Holly Bourne

He said he was looking for a “partner in crime,” which everyone knows is shorthand for “a woman who isn’t real.” April is kind, pretty and relatively normal—yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that what men are really looking for is Gretel. Gretel is perfect—beautiful but low-maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not too easy. She’s your regular, everyday Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl-Next-Door with no problems. When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun—especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?

A Novel

Pretending

WHY BE YOURSELF WHEN YOU CAN BE PERFECT? **As featured on The High Low podcast** 'MAGNIFICENT. Brutally honest and righteously angry but still HUGELY enjoyable and engaging. I bow down!' Marian Keyes 'A thoughtful, intelligent, urgent novel women need to read.' Dolly Alderton The highly-anticipated new novel from Holly Bourne, bestselling author of HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW? _____________ He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman who isn't real'. April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. If only April could be more like Gretel. Gretel is exactly what men want - she's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems. The problem is, Gretel isn't real. And April is now claiming to be her. As soon as April starts 'being' Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending? _____________ PRAISE FOR HOLLY BOURNE: 'Honest and unflinching' Stylist 'Funny, touching and painfully true' Grazia 'Relatable for any woman navigating emotional time bombs' Red 'Bourne incinerates the lies we're all capable of telling ourselves' Emerald Street 'Funny, real and heartbreaking' Lucy Vine 'Funny, sad, honest, insightful, up-to-the-minute' Roisin Meaney 'Smart, witty and perceptive. Razor-sharp on friendship, self-image and self-deception' Lucy Diamond

The brilliant new adult novel from Holly Bourne. Why be yourself when you can be perfect?

hannah :)

azliana aziz

this book is a lot. and angry. sad also sometimes funny. i love how it talk about identity and dissociation from the lens of women, 'broken' women. i thought the way bourne's unflinching dive into the psyche of the protagonist was very commendable. i didn't expect this to be a tough read but some of the things in here definitely made me stopped a while to take a breather from how painful and real. definitely one of the highlight for me so far for this year.

Emma

I am grateful to have read this book. And that this book was written.

Megan O’Connod

** spoiler alert **
           ** There is a trigger warning for sexual assault on this book. **


Holly Bourne is an incredible writer and this story just felt so raw and real and I know that even though this story is fictionalised, the contents of this story is very real and happening on a daily basis to many women and men across the world. This book brought up a lot of emotions such as anger, sadness but also empowerment. I was also angry at the characters at certain times for different reasons. The main character, April did something very stupid in my eyes but I also get her logic and her thinking behind it, not that I condone it myself nor recommend the idea. I was on the edge the entire time wondering how it would play out and I was hoping it would play out on her terms but things like this never truly does, does it? 

This book truly has a uniqueness as does Holly Bourne herself. I am very happy to have read this book and I think you should pick it up too.

Sara Gómez 

the ending doesn't fit in my opinion, I didn't really like it.

Saima A

CW: rape, sexual abuse

I think the way the author grapples the topic of rape to be really interesting, and in many ways there are a lot of people out there that will be able to relate to not being able to trust people or have relationships after being raped. 

Its the story of a survivor, or rather how April is able to cope with being raped.




I wish there was a way I could mark the content without it being a spoiler, or at least have content filters

i think this book will be a little tough to review. for me, i don't think that this was the right book for me. while it touched on sensitive issues and could have had potential, i found myself really disliking April (the main character). 

at the beginning of the book, i loved the first section on how much she hates men. i thought it to be fun and it did make me laugh. but when the same speech is used in different ways on how much she hates men over and over throughout the book it gets boring. 

i do understand her reasoning as to why she hates all men, and the issues are a sensitive topic that more people need to be aware of, but the tone that this book is written with just wasn't for me. 

so i am rating this a lower rating because i really struggled to get into it and found the book only picked up a bit in the last like 50 pages. but i do want to put across that this has nothing to do with the topics discussed, just the style of writing and the overall tone, wasn't for me. 

Bec Taylor

Picked it up thinking it was going to be a light read; chick lit escapism after a heavier book.
Nope.
Hard hitting, powerful, addictive: real.

Lemarnie Tizzard

Kyla Miller

Some hard topics are brought in throughout so I would definitely suggest reading the TWs beforehand!

Linn Jukri

Ahhhh this book was soo interesting. The character development was incredible

WHY BE YOURSELF WHEN YOU CAN BE PERFECT? 'MAGNIFICENT. Brutally honest and righteously angry but still HUGELY enjoyable and engaging. I bow down!' Marian Keyes 'A thoughtful, intelligent, urgent novel women need to read.' Dolly Alderton The highly-anticipated new novel from Holly Bourne, bestselling author of HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW? _____________ He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman who isn't real'. April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. If only April could be more like Gretel. Gretel is exactly what men want - she's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems. The problem is, Gretel isn't real. And April is now claiming to be her. As soon as April starts 'being' Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending? _____________ PRAISE FOR HOLLY BOURNE: 'Honest and unflinching' Stylist 'Funny, touching and painfully true' Grazia 'Relatable for any woman navigating emotional time bombs' Red 'Bourne incinerates the lies we're all capable of telling ourselves' Emerald Street 'Funny, real and heartbreaking' Lucy Vine 'Funny, sad, honest, insightful, up-to-the-minute' Roisin Meaney 'Smart, witty and perceptive. Razor-sharp on friendship, self-image and self-deception' Lucy Diamond

ffion foulk

check trigger warnings but really showed a way out of a difficult situation!! 

Chelsea White

CW for the book: sexual assault, rape.
I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but what I got was better. April was a likable character to me, flaws and all (and maybe specifically BECAUSE of her flaws). Watching her start her healing process was a beautiful, fragile thing. And it made me want to take up boxing. Knowing Joshua had his own trauma to heal made their wedding day talk more poignant. It was a good reminder that we ALL have shit we’re dealing with, and to be gentle with each other.

Isabella Cottingham

Holly Bourne is an instant buy author for me. So I felt compelled to read this book. Overall I liked it and would recommend (hence the 4 ⭐️)
I liked:
- The feminism 
- The main character is relatable 
- The writing style 
- All the characters are well written 
- The beginning was good 
- The internal conversations that April has with herself
I disliked: 
- The ending (it felt rushed and not complete)

Pretending A Novel

Reviews

Highlights