Geek Girl: Model Misfit by Holly Smale

About the book

Geek Girl: Model Misfit is the second book in the Geek Girl series by Holly Smale. The book was published by Harper Collins Children’s Books on 26^th September and it is 400 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy.

Plot Synopsis

Newly a model, always a geek, Harriet Manners has a lot going on. She knows an unlimited amount of random facts, is about to have a little brother or sister and has no idea where she fits in. After her plans for the whole summer are ruined, she’s surprised by a fabulous opportunity to model in Japan. But, even though she can’t wait to be as far away from home as possible, nothing seems to go right for Harriet in Tokyo. Her shoots are going terribly and hot boy Nick is everywhere she doesn’t want him to be. Japan was supposed to be the best summer ever but is quickly turning into Harriet’s worst nightmare.

What I thought

Geek Girl was one of those books that I couldn’t put down as soon as I started it and I was so hoping that the second instalment was going to be exactly the same.

At the beginning of the book Harriet is just about to take her final exam while painted gold (it’s okay, it was for a photo shoot) and is stressing about Nick, the guy she hasn’t heard from in ages. She has a whole plan for the summer with her best friend which are quickly destroyed when she finds out Nat is going to France for the summer. Luckily, her agent gives her the news that she’s landed a job in Tokyo and must leave right away so things begin to look up.

Harriet’s unique voice shines through from the very beginning and I quickly remembered why I loved her so much in the previous book. She’s a quirky girl and is definitely different from the other girls at her school, which doesn’t really do her any favours. However, she always tries her hardest at everything, even if things don’t seem to go her way a lot of the time. She’s silly and clumsy, which makes me laugh and even though she is incredibly clever, she does the silliest things at times.

I really loved that this book focused on Harriet getting another shot at modelling and jetting over to Japan to try again. The location brings in a completely different culture to what Harriet is used to and also provides some fantastic scenes of her exploring and getting to know her new surroundings. Not only that but Holly Smale brings in the pop culture of Japan and makes it a focal point of the story. It was so funny to see Harriet learn about the cuteness of everything and how important that was in Japan.

While the plot and Harriet were both fantastic, other characters help make this book as good as it is. In Japan, Harriet is forced to live with other models Poppy and Rin and these two provide so many funny moments. I have to say that I absolutely loved Rin and her misunderstandings of English and the fact that she tried so hard to get things right. Then there is Nick, who I loved so much in the first book. Nick is the love interest of the series and he’s broken Harriet’s heart. So when he turns up in Japan, she doesn’t know how to act and the fact that she’s without her best friend doesn’t help any. Nick and Harriet always have this wonderfully unique chemistry going and I couldn’t get enough of these two together.

I cannot really express how much I loved this book apart from to say I did love it more than the first book. Holly Smale has definitely done it again! 

Time After Time by Tamara Ireland Stone

About the book

Time After Time is the second book in the young adult ‘Time Between Us’ series by Tamara Ireland Stone. The book was published on 24^th October by Corgi Children’s and it is 400 pages long. I received a copy of this review through NetGalley.

Plot Synopsis

Anna and Bennett are in a long distance relationship… but with a difference. Anna lives in Chicago 1995 and Bennett comes from San Francisco in 2012. They never should have met, never should have fallen in love… but they did and now they can’t go back to being without each other. However, Bennett is only able to travel back to ’95 for short periods of time which puts a huge amount of strain on the relationship and also causes him to lose time in his own life. Both Anna and Bennett are confident they can make things work but after witnessing something he shouldn’t have, Bennett isn’t so sure. Will he be able to keep the future he wants with Anna or use his ability to time travel for something else entirely?

What I thought

The first book in this series, Time Between Us was one of my favourite books of 2012 and it has been a long wait for the sequel.

In this book, Anna and Bennett are now in a pretty good relationship, even though Bennett has to travel back in time in order to see his girlfriend. I really enjoyed the problems that came with the time travel aspect of this book. It isn’t easy for Bennett to leave his regular life and to lie to the people he loves in order to see Anna. He does have his own life to live, his own school to go to and his own friends to see but Anna is so important to him. There is a lot more of Bennett and his home life put into this book and I really enjoyed getting to know more about him instead of Anna.  

Sadly, I didn’t completely enjoy where the plot was taken in this book. In the first book, I felt as though there was quite a lot of excitement and a lot to find out about but in this one, I didn’t feel that there was much of either of those things in this book. While Anna and Bennett come across problems in their relationship, I found them to be a bit bland. I wanted bigger problems or problems that caused greater consequences. What I mean by that is that there just wasn’t a lot of urgency in the plot and it just plodded along at a quite steady pace.

However, there were a few new things that happened in Time After Time that I did like. There were questions raised about Bennetts ability and what he could actually use it for. Not only that but what would he use it for. There was quite a lot going on regarding the right choices to make and what would happen should Bennett change things too much in the past. These were the aspects of this book that I did really enjoy because it was about time travel. I wanted more of this and slightly less about the relationship between the two main characters; or for them and the time travel to be better intertwined.

Being a book about time travel, there are obvious references to the two different years visited, among a few that aren’t. I absolutely loved the things that brought into the story to make it both current and to give older readers a sense of nostalgia. Bennett and his sister use the ability to time travel to see their favourite bands and very current names such as Maroon 5 were mentioned and some certain things about Adam Levine which made me very happy. Then, there were mentions of awesome ‘90s films such as Empire Records (which is a favourite of mine) that really made me smile.

While I didn’t completely love this book, I did enjoy reading it and being immersed in the lives of Anna and Bennett once again. The ending was pretty good though and it left a lot of questions for what could happen next. 

Rolling Dice by Beth Reekles

About the book

Rolling Dice is the second young adult book by Beth Reekles. The book was published by Random House on 29^th August and it is 464 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Plot Synopsis

Now that she’s moved to Florida, Madison Clarke no longer needs to be known as Fatty Maddy. She’s got a new life, new look and is hoping that will come with new friends too. Madison is sick of being the outcast loner and a new school means a second chance. Her luck seems to be in when the popular girls take her under their wing and the most popular guy in school instantly takes an interest in her. But, the first guy in town she met was Dwight, a funny and cute boy who seems to get Madison. Problem is, he’s one of the nerds in school and her new friends are not impressed with Madison even talking to him. Will she stay with the popular Bryce or will she follow her heart and take a chance on Dwight?

What I thought

I had mixed feelings about Beth Reekles first book, The Kissing Booth but I was still looking forward to giving her second book a try.

Protagonist Madison has just moved from Maine to Florida and couldn’t be more excited about starting a new life for herself. Back at her old school, she was the outcast – not as slim and pretty as any of the other girls. Now, Madison has reinvented herself, complete with nose piercing and funky hair ready to start again. I honestly loved Madison from the very beginning. It sounded as though she’d had a really rough time of it at her old school and just needed to find somewhere to fit in and make friends. She’d decided that the new Madison would take risks and do daring things because she didn’t want to hide away any more. Pretty much, Madison just wanted to be liked and while this could have come across as whiney, it didn’t. She was very real about what she wanted and yes, she did worry at times about things she was doing but I liked her more for that.

Early on, Madison meets Dwight, who quite obviously is into her. However, at a beach party he invites her to, she meets Bryce who is one of the most popular guys in school – not that Madison knows that. She’s quite torn between her feelings for both but once school starts and she realises who Bryce is, she takes a chance on him. Unlike a lot of the ‘popular’ guys in books, Bryce was actually pretty damn nice. He did really sweet things for Madison, complimented her and was generally, a nice boyfriend. I could understand Madison’s torn feelings though because Dwight was also wonderful and super sweet. The only real difference between the two was their social standing in school.

Plot wise, Rolling Dice is pretty romance centred. Madison is just finding her place at school and quite a lot of the book follows her relationship with Bryce. I actually really enjoyed the time spent with these two characters though because they were so cute together and the getting to know each other bits were fun to read. Reekles also spends time on Madison’s feelings for Dwight though and shows how their friendship progresses with the chance of it being something more. It was great to see Madison sticking to her guns about being friends with Dwight. Okay, her friends were less than impressed but for the most part, she didn’t overly care what they thought. Many girls in young adult books care too much about their friends’ opinions so it was a breath of fresh air for someone to stand up for themselves a bit more.

Although a lot of time is spent between Madison and the boys, there is also more going on. Even though Madison’s friends at school were bitches for the most part, some of them were quite nice and it was fun to see them hanging out and doing things that teenagers do. They go shopping, parties and gossip about boys. None of these things were overdone though but they were a nice touch to the plot. Also, the plot is solely focused on Madison’s friends and boyfriend. The whole book is really about Madison finding who she is and being comfortable with that, regardless of peer pressure or what other people think about her.

As a second book, Rolling Dice addressed many of the problems I had with Reekles’ first book. As a British author, Reekles seemed to have a hard time distinguishing her voice in the first book and it came out as half American and half British. Thankfully, Rolling Dice reads as an American book without any little Britishisms sneaking through. The plot was also a lot stronger, with it having somewhere to go rather than a straight forward romance story. For those reasons, I liked Rolling Dice so much more than The Kissing Booth!

Author Interview: Beth Reekles

Beth Reekles is an internet sensation. Her first published book, The Kissing Booth, originally on Wattpad, now has over 19 million reads and 40,000 comments. Beth is now a published author with Random House and her second book, Rolling Dice was released on 29th August. 

Before I get into interviewing Beth, here's what Rolling Dice is all about:

They say that the higher you climb, the harder you fall - and Madison Clarke will do anything to keep her new life from crumbling to pieces. Moving from a small town in Maine to Florida, Madison grasps the opportunity to reinvent herself, to forget about those days of being a lonely, loner outcast, and jumps at the chance when the popular kids decide to take her under their wing. A hot boyfriend, parties, friends... If only there wasn't the slight problem by the name of Dwight, a cute, funny and totally nerdy guy in Madison's physics class who she can't help but enjoy spending time with. Running from her past and stumbling through the present, who knows what lies ahead in this new life in Florida?

Please describe Rolling Dice in 5 words. 
New beginnings and first love. 

What made you want to be an author?
I've always really liked writing and reading. I just love books - so being an author always sounded like a dream job when I was younger, but I never thought it would actually happen!

How have your life experiences affected the way that you write?

I think that being a teenager writing about teenagers gives me a different perspective when writing, because I don't have the benefit of hindsight, of knowing that in the long term, nobody's going to remember how badly that maths test went, or how bad that break-up was. I try and write about teenagers in realistic situations that people like me can relate to. I don't base any of my stories directly on my own life experiences, but I draw on them for inspiration.

Do you read books similar to those that you write, or a different genre altogether?

I read all kinds of books: dystopian, historical fiction, fantasy... I mostly write YA romances (and I read a lot of those, too!) but sometimes I'll write other genres, just for fun.

For you, what components make up a good book?

I think that a compelling protagonist is one of the most important things - someone relateable and endearing. As long as the character is someone I like to read about, I'll read almost any story. A good book is usually well-paced, too - not so fast that everything happens in a couple of chapters, but not so slow that in twenty chapters, nothing of consequence has happened.

If you could be any character from any book for just one day, who would you by and why?

I'd love to be someone from Hogwarts - not necessarily one of the main characters, but just a Hogwarts student. I loved the Harry Potter books growing up, so I think it would be really awesome if I could experience the magic and mystery of Hogwarts!

Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music. Do you need to do anything similar?

I usually listen to music, or sometimes I'll put re-runs of TV shows on. I'm not too picky about what I have on in the background, though - it's just whatever takes my fancy!

Were any of the characters in Rolling Dice, or their traits, inspired by people you know?

As a teenager, I think it's inevitable that you come across people who'll put other people down, so I drew on my experiences of people in high school to develop some of the characters, but I didn't base any of the characters directly on people I know.

What is your favourite book of all time and why?

That's a really difficult question; I've read so many books it's hard to choose! I think that maybe my all time favourite book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, because it's got everything I could want in a book: it's funny, sad, compelling, and it makes you think. It's a fantastic read and one that I couldn't put down, even when I re-read it. The protagonist is witty and relateable, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Do you have a favourite book that you've read this year?

I recently read A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, and I couldn't put it down! I thought it was brilliant, and I loved the world that Martin created, and the menagerie of characters.

Thank you Beth for such a wonderful interview. Rolling Dice and The Kissing Booth are out now, published by Random House! 

Starters by Lissa Price

About the book

Starters is the first book in the Starters and Enders series by Lissa Price. The book was published by Corgi on 4^th July 2013 and the book is 352 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Plot Synopsis

Since their parents died, Callie and her younger brother are constantly on the run and living as squatters. People like them don’t have homes anymore. Callie thinks that she’s find a way out of her bad situation though. The Body Bank promises cash and fast, giving her hope for the future with her brother.

While the Body Bank allows teenagers needing money to rent out their bodies to anyone wanting to know what it feels like to be young again, Callie’s experience comes at a cost. Her renter intends to use Callie’s body for things against the rules, for things other than partying, for murder…

What I thought

After being in a phase of reading a fair few New Adult books I was in the mood for something a bit different and Starters looked exactly like that kind of book.

Lissa Price has created a world where the young are cast out unless they’re rich and the old(er) have all of the luxury. One of those luxuries is being able to rent out younger bodies and relive the more fun years of their lives. The plot revolves around protagonist Callie and her need to make money, and fast. Her little brother is ill and without their parents, she’s struggling to cope. The only way she can think of for making the money she needs is by renting her body out. I really enjoyed the way in which the world was explained, and how clear it was that the young were in the worst position. It was also quite horrifying to see how badly some people were being treated and the conditions they were forced to live in.

However, as interesting as the plot sounded to begin with, I found myself losing interest as the book went on. Callie having the best possible reasons for being a body donor, annoyed the hell out of me but I’m not completely sure why. I really liked her to begin with, and thought she was extremely brave for doing what she did but that didn’t last long. I think one of the biggest problems was that I didn’t really connect with her. Maybe this was due to the body renting situation or maybe I just didn’t agree with some of her choices. However much I ended up disliking Callie, she was a pretty strong and determined character.

Except for the beginning, I found the plot to be quite the let-down. Once Callie agrees to be a body donor, I expected everything to be extremely fast paced and exciting. However, Callie’s realisation of what is really happening around her comes slowly. For various reasons, she’s able to hear the voice of the woman renting her body in her head. Her renter has reasons for renting Callie’s body and reasons strictly against the rules. I found the whole thing a bit confusing with two voices inside one head, and that’s probably why I still haven’t read The Host. I understand that this was needed in order to explain the plot but I just couldn’t get on with it.

While there are quite a few characters in this book, they all lacked depth. There is very little character development throughout Starters and this is probably a big part of why I just didn’t connect with Callie. Starters relies on its plot and while that was quite strong on its own, it just didn’t have the great characters it could have had to back up what was written. I wanted Callie to have come a long way on her journey throughout this book and while she did change a little, it wasn’t enough for me and I didn’t really feel as though her actions were so worthwhile.

So as you can probably tell, Starters was unfortunately not the book for me. 

Forever Too Far by Abbi Glines

About the book

Forever Too Far is the third book in the Too Far series (New Adult) by Abbi Glines. The book was published on 1^st August 2013 by Simon and Schuster and it is 288 pages long.

Plot Synopsis

After promising her forever, Blaire began to believe that it was her and Rush until the very end but she’s realising that promises can be broken. Now that Blaire is pregnant, Rush knows that Blaire and the baby need to come first but his crazy family are threatening everything that he’s been working for. While Rush tries to figure out how to fit everyone into his life, Blaire struggles with making the right decision that could break her heart.

Will the couple that’s been working so hard to be happy together finally get what they deserve?

What I thought

The Too Far series is one I have had mixed feeling about. Whilst I’ve really liked one book, I didn’t like another so much so I was going into this final book not really knowing whether or not I would like it. However, I was happily surprised with this one.

Rush and Blaire have gone through so much by this point in the series. After secrets, lies and betrayals, they have to really work together if they’re going to have a happy ending. A quick recap is given at the beginning of the book, reminding readers that Blaire is now pregnant with Rush’s child and both characters couldn’t be happier. It isn’t long until new characters are introduced to stir things up a bit though but I loved the new additions and the way that the story was taken.

Someone who has been mentioned many times is Rush’s father, Dean Finlay – rock god! Up until this point, I had been hoping he would turn up at some point because I wanted to know where Rush got his attitude from. Dean is very much a smooth talker and womaniser but we get to past his rocker reputation as soon as he realises Blaire is pregnant. I loved the different sides to Dean because you could really see that although in love with his job, he really did love his family and would do anything for them – very much like Rush. Dean’s appearance is for a reason and not because of Blaire. Instead, Dean delivers some news that sets off the whole plot. Rush’s sister Nan is being a pain in the arse and no one but Rush will be able to sort her out so really, Dean comes to get Rush to help.

Over the course of the series, Nan has been a complete bitch to Blaire and has always been jealous of her and Rush’s relationship. I was so glad to see Blaire be the better person here as Nan threw a lot more at her. She managed to try to be understanding for Rush, to be there for him while helping Nan but also, she didn’t take any crap from Nan and stood up for herself which was nice to see. I really enjoyed the plot surrounding Nan as not only did it bring in new characters but it also set up other books and other plots.

Along with Blaire’s development in regards to her empathy towards Nan, Rush has also come a hell of a long way. Gone is the shallow, play boy and instead we get such a loving and sweet young man. His relationship with Blaire has definitely changed Rush for the better and it was so wonderful to see how much he cared for both Blaire and the baby. Rush has some struggles with who to put first in his life but once he got it into his head that he would be a father and a husband, he and everything around him changed. He couldn’t have become a more caring person.

Overall, Forever Too Far has a mix of fantastic plot, utterly sweet romance with a few steamy scenes and great characters. What a great ending to the series!

Here Without You by Tammara Webber

About the book

Here Without You is the fourth and final book in the Between The Lines (New Adult) series by Tammara Webber. The book was published on 29^th August by Penguin and it is 336 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Plot Synopsis

Reid and Dori are finally in a happy relationship, even if it is a still a secret from her parents and the rest of the world. Dori is about to head off to Berkley while Reid has new films lined up. Their relationship already has enough distractions in the way but will it be able to handle one more. Reid has a bigger secret than his new girlfriend looming over him and it’s one that could ruin everything. Will Dori be able to see past the lies and deceit and remember just who she fell in love with in the first place?

What I thought

Only hours after finishing the third book in this series did I start reading Here Without You. I’ve said before that Tammara Webber’s writing is addictive and I couldn’t wait to find out how things were going to turn out for Reid and Dori. This final book in the series is told through multiple characters, two of which are Reid and Dori while there are also a couple of others although I won’t mention names. I love the way that Tammara Webber brings in not only the main characters but others around them as it makes for a much more interesting story.

In this book, Reid and Dori have finally admitted their feelings for each other and are now in a relationship, even if it is a secret one. Dori’s parents don’t approve of Reid and she’s about to head off to Berkley to start college. Even though they’re together, her life is still so different from Reid’s. He’s a Hollywood star while she’s studying to be a Social Worker. Since the previous book, Dori has definitely learned to take chances, especially when it comes to things she really wants – namely, Reid. She’s begun to fight for what she believes in and is coming to realise that her parents can’t run her life for her. Even though I liked Dori before this book, I ended up liking her a whole lot more this time around.

Then there is Reid. Once the bad boy, womaniser, the guy who didn’t give a crap about anyone but himself, he’s changed. Dori’s influence on him has inspired Reid to become a better person and to generally do better things. Gone is the arrogant, full of himself play boy and instead, there is a sweet, caring and thoughtful young man standing in his place. I don’t think I could be more proud of a fictional character. Even with him being a changed man, the Reid I began to love was still there. He’s hot and he knows it but he now uses that in a playful way instead of to get everything he wants. Honestly, there is so much character development with Reid. But, it isn’t all in this book – that has happened from book one all the way up until book four.

Something I love about Tammara Webber’s books is that she isn’t all about the romance. Yes, there are some fabulous scenes between Dori and Reid as we watch their relationship go to the next level but there is so much more than that. Here Without You has, in my opinion, the best plot in this series. Reid and Dori have their own things going on so it was interesting to see how they coped with a long distance relationship. Obviously, Reid’s money and the ability to fly to Dori whenever he wanted helped matters. But, there is more. Reid has one big secret that Dori doesn’t know about and this is one of the main focuses of the book. For those who have read the other books in the series, if I say Brooke is back you might know what that secret is all about. If you haven’t, I don’t want to ruin everything.

Here Without You tackles issues from Reid’s past and how things can come back when you least expect it. I really loved how characters from previous books were brought back in order to help Reid figure out his life and what he really wants. This plot also helped Reid to become an even better man and to realise that he made some massive mistakes when he was younger. There are some great messages in this book about trust, getting a second chance in life and also how to make up for things you wished you’d done differently.

I cannot say enough about how much I loved this book. I am sad it was the end of such a different series in the new adult genre though but I will definitely be reading anything Tammara Webber writes from now on.