Geek Girl

Title: Geek Girl
Author: Holly Smale
Genre: YA
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10

"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?"

***

Refreshing, funny, spunky and just plain fun to read. Seriously, it was like hopping in a time machine and going back to my 13 year old self just discovering the world of Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries.
Harriet's story is just as fun-loving and filled with moments that made me literally laugh out loud. A nice, easy read - definitely recommend it for poolside entertainment ;)
Granted, this seems to be focused on a younger demographic than what I usually read these days, not being that 13-year old again, but the message of the book is one that many adults could do with learning - of being true to yourself, always.
Most importantly, though, is the fact Holly Smale creates a character that is both endearing and familiar to most bookworms like myself, but also strong and determined. The book flies by, and you've finished before you know, it ready for the next one (which is already out, incidentally)

Book Review: A Kiss in Time

Title: A Kiss in Time
Author: Alex Finn
Genre: YA, historical
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 10/10


Let me start this by saying I'm usually weary of these fairy tale re-tellings. Many times, it seems the authors get stuck with the idea of the original tale, and can't seem to add much of original to the story.
That was not the case with A Kiss in Time, that's for damned sure.

I had never, not once, paused to think what would happen if you took a person from over 300 years back, and just dropped them into today's world. Well, you're about to find out. Remember, back then, they didn't have electricity, most purchases were made by exchanges, and forget cell phones. I can't even begin to explain the hilarity that ensues when you take good ole Sleeping Beauty, but skip the part where the prince rides up not too late after the entire country has gone to sleep, but rather when 300 years have gone by since the princess pricked her finger on a spindle.
Suddenly, you have an entire kingdom, still with their hearts and minds frimly back in the feudal times, trying to battle it out in the twenty-frist century. And to make matters worse, the princess isn't awakened by some prince's kiss, but by your common, everyday american boy, who just wants to get rid of the memories of his slutty ex, and if he can somehow figure out how to disentangle himself from the marriage prospect with the crazy girl who claims to be a princess, all the better.

I was needing a light reading, due to stress regarding the Hunger Games movie release (also why I didn't write a review sooner), and this fit the bill perfectly - it helped me escape into a world which was both belieavable and hilariously unbelievable at the same time; which, I know, makes no sense, but turns out to work great as a book!
Definitely worth the while to anyone looking for a good laugh.