REVIEW: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Meet Harriet Manners. Girl. Geek. International supermodel? -from cover of book

"Harriet Manners is a geek. She always has been, and she thought she always would be—but when she's discovered by a modeling agent, she leaps at the chance to reinvent herself. There's only one problem: Harriet is the definition of awkward. Can she transform from geek to chic?"
-Summary of book from shelfari.com.


Written by former model Holly Smale who, much like Harriet Manners in her book Geek Girl, was discovered as a model at fifteen, this book targets the audience of Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series (well, not the latest, very adult installment, but the earlier ones), which is to say, middle school girls who have not yet experienced being fifteen. Because, from what I can tell, I was fifteen more recently than Smale and, because of that, I can see that the voice of the narrator is immature for a fifteen year old. At times the dialogue is far fetched and unrealistic, and I had issues with some of the characters. But first, let's get a more concrete description nailed down.

The book starts off with Harriet being Harriet, which is to say endearingly childish and funny in a smart but kind of immature way. Her humor relies on interesting facts that really made the book for me. That's one thing that I loved about the book- even when Harriet was confused about who she was, her voice showed that she was still the same Harriet, just confused about who she was supposed to be. One focus in the book is on Nat and Harriet's friendship, and I have to say that even if this isn't my most favorite book, the fact that Smale focused more of the book on this relationship than the budding romance between Harriet and Nick (a super cute male model with awesome lion-like hair). Nat- for the record- is awesome, and, yes, crazy different from Harriet, and that difference is what causes the storyline: Harriet is a geek, and Nat has wanted to be a model since she was a kid. And now Harriet's living Nat's dream and worries that, considering they were already growing apart as their interests diverged, this could force a bigger wedge between the two of them, one that might mean the end of the only friendship she has.

Except for Toby, her stalker- literally. Another geek, just as strange as Harriet, who literally follows her around and worships at her feet. Don't get me wrong, this isn't entirely unrealistic, but it's too extreme and he's too open about it for it to read realistic. I've had my fair share of boys (and girls) with unhealthy obsessions, but this one is overwrought. The resolve gives it some credibility, and in the end is worth the trouble, but when factored into how unrealistic a lot of aspects of the book are.

Ironically, the unrealistic part of this book isn't the storyline, even though it sounds really outlandish. It's the stuff of daydreams, but it's also the stuff of Holly Smale's teenage years, so it's hard to find a fault in this. And if anyone had the knowledge to write this book, it's Holly Smale; she literally lived that storyline. But the writing is inconsistent; sometimes extremely well thought out and at other times immature or seemingly self-satisfying, which is to say that some moments are the kind of things that one would write in a book on Wattpad, or that would be edited out. Cutesy and insignificant as they may be, these moments detract from the book as a whole.

The character other than Toby that I took issue with was Willbur, who was all stereotypes, misconceptions, and cliches. Entirely unrealistic, his vernacular was ridiculous and not in a charming way. Sure, it was funny, but it, to put it in theater terms, broke the fourth wall and pulled the reader (i.e. me) out of suspended disbelief. I also found the pacing of the book terrible; it took too long for her to be discovered, and then after that there were only two or three big events left in the book. I kept waiting for more to happen.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but I went into it with high hopes and I was a little let down by the immaturity of the writing. That being said, I would definitely recommend this to middle schoolers because the themes addressed in the book are extremely relevant to them, and Harriet's voice will connect to middle schoolers without a doubt. I enjoyed the book just fine as a quick read, and will probably pick up the sequels from the library like I did this one, and will probably read it like I read this one: quickly in one sitting, in only a few hours. I look forward to it, but I'm not bumping them up my to-be-reads nor am I thinking about purchasing them.

Rating: 2/5
Would I Recommend: Yes, but keep the above in mind. It's still a worthwhile read is read purely for entertainment.
To: Middle schoolers, and anyone with patience. It's laugh out loud funny at parts and lighthearted- definitely a good read for when in need of a pick me up if you can handle a few issues.
If You Liked...
The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot (or really any other Meg Cabot book meant for YA or youth readers-- especially Airhead)
Awkward by Marni Bates


My Playlist for This Book:
Unsweet Sixteen by Wakefield
La La Land by Demi Lovato (don't judge me)
Princes and Frogs (Underdog Remix) by Superchick

Peace out bro scouts
R