The Worst Girlfriend In The World by Sarra Manning

The Worst Girlfriend In The World by Sarra Manning
Buy The Worst Girlfriend In The World by Sarra Manning at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Robert James
Summary: Slightly slow start but after that Manning is back on top form with a brilliant story about friendship and the challenges it faces.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 352	Date: May 2014
Publisher: Atom
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1907411014
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It's an acknowledged fact amongst the boys of Merrycliffe-on-Sea. Franny B's best friend Alice is the worst girlfriend in the world. She loses interest and dumps them, one at a time, leaving a trail of heartbroken boys and furious girlfriends. But as a friend to fashion-obsessed Franny, she's great. Until she gets bored of schoolboys and decides to set her sights on the lead singer of local band Thee Desperadoes, despite knowing that Franny has been crushing on him for years. Can Alice get the guy, or will Franny finally go for it? And is their friendship strong enough to cope?

I was really apprehensive about reading this one - I'm a huge fan of Sarra Manning's but I reviewed Adorkable a few years ago and while it was still above average for the genre, I didn't think it was as good as her earlier novels, being annoyed by the insta-love and the dialogue. For the first 100 pages or so of this I was worried this was going to be one that I didn't like, but then something clicked.

There's a particular conversation between Alice and Franny when they both decide that they're going to go after Louis for themselves which is perfectly pitched, capturing the strength of their friendship but also how fragile it is due to everything else that's going on in their lives. And from that moment, I was hooked. They're a vividly realised central pairing (and they very much are the central pairing, for all the romance aspects of the book - it's far more about the friendship/rivalry between the two of them than it is about Louis.)

However, it's the supporting cast and the way they develop as Franny gets to know them better that make this perhaps Sarra Manning's best yet. Louis is a hilarious character to read about, the boy originally known only as Sneering Studio Tech is great, and the new friends Franny makes both on her course and at Thee Desperadoes gigs are very well-drawn. I've said recently that it's a shame friendship isn't a central part to more YA books so it's great to see both the main pairing here and the developments as Franny gets closer to these new people in her life. (On a side note, the Thee Desperadoes gigs sound amazing. I was a huge fan of a dreadful group when I was at university - I'll avoid naming them just in case any stumbles at them, but vividly remember one of them responding to a cry from the audience of You're awful - or words to that effect - with Yeah, and you just paid a fiver to see us, so who's the idiot here? Thee Desperadoes perfectly capture the people who have all the enthusiasm, drive, and even fans, to start a band - just not the talent.)

The side plot with Franny struggling with family problems is interesting and sensitively portrayed, although I wanted to scream at her mother on many occasions! I also liked the setting - Merrycliffe-on-Sea definitely sounds like the kind of place I'd be just as desperate as Franny to get out of.

Despite a slightly slow start, I ended up thinking this was really good, and would highly recommend it.

I think fans of this would love Geek Girl by Holly Smale.

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