All That Glitters

Title: All The Glitters (Geek Girl #4)
Author: Holly Smale
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 8/10
Release Date: 26th February

I was given an egalley of this book by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

""My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek." The fourth book in the award-winning GEEK GIRL series. Harriet Manners has high hopes for the new school year: she's a Sixth Former now, and things are going to be different. But with Nat busy falling in love at college and Toby preoccupied with a Top Secret project, Harriet soon discovers that's not necessarily a good thing... "

***

"If people are kind to you, Harriet, it's because you're kind to them. If people are there for you, it's because you are there for them."

Oh, I am sobbing like a baby. I did not expect this. Excuse me while I take a moment to compose myself *deep breaths*. Not gonna lie, I did not expect this to hurt quite this much.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you read Geek Girl #3, you know that the ending was absolutely heart-reanding. It hurt. So for some reason, I expected this to be different. Don't ask me why. And, in a way, it was different. Harriet Manners is still up to her usual nerdy shenanigans, entertaining me to no end. But, at the same time, she's grown incredibly since we first saw her in Geek Girl. Smale did a brilliant job of bringing this home in All That Glitters; because, while she grew and matured steadily throughout the last three books, always surrounded by the same people and relying on them to get her feet back under her, that growth and maturity didn't really shine through. 

So, it's only in All That Glitters, when she's separated from Nick, Wilbur (both of whom have my heart for all eternity, it's not even funny), Toby and Nat, that we really see her strength and steel come through. Yes, she's still geeky, and yes, she still trusts too easily. But, she has also learned from her past, and is moving forward with her life.

I especially applaud the way in which Smale managed to keep secrets from us throughout the entire novel. Most of them, when they came to light, caught me completely by surprise. And even though he made me cry like a baby (you think I'm kidding. I'm not), I really really liked the ending. I saw it coming, but still sobbed. It was a painfully real echo of a pain we've all experienced at one point in our lives (or will do, if we haven't yet), and Smale portrayed it brilliantly.

I look forward to the next volume with eager anticipation, and hope to see much more of Jasper here on out.