Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. She knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a "jiffy" lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her Best Friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. 

As Harriet veers from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, she begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did. 

And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

*****

Yeah, the goodreads summary sounds rather cheesy, but don't let that deter you: THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. Seriously, I don't think I have ever laughed as much. I spent the better part of this sitting on my couch and giggling or outright lol-ing.

What makes this book so great? The writing. It's witty, full of funny facts that you don't really need to know but that are just so weird that you want to memorise them, and the story-line pulls you in and doesn't let you go. I couldn't stop reading, needing to know how Harriet navigates her awkward self through the fashion world, whether she would get a happy ending with Nick, whether she would fall down on the runway, whether she would re-unite with her best friend whose dream she hijacked...

And that leads me to the characters. Harriet Manners is so relatable. At least if you have ever in your life felt out of place, like you needed to change in order to fit in... I was the tall, awkward, quiet girl at school who wore unfashionable glasses, liked to read and didn't like parties, so yeah, I could definitely see myself in Harriet. (Minus her awesome knowledge of random facts and her plan and list making tendencies.) Then there are Harriet's parents, who have silly little (and bigger) fights about little things. Her father basically stayed a child himself and is eccentric and funny (except if he's your father, of course). And there's Annabel, Harriet's step-mother, who might seem like the bad guy at the first glance, but who is, in fact, very level-headed and smart and badass. There's Wilbur, Harriet's very much over the top agent, Nat, her loyal best friend, and Toby, her super-geeky stalker. I loved the whole bunch of them, they're all such distinct, funny, strong characters.

And then there's Nick. This book features the best "awkward girl meets handsome boy" scene I've ever read. Because it takes place under a table, (which becomes a bit of a running gag.) The scenes between Nick and Harriet probably made me laugh the hardest because Harriet copes with nerves by spewing forth random facts like wikipedia gone mad. (Well, not really, but I just fancied using that phrasing.) Their romance is sweet and adorable and there's just not enough scenes with the two of them in it. I NEED MORE.

And if that weren't enough, this book also comes with a great message. Be yourself and love yourself, because you're awesome just the way you are. It's just such a heartwarming story.

I'm telling you, the first thing you need to do on the 28th of February is go to a bookstore and pick up a copy of Geek Girl. It's awesome and made my nerdy heart beat faster with excitement at finally having found a kindred spirit (albeit in book form.)

My rating: AWESOMENESS. er. ☆☆☆☆☆

2 comments:

  1. This sounds like a lot of fun to ready! I'm definitely going to check it out :)

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