Book Review | You Could Be So Pretty by Holly Bourne

Recently, I was seeing this book all over bookstagram and I knew just from the cover that this one is right up my alley. But when I read the synopsis, I was completely sold – I just needed to get my hands on a copy of Holly Bourne’s latest book. How amazing is this cover?! 😍

Published: September 2023
Pages: 392
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

So, it’s safe to say I DEVOURED this one. From the moment I picked it up and started to read it, I could not put it down. Being introduced to Belle and the whole way the Doctrine works was already so intriguing. Belle is deemed a Pretty. She is someone who follows the Doctrine to the T and she is absolutely perfect in every way.

We are also introduced to Joni. Joni is in a category called the Objectionables. These are the girls and women who refuse to follow the Doctrine and are therefore deemed less valuable, not worthy of being considered or listened to, and basically just societal trash. They don’t keep up with the latest dress trends, or cover their faces with Mask or keep up on the Ratings.

The thing is, Belle and Joni are both super smart and working hard to get an opportunity to win a spot at the Education through means of a Scholarship. They both have very different reasons for that. And, even though they are on opposite sides of the spectrum in society, they are thrown together into these preparation classes for their Scholarship interviews that forces them to spend time together and get to know each other better.

All the while, we see how involved both Belle and Joni’s moms are in their worlds and how their different views are being worked out in each of their daughters. Belle’s mom lives strictly according to the Doctrine, and Joni’s mom has wilfully rejected everything the Doctrine stands for. In both cases, the dads are noticeably absent. In one case, the father left for a younger, more beautiful woman and in the other, the dad was always away working for Finance.

The Doctrine is this invisible force that controls all of society. It dictates how women need to look and dress and behave and it encourages all kinds of revolting behaviours from men. Women just need to be beautiful for men and obedient to men and never speak out of turn or dare to look anything less than perfect. As a result, women spend all their time and money making themselves look beautiful but at an even greater cost – their joy and contentment.

Gosh, I really, really loved watching Belle’s and Joni’s relationship unfold. They were incredible and Joni won my heart in this one. She was just so kind and solid in the entire story. And as much as the story ended on a frustrating note, I love how they handled it.

I was thoroughly engrossed in this from start to finish and would highly recommend this to everyone. It’s not really a dystopian. It’s a commentary on our current reality in many ways.

This was definitely a 5⭐️ read for me!

To add it to your TBR on Goodreads, click here.
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Until next time,
Chevonn 💖

Book Review | The Boy I Am by K.L. Kettle

I was kindly gifted a copy of “The Boy I Am” by Penguin Random House South Africa. I knew this book sounded really interesting and I was so happy when a copy came in some amazing book mail 🥳 I’m convinced that Penguin publish some of the best books out there!!

Published: January 2021
Pages: 384
Pace: Fast
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Before I even get started with my review, I just need you guys to know that I couldn’t help but sniff the book every few pages. This book has my absolute favourite book smell and it just made me fall more in love with it haha. The cover is also really beautiful. I love it.

So, I believe this book is highly underrated. I don’t think enough people know about it so that they can enjoy something that is unique and poignant. Well not unique as in never heard of before. It’s based on what currently happens in our world but with the gender roles reversed. It’s set in a dystopian world where everyone lives in these towers that are sealed off from the outside world post war. And things in the tower are quite interesting. Women run the show, with a Chancellor on the top floor in ultimate power and boys are kept in the lower levels where they must earn their way into the upper levels of the tower. They are only there to serve the women and if they can’t manage to be hired before their 17th birthdays, they go and work in the mines underground. Everything seems to be running pretty slick in the tower, until it is not. Yet ever since the death of his best friend at the hands of the all-powerful Chancellor, Jude has been desperate to escape the path set out for him. Finding himself entangled in a plot to assassinate the Chancellor, he finally has a chance to avenge his friend and win his freedom. But at what price?

The blurb doesn’t even give away how awesome this book is. As soon as I was a few chapters in, I knew I was going to love it. It was intense, well written and gripping. When you can’t wait to get back to reading so that you can see what happens next, you know it’s got a good grip on you.

This book has so many intriguing elements from the way the boys live versus how the women live, to how the relationships are between the boys themselves and how they can be bought for the sake of serving women in these private rooms. There is obviously the Outside which is great mystery factory. There’s rebels like in any good dystopian! There’s those in power but are abusing their power and those that want to tear it down. There’s murder and friendship and adventure and chaos and love (although a weird kind because of the circumstances). But it’s got everything to keep one flipping the pages. I also enjoyed the ending.

Goodreads describes this book like this: A speculative YA thriller, tackling themes of traditional gender roles and power dynamics, for fans of Malorie Blackman, Louise O’Neill and THE POWER.

This book is a commentary on whether a world where things were reversed (women in power and powerful instead of men) would be a better world and as this book so rightly depicts, anyone with power can be corrupted and they usually are and end up doing questionable things just because they can. So it’s by no means a lighthearted read but I loved it.

I highly recommend it and hope more people get to enjoy this thrilling and exciting read!!

To add it to your Goodreads list, click here.

To get yourself a copy asap, click here.

Hope you enjoyed this review or if you have read it, leave a comment below! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time! 😊
Chevonn