kricketa's review against another edition
3.0
aaaand yet another book i felt sorry for and took home (my bedside table is piled with them.) this was cute and funny, and also british, which made it less cutesy cute and more lots-of-hilarious-british-slang cute. janet is a ridiculously self-absorbed teenager exploring her "dark phase" by thinking intellectual thoughts, wearing black clothing, and seeking the company of mature older men. meanwhile she is completely oblivious to the problems of her family & friends. this was amusing at times but became annoying to the point where i'm going to skip the sequel. still, a fun read that fans of georgia nichols & my new friend angelica cookson potts might enjoy.
brgraves1992's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe it's just my age, but I found this book a bit difficult to handle. Janet seems to have written over 200 pages of pure groaning agony. I get that the book is supposed to be a diary, and therefore requires that the writing be sympathetic to the narrator and not require a sense of self-awareness from this narrator, BUT there were several instances in the story where I found myself wholeheartedly disagreeing with Janet's choices and commentary. When I read a book, I expect to become sympathetic to the main character, therefore latching me onto the story. However, I found Janet difficult to like. I read the predecessor to this novel when I was about 12 or 14, therefore making the characters far more appropriate for my age. I stumbled across this sequel at age 24, giving me a very different perspective on the woes of a 17 year old girl. I don't necessarily think that the writing is bad... I happen to think Janet has a very strong, well-defined personality (trés true) and the others characters in the story are "v" interesting. I just didn't like the 200 pages of "woe is me" when I didn't really think there was so much woe. I guess everyone is a little blind to their own problems being quite small, sometimes even blessings. Janet seemed incredibly self-absorbed, yet the lack of attention and understanding she gets from her friends and family is somehow all based on what their issue is, not what hers are. Truly, this novel sounds like something a 10-15 year old could read and get something great out of. At my age though, I think this was a difficult book for me to rate fairly. It was still a very fun and quick, and I do recommend reading it, but maybe before you graduate high school. Fun note: If you love novels with tons of British lingo you will probably love Janet's writing. I always get excited when I read words like chuffed, blokes, crisps, dosh, and loo, etc.... so entirely un-American.
marlan's review against another edition
Good book for teachers to use as an example of an unreliable narrator and for learning to read between the lines. Also a handy glossary in the back for young American readers to learn some English dialect.
The main character is an English teenager who fancies herself a deep, intellectual person and sees her family as shallow idiots, when the opposite is true. It's fun piecing together the clues from Janet's anecdotes to figure out what's really going on. However, Janet's constant cluelessness may become tiresome for readres who want someone more intelligent as a main character. It's all in fun, though, so don't take it too seriously. The voice of Janet is relatable and appealing, so it's worth checking out if you're a teen or enjoy the occasional foray into the teen world.
The main character is an English teenager who fancies herself a deep, intellectual person and sees her family as shallow idiots, when the opposite is true. It's fun piecing together the clues from Janet's anecdotes to figure out what's really going on. However, Janet's constant cluelessness may become tiresome for readres who want someone more intelligent as a main character. It's all in fun, though, so don't take it too seriously.
Spoiler
I would have liked to see Janet figure at least one of the subplots out herself. The growth she has is minimal and only in the last few pages. I also wish more than one subplot had been resolved - the book felt incomplete for the sake of a possible series.fionahawkins's review
3.0
This might be perhaps because this was a reread, but I was not significantly impressed with this book. It's cute, but it is nothing significantly spectacular. In my opinion, the most interesting parts was towards the very end. I do, however, plan to read the next one.
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