theveryhungrythesaurus's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
malak_7's review against another edition
4.0
Really liked Sam's character felt real and reachable. The cliché ending was expected but I still loved how it was written.
books_and_therapy's review against another edition
3.0
A cute rom-com read. All the references to classic horror and SciFi movies were greatly appreciated. All in all it was quick read that was really funny in some parts. If you like rom-coms, you will really like this book.
quietjenn's review against another edition
3.0
Decent, although a bit too much of the manic pixie dream girl (loathe though I am to use the term). But it mostly made me long for a book written from the nerdy girl perspective. Or from the object of nerdy boy love perspective.
stephan90's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bananatricky's review
4.0
Oh wow, why did this sit on my TBR pile for so long?
Sam and his friends Mike, Adrian and Allison are the geeky kids that get picked on in high school. Sam is tall and weedy, Mike is into kick-boxing but is also gay (never fun in high school), Adrian looks like a troll or a hobbit and Allison has fine wispy blonde hair and looks about 12 years old. Their lives of hiding in the AV room and avoiding the Assorted Vessels of Wank (Vessels for short) led by the obnoxious Justin Zigoni. Sam is also a movie nut, especially horror and wants to be a script writer, I imagine him a bit like Dawson from Dawson's Creek.
Then a new girl comes to town, Camilla is cooler than cool. Her Dad is a famous music journalist, her mother is a former model. She's lived in London and New York. She wears kooky old-lady clothes. But weirdest of all? She gets on with everyone, the cool kids, the chess club kids, even Sam and his friends. She's on the prom committee, she's in the chess club, she plays World Of Warcraft, she hangs out with real musicians and goes to music awards.
If you love geeks and Star Wars and 1980s John Hughes' films and coming of age stories you will love this.
Sam and his friends Mike, Adrian and Allison are the geeky kids that get picked on in high school. Sam is tall and weedy, Mike is into kick-boxing but is also gay (never fun in high school), Adrian looks like a troll or a hobbit and Allison has fine wispy blonde hair and looks about 12 years old. Their lives of hiding in the AV room and avoiding the Assorted Vessels of Wank (Vessels for short) led by the obnoxious Justin Zigoni. Sam is also a movie nut, especially horror and wants to be a script writer, I imagine him a bit like Dawson from Dawson's Creek.
Then a new girl comes to town, Camilla is cooler than cool. Her Dad is a famous music journalist, her mother is a former model. She's lived in London and New York. She wears kooky old-lady clothes. But weirdest of all? She gets on with everyone, the cool kids, the chess club kids, even Sam and his friends. She's on the prom committee, she's in the chess club, she plays World Of Warcraft, she hangs out with real musicians and goes to music awards.
If you love geeks and Star Wars and 1980s John Hughes' films and coming of age stories you will love this.
melbsreads's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up after absolutely adoring Melissa Keil's other book, The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl, earlier this year. I was hoping this would be just as cute, just as sweet, and just as Australian. And...it was, but it wasn't?
Part of the problem, honestly, is that I borrowed this from work and it turns out that we have the US edition. So there are various terms and phrases that have been...de-Australianed, shall we say? Things like math. Dining hall. Semester. Spring dance. College. I also wasn't sure why the characters were wearing casual clothes to school all the time, and I'm still not sure if that's something that was changed for the US edition or if they're meant to be at one of the handful of schools in Melbourne that doesn't have uniforms.
But I digress.
As far as the cute/sweet side of things went, it WAS cute and sweet. But it also came with a hell of a lot of frustration because Sam LITERALLY CAN'T SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE and so spent half the book being a whiny teenage boy when he could have changed that situation at least 25,000 times if he'd actually been paying attention to all the hints and clues and super unsubtle suggestions that were dropped.
The part that I enjoyed the most was That was super adorable and I loved it.
So maybe if I'd read an Australian edition of this, I would have liked it more than I did. Because I loved the friendships and the relationships that develop in the course of this story (although the parenting is SPECTACULARLY shitty). And it was still a 4 star book. But if I hadn't found all the Americanisms grating on every second page, maybe it would have been a higher rating. WHO KNOWS...
Part of the problem, honestly, is that I borrowed this from work and it turns out that we have the US edition. So there are various terms and phrases that have been...de-Australianed, shall we say? Things like math. Dining hall. Semester. Spring dance. College. I also wasn't sure why the characters were wearing casual clothes to school all the time, and I'm still not sure if that's something that was changed for the US edition or if they're meant to be at one of the handful of schools in Melbourne that doesn't have uniforms.
But I digress.
As far as the cute/sweet side of things went, it WAS cute and sweet. But it also came with a hell of a lot of frustration because Sam LITERALLY CAN'T SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE and so spent half the book being a whiny teenage boy when he could have changed that situation at least 25,000 times if he'd actually been paying attention to all the hints and clues and super unsubtle suggestions that were dropped.
The part that I enjoyed the most was
Spoiler
right in the middle of the book, when Sam's parents split up and so Camilla - on holiday in Singapore - comes up with a bunch of strategies to keep him from basically curling up in a ball and refusing to move.So maybe if I'd read an Australian edition of this, I would have liked it more than I did. Because I loved the friendships and the relationships that develop in the course of this story (although the parenting is SPECTACULARLY shitty). And it was still a 4 star book. But if I hadn't found all the Americanisms grating on every second page, maybe it would have been a higher rating. WHO KNOWS...
maddness22's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so adorable and so natural, as soon I finished it I wanted to re-read it. I loved the characters, I loved the story, and most of all I love the youth of it. It reminded me of my own high school days as a young nerd trying to find my confidence.
aswathyudhay's review against another edition
5.0
The best thing about this book was that it was funny without trying too hard. Loved it.
tardislibrarian's review against another edition
Can't finish this, atm. I guess I'm just not in the mood for it. I may pick this up again at a later time.
stopped at page 90.
stopped at page 90.