The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - review

'I adored how fresh this book was, a brilliant and witty take on the boarding school experience'

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is quite possibly the best book I've read all year (and the one with the longest title) so I wasn't surprised to read that the author, E. Lockhart, credited John Green as one of her writing companions – my all-time favourite author. Having randomly stumbled upon this book online, I'm now tempted to spend a bit more time searching. It's worth it!

Disreputable History is an American novel following the title character, Frankie Landau-Banks. In her sophomore year at high school, the second year, (that would be Year 11 over here) she's finally being noticed. She grew up over the summer, both physically and emotionally, and is now ready to make a stand for herself at school. After having a crush on Matthew Livingstone in her freshman year, he's now realised that she exists and he likes her too. It's not long before they're dating.

But dating Matthew Livingstone isn't all it's cracked up to be. He's a part of the highly secretive group of Senior students at Alabaster, the exclusive boarding school that Frankie attends. Her very serious father was a member of the group when he was at the school and to this day, he refuses to talk about the secret boys' club. Heaven forbid Frankie would ever know anything about it.

But Frankie isn't stupid. In fact, she's very clever. It's very refreshing to have a teenage girl as a main character who is a) smart and gutsy, b) not a complete loser around guys and c) when she gets a boyfriend, it doesn't change her. She's still the feisty, intelligent girl she was at the start but now she has a goal: Frankie wants to find out all about the uber-secret society – The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds – that her boyfriend is a member of and why he always chooses his best friend Alpha over Frankie.

In too many school-oriented books, the main characters don't seem to have any lessons and all of their time is spent gorging over boys or gossiping with their friends. I'm glad to say that Disreputable History is not one of those books. Not only does Frankie attend her lessons (at least, most of them) but the stuff she learns is relevant to a lot of what happens in the book.

Frankie doesn't take no for an answer. Sure, she's not allowed in the all-male society but that won't stop her. She's got her wits on her side, along with a crafty plan. She's a lot more intelligent than any of the guys in The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds: she knows it and she certainly uses it to her advantage.

I adored how fresh this book was, a brilliant and witty take on the boarding school experience without missing out the realism and a highly enjoyable read. I love a good prank book, especially set in a boarding school and especially with a feisty main character. E. Lockhart delivers way more than I ever expected and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.
