By The Book Review:
Rating: 3.5

Things I liked:
- I loved all the references to classics! It was so fun when Mary would explain the plot or the romance of a classic to her friends so bluntly. It made me giggle a lot throughout the book. And the glossary of all her references and the corresponding books were super fun to read at the end.
- I love the love interest Alex. He was well developed, and the romance between the two was paced well. It wasn’t insta-love, and it didn’t come out of nowhere at the end.
- I loved the large family dynamic! Mary’s family was so fun to read about! I especially loved reading about Cam and her romance, so I hope she gets her own book.
- Speaking of family dynamics, I also loved the “found family” trope with all of Mary’s friends and their quest to give Mary the typical teenage experience. They were all unique in their own way, and my favorite was definitely Lydia as she was sassy and the first to call people out on their bullshit.
- I also really liked the writing throughout the book. Sellet has a way of writing that flows, and it was easy to read; nothing too flowery, but also not juvenile.

Things I didn’t like:
- I really didn’t like how naive and immature Mary was at the beginning of the book. It got better as the book progressed, but it was really unrealistic how sheltered a sophomore in high school would be. Mary didn’t even have a phone, which is unheard of in 2020.
- I also didn’t like how Mary always gave out relationship advice to her friends or her sisters, but didn’t follow any of her own advice when she screwed up. She just ran away and actively avoided her problems until the very end, which was pretty annoying. The only saving grace was her brother Jasper trying to talk sense into her.
- I wish Alex was in it more. While the book is ultimately about Mary experiencing what is a “typical teenage” experience, but a little more romance would have been nice.

Overall, By The Book was such a fun read! It wasn’t the most memorable book, but worth the read nonetheless. If you are looking for a bookish read, then check out this book!

My review will be published on my blog for the blog tour on May 10th

Unfortunately I had to DNF at 35%. The synopsis and the beautiful cover seemed like By the Book was going to be right up my alley, but sadly I just could not get into the story. The writing style was not for me and I couldn’t connect with the main character.. I did like that Mary was a bookworm and she was very proud of it, but that alone wasn’t enough to keep me wanting to read. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

It wasn't easy being the introvert of the family, but Mary was happy to live her life within the pages of her favorite 19th-century books. However, when she is forced to switch schools, she finds herself shunned by her former friend. She is lucky enough to find a trio of young women, who appreciate Mary's bookish leanings, but will she be able to fully navigate high school, her new friendships, and a maybe romance by the book?

In a word, this book was DELIGHTFUL! It put a smile on my face from the very first page, which never faded.

Mary captured my heart from our very first meeting. I can totally relate to being undone by any life change, big or small, but having to start over in a new school sophomore year is far from easy. To make it worse, her frienemy from her previous school decides to "unburden" herself, and cuts Mary loose. So, obviously my heart broke for her, but I was also proud of the way she dusted herself off, and took a chance by talking to Terry, Lydia, and Arden. This trio became such an important part of Mary's being, and I simply adored the friendship they shared.

Arden was probably my favorite of the friends. She was personality plus, and I loved the enthusiasm she had for just about everything. The fact that she planned a "season" for Mary, for her high school coming out, endeared her even more to me, and I had a great time attending each "event" with this bunch.

I also loved Mary's family. She had this big, bookish family, which was chaotic and wonderful! Sellet did such a incredible job pulling us into the Porter-Malcolm home. I had such a fantastic time getting to know all Mary's siblings, and getting to see the dynamic in her family. Mary often pointed out how money was tight, but let me tell you, there was no shortage of love or attention. They sat down at dinner together almost every night, and actually talked to one another. They supported each others passions as well, by attending matches and plays. I also had a stupendous time at quiz night with the Get Lit team. By the end of the book, I was so enamored with them, that I was ready to claim my spot in the Porter-Malcolm family.

Alongside all the family fun and friendship antics was a charming romance. I guess you would call it hate-to-love, and it was precious. The banter between Mary and Alex was delectable, and I could not get enough of them. I was pleased that there was a lot more to Alex than met the eye, and was glad Mary was able to see it too.

This book kept me in a constant state of elation! The strong focus on family and friendship coupled with an absolutely adorable romance will always win me over. And, although I am not a big 19-century lit reader, I thought the references were so fun. I mean, WWJAD - What Would Jane Austen Do? FANTASTIC!

For me, there were no flaws in this book. The story was fun and sweet, and it filled me up with so much mirth. This was a lovely and enchanting read, and I hope Sellet has a LOT more stories like this coming our way.

A promising debut from Amanda Sellet, BY THE BOOK is a fun and nerdy YA romcom. While the pacing is uneven in parts, the overall effect is so charming that readers will be eagerly awaiting future reads from Sellet.

(from Goodreads) I thought this book was such a fun read. As a former English & Comp Lit. major, I loved all the references to academia and classic British/American Literature. There were only two books I didn't recognize, and I plan to check them out of the library soon. I'm a big fan of books with multiple siblings/tight-knit big families (why are there ***so many*** only children in YA?!), and Mary's family was awesome. Kind of like Jase's sprawling family in [book:My Life Next Door|12294652] by way of the Van Dorens as depicted in [book:Quiz-Show|41050928]. If you love the themes and romantic tropes in Jane Austen, you'll really enjoy this book. My only quibble is that I found it hard to believe that quite so many teens would speak like 45-year-old academics, but I was able to overlook it, because I so liked the book!

Thank you to #NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group for allowing me access to a digital ARC of By the Book by Amanda Sellet. This young adult book should be released on May 12, 2020. All opinions are my own.

Mary is a sophomore with a love for nineteenth-century literature who is heading to public school for the first time. She prepares in the only way she knows how, she turns to her beloved classic novels for advice on how to navigate friendships, romantic relationships, and general teenage drama. She manages to find her friend group after warning them against dating a particular boy at their school who she referred to as a scoundrel. Together the group starts a website titled the Scoundrel Survival Guide offering advice from classic literature on types of individuals that people should avoid if they don't want to get their heart broken. The only problem is that Mary starts to fall for the very same boy that brought them together when she told her friends he was a scoundrel.

There is so much to love about this book. Let's start with the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I love the punny quality of the title. The narrative itself is captivating. I loved all of the references to other books and how they added a greater meaning to the plot and themes of By the Book. Mary is incredibly well read and has a massive vocabulary. I have to admit that at first this bugged me, and I thought there is no way a high school sophomore would talk like this (I may have had to look up more than one word). After I got into the meat of the story though, I realized that her vocabulary and love of classic literature may seem out of place, but it's the heart of her character and without it , there would be no conflict. Mary would just be another high school sophomore. This made her character unique. While parts were predictable, I still found the book more than enjoyable. I especially loved Mary's little brother, Jasper, who is smarter than he appears and sees more than Mary realizes. He also offered some great advice: WWJAD? (what would Jane Austen Do?). This book is a fantastic choice for those who love contemporary young adult romance books, like those by Kasie West, or who love the classics, but are looking for something a little more modern.

Though a young adult novel and a romance, in my personal opinion, this book is a appropriate for middle school students. It has kissing and allusions to debauchery (but they're references from classic novels with some higher level old English vocabulary, so it will probably go over their heads), but nothing overtly inappropriate. It's a fun, lighthearted, and cute novel.

Not going to lie a modern contemporary high school romance does not really seem appealing to me. But the fact Mary is a huge fan of books and classic literature does add some points to the book haha. Plus I do love the book cover design. How can I resist, I'm a sucker for book covers sorry

Although the general storyline is pretty cliche I like how the Alex doesn't come in and save the day. Instead Mary go find herself some friends of her own and create some new bonds :) Even though this is a romance book it has a good balance between friendship and romance which I adore.

Another huge plus for me is that everyone love reading. I am a huge bibliophile but I don't read that much classics, there are so many references I think its time to read more books to broaden my knowledge on books. The discussions are so funny and full of references that it was never boring for me to read.

Through this high school experience I could relate to Mary a lot, I love books and I am in high school and sometimes immerse myself in bookish scenario a bit too much haha. In Mary's journey there are quite a few things I could learnt from it. My favourite quote: "Be true to yourself and other people will see your worth. If they're worth your time."

The book is well-paced and I would recommend to anyone who loves reading and up for a chill, relaxed, fun read. You might be able to take a few things away after reading it! I had a great time reading this book. I finished it in a day

Much like many others, my interest in this book was piqued with the pun in the byline: “A Novel of Prose and Cons.” And that was a great lead-up to reading it! By the Book was a fun, adorable story with amazing female friendships and a great family dynamic.

Mary comes from a family of academics, with two professors as parents and talented siblings. She attended an experimental school where grad students were the teachers and the students pretty much had free reign over their own curriculum. When her school shuts down, she has to attend public school for the first time.

Her only friends from her old school refuse to hang out with her, so she’s forced to navigate sophomore year alone until she meets a group of girls: Arden, Lydia, and Terry. They take Mary under their wing after she gives them dating advice, purely based on all the 19th century novels she reads. She warns them away from Alex, whom she knows to be a heartbreaker from her sisters’ Shakespeare troupe.

I really enjoyed their friendship! At no point did it feel like they’re condescending or taking pity on her. Instead, they were all really genuine and so supportive. It was nice reading this especially with characters who are going through new experiences.

I’ll admit, I had my reservations because the protagonist is 15 (later 16). I usually read the upper register of YA because that’s just generally what I enjoy more. I also find that the younger side usually comes with a lot of secondhand embarrassment, but that wasn’t the case for this book, and I’m glad! Reading about how Mary and her friends navigate high school felt real. They also didn’t feel “aged up” either; it read like they’re sophomores, a mix of desperately trying to fit in and somewhat knowing what you want.

I also wasn’t sure about the writing at first because usually writing that emulates classics tend to come off as pretentious to be, but again, that wasn’t the case for this book. The prose really added to the atmosphere of the book and helps you feel like you’re in Mary’s head.

My only real issue was that Alex is a senior and Mary is a sophomore. I just don’t like age gaps, particularly in YA. However, this wasn’t necessarily a deal breaker for me in this book because their connection felt genuine. Also, Alex is the “rogue” to put into tropes (and Mary often does), but it’s never like…a sexual thing if that makes sense? More like he just flirts with every girl so that helped me feel more comfortable with the two years of difference between them. I still wish there wasn’t so much of an age gap, but I did think they were cute and I liked their banter.

There was a lot of humor in the same vein of a comedy play, particularly with Mary’s large family. Circumstances keep building up and it all leads to this crash that I found hilarious.

Overall, this was a really cute story! By the Book tied in classics and applied those tropes and story plots to a more modern audience. I definitely recommend this book for fans of Tara Eglington’s How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You or Emma Mills’s First & Then.

Obsessed with literature rather than social media, Mary lives in a different time than her peers. Mary is a great character who is highly intelligent, yet incredibly naive when it comes to the “real” world and the complexities of love. She struggles to fit in and understand others, but then she finds that her reliance on the classics and antiquated views on relationships from nineteenth-century literature can be used to deem a man worthy...or so she believes. Her new group of friends, help her to come out of her shell while she helps them find boys who are swoon-worthy. Everything seems to be going great for Mary...until the ultimate scoundrel starts to make her view life a little less by the book.

Reasons why I enjoyed By the Book: the characters are well-developed, Mary’s family is fantastic, I loved the literature references (makes me want to go read some classics), it was a quick read, and it provided a great lesson that fitting in is hard, and rather than changing yourself, find those who love you for all your quirkiness.

This is definitely a lower YA novel and high middle school read; this is one I would recommend to my students. It was a bit of a slow starter for me and it was a pretty predictable plot, but a novel I don’t regret reading! I would definitely recommend this to any YA readers who love a rom-com with a helping of literary allusions and great characters.

There is something about reading a book about books that does my heart good. I mean maybe it’s the fact that I already live and breath books. All I know is that the author did a good job of combining many classics (most I haven’t read yet but am now intrigued) into this book.

Mary lives and breathes books. She basically makes life choices based on how certain characters/authors would. That is dedication. Her life changes dramatically when she is forced to go to public high school.

I did feel a connection towards Mary because she has a large family. I grew up with 5 siblings and life was crazy! I also connected with her because books (obviously) and because I to switched to public school (from homeschooling) during my high school years and it was hard!

It’s interesting to see how friendships, old and new, play out. She is starting in a new place and trying the best she can. It isn’t always easy but I love that she has friends who are always there for her even when she doubts how close they have truly become.

The relationship in this book, you could say, is enemies to lovers. There are some great moments between them and I enjoyed reading about them.

As a book with teens in high school you can bet there is drama. It wasn’t over the top and I thought it was realistic and done nicely.

Overall, this was a good book and if you are a fan of books about books then I would definitely check this one out!

This book was a delight. The classic references were so clever and well done. It was a fun, engaging romantic read.

This book just melted my heart and it was literally the cutest, fair warning. It follows Mary, a young fifteen-year-old who has spent his life reading classical romantic novels, but is not very good at social interactions. Until she meets a group of girls who ask for her advice in the relationship field, given that she knows so much because of the book she's read.
Also, she comes to know the "school scoundrel", as she calls him, Alex, and the two develop a sort of friendship that goes beyond everything Mary could ever think. But is it really just friendship?

Like I said previously, this book was the cutest. I fell in love right away with Mary, our main character, and I could really relate to her, because at her age I surely was like her, and my life was submerged by books (it still is). I was rooting for her for the entire novel and I was so proud of her when she started making friends and maybe fall in love.
All of the references to classic books were heartwarming, and I could recognize most of them so this definetely add something to the novel.
At the beginning the way Mary spoke was a little bit offputting for me, because I couldn't really believe that a fifteen-year-old would talk like that, but later I grew accostumed to it and I felt like it was a nice addiction to the story overall. The writing style was really captivating and very good in my opinion.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the inclusion of a big family. I lovede the dynamic between all of the siblings. Everyone had their own story and they brough a lot to the novel. Jasper was the cutest little brother ever. This book made me regret being an only child.

The romance was NOT the main part of this book, but it was certainly swoon-worthy. Alex was more than the typical popuar boy in high school, and even though I got the plot twist quite early on in the novel, it was satisfying to see Mary come to terms with her feelings and the revelations life had in store for her.

I also really loved all of the representation in this book. I won't go into details because spoilers, but it was really good.

This is a 4.5 and not a 5/5 stars because I felt like the end was a bit rushed, I would have liked to see more of a resolution, but the very last page was the cutest ever, so I'm totally on board.
I'm highly recommending this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and HMH Books for Young Readers for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

First off, the cover was adorable and the title was amazing. That convinced me to request the book, and then the description…it seemed like it would be the perfect book for me. I am pleased to announce: if you haven’t read this book you are going to love it when it comes out. There is so much to love packed into this book. I mean, it was so good I was having trouble forming coherent thoughts. This is a romantic comedy. This is a good falling in love book. Honestly, I could sing this books praises all day long.


The Writing
First, Sellet has an amazing voice. I started reading this book and went “oh my god, oh my god” because the writing was out of this world fantastic. I cannot even put into words how much I loved the writing. It was so good I think I was drooling. (I’m kidding…but seriously, the writing is top notch and it is beautiful). The quality was there and I flew through this book in between another one I was reading. I just didn’t want to stop reading it, but I also didn’t want to finish it because it was so good.

The Pacing
The pacing worked very well for me. There were no weird or jarring moments, and therefore, I have almost nothing to say regarding pacing. It worked. The characters and the plot melded together creating perfect pace and atmosphere for me.

The Plot
Let’s talk about the plot…the plot that is the characters. Because there is a plot, but most of it is focused on character driven arcs and character relationships. Done well, it can be one of my favorite things to read, and this was done really well. We have Mary, our title character, who loves books and is new to her school. There she makes some friends, and if you’ve read the summary, you know what the book is about, but in any case, Mary’s arc is very much the plot of the book, and her growth as a character.
I also love resolutions of the issues in this book, unlike some books who don’t address problems, this one does, and does it very well.

The Characters
I don’t know if it is at all possible to talk about any of the characters without giving too much away, but I do want to say this: I loved them all. I loved very specific parts of this book so much so I want to go back and reread it immediately.
Mary is a fun character. I think she is relatable, quirky, has faults but is also supremely adorable. I love her. She may be one of my favorite characters.
Then you have her friends, and one thing I really loved about this book was how friendship was featured. How well it was developed and how honest it felt. It was one of my favorite parts in the whole book. Mary and Arden and Lydia and Terry were all fabulous characters and I would love to see them and their own books in the future.
I also loved the romance in this book. I felt the setup for it was great. I mean, I knew what was going to happen, and I knew some plot points I had guessed at, but it didn’t make the book any less fun, in fact, I loved that this book did and didn’t take itself seriously. There was so much to love about these characters and the relationships that they formed with each other.
Mary’s family was great too, I loved how it was function dysfunctional family. It was great, and I am sitting here trying to figure out how to phrase it an unable to.

Overall
If you couldn’t tell, this was a five star read for me. This book was so amazing, and I absolutely loved it. It drew me in, and kept me reading. I am so excited because I am sure going to be ordering the final copy of this book when it comes out. I liked the book that much – and when it comes out, I am begging you all to try it.

A light and quirky read. This fun story about a bookish girl using the knowledge she has gathered on love from her classics, tries to tackle love and friendship. This was such a fun read and found a lot of myself in the main character, Mary. I thoroughly enjoyed Mary's growth and her very large family. Sellet did a phenomenal job portraying each major and minor character and gave them all so much depth.

The writing did not gel well with me and I only got to 20% before I gave up. Thank you for the opportunity but sadly this book just wasn't for me.

Full review on Goodreads. I’m really looking forward to recommending this one to my students. It’s cute and clean and has some good friend and romance struggles with some diversity and lovable characters.

Oh my gosh, this book was soooo CUTE!

Mary, a sweet and completely clueless bookaholic, meets Alex, a sort of Casanova with the best repartee and a bad case of myopia. Their love story was light with the perfect amount of fluffy.

The references to classic books were on point and woven in so well that it never weighed down the story.

Besides the romance, which was perfect, what I adored was Mary’s friendships. I remember how hard it was navigating the halls of a school alone and then winged by incredible women.

Loooved it and this book cover is freaking perfection i absolutely adore it sooo sooo much.

Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I am really sad that I couldn't get into this book as much as I wanted to. It was one of my anticipated releases because of a) the cover is so stinking adorable and b) the synopsis had me hooked. I made it through the first 20% and I had a hard time getting a grasp on the characters. I'm not a big classics reader either, so someone who is a fan of Anna Karenina and Jane Austen would enjoy this more. I absolutely hate DNFing books, and I don't do it often. I will give this another try later down the road though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of By the Book in exchange for anhonest review!

Mary loves books, classics, especially. Raised by two professors, Mary has been coddled by her parents, and in a special school program. But when the program is shut down, at 15, Mary must attend public school. With an almost Pride and Prejudice feel to it, Mary meets Alex, an actor in her elder sister's Shakespearean theater company. Off-putting and seemingy rude, Mary begins to grow close to him and eventually even enjoy his company.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I automatically relate to characters like Mary, because I speant a lot of my childhood with my face stuck in a book, and I've always found making friends really difficult. And honestly? I think By the Book would make an awesome Netflix series! What can I say? A modern, booky YA twists on Pride and Prejudice is always a yes for me!