The Yearbook

by Holly Bourne

Finding your voice. Speaking the truth. Falling in love. All the biggest drama happens in high school...

Mean Girls meets To All The Boys I've Loved Before in this hugely relatable high-school takedown from the queen of UKYA.

Paige is used to staying quiet in the face of lies. Like how popular girl Grace is a 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 lies. They're poison.

But Paige has finally had enough. And as she starts to find love through the pages of a book, she finds her voice too. Now she is going to rewrite her story - and the Yearbook is the perfect place to do it.

Paige Most likely to...bring down the mean girls

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Mental Health, High School, Young Adult Romance

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2021

About the author

Holly started her writing career as a news journalist, where she was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor, and general ‘agony aunt’ for a youth charity – helping young people with their relationships and mental health.

Inspired by what she saw, she started writing teen fiction, including the best-selling, award-winning ‘Spinster Club’ series which helps educate teenagers about feminism. When she turned thirty, Holly wrote her first adult novel, 'How Do You Like Me Now?', examining the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark.

Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women’s rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She’s helped create online apps that teach young people about sexual consent, works with Women’s Aid to spread awareness of abusive relationships, and runs Rethink’s mental health book club.

Reviews

[Em Lost In Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

What luck! Picking random books and they all are turning out to be so good.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why Holly Bourne hasn't made any waves in the US yet, because she writes consistently excellent YA - both entertaining and deep. The Yearbook is one of her best to date, IMO. The synopsis, while it isn't false, misrepresents the content of this heavy novel, and so does the cover. This story is about so much more than a high school yearbook. Yes, it's about bullying and domestic violence, but mainly about finding strength to be the narrator of one's own life experiences.

The romance was a nice touch, but the story could have easily existed without it, or maybe would have been even better with a friendship instead.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paige spends her school days hiding in the library and attempting to attract as little attention as possible. To stay safe is to remain invisible and she hopes this is enough for the rumours and judgement from her peers to fall on someone else instead of her. For this week, at least.

The gorgeous colour scheme and the renown of Holly Bourne's name prompted me to pick this novel up. I read few contemporary stories but when I do they are almost always centred around an academic setting. Usually I prefer these to be isolated or elite and feature a cast of pretentious characters. This school felt very reminiscent of my own, and the cast of characters were also ones I felt are universally present in schools. I was surprised by just how much I could relate to the protagonist and just how much I enjoyed, no matter how painful it was, a school experience that so closely mirrored me own.

The focus was also on Paige's struggles outside of school and the harrowing home-life formed just as much a central theme in this novel. These two aspects were equally as hard to read about and Bourne crafted an emotional and sympathetic account of Paige's suffering.

I am much older than Paige and yet still found so much to appreciate here. I can imagine how formative a novel this would be to those of Paige's age, or younger, and going through a similar set of experiences. Bourne instructed the reader on how to behave without ever preaching on how to do so or judging her characters when they failed at it entirely. It felt like a very authentic novel, as bullying is unfortunately present in so many adolescent lives, and ended with a hopeful message I greatly appreciated.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Holly Bourne, and the publisher, Usborne, for this opportunity.

[anna ੈ✩‧₊˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

ai että, holly bourne ei pettänyt tälläkään kertaa! vuosikirja oli yhtä upea lukukokemus kuin hänen aikaisemmatkin teoksensa, nousi ehkä jopa suosikiksi normaali-trilogian rinnalle.
kirjan hahmot olivat hyvin rakennettuja, ja ne kauheimmat tyypit - paigen isä ja äiti, ruby sekä grace seurueineen - saivat tuntemaan ärsytystä ja ehkä jopa pientä halua heittää kirja seinään. päähenkilö paige oli ihana, MUTTA mun lemppareita kirjassa olivat ehdottomasti polly ja elijah ❤️❤️❤️ haluaisin saada kummatkin mun omaankin elämääni, kiitos. haluan muuten lukea sen sieppari ruispellossa pian, ja ehkä myös alkaa kirjoittelemaan punakynällä kirjastonkirjoihin (en uskaltais).
vuosikirjaa oli joissain kohti paigen perheolosuhteiden myötä vähän ahdistavaa lukea. oli. kauheeta. mitä. siellä. tapahtui. raskaat aiheet oli kuitenkin onnistuttu höystämään huumorilla, jonka ansiosta kirja oli melko keveä ja helppolukuinen. rakastin, suosittelen lukemaan <3

uudelleenluku 10/2022:
edelleen ihan loistava <3 miksi elijahia tai pollya ei oo vieläkään mun elämässä??
JA tarviin bournelta jo uuden suomennetun kirjan.

[Selah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning! Perfectly encapsulates what it's like going through high school, I absolutely loved every bit of it!! 😍

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reigning queen of UKYA does it again!

[Sylvie {Semi-Hiatus} · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally decided (after not so little time) to give this book 3.75 out of 5 stars and leaving it to 3 stars, because I didn't truly feel the 4 stars.

So, before reading this book I've wanted for many years to read a Holly Bourne book, I even had one of her books in my tbr 'It Only Happend In The Movies' then, after a while I wasn't interested in that book anymore. But I finally settled on on her newest book to read.

In the blurb this book was decribed as The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets Mean Girls so being familiar and even liking both of these, I knew I had to read this as soon as it comes out.

Would I say that it reminded me of those titles I mentioned above? Not really. I mean they're both good coming of age stories as was this book, however I didn't really se similarities exceot for the fact that this book indeed had mean girls in it, but that was about it.
I felt like every character in this book besides the MC girl and maybe the mc guy (I can't even remember their names anymore #sorry). Every character feelt too flat and one dimensional, they had no depth to their personalities except for being a major stereotype.

And about our main character, I got the feeling that she wanted the readers to feel sorry for her and pity her, because she's an introvert and is ''too afraid because of rumours or gossip'' to make new friends. Yes, her home life was horrible and I'm very happy with how the book ended and her aunt was an angel. I also wanted her and her brother to have a much stronger bond. But maybe it's just my opinion. I always look forward strong friendships within siblings when it comes to books.

Anywho, I liked this book overall, I enjoyed reading it and it was fast-paced so that's a plus.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holly Bourne has done it yet again and possibly even better than before. With her trademark laugh-out-loud humour, loveable characters and page-turning writing, she embraces covering hard topics such as bullying and abuse in a way that is relatable and accessible for so many teenagers out there.

Truly, if I could get every teenage girl to read one author, it would probably be Holly Bourne.

My only qualm with the book is one of the main characters absolutely loving Catcher in the Rye and having several copies of it? Loving Catcher in the Rye is definitely an indicator of a psychopath, which wasn’t very fitting with the character, whom I absolutely adored.

Other than that I loved, loved, loved this book!

Quotes:
"Books beckoned me in from where they were stacked high up to the ceiling - commanding peace and quiet in exchange for the privilege of being around them." pg. 17

"I'm sure, behind closed doors, there was more to them. I'm sure they were complex and 3D and flawed, with their own complicated life stories interwoven with pain like everyone else. But you know what? I couldn't care less about that. Because I never saw any of it. Nobody at school ever saw anything but the gloss and the bullying." pg.50

"'Alongside people being obsessed with telling you THEIR story about who they are, everyone's also obsessed with telling you the story about who YOU are... And you're totally entitled to disagree with it. In fact, the only way to stay sane is to always argue with somebody else's story about who they think you are.'" pg. 148

"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." pg. 258

"'I do care what some people think about me. But I decided to only care about the opinions of people who I care about. Other people can tell whatever stories they want about me. I can't control that. And I don't care what they say any more. Everyone, everywhere, is going to have an opinion about you. The important thing is learning whose opinions are worth listening to.'" pg.317

"Every person on this earth deserves to have someone love them for precisely who they are. In fact, if more people felt loved for who they are, maybe they wouldn't feel so desperate to feel important at the expense of others." pg. 437

[winnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a new favorite female character so it deserves all these 4 stars.

Paige Vickers, the girl who told the truth.

"I exist, I once wrote in the margin. I once read this page. I breathed. I lived. I'm not special at all but I exist."

So this is basically "Mean Girls" from the perspective of the people who were bullied. More specifically, the one who always noticed the bullying. As the title suggests the main big thing is the Yearbook and since our main character Paige Vickers is at the school paper she is doing it (only because the mean girls wanted it done their way). But the thing is, she doesn't want to spread bad things about the students, even being scared of going against the bullies she has to choose between speaking the truth or letting them get away with it. In the middle of this she's suffering with an abusive dad at home and trying her best to be loved by him, the pain of losing her best friend and the mystery behind the person who wrote some red inked annotations in the books she's reading and how ruthless she is about finding who's doing it.

The happiness of finishing a book and having a new favorite character.. I feel it right now. Paige Vickers is the silent, quiet, scared girl at first, she doesn't want to be noticed because being noticed means she'll be bullied. You know when you root for a character to do something and then they disappoint you? She does it. Because at the same time, she wants to be brave she can't, for so many times during this book, and while it might be upsetting for some readers for me it was great because I was able to see actual development. And development doesn't happen in a day, it's not linear, it took this girl months of back and downs to be brave enough to stand up for herself and others and I'm so damn proud of this character she became my new best girl because of it.

Elijah is a book boyfriend at its finest, funny, sarcastic, supportive, and likes to read, he's just an angel and I liked him so much.

I have SO MANY Taylor Swift songs that fit this book and the characters. So at the end of the first Elijahpaige meeting, she smiles all the way walking back home (this is written exactly like that in the book) and I thought it, you thought it, we both thought it, yes, exactly, it's Enchanted coded 'cause "I'm wonderstruck blushing all the way home" is their anthem.

Paige is such a seven ,this is me trying and mirrorball girlie, as I said before she's always trying her best to be loved by her dad, she doesn't want to be bullied but not standing up also costs her so much, she hates herself with a passion so yeah. She's one of my type of girls idc.

While I did enjoy reading this book it was mostly because I felt connected to Paige as a character, like you may see me talking great things about this book because of HER. The plot is good but not the most interesting in this world like.. it took me 3 days to finish this and for me, it's a long time. I have no complaints about the writing, but I really wish Paige got some new friends because her only friends are her Aunt Polly, Elijah, and Daisy, she deserves more people loving her and that's why I wish there was another book or novella about her during college years.

Trigger warnings: bullying, domestic violence, parental abuse, transphobic slurs, slut-shaming/other sexism, fatphobia.


Come chat with me about books and Taylor Swift on my Twitter .

[Janna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, there is nothing Bourne can’t do.

[NAT.orious reads ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult for me to like a book when the main character is unlikeable to me. Maybe it's because I see much of myself in her and don't want to be reminded of that. Or maybe my school year's simply weren't as bad.

[berfin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,75* 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
ok changing the rating to 5 bc it’s been 3 months and i still think about them basically everyday!

[vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I CRIED. AND CRIED SOME MORE. PAIGE VICKERS I LOVE U

[zjjjjjjjjrdgff · Rating 1 out of 5]

1

Didnt like it as much but it was fine ig.

Characters felt a bit boring/stereotypical at times

[Kara Babcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every novel by Holly Bourne breaks me, yet each breaks me in its own unique way. And I never see the devastation coming. I expected The Yearbook to be more about, well, the creation of a school yearbook than anything else. But really this is a book about abuse. Whether it’s under the guise of high school bullying or parental or marital relationships, abuse is a pernicious monster, difficult to name and more difficult still to stop. Paige, our main character, struggles with this on many levels. And, damn you Holly Bourne, so have I, but I didn’t need to be crying in a bathtub over it…. The Yearbook probably isn’t my favourite of Bourne’s novels to date, but it is the one I have most personally identified with.

Trigger warnings for, obviously, bullying and abusive relationships. There are also mentions of transphobic slurs, slut-shaming/other sexism, fatphobia, etc., as Paige chronicles what the mean girls are saying about other students.

Paige Vickers is in Year Eleven, which for those of you reading this in Canada and the US is the same age as Grade 10, but you write national exams and then go off to one of many pre-college/university pathways like A Levels or BTEC or what have you. So Paige is about to be leaving school behind. She is a quiet girl who doesn’t make waves, doesn’t draw attention, and she likes it that way. But her involvement on the school newspaper soon throws her into the company of Grace, Amelia, and Laura, the three most popular and petty girls at her school. Paige reluctantly agrees to work on the Year 11 Leavers’ Yearbook with them, even though it’s obvious from the start that the three mean girls plan to use the yearbook as an opportunity to establish, on paper, their supremacy while rubbing other students’ low points in their faces. But what can Paige do about it? She’s a studious bookworm at heart, obsessed with finding out the identity of a red-pen scribbling pen-pal in the margins of her school library’s most venerable classics. Oh, and she is constantly on high alert when at home, where her dad makes life hell but she and her mom just go along with it like nothing else is wrong, because what else can you do?

There’s so much to unpack here, and I don’t even know where to begin. As I said in my introduction, I feel personal connections to this book far more than I did to any of Bourne’s other books. I have adored Bourne’s fiction from the first book of hers that I read, but the stories of those characters were not my story, my experiences. Now, neither are Paige’s. But there were layers to The Yearbook that resonated with me and left me seen, shaken, but ultimately satisfied with this story.

First, I used to teach in a school like Paige’s! There were some superficial differences—ours was not a religious school—but I was one of those ineffectual teachers of Year Elevens that feature in this book. I was witness to the kind of trauma and bullying that Paige describes, and likely there was a lot that I was oblivious to.

And I know I didn’t do enough.

The longer I am a teacher, the more convinced I become that “high school is hell” is reality, not metaphor. I really do think our education systems—whether we are talking England, Ontario, or the U.S.—are letting down our children, and I don’t just mean in terms of quality of learning. I think we seriously need to address social issues in our schools, particularly bullying. We need to rethink an institution that is so toxic it can drive students to suicide and self-harm and make them so eager to escape it no matter what.

Bourne doesn’t pull her punches here. The bullying in The Yearbook is not simply sly name-calling. It’s full-blown rumours that result in students leaving school, refusing school, switching schools. It’s a form of individualized terrorism visited upon students by those who receive a high off their power, and who want to maintain that power by making sure no one comes for them. We often poke fun at the idea of the mean girls, make comparisons to high school and dominance in the animal kingdom, etc. Bourne avoids such symbolism and instead lays out the plain truth: bullying harms. And no one is doing enough about it.

Paige herself is the consummate bystander. She sees it happening, chronicles it in her journals even, yet does nothing—because to involve herself would be to make herself a target, as is indeed confirmed at one point. Paige’s gradual transformation from bystander to opponent of bullying is one of the three major journeys she undertakes in the book. Bourne portrays all three journeys with intimidating honesty: nothing about what Paige does is easy, and nothing results in magical quick fixes that make everyone feel better again.

Paige’s second journey involves her relationship with her parents. Her mom and dad were high school sweethearts, but her dad, it turns out, is an abusive jerk. But he isn’t a caricature of abusiveness, because, of course, this is Holly Bourne we’re talking about. His emotional abuse is often subtle to the point of gaslighting, and his physical abuse is usually not something Paige witnesses. Indeed, the fact that we get everything filtered through Paige’s first person perspective adds an uncomfortably real sense of unreliability to her dad’s abuse. People in abusive situations warp their reality as a matter of survival. This becomes obvious in how Paige’s mom responds to the situation, but it is true for Paige herself, even if it takes us and her more time to come to terms with that. It isn’t that Paige is in denial, but rather, she has constructed a narrative of helplessness in which there is nothing she can do to alter the facts of her home life.

As with Paige’s school life, my connection here isn’t with Paige herself but with people around her. I speak from experience when I say that it is hard to watch a close friend endure an abusive relationship. So Paige’s aunt, Polly, was a character who resonated with me. Like me, Polly is a single adult. She’s watching Paige and her sister go through this ordeal. She’s ready to offer support, but there is only so much she can do. This is a trauma of its own kind, and amidst Paige’s experience of child abuse, I appreciate that Bourne acknowledges it in a small way, creating this space for me and my experience in fiction.

Paige’s third journey involves someone else who, like Polly, is at first a witness to her abusive environment but steps in to be an accomplice when she needs it. Paige’s name is no accident, for she finds the most comfort in books. Her relationship with Elijah starts this way, and their conversations are very much the type of conversation I might expect two teenagers to have about life and literature: a tiny amount of pomposity combined with staggeringly acute opinions! I think what works most for me about this relationship is the lack of typical drama you would expect from a romantic subplot. Bourne has previously demonstrated she has no time for that sort of thing but I appreciate that idea of healthy relationships explored here in another way.

Intrigued by the idea of sifting, I sifted The Yearbook for its single most important sentence. Here’s what I came up with:

“You’re allowed to red pen yourself,” he said. “To scribble out your past beliefs if you’ve learned better.”

What did you sift?

The Yearbook is, as I said earlier, a distinct type of devastation from Bourne’s other novels, both adult and YA. And I like it. I like the plot; I like the characters; but most importantly, I recognize and appreciate the themes that Bourne weaves together into a passionate and meaningful story. It’s one thing to bring great themes to one’s book; it’s another thing to turn those themes into a workable story—and this is the lightning that Bourne manages to bottle over and over again. I will not stop recommending her books—to young people, yes, but also to us adults who really need to remind ourselves what young people go through, and maybe who need to address our own past and present traumas as well.

Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.

[Claudia Torkan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No, čudné na ľuďoch je, a stáva sa to veľmi často, že sa radšej cítia dôležití než šťastní."

Hocičo čo napíšem nebude ani zďaleka také výpovedné, ako keby ste si prečítali knihu. Toto teda opäť nebude nejaká recenzia, skôr len môj pohľad na vec a to, ako by ma potešilo kebyže som tú knihu čítala vtedy, keď som ju potrebovala najviac.

Paige nikto nevidí. Je tu, a predsa nie je. Doma je zatienená bratom, v škole všetkými spolužiakmi a jediná osoba, ktorá ju vidí, sa nachádza na stránkach kníh z povinnej literatúry. Nechávajú si odkazy červeným perom, ktoré začnú jednoduchým výrokom: BOLA SOM TU

Myslím, že väčšina z nás si na škole prešla obdobím, na ktoré by sme najradšej zabudli. Pre niekoho to môže byť gymko, pre iného otrasná stredná, pre mňa to bola základka. Fuj. Paige je na tom rovnako, no čo čert nechce, do školských novín si to namieria tri najpopulárnejšie dievčatá, aby im "pomohli" zostaviť školskú ročenku. Začnú otvárať spomienky a zážitky, na ktoré by všetci zúčastnení najradšej zabudli. Všetky hrôzy, ktoré sa stalo, zaobalia do pozlátka tak, aby zneli nádherne, i keď realita je iná.

Táto kniha ma rozbila. Bola podaná citlivo, zamerala sa na všetky aspekty rodiny a priateľstva, nestránila sa

[Sini Helminen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kun luin ensimmäisen Holly Bournen kirjani, Normaali-trilogian aloittavan Oonko ihan normaali?, olin todella innoissani: miten raikasta ja samalla huumorista huolimatta käsitellään vakavia teemoja. Ja miten poikkeuksellista kerrankin ainaisen romantiikan sijaan lukea tarina tytöstä, joka tapaa toksisen pojan ja eroaa! Hiljalleen innostukseni on Bournen kirjoja lukiessani hiipunut, vaikka edelleen hänen tyylinsä on yhä viihdyttänyt. Nyt kun kirjoja on luettuna jo kasa, hiljalleen ne ovat alkaneet toistaa itseään. Kunnes saapui uusin, Vuosikirja.

Vuosikirjan alkuasetelma on kliseinen. Koulun lehteä toimittavan Paigen koulua hallitsee paha suosittujen tyttöjen kolmikko ja kiusaamista tapahtuu paljon. Lopulta myös kuvioihin löytyy erilainen, kapinallinen poika, joka fanittaa vieläpä Siepparia ruispellossa. Tällä kertaa tämä ei kuitenkaan ole kirja tytöstä ja toksisesta pojasta; pääosaa ei otsikosta huolimatta vie myöskään koulu. Sen sijaan on kysymys myrkyllisestä perheestä ja etenkin isästä, joka tukahduttaa Paigen itsetunnon, mutta jonka vallasta tuntuu mahdottomalta pyrkiä pois. Sivussa annetaan myös takaisin niille ilkeille tytöille, jotka haluavat käyttää koulun vuosikirjaa kiusaamisen välikappaleena.

Nautin Vuosikirjan lukemisesta paljon ja se palautti viehtymystäni Bourneen. Mukavaa oli myös että tällä kertaa poika sai olla tukea antava ja mukava. Kirjastonhoitajana minun pitäisi kai olla kauhistunut tavasta, jolla Paige ja Elijah löytävät toisensa: kirjoittelemalla punakynällä kirjastonkirjoihin. Älkää ottako lukijat pahoja vaikutteita! Mutta kyllähän se tapa hakea kirjoista ystävyyttä ja turvapaikkaa sulatti ammattilaisenkin sydämen, niin että katson tätä rikettä nyt sormien välistä.

Arvio myös blogissa Siniset helmet: https://sinisethelmet.wordpress.com/2...

[claudiagideons · Rating 5 out of 5]

the way i love this book. new favorite. just want to exist with them.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

O primeiro livro que leio da autora e sem dúvida que comecei em grande. Este livro foi incrível e em certos aspetos soube a casa - conseguiu ser muito pessoal em determinados temas, o que fez com que criasse uma ligação mais próxima com a história.

Adorei o modo como a autora descreveu tudo, o leitor é imediatamente transportado para esta realidade. Ou então, relembra a sua experiência escolar, o que pode ser traumático diga-se de passagem...
No meu caso foi uma mistura dos dois, lembrei-me da minha experiência escolar e do quanto não gosto de a revisitar, mas também me deu uma perspectiva diferente do que vivi...pois a história da Paige é tão humana que é impossível não ser, em parte, a história de todos nós.

Não estava de todo a contar que esta história fosse tão dura, tão impactante... Foi incrível e sem dúvida que este livro merece ser lido, merece ser compreendido, porque todos nós existimos, todos merecemos ser vistos e ouvidos pelos outros - devemos viver a nossa própria história, a nossa vida e não passar por ela. Estamos aqui, existimos, somos alguém, somos especiais e únicos ✨❤️


"I exist."

"The fact that you hate school is a brilliant indicator you’re going to turn out marvellously."

"...the end of childhood is when you realize adults don’t really know what they’re doing."

"Every person on this earth deserves to have someone love them for precisely who they are."

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: bullying; systematic bullying in a school that goes unchecked, mentions of students having to take time of school due to bullying/mental health problems, slut shaming, emotional abuse, physical abuse, parental neglect, lack of parental love, child abandonment - emotionally and physically

Thank you to NetGalley and Usborne Publishing for approving me to read an eARC


It makes me quite sad to rate this book only 3* because the book wasn't bad but it was so misleading. Reading that plot I went in expecting that the main focus was going to be about Paige rewriting the yearbook throughout the book and how she was going to finally speak up about everything that's gone on at the school and the way people have been treated... and she does... in literally the last 5% of the book. I got to 70% of this book and was just thinking... where is this conflict about the bullying, about the yearbook, about Paige speaking up? Because it wasn't present at all in the first 80-90% of the book - it is literally the last 10% or so when things actually happen. I hate when blurbs make a book out to be one thing and then it's completely the opposite.

If this blurb had been reflective of the actual book, I would have enjoyed it more. Paige is a kind but quiet student who has been told by her family and friends that she isn't worth loving - her best friend dropped her and her family are AWFUL (apart from Polly who is lovely) and she is constantly made to feel lesser. Her father is abusive; not yet physical but emotional and gaslighting throughout her life, constantly putting her down and making her feel inadequate. Her one best friend moved away and left her behind and she just feels alone. Paige finds comfort in the pages of books; and within that finds a like-minded sole, Elijah, who enjoys scribbling in the sides of books as much as she does. If the plot was reflective of this, it would have been so much better - Paige's journey to escape from her abusive home and find herself is such an interesting and well-done narrative. But it's overshadowed for me by the weird yearbook plot that barely makes a splash in the story until that last 5%.

Paige speaks out against the bullies on one occasion and writes some responses to toilet graffiti - which also garner some other positive responses - but that's all she really does until, in that last 5%, where she finds out the mean girls have added in some awful categories into the yearbooks "most likely to" and so she rewrites it, and tells the truth. AND THEN THE BOOK ENDS. Yes we get a short article summing up that the girls were expelled and Paige luckily wasn't suspended (which the fact that this was even a thought is ridiculous) and then it's over!!! I was ready to give this book 4* before that but when I read this ending it just dropped to 3*. It was so disappointing to me. I felt like the whole book was building up to this showdown of Paige standing up to the bullies and then the book just ends - we don't even get to find out what else she added into the yearbook.

The book is too long; it spends so much time building up the story but there just isn't enough pay off. Condense this book down and give it a better plot summary and it would have been much better but unfortunately it just didn't line up with what it was described to be. Sadly I just didn't love this book as much as I hoped I would - which is such a shame because those sprayed edges are delightful...

Out 13th May 2021 for you to give your own review - my advice, don't read the blurb first.

[Rozanne Visagie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Disclaimer: I was kindly gifted a copy of this book by @penguinbooksya and Usborne YA in exchange for an honest review.



"Books beckoned me in from where they were stacked high up to the ceiling - commanding peace and quiet in exchange for the privilege of being around them."

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

It started with the photos for the yearly yearbook when all Paige wanted to do was hide in the girls' bathroom. Being a loner, she felt she did a good enough job of blending in with the wallpaper, not attracting too much attention to herself. Even though she was part of the school's newspaper, she only ever wrote articles of meagre value. All around her she saw the daily bullying by Grace, Amelia and Laura, also known as the Awfuls, and wrote it down in her notebooks after school. Keeping track of what terrible things they said to her fellow students.

Paige spent a lot of time reading in the library; reading was her form of hiding from the Awfuls. Feeling alone and unwanted, not only by her peers but also by her parents who are obsessed with her older brother Adam, Paige leaves messages in the margins of the books she reads. Inking her existence into someone else's story. That is until she finds messages written in red pen and instantly feels a connection with the person behind the red pen. Paige feels seen and understood and decides to write a message in return hoping for a reply.

"Everything blurred around me as I read the red words. They zoomed into sharp focus, so sharp that they seared themselves into me, branding me with their wisdom."

Having a difficult home life with uninvolved parents and asked by Ms Gordon to help create the yearbook where the Awfuls dictated every year starting from Year Seven's Do you remember when up until The Leaver's Ball, Paige learned to find her voice of truth amidst all the lies and falseness. With the help of 'Red Pen', she felt like her existence mattered.

I wish I had this book when I was in high school. This book brings back so many memories. Holly Bourne uses her book to carry across an important message. This message isn't only meant for high school but also life after it. This is definitely a story worth reading.
If you have been or are bullied, there is always help.
The Yearbook shows us that whatever happens to us can make us stronger if we allow it to. There are happy and sad moments throughout the story, but that is what makes this story relatable. Those who are currently in high school will find this book to be a lifesaver; those who have graduated high school and entered the daily routines of adulthood while bearing scars of high school will find this book to be a treasure.

This review is posted on my blog:
https://willowscornerbook.wordpress.c...

[Sayantoni Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, why was I mislead by the blurb into thinking that this one was just another chicklit? If there's a saying that "the blurb gives nothing away" then this book would be the very epitome of validating it. I was not prepared for it. I repeat : I. WAS. NOT. PREPARED.

This book unknowingly triggered the dormant love that I had for annotation. I was always fascinated by the idea of annotating a book, hell I'm still scared of scarring those beautiful pages with ink, pencil, highlighter and what not. But now, I've found this blooming love for marking my presence in this world through books and words. I exist. The effect is so little yet so surreal that I cannot possibly fathom how wholesome it actually is to reaffirm the fact that my existence is actually validating. To matter, to exist, to feel alive.

Paige Vickers has made me realise that I am really not alone, no matter how miserable I may feel at times. There are people out there like me, people who struggle everytime and who suffer in ways that I can't probably fathom. If Paige wasn't a bookish character, I'm sure we would have hit it off really well in real life. Hell, we would have been best friends. Or, we would have just existed on our own, never even saying 'hi', never knowing the kind of potential we might have to kindle the truest kind of friendship. I wonder, how many Paiges I might have encountered life but never explored?

It feels so nice to actually have that one person in your life who understands you, and let me tell you, that feeling is the greatest gift one can ever receive. Not everyone is as lucky. I'm glad my girl Paige here finally gets the happiness that was long overdue. I wish an Elijah to every Paige out there in the world!

This book brings hope to those who've lost faith in the system and are still lost and scarred from the memories of what we often fondly remember as "school". Not everyone's school days are worthy of remembering, and we must acknowledge that out loud.
It's difficult, it's profound, it's overwhelming but it's necessary.

This book claims to be fiction but its the real story of so many of us. It doesn't matter who you were at school. Whether you were the victim or the tormentor, the ignorant teacher (yes, they do exist) or a passive onlooker, this book calls out everyone in the most honest of ways. The truth is the truth no matter the fancy platter that it is served in. Read this if you want to be liberated.

Trigger warning>>> Bullying, Violence, Mental Trauma

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for 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!

[buchsternchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

„No one will ever understand us and us them.“

Ich denke, von dem Buch und deren tollen realistischen Charakteren würden sich viele verstanden fühlen. Hier geht es um Mobbing, Gerüchte, Ungerechtigkeit, den typischen Alltag, bloß nicht auffallen wollen, sich unverstanden und einsam fühlen. Alles Dinge, die man kennt, und vielleicht sogar selbst erlebt hat oder erlebt. Fakt ist: an Schulen geht es ums blanke Überleben, fight me on this. Fernab davon, war immer eine Prise Humor dabei, um es nicht zu schwerfällig werden zu lassen. Es ist nicht die spannendste Geschichte und aus psychologischer Sicht wohl am interessantesten. Ich dachte tatsächlich es dreht sich nur um die High School und das Jahrbuch, aber starke familiäre Probleme und die erste Liebe nehmen einen noch größeren Teil ein. Es wurde nichts schön geredet oder verschleiert. Hier geht es um die Wahrheit. Genau so ein Buch müsste man meiner Meinung nach in der Schule lesen, weil es so viele wichtige Werte vermittelt.<3

[BookReaderAG · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love this author. I read her earlier books 'What's a girl gotta do', 'Pretending' and 'All the places i've cried in public' and loved them all. The protagonists in those books were so well fleshed out and empathetic. So, imagine my surprise when reading this book , it felt like an assignment, it almost seemed like I am watching a very boring teen movie with no comedy.

The main character in this book, Paige, is a caricature. In fact, all the characters seem to just have one character trait that defines them- the manic pixie boy-Elijah, the lovable aunt-Polly, the angry dad, the submissive mom, the beautiful bullies, the selfish brother. There is no depth at all. And for all the talk of not being mean, Paige is super judgemental of people. Her brother is saving himself from this toxic family but she keeps harping on about how selfish he is but then goes and spends all her weekends with her "lovable" aunt leaving her mom alone. Her ex-best friend moved to a new place, unfamiliar school and grew up, became someone different. But Paige is so pretentious that anyone who doesn't fit her narrow definition of "good", "nice" is plastic and fake. The buildup of the entire bully story line and the payoff was so insignificant and unsatisfying. What was the point of the story?

But the most disappointing aspect was that it was really sexist at times. It seemed weird that all the bullies were girls or if there were others, only they faced the consequences. Her aunt is single so obviously is living with a bunch of cats (*eye roll*) and attends weird cat conferences (also why so many cancer jokes; it was stupid and not funny). The mother who is a homemaker is also super submissive with no self esteem. It seemed like a lot of cliches put together.

Pretending was one of my favorite books of last year so sort of hoping her future books are better.

[zoshy poshy · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a slay, paige and elijah are my baes for life
and the things id do to have a polly in my life

[Amrita Goswami · Rating 4 out of 5]

CW: domestic abuse, bullying

The bright cover belies the beautiful, emotional story within. It was definitely not what I expected. There were many hard truths in The Yearbook, and also much discussion of books (guaranteed to tug on book lovers' heartstrings. Yes, Dickens was discussed in loving detail!). I also thought that the conversations were organic and very well done.

It was almost as if this book was shining a spotlight on my 15 year old self. Like the MC, Paige, I too felt invisible in school. I had survived some mild bullying in middle school, following which I faded into obscurity. I felt average in every way: my grades were good, but not remarkably so. I used to think about being forgotten a lot too. And as for the self-loathing and deprecation felt by Paige- well, I still struggle with that. I don't think I've ever identified with a YA protagonist more. And the love interest should become the gold standard of fictional teenage boys. There was a romance, but it was not corny (and not unrealistic either ; there were no descriptions of perfect abs, moans, groans and whatnot. Also it was "clean"). The romance, which was sweet and endearing, was more of a background thing, much like real life itself.

Another thing that I really liked was that The Yearbook calls out a particular attitude that I hate - that it's somehow wrong to be hurt and vulnerable. It's really distressingly prevalent, and I detest the fact that emotion has become this shameful, dirty thing.

--- mild spoilers begin
A note on the domestic abuse (mild spoilers beyond this point!) :

This book contains a lot of emotional domestic abuse and parental neglect. Readers who are triggered by these issues should be mindful of this- I've been fortunate enough to enjoy a good relationship with my family, and my brother and I are very close. But the pain experienced by the MC still did strike a chord with me because I had a very difficult relationship with a mentor.

--- mild spoilers end

I think enjoyment of this book is tied to how much one relates to the characters - and that is deeply personal. I may have rambled a little about my personal experiences ; I was trying to explain why this book worked for me so well. Paige was very relatable for me, but the The Yearbook may not be for everyone. This is YA fiction with teeth.

[Ulla | tarinannuppuja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melkein aina luettuani Holly Bournen uuden kirjan, minut valtaa ihmetys: miten hän on taas kerran tehnyt sen? Onnistunut liikuttamaan minua, saanut minut rakastumaan henkilöihinsä, käsitellyt raskaita aiheita ja kuitenkin jättänyt lukijalle pilkahduksen toivoa?

Holly Bournen Vuosikirja (Gummerus, 2021, suom. Kristiina Vaara, *kirja saatu arvostelukappleena töiden kautta) kertoo Paigesta, joka yrittää pysyä poissa kaikkien tieltä. Koulussa hän yrittää vältellä suosittujen oppilaiden huomiota, ettei joutuisi näiden julmien pilojen ja kiusaamisen kohteeksi. Kotona hän yrittää pysyä näkymättömänä, ettei äkkipikainen ja arvaamaton isä saisi aihetta kohdistaa kiukkuaan häneen tai äitiin.

Paige viettää välitunnit koulun kirjastossa lukien kirjoja ja kirjoittaen kommentteja marginaaleihin. Eräänä päivänä hän huomaa, että joku muukin on kirjoittanut huomioitaan kirjan sivuille. Paige päättää ottaa selvää, kuka on punakynä, jonka sanat tuntuvat pitkästä aikaa siltä, että joku on nähnyt hänet.

Kuten parissa edellisessäkin Bournelta suomennetussa romaanissa, tässäkin pureudutaan väkivallan dynamiikkaan. Tällä kertaa perheväkivaltaa tarkastellaan teinin näkökulmasta. Vaikka henkinen väkivalta viiltää, Paige kaipaa huomiota ja rakkautta myös väkivallan tekijältä. Bourne onnistuukin upealla tavalla kuvaamaan perheväkivallan uhrien ajatuksia, heidän rikkonaisuuttaan, heidän ristiriitaisuuttaan.

Kirja ei kuitenkaan ole pelkkää lohduttomuutta, sillä samaan aikaan kun Paigen kotielämä on kaaoksessa, hän löytää ystävän. Varovaisen, haproivan ystävyyden kuvaus onkin kirjan sokeri! Tässä kirjassa on myös mitä söpöin ihastumisjuoni! Taas kerran olen mykistynyt Bournen kyvystä kuljettaa rinnakkain synkkyyttä ja valoa.

Vaikka vuosikirjan tekemisprosessi ei ihan hirveästi kiinnosta, tästä tuli heittämällä yksi suosikki-hollybourneistani! 5/5

[Sarah (thegirltheycalljones) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book while knowing we're getting again a cast of fictional teens that are mostly an adult trying to explain teens to teens.
And I mean it in the most benevolent way possible, as I read this book as a desperate attempt to save lives (or at least preserve the sanity of the target readers), as someone shouting at the top of their lungs "stop being assholes, it's not worth it, kindness FFS!! This shit is meaningless and petty and useless!! It's not real life!! It's normal to hate highschool, get the fuck out of there because it's full of sociopaths!!!"
And how I agree with Holly Bourne.

Mild spoilers about the romance, I guess

I'm very interested to know how this book was seen by actual teenagers (I obviously am not one anymore), and I'm gonna spend my night browsing reviews. As an adult, and mother of one, I think this is an important book, that the fears a teen can have about every little detail, and the cruel side of teenage behaviour are spot on.
The family drama at Paige's home was terrifying. It sounded a bit much on top of the high school drama, but who am I to judge, really. I'm just happy I never had to face that kind of dysfunctional family (and that's a euphemism). Some parts were truly hard to read.

I really liked Paige. I would have loved to meet her in high school, even if again, a part of me doubts that her voice was a realistic 16 y/o.
Same goes for Elijah. Their encounter is the one we all hoped to get, in our daydreams, I guess. And 99% of the time, it stays what it is : a daydream? So yeah, it was so perfect I could have rolled my eyes.
But I didn't, because I liked the both of them so much, and I wanted them to be happy, and for Paige to finally, finally realise that yes, she does exist, that I didn't mind their unrealistic minds (as I said, I'll check the GR community reviews to see if it's just my own judgement...) and modern fairytale story.
I highly appreciated that Paige wasn't saved by LOVE - thank goodness - but finally found a friend, someone who gets her, who listens, and that she learns how to heal through support and friendship first.

Anyway, I downed this book in a day, and it has been a while since it happened. Thanks, book!

[mylibraryofdreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF /did not finish/abgebrochen

Das Buch hatte ich letztes Jahr gekauft, weil ich bisher von Holly Bourne nur gute Bücher gelesen habe (mitunter auch einige meiner absoluten Lieblings Bücher!) Leider hab ich es dann nie gelesen und hatte es mir nun für den Januar vorgenommen. Kurzum- ich hatte es mir letzte Woche geschnappt und wollte loslegen... Aber der Funke wollte nicht springen. Ich habe mich durch 50 Seiten gequält und dann die Lust verloren. Hab alle 20 Seiten wieder ein wenig gelesen, um dann noch das Ende zu sehen, aber bis zum Schluss blieb die Begeisterung aus? Ich wurde mit der Protagonistin nicht warm, die Geschichte konnte mich nicht fesseln. Ehrlich gesagt bin ich etwas enttäuscht. Nicht unbedingt vom Buch, sondern eher von der Tatsache, dass ich so sicher war, dass es mir gefallen würde und ich nun feststellen musste, dass sich entweder Hollys Schreibstil oder ich verändert/weiterentwickelt hat...



Holly Bourne Bücher die ich toll fand:

-It only happens in the movies

-am I normal yet?

-the places I’ve crie din public


Holly Bourne Bücher die ich toll fand:

-It only happens in the movies

-am I normal yet?

-the places I’ve crie din public