REVIEW: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Geek Girl by Holly Smale is fantastic! Already I'm thinking it's going to be one of my favourites in all of 2013, it's funny and geeky and hugely entertaining.  I really urge you all to pick up this book.

And just as I'm considering putting Geek Girl on my list of favourites, I'm also thinking of putting Harriet Manners on my list of favourite female characters!  I love her awkwardness, her knowledge of obscure facts and even her insecurity when it comes to how other people perceive her.  I could fully relate to the decisions that Harriet makes during this novel and I was rooting for her from the very first page!

Poor Harriet.  She doesn't even want to attend a clothes show, and she certainly never expected whilst there to be spotted by a modelling agency ... or to fall out with her best friend over it.  But Harriet desperately wants to make a new start, wants to reinvent herself.  Because while she has no problems being geeky and mostly friendless, it would definitely be nice not to be picked on and made fun of at school. And maybe this whole modelling thing could change that for her.

My favourite thing about Geek Girl are definitely the characters that we meet.  I've already said that I love Harriet a lot. I'd love to be friends with her, or at least to have had someone like her as my friend going through school. I think it would have made some definite improvements.  But I also really loved Harriet's friendships with both Nat and also Harriet's stalker.  Harriet is by no means perfect though. She has a real problem with avoiding difficult conversations and situations that make things far worse than they needed to be. 

My other favourite character, and I can't believe I haven't mentioned her earlier than this, is Annabelle, Harriet's step-mother.  The similarities between Harriet and Annabelle are huge (and hilarious!) and I really, really loved seeing how much this relationship with Annabelle has clearly influenced Harriet and her geeky ways.  I don't often come across really supportive and present parents in YA but I'm glad that Harriet has that.  But I think especially that because Annabelle isn't biologically related to Harriet makes it that much better for me. I love that their relationship is what it is even though there is no biological connection. They choose to love each other as much as they do, independent of blood.

Geek Girl is such a great book to read.  I loved its humour and its geekiness but also the sadness that comes with being bullied because you're different.  It feels at times kind of like a fairy tale - the awkward geeky girl being thrown into the world of fashion and modelling, spending time with the hot model, Nick - and I did hope that everything would work out magically for Harriet.  And while there were definite moments of pure awesome for her, I also loved that it never got carried away with the fantasy... while some things do work out a lot better, other situations stayed the same.  I cannot wait to read more of Harriet and her geeky adventures in the next book in the series!