Monday 20 June 2016

Book Review - Geek Girl by Holly Smale- Rachel Reads Randomly Book #30 - #20BooksOfSummer Book 2

Amazon UK
Title:  Geek Girl (Book #1)
Author: Holly Smale
Format reviewed: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books
Publication Date: 28th February 2013
Rating: 5 Stars


“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.”

Harriet Manners 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. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

But she doesn’t know why nobody at school seems to like her.

So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she 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 impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.

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

As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

I was aware there was a lot of hype about the Geek Girl series even before I bought the first few books, but what I didn't fully appreciate until I started reading Geek Girl was just how enjoyable it would be for an adult in her mid 30s. 

I think this is the most absorbed I have been in a book, and unaware of everything going on around me, for ages, and I didn't think I could achieve this level of absorption still. I found myself sitting and just turning the pages, as the writing is so easy to read, and such a pleasure. I know I used to get this deep into books when I was a teenager, I just didn't realise books aimed at the same market would still have that affect. 

I really identified with Harriet Manners, a self confessed geek, who knows shes not popular, but can't quite put her finger on why so many people don't seem to like her. Academically she is brilliant at school but socially she is slightly inept, and its easy to see Harriet's in just about any school you go to. 

However when Harriet is spotted by a model agent, at an event she didn't even want to be at, she realises that this could be her ugly duckling transformation moment, but of course like real life nothing ever goes smoothly. 

At times I was almost cringing with Harriet at things go wrong, and the descriptions of her in high heels for the first time are hilarious, although given my own inability to walk in a heel, I maybe shouldn't have laughed as much as I did. 

I'm not really going to say much about the story, there must be plenty of other reviews around to do just that, I do want to say that this book is brilliant. I loved the characters, I loved the parents, the school dynamics (I was a sucker for a school story when I was younger) and realistically the only thing going through my mind  is what on earth happens in book 2! 

There was an overwhelming majority of you that voted for Geek Girl to win this week, and I can't thank you from the bottom of my heart enough for categorically demanding me to read this book in some cases. Clearly I have been missing out over the past few years, just because I don't tend to read YA, and do feel a bit weird reading so called kids books. In fact mum has told me that I shouldn't take the others of this series on holiday with me because I'll be laughed at!

Rachel Reads Randomly will be back on 11th July with a new vote. I hope you will all join me then! 


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