Review of Holly Bourne – How Do You Like Me Now?

How Do You Like Me Now – Holly Bourne – Click to Buy

I bought Holly Bourne’s How Do You Like Me Now? about a fortnight ago and absolutely devoured it in a few days. I guess that should give you a little insight as to how the review will go.

‘Turning thirty is like playing musical chairs. The music stops, and everyone just marries whoever they happen to be sitting on.’

Tori Bailey – How Do You Like Me Now?

How Do You Like Me Now? follows the story of Tori Bailey; a successful author whose self-help book “Who The F*ck Am I?” inspired women do follow their own intuitions. On the face of it, she lives a perfect life. She has a success career and jets around the world giving talks, a home in London and a good relationship – and she’s only 31! However, Tori often feels she does not reflect her character in her self-help book. She thinks there are a lot of things in her life she needs to fix.

I think everyone can relate to Tori in some way. She’s not always likeable but she’s always authentic. In the story at one point she acknowledges her jealously of her best friend, and on other occasions she gets too drunk and says things she probably shouldn’t. Haven’t we all? Throughout the story and her interactions with other characters, things start to unravel and you realise her life is not as happy as it appears on the surface. Especially with her relationship. She needs to face her problems head on, but somehow finds an excuse not to. Throughout the story you’re wondering whether she eventually will.

This book explores issues many of us in the modern age will face, especially reaching milestone birthdays and entering your 30s! It explores relationships, both romantic and evolving friendships when your friends get boyfriends / families and their priorities change. It also covers how social media can portray a lifestyle that’s not necessarily the whole picture, mental health, relationships with food and self image.

Holly Bourne – How Do You Like Me Now? My Verdict

To me, as I could relate quite a lot to it, it felt quite raw. It’s not always easy to read but I found it inspiring. It even gave me strength to re-evaluate things I thought made me happy. How Do You Like Me Now? instantly sucked me in. It’s one of those books I was able to read so easily. It’s well paced and the characters and relationships are well-developed and believable.

Definitely one of my favourite reads of 2019. I recommend it to any young woman in their late 20s or early thirties.

Have you read How Do You Like Me Now by Holly Bourne? What did you think of it? You can pick up a copy here!