Frankie Landau-Banks attends a boarding school where there exists a secret society, the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-male club dedicated to breaking school rules, throwing illegal parties, and pulling the occasional prank. Frankie desires more than anything to become a member of this club but there is only one problem: Frankie is a girl and girls are not welcomed into the Loyal Order. However, Frankie is determined and ambitious, not one to be deterred by mere formalities. Upon returning for her sophomore year, Frankie realizes that the four inches and 20 pounds she gained, all in the right places, has changed her social status from invisible debate club member to...well, to the popular girl who snags the hottest, most eligible senior on campus--Mathew Livingston. Mathew just happens to be the co-president of the Loyal Order, along with the newly returned rebel Alpha. As Mathew progressively becomes more preoccupied with the Order, canceling plans with Frankie for mysterious meetings, Frankie decides she's had enough and begins following him. When, Mathew shows no sign of ever informing Frankie about the Order, let alone asking her to join, Frankie decides it is time to take matters into her own hands. But, as events escalate, the reader can't help but wonder just how far she'll go to prove herself to Mathew and Alpha.
The Disreputable History tells the classic "girl-falls-in-love-with-the-uber-popular-senior-soccer-player-story" in a refreshingly new and amusing manner. It's a girl-power novel but without being nauseatingly so, so boys don't knock it just yet. One of the best aspects of this novel is that it engages multiple issues: class issues, the idea of acting according to societal expectations, gender issues, etc. It not one-dimensional and it is also not shallow. One of the major themes of the novel is the influence gender has on how one is perceived and what one can do. The book does an excellent job portraying the difficulty of girls breaking into an all boys' world. Frankie wants more than anything to prove herself to the boys so that they will take her seriously. She is not merely Mathew's pretty girlfriend, no matter how much she enjoys the role, and their inability to acknowledge her intelligence and ability chaffs at her. She commits to gaining their respect at all costs, but along the way, she also uncovers some problematic tendencies within the school itself. The pranks she pulls are, in her own words, acts of "creative civil disobedience of students who are politically aware." Through her vandalism, Frankie reveals the absence of female authoritative presence on campus as well as the hypocrisy and out-datedness of the Old Boy club mentality. At the same time, it gets us thinking about these same elements in our own society. At one point, Frankie's sister tells her that, "The institutions of male supremacy only have real power over you if you buy into that notion." Really? Aren't we all products of thousands of years of male domination to varying degrees? Aren't we just now beginning, within the last 100 years, to truly recognize the equality of men and women? Does it really matter whether or not we, as individuals, recognize this? Does ignoring the remnants of the patriarchal paradigm make them less real?
This novel raises all these questions without making gender the sole focus. It is not a sermon on female power, or lack thereof. It is a comic, entertaining story about a secret society and a rich boarding school. It is a narration of an ambitious girl who, perhaps, goes to far. To be honest, I liked this book, but I did not love it. It was a good, quick read and I was thoroughly entertained, but it is hard to relate to the ridiculously rich and at times Frankie's fawning over the boyfriend annoyed me. However, in the end, Frankie is a strong, independent individual...a force to be reckoned with, really.
The Disreputable History tells the classic "girl-falls-in-love-with-the-uber-popular-senior-soccer-player-story" in a refreshingly new and amusing manner. It's a girl-power novel but without being nauseatingly so, so boys don't knock it just yet. One of the best aspects of this novel is that it engages multiple issues: class issues, the idea of acting according to societal expectations, gender issues, etc. It not one-dimensional and it is also not shallow. One of the major themes of the novel is the influence gender has on how one is perceived and what one can do. The book does an excellent job portraying the difficulty of girls breaking into an all boys' world. Frankie wants more than anything to prove herself to the boys so that they will take her seriously. She is not merely Mathew's pretty girlfriend, no matter how much she enjoys the role, and their inability to acknowledge her intelligence and ability chaffs at her. She commits to gaining their respect at all costs, but along the way, she also uncovers some problematic tendencies within the school itself. The pranks she pulls are, in her own words, acts of "creative civil disobedience of students who are politically aware." Through her vandalism, Frankie reveals the absence of female authoritative presence on campus as well as the hypocrisy and out-datedness of the Old Boy club mentality. At the same time, it gets us thinking about these same elements in our own society. At one point, Frankie's sister tells her that, "The institutions of male supremacy only have real power over you if you buy into that notion." Really? Aren't we all products of thousands of years of male domination to varying degrees? Aren't we just now beginning, within the last 100 years, to truly recognize the equality of men and women? Does it really matter whether or not we, as individuals, recognize this? Does ignoring the remnants of the patriarchal paradigm make them less real?
This novel raises all these questions without making gender the sole focus. It is not a sermon on female power, or lack thereof. It is a comic, entertaining story about a secret society and a rich boarding school. It is a narration of an ambitious girl who, perhaps, goes to far. To be honest, I liked this book, but I did not love it. It was a good, quick read and I was thoroughly entertained, but it is hard to relate to the ridiculously rich and at times Frankie's fawning over the boyfriend annoyed me. However, in the end, Frankie is a strong, independent individual...a force to be reckoned with, really.
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