My wonderful disgrace by Angourie Rice & Kate Rice

What a chaotic rollercoaster ride, from the high of the much anticipated perfect school ball to the low of absolute devastation, a night that goes so horribly wrong. It is all such a slapstick accumulation of disaster after disaster that readers will be laughing, as long as they don’t have too much sympathy for an unfortunate pet goat.

My wonderful disgrace is quite a switch from the previous book by the Rice mother-daughter duo, Stuck up and stupid (2023), a beachside romance lightly based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. This latest novel is a very modern combination of journal entries, phone texts, police interviews and school newsletters to piece together the events that thoroughly wreck the rosy dreams of schoolgirl Amy Middleton.

Within the chaos, the book does touch on some serious themes, particularly damaging social media and abusive relationships, and we do see the character of Amy develop from a rather shallow stereotype to a more mature understanding of herself and her relationships. The values are good, and the overall tone is fun and frenzy, making for an easy fast-paced read for YA readers.

Themes: School stories, Romance, Social media, Relationships.

Helen Eddy