My Ramblings on Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Geek Girl
By: Holly Smale
Release Date: February 28, 2013
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Book Received From: Net Galley

Summary:

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? (from goodreads)

My Ramblings:

This was a really fun read. As a self-professed geek-girl myself, it was easy to relate to the main character Harriet. Although her vast knowledge of facts far outweighs mine, it was not hard to find common ground with her feelings of being the outsider, of being a little weird and wanting to be something, and someone different. 

****Spoilers Ahead***

Harriet starts the book trying to avoid going to a fashion event with her best friend Nat, who wants nothing more then to be a model. Nat has sat through hours of educational programming for Harriet, so it's time for Harriet to hold up her end of the bargain. Once there Harriet'w whole world begins to spin out of control and she has to decide whether she wants to go along for the ride, or just run and hide (preferably under a table). 

It's great watching Harriet try to navigate a whole new world while still staying as true as possible to her normal life. What I really appreciated was that despite  Harriet diving into the glamourous world of modelling the book focuses more on how that choice impacts the rest of Harriet's life. How do you deal with friends who have to watch as you excel at the very thing they've always dreamed of (and now you have and they don't)? How do you balance school work with working in the real world? How do you handle being a kid in a very adult business? All of the topics are covered with honestly and humor. I found myself laughing repeatedly as I read this book, but when I look back on everything the book covered I realized that the author did a great job making it believable and real. 

In the end we see Harriet discovering who she really is and who she really wants to be. She goes from being the geek-girl who wants to hide, to being the geek-girl who is proud of who she is and no longer worries what everyone else thinks of her.  It's a great transformation story and a quick read, and one I've added to my list to add to my libraries collection.