Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Review of Model Misfit by Holly Smale


Title/Author: Model Misfit (Geek Girl #2) by Holly Smale
Publisher/Date published: HarperCollins UK, Children's, September 26 2013
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Buy this book at: The Book Depository

Goodreads summary: “My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek.”

Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this.

What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives.

With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes.

Because, this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like.

Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world or is Harriet lost for good?

**SPOILER POSSIBLE FOR BOOK 1 IN THE SERIES**

Guys, I really enjoyed Geek Girl, the first book in this series, with its quirky characters and America's Next Top Model feel to it, so of course I was excited to pick up the sequel!

And guys, I loved reconnecting with all these characters! They are exactly as I remembered: the adorable, naive and somewhat clueless Harriet with all her amazing facts; her dad who can't calm down and be a true adult; her stepmother Annabel who is the voice of reason in their family; Nat, who is a true friend even from halfway across the world; Wilbur, who keeps making me laugh with all his crazy petnames and antics and of course Nick, who is just such a teenage guy!
Holly Smale also introduces us to a new set of character, one of which I totally adored: Rin, a Japanese model who not-so-secretly wishes to be Australian instead. That girl was amazing!

So Harriet goes to Japan. If you've read Geek Girl, you can imagine exactly how much havoc Harriet can reap there. I mean, the possibilities are infinite. And she does and it was hilarious! I was feeling kinda bad for her for some of them, but still, it was funny!

Harriet is brokenhearted because Nick dumped her and I really felt for her because she was trying to cope with this, but really had no idea how to handle it. And I liked that, because really, how unlikely is it for a 15-year-old girl to know how to handle facing their ex-boyfriend after breaking up? I mean, I didn't. None of my friends did. Obviously we all pretended we did, but nobody had a clue.
I think that in the romantic side of the book lies the only thing that I didn't really like:
**SPOILER, LIGHT UP TO READ**I was like SERIOUSLY? All of this drama because she had misheard him and he for some reason never bothered to explain again? I mean, SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So much of the conflict in this book comes from their break-up and then it's just swept away like POOF? SERIOUSLY??**END OF SPOILER/RANT**

If even 10% of what happens in this novel, happens in the modelling world (and it probably does if you can believe ANTM), then it's truly crazy and I love it. Or rather, I love reading about it and seeing it! Wilbur has a special place in my heart, as do Harriet and Rin!

My rating: 4 stars

Made me crave: potato croquettes (this sounds wrong, but Google translate tells me this is the right word...)

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