne does. There isn't one character that feels unrealistic, not one action that feels out of sync. The demographics and dynamics of Year 11 in The Yearbook are pitch perfect and while the cruelty of the popular crowd is painful to read at times, there is much comfort for those young people who find themselves in a similar position to Paige. The other narrative thread which focuses on Paige's home life is also particularly well dealt with, with a realistic outcome. I think it's important that young people read about real life situations and find solace in that but that books do not mislead them into thinking that everything will be alright in the end, that a wand will magic everything away. I feel that is a strength of Holly Bourne's writing - she respects her readers and is always honest with them, even if it means her books don't deliver a 100% happy ending. And that is what makes her endings always perfect.

A real page-turner of a book, that deals with issues experienced by many in their high school including bullying, cliques, anxiety and the pain of drifting apart from previous best friends. At home, our main character, Paige, is also dealing with family problems including emotional abuse from her father. I loved reading about the library being a refuge for Paige, which can often be the case for pupils struggling with the social side of being in school.

I tried to summarize this but it's too hard. I just jumped into this book without knowing anything about it and I'd advice you to do the same.

I fell into this book, like in every Holly Bourne book. I both related to Paige and didn't. But I definitely felt for everything she was going through. I cried quite a lot and just enjoyed this from beginning to end. Not all of it was easy to read but I still couldn't stop.
I really felt like I was right alongside Paige and felt everything she felt. I got so angry at times, I wanted to smash things and I just found it so important in every way.

I just can't wait for more from Holly.

TW: The Yearbook contains references to bullying, emotional abuse, coercive control and experience of cancer.

I love Holly Bourne's books and this, her 10th YA novel, does not divert from the consistently high-quality, relatable fiction she's now become known for.

The Yearbook is set in the 'High School Years' and is packed full of scenario's that most teens, and indeed most adults looking back on their teens, will recognise. It holds a mirror up to the High School experience and reflects back all the highs and lows, all the anxieties and humour, and all the opportunities for small acts of resistance.

The books main character is Paige, a student in Year 11, whose family life is dominated by the coercive control and emotional abuse and 'gas lighting' perpetrated by her father, against his wife and two children. At home, with her older brother now at University, she is made to feel invisible and over time, realises that this way of being actually keeps her 'safe'.

Paige has also done her best to progress through school without being noticed, to keep herself similarly 'safe', and spends her lunchtimes in the library, reading books that transport her to other places. As a High School Librarian, I observe a similar spectrum in each school year; the popular kids (the Grace's and Amelia's), as well as those (like Paige and Laura) in library corners everywhere, wrapped up tightly in their loneliness.

Without wanting to give spoilers, through a brilliant literary plot device, Paige gingerly embarks on a friendship with Elijah, a boy in the Sixth Form. Their first steps into this relationship bring both comedy and warmth to the story and provide hopeful glimpses into the 'real' Paige and how much she has to offer the world.

The characterisation is both full and genuine and the writing is superb. When Paige's loving Aunt Polly has to deliver her parents final blow, I cried my eyes out, feeling heartbroken for her. This book spoke both to my younger teen self, and also to me now, as the mother of a teenage girl.

I love how Holly weaves threads of feminism and empowerment through her novels. Whilst I'm sure many of my students would not explicitly identify as 'feminist' (this now being almost a 'pariah' of a word for many young women!), I'm confident that in their reading of this novel, they will identify with and develop through, these underpinning concepts in the story.

I'll be recommending The Yearbook to all of my YA readers, and will look forward to the conversations that will inevitably follow from their reading of it.

Huge thanks to #NetGalley for providing me with advance copy of #TheYearbook in exchange for an honest review.

"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)

This book is absolutely fantastic! One of my favourite Holly Bourne books to date.

This book covers so many important and at times difficult to read topics.

My heart really broke for Paige and the horrific things she had to go through. I think this handled the topic of domestic abuse really well. It was sensitively handled and realistic.

One of the main things I loved about this book was how it discussed the topic of fakeness. This is something which I have definitely experienced and I'm glad this book covered this topic.

The romance was also very cute and filled my heart. It was absolutely lovely to read.

As always the writing was amazing. Very easy to read and enjoyable. Although, it wasn't as funny as her previous books but that's probably because of the topics discussed.

Overall, this book was fantastic. I was worried that it was aimed at a slightly younger audience than some of her other books, but it wasn't. Highly recommend and thoroughly enjoyable

TW: domestic abuse and bullying

Thank you NetGalley and Usborne Publishers for sending me this book for an honest review.

Holly Bourne is one of my all time favourite YA authors. This being her 10th YA novel, you wonder what else she can do to push the boundaries and make me emotionally invested like her past novels. Well, she did just that.
The Yearbook is such an emotional story, tackling lots of important issues within schools today (and even in home life) including bullying, anxiety, mental health, emotional abuse and much more.
Paige Vickers writes for the school newspaper and keeps herself to herself, she is very quiet. But when the popular girls decide to take over the Yearbook, they use the newspaper journalists to help. Paige has no choice but to help with this and try to keep everyone happy.
But when Paige finds some red words within books in her school library, she can’t help but be drawn to whoever is writing them. She needs to find who they are and if they are still in the school - could they meet and actually be friends?

Holly has done it once again; reminding people that sometimes school wasn’t always what it seemed. Tugging on heart strings, the way Holly handles all the hard hitting subjects, showing you just don’t know what a person is going through. It really makes you second guess stuff which might have happened in your own school experiences.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone. Adults could read it and get an understanding of what some children might be going through; children should read it to understand that if they are going through a similar situation, it isn’t OK to just live that way and that they are able to talk about it.
Also, I love Polly….. (I won’t say more).
‘And they don’t mind ruining other people’s happiness in their quest to be important?’

Holly Bourne is already one of the most popular authors in our Library and with this new release, that won't be changing any time soon. A wonderful joyful story that everyone will fall in love with.

I absolutely adore Holly Bourne. I have read all of her books, and have enjoyed every one! This book is no exception!
I really liked this book. I found it an incredibly accurate representation of secondary school. I felt a lot of empathy for the the books protagonist - Paige. She definitely reminded me of myself at that age.
I don't think the title suits the book however. I think this book is so much more than the 'high school yearbook'. The plot about Paige's dad was heartbreaking, and as a now teacher, unfortunately is very true to life for a lot of my students.

I didn't find this book as fast paced as Holly Bourne's previous books, but it was still as interesting and heartfelt.
Not my fav book of Bourne's but is still a fab UK YA! Can't wait to see what she does next!

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.

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.

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

* * * * *

Holly Bourne is the queen of clever land funny feminist YA. I dont think we'll know the true impact of her work for years to come, but the Yearbook is another brilliant offering that captures the frustrations of teen years

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 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!