Friday, July 15, 2011

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by e. Lockhart

Frankie attends Alabaster Preparatory, an elite school for both old and new money alike. She begins dating Matthew Livingston, one of the most popular senior boys, her sophomore year. Matthew is a member of the school's most secret male society and Frankie wants in. Underestimated by the boys and tired of being "adorable," she makes it her mission to become the brains behind the brawn.

I've reviewed Frankie Landau-Banks before.  But I had the urge to listen to it again while waiting for the next Bloody Jack book to come in.  It's been about 2 years since I first listened to it.  I found Matthew to be a very frustrating character.  The way that he doesn't even noticed Frankie for who she really is and, even when she tries to express her feelings, he doesn't get it.  Maybe that is the product of being a teenage boy.  But his constant refrain of "Don't be mad" and "You are adorable" are the wrong approach to someone like Frankie and it does reduce her to only being a little girl in the exact same way her family calls her "Bunny Rabbit."  It's a serious underestimation of Frankie.  But like Alpha says it would be hard to overestimate Frankie.  I don't want to boil down Frankie's ambitions to her liking Alpha, but I think her need for him to notice her and respect her is part of what drives her taking over the Bassets.  If he had acknowledged her when they first meet in school, maybe things would have been different.  Alpha proves himself to be the better counterpart in the end, much more so than Matthew who is really just a follower, not a leader.  Frankie and Alpha are both leaders.

And so, once again, this book gave me a lot to think about.  I can say this is truly one of the best books to read and I'm sure this is not my last time with Frankie.

 
6 hours

Tanya Eby is the narrator and I love her voice for Frankie.  She doesn't really do voices for the rest of the characters but it's still easy to tell them apart.  She really reads Frankie with the right tone and speed. 

Whisper in My Ear

2 comments:

  1. I haven't reread a book in a long while. I realy need to reread Emma by Jane Austen! Anyway, this book sounds very interesting. I have not heard a lot about this one, but I like that after you finish reading it you just think about it. (all the time. ;) Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is one of my favorite books!! Love so much!!!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are so awesome. Thanks for taking the time. I do reserve the right to remove any comments that are offensive and/or spam.