A review by lumos_libros
Adorkable by Sarra Manning
2.0
So the 2 stars I decided to rate this book are because of two reasons:
1.) I felt compelled to finish the book and I am not a reader who forces themselves to finish the book for the sake of finishing. The writing was gripping enough to see me through to the end.
2.) I enjoyed the last fourth of the book and thought the premise of the story was interesting.
Unfortunately for me this is where most of the good things about this book ends.
Ok premise first. Jeane is a 17 year old internet sensation. She mans a blog called Adorkable and she is sought after by famous magazines, newspapers, and trendy people. She can also boast having about half a million twitter followers. To boot she dresses in crazy fashion and packs a serious attitude that drives her peers away. On the other end we have Michael Lee who above all is popular. Is the star of the football team, stellar student, and is liked by everybody. So Jeane and Michael have nothing in common, but somehow they end up being in each others lives in the form of sucking on each others faces every chance they get. How does this make any sense? Well Jeane and Michael don't know either, but they sure are going to find out by the end of this story.
I picked up this book because I do consider myself to be a dorky person, and I wanted to see how a teenager, in England no less, manages to balance her popular blog and side gigs with her schooling as well. Interesting no? And though the topic of whether the people who you only have contact via internet can count as real human contact is discussed, there was so much lacking here. Mainly characters to like.
I absolutely did not like these characters. They both are so horrible to each other. I imagine if I met these people in real life I would run the other way quick because these two have to be the most self-absorbed characters I have read about in a long time. The relationship starts out to be purely physical and hidden from everyone (which is already a problem if you ask me) but when they do start getting to know each other they don't even start thinking highly of each other. It's common for them to fling insults to each other and it's not witty stuff. No just plain mean in my opinion. Jeane does come from a shaky background, but it's hard to feel that sorry for her when she is constantly spouting how people should be honored to be enlightened by whatever "wisdom" she has to offer. People do criticize her for how she dresses but instead of being tolerant she is a hypocrite and complains about her peers insistently. Then there is Michael who is constantly wondering why he is even with Jeane because she is ugly and dresses horribly. And I am seriously not kidding, he actually thinks about this. At one point there is this pretty intense physical scene between two of them that was treated with so much casualness I almost chucked the book right there and then. These two were extremely frustrating to me to say the least.
But I do have to say I liked some of the latter half of the book. Jeane realizes she needs people who she can count on, but can also have deep connections with people on the internet as well. And for a while Jeane and Michael weren't being disrespectful to each other. Just for that reprieve I had originally given this book 3 stars but I had to admit I spent most of the time reading this not enjoying myself, so 2 stars.
I do want to point out this book is liked and even loved by others, including some of my goodreads friends, so this book just may have not been for me. If the synopsis peaks your interest there is no harm in giving it a shot.
1.) I felt compelled to finish the book and I am not a reader who forces themselves to finish the book for the sake of finishing. The writing was gripping enough to see me through to the end.
2.) I enjoyed the last fourth of the book and thought the premise of the story was interesting.
Unfortunately for me this is where most of the good things about this book ends.
Ok premise first. Jeane is a 17 year old internet sensation. She mans a blog called Adorkable and she is sought after by famous magazines, newspapers, and trendy people. She can also boast having about half a million twitter followers. To boot she dresses in crazy fashion and packs a serious attitude that drives her peers away. On the other end we have Michael Lee who above all is popular. Is the star of the football team, stellar student, and is liked by everybody. So Jeane and Michael have nothing in common, but somehow they end up being in each others lives in the form of sucking on each others faces every chance they get. How does this make any sense? Well Jeane and Michael don't know either, but they sure are going to find out by the end of this story.
I picked up this book because I do consider myself to be a dorky person, and I wanted to see how a teenager, in England no less, manages to balance her popular blog and side gigs with her schooling as well. Interesting no? And though the topic of whether the people who you only have contact via internet can count as real human contact is discussed, there was so much lacking here. Mainly characters to like.
I absolutely did not like these characters. They both are so horrible to each other. I imagine if I met these people in real life I would run the other way quick because these two have to be the most self-absorbed characters I have read about in a long time. The relationship starts out to be purely physical and hidden from everyone (which is already a problem if you ask me) but when they do start getting to know each other they don't even start thinking highly of each other. It's common for them to fling insults to each other and it's not witty stuff. No just plain mean in my opinion. Jeane does come from a shaky background, but it's hard to feel that sorry for her when she is constantly spouting how people should be honored to be enlightened by whatever "wisdom" she has to offer. People do criticize her for how she dresses but instead of being tolerant she is a hypocrite and complains about her peers insistently. Then there is Michael who is constantly wondering why he is even with Jeane because she is ugly and dresses horribly. And I am seriously not kidding, he actually thinks about this. At one point there is this pretty intense physical scene between two of them that was treated with so much casualness I almost chucked the book right there and then. These two were extremely frustrating to me to say the least.
But I do have to say I liked some of the latter half of the book. Jeane realizes she needs people who she can count on, but can also have deep connections with people on the internet as well. And for a while Jeane and Michael weren't being disrespectful to each other. Just for that reprieve I had originally given this book 3 stars but I had to admit I spent most of the time reading this not enjoying myself, so 2 stars.
I do want to point out this book is liked and even loved by others, including some of my goodreads friends, so this book just may have not been for me. If the synopsis peaks your interest there is no harm in giving it a shot.