Book Review: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart
(Gr 7+)

Synopsis from Amazon:

"Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:Debate Club.
Her father's "bunny rabbit."
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.

Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend:  the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Landau-Banks. No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer.
Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew's lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:Possibly a criminal mastermind.

This is the story of how she got that way."

This may very well be my favorite book I've read so far in 2010. It sucked me in right away, granted, I'm apt to like anything that takes place at a boarding school. Not sure why, but something about them makes for great book settings. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld made me want to go to boarding school, even though I'm pretty sure that was not the reaction the novel was going for. Obviously I've wanted to go to Hogwarts ever since I got Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for Christmas in 1998...so 12 years. So, yes, this book had a good head start with me, but the story itself was so awesome that I completely fell for it.

Frankie is a GREAT character. She felt so real. Actually, she reminded me of my best friend. Everything she did, her thought process, it felt so familiar. I wonder how many other people felt like that about her. How many readers either know someone like Frankie or are someone like that themselves. I think that's what makes her so real as a character, a reader can relate to her so completely. After I finished this book, I found myself missing Frankie! I may have to re-read it really soon.

The rest of the cast of characters were interesting (not as much as Frankie, but hey that's a perk of being the lead). I loved and hated Alpha. I could never figure him out, probably because Frankie never really could either. Does he like her, or hate her? He's obviously not as cool as he lets people believe, but who is he really?! Then there was poor Matthew who doesn't even realize what a jerk he is. He's so sweet, but he keeps everyone at a distance, all the while pulling them uncomfortably close to prove himself to them. It was such a weird relationship dichotomy. I was never sure if I was rooting for Frankie and Matthew or begging her to dumb him on his (pretty) behind.

Basically this book is amazing! The plot is engrossing, the characters are real, and the setting is one that will completely pull you in. I laughed out loud and devoured the pages of this story with relish! I will be reading more from E. Lockhart soon. Actually, I'm really disappointed that I waited this long to read one of her books. Shame on me, but also yay! Now I have a new author to fall in love with!