"HONEST: The (Uncut) Memoirs of Boris Johnson" by Lucien Young is a witty and insightful satire that provides a humorous take on the enigmatic persona of Boris Johnson. Young's clever writing and sharp wit keep readers engaged from start to finish, offering a delightful glimpse into the absurdities of politics and public life. However, the real star of the show is the scathing portrayal of Boris Johnson himself. Through Young's lens, Johnson emerges as a bumbling and self-serving figure, whose antics and questionable decisions are ripe for comedic exploration. While the book entertains with its sharp humor and clever storytelling, it also serves as a pointed critique of Johnson's leadership style and character flaws. Young's portrayal highlights the absurdity of Johnson's actions and underscores the importance of accountability and integrity in public office. Overall, "HONEST" offers a hilarious yet damning indictment of Boris Johnson's tenure in politics.

The power of political satire is making you laugh even if the reality can be quite bleak. This is one of those books that describes the reality, makes you laugh and makes an excellent job in making you think that "This is a book but reality is not very far".
Well done, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book? Hilarious. I enjoyed the authors writing style, and felt that it was a breath of fresh air. I found myself absolutely cackling during the majority of this book.

Depending on how your Covid experience went, and your sense of humour, you will either LOL at what is contained in this book, or be so incensed with rage, you'll throw it across the room. You might even do both! Me, I opened it to just have a little peek as I had finished the book I was currently reading, got completely sucked in and read cover to cover in one go.
What you do have to remember is that it is a spoof, a parody, a lampooning of someone is already a lampooned character in himself. If you are old enough to remember spitting image then the Boris portrayed in this book is pretty much akin to that. Lovable buffoon rogue. But, as we can pretty much all agree, someone who should be nowhere near any important decision making... And don't get me started on rule making (breaking).
So... I loved it but I can definitely see it not being a winner with others. Sometimes too soon is too soon and people are still hurting. And not just about Covid but politics in general.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I’d like to thank Quercus Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Honest – The (Uncut) Memoirs of Boris Johnson’ a parody ghostwritten by Lucien Young, in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I’ve never been a fan of Boris Johnson but hoped that by reading ‘Honest’ I’d find some redeeming features of the man who makes a joke of everything, but I’m afraid I didn’t. It starts with a foreword written by BJ’s biggest groupie Nadine Dorries revealing her to be a misguided fanatic of BJ’s behaviour that should never be tolerated in Parliament. At 176 pages this book is a fairly short account that describes his education where he gets through by doing as little as possible, his time in journalism, Mayor of London, until he finally gets his greatest desire to be Prime Minister – he couldn’t quite reach the echelon of ‘World King’! It tells of his philandering, his shock when he learned the Brexit Leavers had won, how Covid cramped his style, and how timely the war in Ukraine was as it stopped people talking of Partygate.

Lucien Young has made a very successful job of writing this book as I can hear BJ’s voice on every single page almost as if he’s narrating, but after reading it I’m still not sure if it was written to put the record straight on a number of high-profile news reports or whether it was Boris boasting of his self-aggrandisement by getting one over on the British people. Nevertheless, it’s been well-written and is so easy to read I finished it in one sitting. I’m giving it four stars for the writing but not for BJ’s appalling behaviour.

This book is well written & parts are funny but I didn’t mind Boris before reading this but now I can’t stand him, he has bluffed his way through life & is still bluffing. As he was born into a wealthy family, it put him on this road due to being avid to afford to the best schools & universities but he comes across as such an arrogant idiot. Yes I get it was meant to be tongue in cheek, but parts of it sorry to say pissed me off, due to what happened during COVID with the Conservative Party.

You can’t not LOL at this book,at 176 pages I started it expecting to red a bit and then go back to it but indeed read it all in one sitting,genuinely funny and I was reading it with his bumbling voice in my head and hus caught in the headlights look on his face
I daresay this is way more fun than the official memoirs which haven’t read yet and tbh now I’ve read this not sure I will
As a reader of politiical biographies I can honestly say I have never read any that match this!!!!
Well done to the author 😀

Silly but fun. I could genuinely imagine Boris narrating this piece! Not my usual fare but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

A short book but very amusing it. I did find myself laughing out loud at certain points in this book. If only all books about politicians could be this fun.
Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a copy of “Honest” for an “ honest” review.

This book was great fun to read, and I found myself laughing out loud several times while reading it.!
Boris really is the gift that keeps on giving for humorists

Let's talk about Brex, baby...

The story of Boris (or should that be "the glory of Boris") told in his own unexpurgated words, with a touching foreword by Boris superfan Nadine Dorries. The blond bombshell's journey from being unbearable at Eton to a starring role as the second most incompetent Prime Minister in living memory should inspire us all to have a go at running the country. His trademark self-effacing honesty, sincerity and deeply-held principles ("what's best for Boris?") shine through.

Honest is packed with non-stunning personal revelations (he may have, very occasionally, strayed beyond the bounds of matrimony) and searing political insight ("Hunt was what passed for a moderate in the modern Conservative party, which meant he preferred austerity to threatening asylum seekers with a blunderbuss."). The father-of-several recounts all his greatest hits - becoming Mayor of London on a platform of "LOL, Boris"; accidentally leaving the EU; how he won a general election by the stunningly simple tactic of replying Getbrexitdone to every conceivable question and/or hiding in the nearest cupboard/fridge; how he steered the nation through the pandemic while only having the strictly necessary number of parties; and so on. There are brilliant insights into his colleagues - Rishi Sunak ("a diminutive plutocrat who didn't know how to use a debit card"), Priti Patel ("a smirking sadist"), Matt Hancock ("a man who would be out of his depth in a puddle").

Ultimately, of course, the great leader, the legend, Big Dog himself was brought down by a "reckless act of regicide". As Boris so rightly says, "It was everybody's fault but mine." Inspirational.

(A note at the end mentions that during the editing of the book, both Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries resigned as MPs - they did, and yet, during the writing of this review, the latter is mysteriously still hanging around....)