Holly Bourne’s contemporary adult novel, How Do You Like Me Now? is published today in paperback by Hodder & Stoughton.

The book reached No. 11 on the hardback chart, was at No. 10 in The Bookseller Heatseeker’s Chart and received a huge amount of publicity for its ground-breaking style and honesty about being a woman; bestselling author Dolly Alderton called it “The most perceptive book I have ever read about the female interior”… 

‘Turning thirty is like playing musical chairs. The music stops, and everyone just marries whoever they happen to be sitting on.’

Who the f*ck is Tori Bailey?

There’s no doubt that Tori is winning the game of life. A straight-talking, bestselling author, she’s inspired millions of women around the world with her self-help memoir. And she has the perfect relationship to boot.

But Tori Bailey has been living a lie.

Her long-term boyfriend won’t even talk about marriage, but everyone around her is getting engaged and having babies. And when her best friend Dee – her plus one, the only person who understands the madness – falls in love, suddenly Tori’s in terrifying danger of being left behind.

When the world tells you to be one thing and turning thirty brings with it a loud ticking clock, it takes courage to walk your own path.

It’s time for Tori to practice what she’s preached, but the question is: is she brave enough?

How Do You Like Me Now? has garnered rave reviews since the hardback release. It was named as a Stylist “Must Read book of 2018”, and a Red magazine “Best Book of 2018”.

Here are our favourite reviews:

“It is so good! It is so honest about being a woman and all the things that are expected of us … I enjoyed it very much.” Marian Keyes

“A smart, witty and perceptive novel; Bourne is razor-sharp on friendship, self-image and self-deception” Lucy Diamond

“I haven’t been this obsessed with a book in years. It’s painfully funny, real, but also heartbreaking. Holly Bourne’s writing sees into my soul and I want her to be my best friend. Get this book now or be the loser who can’t join in when everyone else is talking about it.” Lucy Vine

“a Bridget Jones for millennials… injected with such reality it can’t help but be hilarious…If you want to know what it feels like to be a woman in your thirties, read this. Tori is so like my friends she could walk off the page and into the pub with us…Bourne skewers us smoothly and succinctly” The Times

“Bourne has written a truly sparkling portrayal of a best friendship here…[she] has a native eye for millennial angst…truly a f***ing good novel.” Evening Standard

“Mordantly funny, flinchingly well-observed… A smart, zeitgeisty, and caustically funny read, it has characters you root for. More than that, however, Bourne holds a mirror up to contemporary aspiration, deftly probing the dissonant dualism between the shinier selves projected online and people’s offline reality.” The Sunday Times

Holly also writes bestselling YA novels. Last weekend she took Hay Festival by storm where she gave a talk to 1600 people about her novel Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?, teenage mental health and how to survive in today’s society.

Holly started her writing career as a news journalist, where she was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor, and general ‘agony aunt’ for a youth charity – helping young people with their relationships and mental health. Inspired by what she saw, she started writing teen fiction, including the best-selling, award-winning ‘Spinster Club’ series which helps educate teenagers about feminism. When she turned thirty, Holly wrote her first adult novel, examining the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark.

Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women’s rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She’s helped create online apps that teach young people about sexual consent, works with Women’s Aid to spread awareness of abusive relationships, and runs Rethink’s mental health book club.