Review for Model Misfit (Geek Girl #2) by Holly Smale

TITLE: Model Misfit
SERIES: Geek Girl #2
AUTHOR: Holly Smale
PUBLICATION DATE: July 21, 2015
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
PAGES: 400 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC / Paperback
SOURCE: Publisher via Edelweiss / Won from Zili In The Sky
RATING: 5 bows

After Harriet Manners summer plans are ruined, she decides that modelling in Japan is the best alternative to sitting at home waiting on her life to change when the new baby arrives. Once she arrives in Tokyo, she is overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and her new flatmates. Plus, she sees Nick EVERYWHERE and since Lion Boy dumped her, that is not ideal. As she navigates her way through a summer away from home, she worries how life will be once she returns and the new baby arrives. She also wonders how she’ll make it through another day listening to her flatmate go on and on about how perfect Nick is. One thing is certain, after this summer, her life will never be the same!

Before I started this, I didn’t think it was possible to love this series more. I adored Geek Girl. It was one of the best books I read last year. I know, it technically came out in the US this year, but I read it last year. You can read my review for it here. Anyway, I loved it to pieces and generally books don’t step up the content much with a sequel, but that is not the case here. I loved this even more than I did Geek Girl. It’s pages contain everything you loved about GG and more. You get the wit and the snark and the awkwardness and the brave girl trying to step out of herself, and you also get so much heart and love and realistic situations that you can just imagine these things happening. There will be more fangirling later in this review, but I just wanted to get that bit out of the way first.

Harriet Manners is the same girl we learned to love in Geek Girl. She’s smart and funny and 100 % an unrepentant geek. We get to see a more morose side of here because Lion Boy has dumped her. She doesn’t understand why. She thought they were getting along well and she was always happiest in his company, but his mind seemed to be made up and there was no changing it. She soldiers on. Even when her epic plans of a fun summer with Natalie and Toby crash and burn. Nat & Toby both have other plans. With nothing better to do, she heads to Tokyo to do some modeling. She has always been fascinated with Japan anyway, so why not? In this installment, Harriet really puts her all into trying to be the best model she can be. While that may not work out as fabulously as she planned, it’s nice to see her really put effort into doing as she is directed.

We get to see some of the old cast as well as a few new members. We don’t get as much of Toby as we did in Geek Girl. The book was perfect, but I did miss his stalking a bit. He is such as amusing character. Nick is present, though we are not very happy with him. Harriet gets two new roommates, who I won’t say anything at all about because doing so might spoil something. And then we have Harriet’s dad and Step-Mom. Once again, I am in awe of that woman. If I am half the mom she is to Harriet when I have kids, then I will be satisfied with myself. The way she handles everything on top of her pregnancy hormones is phenomenal. And that scene, the one at the very end, with the list. Let me just say ALL THE FEELS! Also, I love their baby name…just sayin! 😉

Have you ever read a novel that was just so perfect that you actually cried after it was over? I don’t mean sobbing because the story was depressing a la The Fault In Our Stars, but just at the sheer perfection of this thing you have just read? That this book for me. I literally cried after it was over because I loved it so much. I don’t think that was the intended response, but that was what it got. This book is bloody perfect. I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it has an ending so well written that I am just in awe of it. I’m a little surprised I worked up all the words you see in this review because my brain is more or less just screaming “IT’S PERFECT! GO BUY THE DAMN BOOK!” So that is what I’ll leave you with. This book is perfect and it’s a must read to everyone with the ability to comprehend it.

****Thank you to Harper Teen for providing me with an eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Geek Girl (Geek Girl #1) by Holly Smale

TITLE: Geek Girl
SERIES: Geek Girl #1
AUTHOR: Holly Smale
PUBLICATION DATE: January 27, 2015
PUBLISHER: Harper Teen
PAGES: 336 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: Publisher via Edelweiss
RATING: 5 bows

Harriet Manners is the textbook definition of a a geek. She’s actually okay with that. She likes her intelligence and doesn’t understand everyone else’s fascination with clothes and makeup and superficial pursuits. Then she accidentally gets discovered as the next big model and things spiral from there. Does she have what it takes to shed her geeky exterior and become a worldwide sensation or will her never quieting mind prevent her from letting go enough to allow it to happen?

I loved Harriet from page one. She’s smart and funny and completely unpopular in the best way. Climbing the social ladder isn’t really on her to do list. She is a little sick of being picked on, but she doesn’t necessarily want to be the highest rung on the ladder. She just wants to be allowed to geek out. So when she get’s discovered as a model, she decides that maybe it’s time to try something new. Try on the pretty clothes and the makeup and actually talking to Nick, the male model she’ll be posing with. Things go from awkward to normal and back again over and over and over and it was thoroughly entertaining. I love Harriet with the makeup and wannabe girliness and without it. Her inner snark had me rolling in laughter from page one and I couldn’t help wanting more. I love that she likes who she is, but I also love that she is brave enough to try something new. Stepping out of her normal role and into something scary and new is far from easy, but she tries. She gives it her all even though she doesn’t really know what she’s doing. It just made me love her more.

I could speak to the other characters, but really, she’s the main one. The rest all play their roles, filling in where they are needed and making connections with her at the appropriate moments. Nick shows up every so often to provide just enough confusing swoon-worthy stares to move her obsession along just a bit more. Her dad and Step-Mom provide parenting like moments. I gotta say that I loved her Step-Mom quite a bit by the end. She’s not perfect and she’s not Harriet’s bio-mom, but she loves her and is more attentive than Harriet and Dad realize. In the beginning, I was irked by her bossing Harriet around, but she really does have the best of intentions and that scene, in her office at the end, well, let’s just say we should all be so lucky.

What really won me over with this novel was it’s laugh out loud comedy. I know LOL is a term people throw around constantly, but rarely does a book make me snort or laugh or giggle out loud. Smiling or internal chortling happens constantly, but few are good enough to make me really laugh out loud. And this was one of them. It is full of humorous dialogue and outrageous shenanigans and enough awkward situations to have you laughing and hiding your face simultaneously. I also loved the ending and the message that carries. I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that it is the perfect message for teenagers and more books need to go in that direction.

I know many people have compared it to Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series and I whole heartedly agree with that comparison. This is right on that Georgia level and that is a huge compliment. This is laugh out loud funny with enough heart to make it feel real. I recommend it to every reader out there. Old, young, boy, girl, chick-flick fan, or nerd lover, this will be loved by all!

****Thank you to Harper Teen for providing me with an eARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review****