#reviewsdaytuesday: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Last year E. Lockhart's book We Were Liars took book bloggers everywhere by storm. Although she actually wrote Frankie Landau-Banks before that, it was re-released after the staggering success of We Were Liars. We Were Liars was easily one of my favourite books of 2014, and I think Frankie Landau-Banks is topping my favourites for 2015 already.

I read this book on Kindle so this picture is sourced from the GoodReads page.

Set in Alabaster (a privileged boarding school in America), this is the story of a girl, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's best friend, and an old boys club in need of a shake up.

Frankie is a very compelling character. She is the epitome of a strong teenage female character, as far as I'm concerned at least. Yes, she loves the attention of the boys, but her life doesn't revolve around it (it's almost a sub-plot). Yes, she's flawed in the way she treats her female friends and other women in the novel, but she either recognises when she's being problematic or it's pointed out to her and she listens. And, ultimately, she has grown up with a father who wanted her to be a boy, and her every action is an attempt to say 'So what I'm a girl, girls can do everything that boys can and better'.

The word 'feminist' is thrown around a lot in this book, and E. Lockhart doesn't use the 'f' word shyly. She has written about girls finding themselves and recognising their own worth as being equal to the worth of men in a system that tells them otherwise - essentially a feminist realisation. I think this is a feminist book, and that's not something that should put you off from reading it but rather draw you in.

This book doesn't have the huge plot twist that We Were Liars delivers so well, but it is utterly engaging for a completely different reason. I was gripped, and although my reading of the book was interrupted by a four day holiday I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I really recommend The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (and We Were Liars if you haven't read it yet). I think E. Lockhart has just become an instant purchase for me.

Have you read either of her books? What did you think? Tweet me @VickiMaitland or leave a comment below. Any book recommendations? Tag me in your Instagram (@vickimaitland).

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is published by Hot Key Books.