By the Book by Amanda Sellet is the book I wish I could have read as a teen girl obsessed with classic literature. Mary Porter-Malcolm is not your average teenage girl. She hasn’t hung out at the mall, she hasn’t crushed on boys, and she hasn’t ever been to a school dance. She has, however, read a lot of books. (This book felt a bit like looking into a mirror. 16 year old me felt very seen.)

Culling life advice from the classics she loves, Mary and her new friends attempt to navigate the highs and lows of highschool friendship and romance, and begin compiling the “Scoundrels Survival Guide.” But misunderstandings and miscommunications lead to plot-twists she couldn’t have anticipated and jeopardize her happy ending. But as Shakespeare says, “alls well that ends well,” even if you have to write the ending yourself.

If you’re looking for steamy romance, look elsewhere. For Mary, slow dancing in the hallway and a sweet first kiss are the epitome of perfection. I’m obviously grown up now, but I was a teenager who didn’t date much or even kiss until I was 17. This book was incredibly relatable and a refreshing change from the dozens of sex-saturated YA books on the market. She writes a LETTER to express her feelings to her boyfriend. I loved it!

I would definitely recommend By the Book to all the teenage girls I know. For the bookish girls, for the ones who long for happy ever afters--this one’s for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (HMH for Young Readers) for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love this book!! I feel like it was written specifically for me. All the book references were wonderful. Sometimes books with literary references come across as awkward and trying too hard but this was perfect. Oh and the kinship I felt with Mary! Her family life reminded me so much of mine in growing up in a big family. Well minus the fact that her parents were cool and open minded. I enjoyed her friends and their stories and I really enjoyed Alex and their conversations.

DNF'd around 20%. From flipping through the rest, it seems like the focus is less on the love/hate romance and more on the friendships, which would be fine if I liked the friends more, but at this stage, everyone is grating on me. The dialogue feels unrealistic and the main character is constantly making references to classic novels and it's so over the top. Rory Gilmore herself would roll her eyes. This one just isn't for me, but I could see others liking it a lot!

Sadly, I did not like this book at all and it makes me very sad! I tried twice to read it, and could not move past the first couple of chapters. My issue was mainly with the MC as I did not like her at all, and neither her friend who was absolutely awful to her in the cafeteria scene at the new school! Is it just me?! I have seen plenty reviews saying they loved it because of the friendships, but I am not sure that at least that friendship is a healthy one and I just do not want to be reading that and I really do not want to force myself to read.

The only positives I could find, were the references to classic reads!

Mary is the fourth child of the family and she is perfectly boring. She doesn't have a thing that makes her stand out like her older sisters and younger brother. Mary is obsessed with classic novels, but you can't anything with that, right. Mary is also a bit sensitive and persnickety, so her parents wait until the last minute to tell her that she will no longer be allowed to attend her experimental/independent study school and will be attending the local public high school. Mary has no idea how to fit into the quintessential high school, but armed with the knowledge of the great romantic classics, she gives a group of popular girls dating advice. Her understanding of finding the right guy secures her place in the popular group, now she just has to find a way to stay there.

Mary's voice was difficult to read. She spoke in a way that was representative of her character but off-putting to the reader. I had trouble investing myself in the romance because I didn't trust anyone.

I was totally hooked by the premise of this book. I really gave me Emma by Jane Austen vibes. I had a good time reading it and overall it was a really light and fun read.

Mary is someone that I could relate with in the fact that I was not the average sophomore in high school. My interests were back in the 1960s, which is significantly closer than the 1800s, but sometimes the truths still rang the same. Mary is a bit more extreme though with not keeping in with the current lingo of the times (though I do blame that on her parents not allowing them phones).

I loved seeing her growth in this story. The fact that she doesn’t really have experience in life outside of books made it really interesting and seeing her face real life when it was presented to her wasn’t cringe-worthy like sometimes it can be in these types of situations.

Overall I gave it 4 stars.

This book was quite the breath of fresh air when it comes to high school teen romances. When Mary enters a public school for the first time, I assumed the worst. Regina George would come prowling through the corridors and put our dear, naive heroine to the test. What we got was a beautiful portrayal of supportive friendships between girls.

I loved our narrator, Mary, and her constant literary puns had me rolling on the floor with laughter but her age did throw me off a bit. I can’t always connect well with characters as young as 15 so my mind always envisioned her being older. The book tested my literary knowledge (from my 4 year English Lit degree) and I was quite impressed by our young heroine’s knowledge of literary canon.

Alex was a wonderful love interest and I loved the banter between him and Mary. They also had some wonderful quiet moments together where their personalities just stole the show. It got me smiling from ear to ear. Alex is obviously also the catalyst of the major plot point, the Scoundrel Guide. I loved the way the author turned the concept of the Burn Book and used it to hold boys accountable for their poor treatment of girls.

read my full review at mousethatreads.com

Okay! The cover, tag line, and intro alone sold me on this book! "A Novel of Prose and Cons." Its so clever, I love it! I was so hoping the book would live up to its wonderful cover and the cleverness of it all, and Amanda Sellet did not disappoint. I identified so much with our main character, Mary. A middle child who's bookish and feels like a supporting character in her own story, but wishes it were otherwise.

There is so much that I loved about this story. I loved that Mary's family are all book-loving nerds who can quote books and make allusions that they all understand. Jasper is literally the best. Such a supportive, witty, funny brother! I love that for once, the girl gang in this story isn't a mean girl crew who's bullying the heroine. So refreshing to have them actually be honest friends with her. And of course I loved and appreciated all the literary references throughout the book, a bibliophile's dream.

The romance and drama aspect of this book was simple and very high school, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I couldn't help being giddy for Mary at all the not-so-subtle hints Alex kept dropping for her, but she totally was not picking up.
My one con for this book was when Mary doesn't stick up for Alex at winter formal. She doesn't own up to the truth. The anger and injustice I felt was unreal. It made her seem so irresponsible and weak and I can't stand girls who can't handle themselves, and just let things happen to them. NO! I also think Mary was a tad overly out of touch with the regular world, more than was reasonable, but that's a minor point.

Overall, a super fun story! Highly recommended to all bibliophiles who will totally be able to relate to our lady Mary, a reflection of our most awkwardly bookish, but endearing, selves.

So... it's almost midnight while I'm (trying) to write this and I probably would not be getting a lot of sleep. I just finished this wonderful, heartwarming book and I cannot get my thoughts straight. I have so much FEELINGS.

First of all, I can honestly say I have not read anything quite like this before. It's hilarious and sweet and sad (at times) and fun and romantic and heartfelt. And the writing. The WRITING. (Yes I feel like I should say that in caps to get my feelings about it across.) I did not want this book to end. I wanted Mary to tell me more about the tragic deaths and mistaken identities and ballgowns. Also? Don't judge me for saying this but I'm not as classics savvy as I pretend people think me to be. So yes, I may be a hated guest of the Porter Malcolms if I ever get invited to dinner. And I would probably give Mary a most painful death for how much I don't know. But you know what? I love, love, love BY THE BOOK and that is all that matters.

Okay, where was I? I should probably just list all the things I love about the book. Otherwise no one will ever see the end of this review. Right. The Dear Diary entries. They were hilarious and relatable and so Mary that I couldn't not love them. The Porter-Malcolms. They were a big family. They were messy, complicated, fun, super smart and exactly what you would expect families to be. Far from perfect but at the end of the day they will always, always, have your back. Mary. Will Herondale has nothing on her. I love her love for classics. She's smart and funny and seeing her growth was such a wild ride. Cam and Jeff. I ship it. I ship it HARD. Alex Ritter. He's- I'm- Meet my newest book boyfriend y'all. I was swooning. Swoon was everywhere. Everytime Alex and Mary were on the scene I. Could. Not. Stop. Smiling. The chemistry! The banter! These two are so much better than Romeo and Juliet. Last but not the least? The friendship. I love how central it was to the story. I mean I'm all for romance and secret trysts and my own Mr. Darcy but FRIENDSHIP. That's what makes a great book even greater. Seeing different people with different hobbies from different backgrounds who would otherwise have nothing in common but then one unexpected incident and bam! Connection. They say it's fate to meet your soulmate. Well I think even greater forces are at work for you to meet the kind of people who would stick by you no matter what. The family you get to choose.

A definite must-read!


“It’s my cologne,” Alex Ritter replied. “It has that effect on people.”
It’s a well-known fact that as soon as someone mentions a smell, it’s impossible not to sniff. I thought I’d inhaled stealthily, until Anton weighed in.
“How is it, Mary? Spicy? Piquant? More of a musk?”
“He smells like syrup,” I said tightly.
“Pancake Saturday,” Alex confirmed.


'There could be different types of friendship, and different stages within each one. Deep bonds of loyalty and affection, or ties that have more to do with convenience. Relationships that hold you back, and ones that grow with you.'


“Be true to yourself and other people will see your worth. If they’re worth your time.”


'An idea danced at the back of my mind, spurred by the gleam in his eyes, the half smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. Could it be that this light made everyone lovely, including me? That would explain his rapt attention, and the stillness that seemed to envelop the two of us. It felt like the universe was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.'


“You were giving her heart palpitations.”
“Really?” Alex grinned. “How do you figure?”


I received an e-arc to read and review.

By The Book is a sweet young adult romance where Mary becomes the heroine of her own book/life. After learning that she must change school, Mary's world unfolds and reshapes into an inspiring journey.

This book is a charming story with a great cast. Our heroine, Mary is an interesting character. I enjoyed reading about her family and friends for the most part. Her parents are scholars and any interactions between Mary and them made my skin crawl though.

Mary has been sheltered from life, which makes her particularly unequipped to deal with social life. She is often clueless, but her character evolves, which makes it interesting. She makes mistakes, but she learns from them.

The way she speaks in the book was hard for me to relate. I mean I don't think anyone her age speaks like that, and though I understand it, it didn't quite work for me. I can't say I feel in love with this story or the romance, but I still enjoyed. There is a lot to love about it and that's why I did not DNF the book. I still enjoyed reading it. This is not quite a 4 star rating but almost.

I know a few book lovers who feel in love with this story and there is nothing wrong with this book. You'll need to make your own opinion on this story. But if you love references from great classics and love characters who are 100% a book lover, then this is for you. :)

Mary’s school is closing, and she’s being transferred to a new high school. As a lover of classic literature and romance, Mary feels a little out of place in her new school. Starting off on a rocky foot, she ends up finding a group of girls that take her under their wings to give her a proper high school “season”.

This book was quite cute and would appeal to people who really like classic literature. I feel like it would fall a little flat for people who don’t read classics (because they’re referenced to frequently).

The love story didn’t do anything for me, but the story that flourished for me was the story about friendship and making friends in high school. I really enjoyed the group dynamic in the one!

I can say with full confidence that I gave this one multiple chances.

Hearing about a female MC who loves everything books had me jumping up and down with excitement. I was actually sure that I'd end up really liking this one!

But let's take a look at how it went wrong.

Firstly, I tried reading this back in April. The writing style wasn't all that interesting to me, and the hook was more like a dull piece of metal. So, I put it down, told myself I just wasn't interested at the moment and decided to give it a chance in May.

Well, it's May now, and I still feel the same way, after attempting to read it a second time.

The way the MC acts and talks just isn't realistic for a teen girl nowadays. I've had friends that have been "eccentric," as some people are taking to describe the MC, but that just isn't it at all. Another thing is that the transition between chapters was shoddy at best.

After realizing that this was the fifth book I've DNFed this month, it's been decided I need to stop getting my hopes up. Because it's books like this that just leave me thinking, "whyyyy?"

Posted to Goodreads: Mary Porter-Malcolm has never been to public school. Mary has spent all sixteen years of her life attending schools run by her parents' academic colleagues but after her small private school loses their funding Mary must learn to adapt to an average public high school. Mary is lost once her only friend turned on but her life starts to look up when she makes friends with a group of popular girls by giving them life advice. Mary will use her extensive knowledge of classic literature to give her new friends' life advice especially about Alex Ritter, a charming boy who is a perfect example of a rogue, but as Mary encourages her friends to stay away from Alex she starts to develop her own feelings about this possible rake.

I loved the premise of this book and it had good bones but the details didn't quite work for me. I had a hard time getting used to Mary's narrative voice. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to believe that a teen girl, no matter how sheltered, would speak like Mary. Also, Alex had the potential to be a wonderfully charming love interest but he honestly wasn't in the book as much as I would like. However, this was Sellet's first book and I did enjoy it enough that I would read her follow-up.

I loved this book! It was funny, sweet, and uplifting. I enjoyed the characters, dialogue, and how the author wrote about female friendships in a positive way.

This book is my new bosom sister. I adored Mary and her bookish view on the world, but more importantly I love how much Sellet leaned into the tropes that make these books so beloved instead of shying away from them. The narrative also felt much more friendship-based than romance-based while still having moments of pure swoon, a rare balance that I enjoyed immensely. Fans of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters, look no further for a perfect contemporary comp that promises to be a favorite!

Let's go over why I love this book: it's abundantly bookish (so many fantastic references!), there are awesome friendships, siblings that are actually cool, it's emotional, it's REAL, and I honestly wish this book had existed when I was a teenager!

Mary is *very* bookish as in always carries a book with her, knows maybe a little too much about 19th-century literature (though that can't be helped with parents that are professors), and attributes aspects of real-life to occurrences that have happened in books, which I think is a fun quality, but maybe isn't the best way to go through life. As her brother Jasper says, she's "perhaps a Catherine Morland, whose mind is warped by reading too much."

Mary befriends three rad girls at her new school because she's smart and knows about literature, so she helps them figure out which boys, who are reminiscent of the rakish men in her books, to avoid. Such a fun premise! Arden, Lydia, and Terry take Mary under their wing and after dealing with too guys that aren't who they seem, the four of them start writing the Scoundrel Survival Guide.

I really related to this book and to Mary because in high school I was that bookish girl who read too much (though not 19th-century literature yet, that came later), had no clue about guys or how to figure them out, and felt invisible most of the time, sometimes even to my friends. That's what felt so realistic about this book to me: Mary mostly keeps to herself, is quiet, feels a little invisible at times, and very, very realistically doesn't want to ruffle any feathers. I was like YASSS while reading this book! Whether it was Mary herself making the mistakes or her friend being in the wrong, Mary didn't say anything at first because when you're a quiet teenager saying something feels like the worst thing in the world, like under no circumstances can you bring it up EVER. Better to never speak of it and avoid your friends. Reading this now as an adult, I'm like, girl go say something, go do something! But I know in my heart that as a teenager I would've done the same thing and bit my tongue and made myself invisible. I'm being intentionally vague so as not to spoil anything, but I just wanted to say how much I admire Mary being the realistic teenager that I was.

Anyway, I also loved Mary's literature-loving, supportive, funny, close-knit family and how they helped her to grow. Her younger brother, Jasper, especially was my favorite. Maybe it's because I have two younger brothers that I think the world of.

And the writing! OMG! Much like Mary's favorite tomes, the writing in By The Book flows so beautifully and I couldn't help but get swept up in it all. Mary's imagination is so poetic and lovely and I also used to imagine how life would be if the world were a novel.

One of my favorite lines:
"Maybe today's piano playing had been suffused with melancholy grandeur, a storm of angry notes with an undercurrent of yearning?"

As someone who studies 19th-century literature in college, I really loved all of the references throughout the book.

And the romance! I have to talk about that! I love a good don't-really-hate to love slow-burn romance where things keep going wrong and the signals keep getting missed. Ugh so cute.

Jane Austen lovers like me, this one is for you!

This book starts slow, it was difficult for me to get through the first few chapters as it felt like the setup for the novel was over detailed and difficult to plough through. However once I started reading, I became engrossed in Mary and her absolute obsession with classic novels. I loved all the references and the silly puns throughout the novel. Mary tries to guide through her life with just her book knowledge and it just doesn’t always work out for her. I wanted Mary to be a little more street smart than she was, but otherwise I enjoyed her character.

I would recommend this book to a Austen loving, Bronte seeking someone looking for a YA read that would fulfill that love. I also believe this book could make a cute movie.

The publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group generously provided me with a copy of the book upon request on NetGalley. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

This book was a cute YA story about a girl that is starting public high school for the first time. It's a bit of culture shock as her previous school was a super tiny private school run by grad students at the college where her parents teach.

The main character, Mary Porter-Malcolm, is a huge reader of the classics. She relates basically all of her life back to the classics, and with her new group of friends, creates a guide (the Scoundrel Survival Guide) to help her friends avoid literary "scoundrels". Well of course, she befriends the biggest supposed scoundrel of them all, and lo and behold, ends up falling for him. Which. in turn, causes lots of teenage drama and angst in her life.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I were younger, but it was a fun and quick read. I did enjoy all of the shout outs to the classics, and the guide at the end saying which book went with which description.

3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

A book about a girl who seeks guidance for navigating high school life from classic novels...Count me in!

In this adorable story, Mary begins a new school and gains a new set of friends who seek her advice on boys based on the knowledge she has gleaned from books the likes of Anna Karenina and Jane Eyre. Mary's take on several of the males at Millville High leads to the creation of the Scoundrel Survival Guide. But along the way, Mary finds herself actually enjoying the company of the main scoundrel, Alex. She has to face the fact that maybe the classic novels have led her down the wrong path. Maybe men aren't such scoundrels and cads.

I think the concept of this book is fun and entertaining. I love all of the references to the classic novels and their characters. There are many witty comments and fun banter between Mary and Alex. The characters are all very likable and sweet, even those that are thought originally to be terrible. If there was a Mary in my high school, I would have enjoyed being her friend.

As an educator in middle and high schools, I would definitely recommend this book to students. I also think that many adults, like myself, will enjoy this read. It is light and fun and makes the reader feel hopeful about life and love.

It was the best of books, it was the worst most delightful of books. And this one had me at the that perfectly punny tagline.

Off the bat I have got to admit that I was a little confused by what exactly the plot was for the first half. Why were these characters doing what they were doing? But by that point I was so engrossed and amused that I genuinely didn't care. Of course, I know now. I got it, and it's perfect! I'm chalking my confusion up to this being an ARC and I started reading it at 1 AM. Zero regrets about that, since I finished it in two days!

Our protagonist, Mary Porter-Malcom, is a delight. I mean, girl, I too love those old classic novels. I quite regularly reread my favourite Jane Austen's and constantly re-watch my favourite adaptations. The works of authors long passed is what Mary has essentially absorbed into her bloodstream. With professors as parents and a very small social sphere, it's no wonder. But when she is placed in public school, how she sees this new modern world through that old-fashioned lens is very entertaining. She is somehow both naive and very worldly all at once, and it was a wonderful combination that made me laugh out loud. Especially when it came to her new friends looking to her on what to do with boys with the Scoundrel's Guide. And did I mention she's sassy AF? I was blown away by how well she held her own in all these new social settings.

I'm probably going to come off like a big fat hypocrite, since I said in my last YA contemporary book review that I don't like it when authors rely heavily on references to other things. It's often lazy and doesn't always mean the same thing to different people. However, that applies only to pop culture references. In this case, this story is chock-full of references to old classic books. The Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and so many more I've actually never read but definitely will now. And I loved them! They were used perfectly, taking the dumb villains and ridiculous rakes from them and applying it to boys the girls know now. It was so unbelievably amusing the examples Mary would throw out. "One chapter she's getting kissed in a carriage and the next she's having a baby and naming it Sorrow."

What really made this book shine was the female friend circle Mary finds herself welcomed into. It really brought out a warm and fuzzy feeling in me, how these girls get along so well. Of Mary's three friends, Terri is my absolute favourite. She's very beautiful but also ridiculously shy. She's as socially new to some of these things as Mary is, but has a different way of thinking about it. See, Terri wants to be a forensic analyst, and she drops amazing lines like don't get into a car to go to an undisclosed location because that's where they'll leave your body.

Now, it's hardly a surprise who the love interest in this. You know from the get-go that Alex Ritter is going to be the one for Mary, and I loved them together so much! Their relationship was never insta-love, and they built up a friendship that I adored to see. While I would have loved to see more of the two of them together, I thought it was really sweet how it went. Mary doesn't for one second think he's into her. She chooses to see everything he says and does in reference to some other girl. Because he's a rake, obviously. Until ta-dah, we kiss! You like it! It's a funny twist on one of my favourite tropes in YA, actually. You know the one, when the main character is so worried about everyone else getting picked for something that she has to be nudged to look up and see that it's her!

Honestly, adorable contemporary books like this are what I live for. Very few can meet the standards I set for enjoying them, so whenever I find one I like I hold it dear to my hear. This will absolutely be one of those shoved in the face of everyone I meet.

Excited to join the blog tour May 8!