The Manifesto on How to be Interesting

Product Information

Then we have Holdo, her best friend. He was such an interesting character and a really good friend to Bree? And what does she do? She kisses him and wants to have sex with him because she feels sorry for him? Sorry, because he won't really have other chances to do it due to his “bad looks”?! Like, what the hell?!?!?

Why are we so scared of admitting to each other: ‘I’m messed up’ or ‘I’m lonely’ or ‘That really hurt my feelings’?” The most unrealistic part about this book was the ending. Bree's blog was really popular but she didn't notice until Holdo showed her. Who doesn't notice thousands of comments? WHO?! And yet that’s exactly the point of the novel. When you’re seventeen, you don’t know that. You don’t know that eventually you will reach a point where you are okay with who you are, when you don’t want to be the same as the popular crowd, when you start to like your quirks and unique qualities. Let’s be honest, I probably would have done the same as a teenager and changed either my looks, my personality or both if I thought it would get me a little bit more street cred. I'm surprised I got through and finished the book, at points I was so mad about what Bree had done and how she approached the situation...just all wrong.

Holly Bourne Press Reviews

There were a few good parts in the book which made me give 1.5 as the final rating but well, the rest was just bad.

Bree is an outsider at her school and her two novels have been rejected by many publishers. That's why she wants to become interesting, to become popular. So she can live a better life or how she called it "A life worth writing about". Then she starts this absolutely ridiculous blog called "The Manifesto on How to be Interesting". Her blog posts made me just so angry. You have Holdo, Bree’s best friend (my favourite character), who is rather unfairly pushed out by Bree. She does it for her blog, for her writing, she lets her plan take over her full life! There are obviously going to be fallouts, yet Holdo doesn’t give up on his friend, he is there for Bree when she needs him- even if it’s not always welcome. Yes, there are times in the novel where Holdo ignores Bree and whilst we’re all screaming ‘ANSWER HER SHE NEEDS YOU’ it’s obvious why Bourne doesn’t allow their friendship to be mended until chapter 58. Holdo is Bree’s first step to recovery, after their friendship is rekindled towards the end of the novel Bree admits she needs help; she lets people in.

Then there’s Hugo. The schools perfect guy, the one everyone fancies and is so unlikeable that I wish he was real for just a few moments so I could punch him. Then, Bree is a feminist, apparently, but calls other girls sluts and talks shit about them. This book was just full of anti-feministic comments. The epilogue was the only bit that was good about the book and the message, although I really don't think that was reflected in the rest of the book. I clung to my kindle and read as fast as I possibly could... The ending was explosive and when there was ten percent left, I really didn't know how the plot would end. * Emma Lou Book Blog *

I hated this book. That sounds so harsh, because I thought I would never hate a book. I have always valued the authors craft, even if a book just wasn't for me. But this book was... So so so problematic. As always, the author skips over the severity of this issue. It's a very real thing. IT's not that she fails to mention that the teacher was wrong, it's that she fails to reenforce that. Bree doesn't believe that what he does is wrong, therefore we don't believe what he does is wrong. Quote: ‘Life is so bloody hard. I don’t want the struggle to be pointless. If I’m going to get crap thrown at me from great heights my whole life, well, I want to damn well make sure I leave a mark on this world in exchange for all the misery.’ The reason why I say the book is inconsistent is because there passages and descriptions that were not very elegant and made me cringe. But in general, Ms Bourne managed to create an interesting and deep main character while also making me care for the other characters around. Bree is also very clever and witty and quite aware of her shortcomings. I also really enjoyed the depiction of Bree's mother, who seems to be a grade A plastic, but is very caring and quite smart actually and of her father, a powerful absentee dad. The whole story had a very "Mean Girls" vibe to it and with the movie being one of the best teen movies around, I did really enjoy the plot.Full of wisdom, heartache, and honesty, this tops John Green in my book. * Never Judge a Book by Its Cover blog * Fill up on knowledge. Being more interesting isn't about sitting around, but about living a varied life. You want to become the kind of person who has new things they can introduce to everyone. [3] X Research source

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting" is an very inconsistent, but ultimately very entertaining book. I could argue that I'm probably not in the target group for this novel, but after reading so many contemporary YA books with a boy at its center (Looking for Alaska, Kind of a Funny Story, Spectacular Now, The Beginning of Everything), I almost got the feeling that books needed to be set in the dystopian future to focus more on a girl (Hunger Games, Divergent, 5th Wave with TFIOS as an exception). So I'm glad that this one focuses on a girl. Let's start with Bree. She tries to self proclaim herself as a feminist voice but shames girls for liking boys. Try things you might not be great at, such as public speaking or improv. Learn to master these skills.

LoveReading4Kids Says

Bourne covered many typical teen issues in this book, such as bullying, self harming and what it’s like to be lonely. All of these things have been written about countless times in YA but I don’t think I’ve read a book that has made them seem so real before. Bree also didn’t always deal with her issues in the ‘right way’, she didn’t always talk to an adult or her friends like teens are always told to do. Many teens don’t tell people about their problems, so some of Bree’s decisions (however wrong they may be) helped her become even more relatable and realistic. To summarise, yes, there were the occasional moments in this novel that did make me cringe but I would definitely recommend reading it, if only to remind yourself that being popular isn’t what matters in life. So, if you’re looking for a novel that reminds you that self-confidence is where it’s at and that not giving a damn if people don’t like you is the way to happiness, this is the story for you. After all, sometimes even us adults need help remembering that one.