Review Detail

My Wonderful Disgrace by Angourie Rice and Kate Rice has a genuinely clever structural hook.
Pieced together through journal entries, interviews, texts, and school newsletters, the storytelling format gives the book a fun, fast-paced energy that keeps the pages turning. It's a creative choice that suits the chaotic tone of the story well.

There are some legitimately funny moments scattered throughout, and the payoff (the idea that a night doesn't have to go according to plan to still mean something) lands when it finally arrives. The friendships that grow out of the chaos feel like a natural, earned outcome rather than something forced.

That said, the characters were a tough sell. Amy spends much of the story dismissing a friend who is clearly just trying to help, which made her difficult to root for. The rest of the cast doesn't quite pick up the slack either, and when the characters aren't especially likeable, the humor has to work overtime to carry things.

The book does touch on heavier themes like predatory relationships and social media, but these feel more like background texture than focal points, which is worth knowing going in if you're expecting more from them.

Overall, My Wonderful Disgrace is a fun, quick read with a standout format and some solid laughs. Just don't go in expecting to fall in love with anyone in it.

Content Warning: brief depiction of a predatory student-teacher relationship, animal death