With We Were Liars being such a major show-stopper last year, it was no surprise that soon enough I'd pick up another one of E. Lockhart's books. I soon learned that she is not a predictable writer: her style is unique and raw but the story and writing were completely different. It was refreshing to read a book by an author you like and not have it feel so painfully similar to previous books.
The Disreputable History is about a teenager named Frankie (unsurprisingly). Her father enjoys telling lavish tales of his high-school life where he was part of an exclusive club, the school was rich and the people who belonged to it were the type of people that you never really knew existed; sons of large companies or daughters of fashion designers and although they weren't in the same social class, he sent his children there to experience it too. Frankie was used to being the younger, feeble damsel-in-distress who nobody thought could save her. She hated it until one summer she'd matured into something boys want to know and she became obsessed with what power she was and wasn't allowed.
Frankie is a hard character to figure out, her personality is both unpredictable and natural. I found it hard to distinguish whether she was just a strong-willed person or if she was borderline crazy and I think that's what people love about her. After hearing about her father's tales and falling in love with a member of the society she soon tries to unravel the secrets and causes havoc as, because she's a girl, she is not allowed to join. She's an awesome feminist despite being a bit crazy and was interesting to read about. I never knew what she was going to do next or how to approach her thoughts as they could always be interpreted in different ways.
The book was interesting to read and I'm quite the sucker for preppy boarding schools and feminist characters, so it was right up my street. However, it was very different to We Were Liars so whether or not I recommend it for fans is questionable: it depends whether you liked it for its voice and narration, in which case go ahead. Or if you liked it for its story, where I'd probably direct you to a book with more of a plot twist. But nevertheless, the book was great and I'm sure fans of unpredictable protagonists will enjoy it.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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