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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
4.25 stars.
I felt most of the feels. This book was surprisingly relatable and fun and interesting in so many ways. I didn't really feel the actual romance or the weird use of words like totes and vom but, everything else was really great.
I felt most of the feels. This book was surprisingly relatable and fun and interesting in so many ways. I didn't really feel the actual romance or the weird use of words like totes and vom but, everything else was really great.
Sassy, witty and very, very British. I enjoyed this. Perfect read for a flight, or a day on the beach. Or under a duvet on a rainy day. Anywhere really, as long as you don't take it too seriously.
Wow it was an insight into the mind of a tech head. And I loved it. Still don't understand half the stuff they do! But it was brilliant.
I really like all of Sarra Manning's books as well as the general 'chick-lit' feel, so I went into this expecting a typical Young Adult story. However while aspects of the plot are typically predictable, the characters are so much more than that and while I expected to enjoy it, it was still much better than I thought. I would definately recommend it.
This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm
The tagline at the bottom of the cover is a perfect explanation for how I felt about this book: “Love, Hate, Whatever.” There were things about it that I loved, there were things about it I hated, and by the end I was feeling pretty ‘whatever’ about it.
It was great to read a YA book set in England, I actually can’t think of many others I’ve read with an English setting! I do love all things British… I quite liked Manning’s style of writing; I found it breezy and enjoyable, and it flowed really well. I would have no problems reading other books she’s written, and there’s certainly quite a few of them! I also really liked the premise of the character of Jeane as a strong and successful female at a very young age, as I feel this is something we don’t see much of in YA fiction. Unfortunately, that was probably all I liked about Jeane, which is a bit of a problem given that she’s the MC…
I guess my main problem with this book was the characters. While I liked the idea of Jeane, Jeane herself was a bitchy cow! There’s really no other way to describe her. I felt sorry for her at times, given the situation with her family and how they’ve all left her to fend for herself, but then she would do/say something and any sympathy I had for her situation quickly disappeared. I especially hated how she treated Barney, and her treatment of Michael wasn’t much better. Michael was a bit of a pushover at times, and I wasn’t sure if this was because Jeane was such a strong character. The storyline between them was also a bit predictable. Jeane’s family drove me crazy; I couldn’t understand how they could leave her on her own at her age – that just boggled my mind, although I’m sure there’s people out there like that.
What I did enjoy was the inclusion of social media in the book, particularly Twitter. It felt like a very current portrayal of the world of young adults, and it was done in a manner that felt natural. There’s nothing more annoying than the inclusion of social media or emails or text messages in books that’s done in a really jarring way – this really puts me off because I really hate losing my train of thought. Manning makes it appear seamless and effortless, so a big thumbs up for that.
This book should’ve had everything I love: high school romances, blogging and bloggers, popular guy falling in love with the dorky girl, dorky characters in general! Unfortunately the execution of these elements were a little off for me and it never quite came together in the end.
I was a bit indifferent to this book by the time I finished it and it didn’t leave any lasting impressions. I think it was more the characters that turned me off this book, as I did enjoy Manning’s writing. Because of this, I look forward to checking out some of her other books in the future.
The tagline at the bottom of the cover is a perfect explanation for how I felt about this book: “Love, Hate, Whatever.” There were things about it that I loved, there were things about it I hated, and by the end I was feeling pretty ‘whatever’ about it.
It was great to read a YA book set in England, I actually can’t think of many others I’ve read with an English setting! I do love all things British… I quite liked Manning’s style of writing; I found it breezy and enjoyable, and it flowed really well. I would have no problems reading other books she’s written, and there’s certainly quite a few of them! I also really liked the premise of the character of Jeane as a strong and successful female at a very young age, as I feel this is something we don’t see much of in YA fiction. Unfortunately, that was probably all I liked about Jeane, which is a bit of a problem given that she’s the MC…
I guess my main problem with this book was the characters. While I liked the idea of Jeane, Jeane herself was a bitchy cow! There’s really no other way to describe her. I felt sorry for her at times, given the situation with her family and how they’ve all left her to fend for herself, but then she would do/say something and any sympathy I had for her situation quickly disappeared. I especially hated how she treated Barney, and her treatment of Michael wasn’t much better. Michael was a bit of a pushover at times, and I wasn’t sure if this was because Jeane was such a strong character. The storyline between them was also a bit predictable. Jeane’s family drove me crazy; I couldn’t understand how they could leave her on her own at her age – that just boggled my mind, although I’m sure there’s people out there like that.
What I did enjoy was the inclusion of social media in the book, particularly Twitter. It felt like a very current portrayal of the world of young adults, and it was done in a manner that felt natural. There’s nothing more annoying than the inclusion of social media or emails or text messages in books that’s done in a really jarring way – this really puts me off because I really hate losing my train of thought. Manning makes it appear seamless and effortless, so a big thumbs up for that.
This book should’ve had everything I love: high school romances, blogging and bloggers, popular guy falling in love with the dorky girl, dorky characters in general! Unfortunately the execution of these elements were a little off for me and it never quite came together in the end.
I was a bit indifferent to this book by the time I finished it and it didn’t leave any lasting impressions. I think it was more the characters that turned me off this book, as I did enjoy Manning’s writing. Because of this, I look forward to checking out some of her other books in the future.
This is a really tough one to rank, because Jeane is a fairly awful person and I wanted to punch her in the face for most of the book. BUT it also managed to slap me right in the feels. So it's more like "3 stars????" territory.
Jeane is a big time blogger. She writes columns for newspapers, has blog merchandise, runs jumble sales, and has half a million followers on Twitter. She's also seventeen and reluctantly doing her A levels. Honestly, a big part of why I picked this up was the blog thing. But Jeane turned out to be one of those bloggers who's a completely different personality in real life than she is online. Online, she's adorable - all about quirky outfits and whether or not dust has a maximum capacity and videos of puppies. Offline, she's judgemental and abrasive and, frankly, pretty bitchy. She has no friends at school, the friends that she DOES have are all years older than her, and she lives alone - her parents live in Peru and Spain respectively, and the older sister that she was living with moved to Chicago for work. So Jeane's alone in her London flat.
The narrative is split between Jeane and Michael Lee, the school's golden boy. He's an all-rounder, ticking all the boxes academically, as well as on the sports field and on the debating team. He's got a stable family life and is planning on heading to Cambridge for university. Everyone likes him. Except Jeane, who thinks he's a total mainstream sellout loser. The two are thrown together when they realise that their significant others are kind-of-maybe falling for each other, and despite disliking each other, Michael and Jeane spend an awful lot of time making out.
As I said, Jeane's almost impossible to like for the majority of the book. She's very holier-than-thou, looking down her nose at pretty much everyone. And quite how she doesn't die of scurvy when she lives almost exclusively on Haribo is beyond me. But the last 50-60 pages gave me feels. Because at the end of the day, even though she doesn't want to admit it to herself, Jeane is incredibly lonely. Sure, she has half a million people hanging on her every tweet, but there's no one there to help her deal with grown up household stuff or to give her a hug when she's having a bad day. And that part I related to more than I'd like to admit.
I can't in all honesty say that I'd recommend it. There were a few funny moments, and I liked seeing Jeane's tweets. But if it weren't for that last 50 pages where she finally admits that she can't do everything on her own, it would probably be a two star book for me.
Jeane is a big time blogger. She writes columns for newspapers, has blog merchandise, runs jumble sales, and has half a million followers on Twitter. She's also seventeen and reluctantly doing her A levels. Honestly, a big part of why I picked this up was the blog thing. But Jeane turned out to be one of those bloggers who's a completely different personality in real life than she is online. Online, she's adorable - all about quirky outfits and whether or not dust has a maximum capacity and videos of puppies. Offline, she's judgemental and abrasive and, frankly, pretty bitchy. She has no friends at school, the friends that she DOES have are all years older than her, and she lives alone - her parents live in Peru and Spain respectively, and the older sister that she was living with moved to Chicago for work. So Jeane's alone in her London flat.
The narrative is split between Jeane and Michael Lee, the school's golden boy. He's an all-rounder, ticking all the boxes academically, as well as on the sports field and on the debating team. He's got a stable family life and is planning on heading to Cambridge for university. Everyone likes him. Except Jeane, who thinks he's a total mainstream sellout loser. The two are thrown together when they realise that their significant others are kind-of-maybe falling for each other, and despite disliking each other, Michael and Jeane spend an awful lot of time making out.
As I said, Jeane's almost impossible to like for the majority of the book. She's very holier-than-thou, looking down her nose at pretty much everyone. And quite how she doesn't die of scurvy when she lives almost exclusively on Haribo is beyond me. But the last 50-60 pages gave me feels. Because at the end of the day, even though she doesn't want to admit it to herself, Jeane is incredibly lonely. Sure, she has half a million people hanging on her every tweet, but there's no one there to help her deal with grown up household stuff or to give her a hug when she's having a bad day. And that part I related to more than I'd like to admit.
I can't in all honesty say that I'd recommend it. There were a few funny moments, and I liked seeing Jeane's tweets. But if it weren't for that last 50 pages where she finally admits that she can't do everything on her own, it would probably be a two star book for me.
Update (13th May 2021): I read it a second time and didn't like it much. Mostly cause Jeane is massively annoying. Also, her whole adorkable agenda didn't make much sense. Wearing mismatched cloths doesn't make you a dork.
Before (September 2013): Pretty adorable.
For the first couple of pages, Jeane reminded me of Lola from [b:Lola and the Boy Next Door|9961796|Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)|Stephanie Perkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358271832l/9961796._SY75_.jpg|7149084] but pretty soon Jeane proved to be more than that. Even though her obnoxiousness about how awesome and perfect her life is, I ended up liking her in the end.
The love interest, Michael wasn't that different than Jeane as the blurb's trying to feed you, 'cause Michael's obnoxiousness about how awesome HE is wasn't any better than Jeane's. In the end, I liked the book because of their quirkiness with each other. And I love a girl who's strong willed with a sky high self-esteem, basically a bitch in the stereotypical society's eyes.
Dual POVs should be written with the character's name as a starting title before the start of every chapter. Is it too much to ask? I always ended up thinking I was still reading from Jeane's POV when it was Michael's and vice versa after each chapter.
Before (September 2013): Pretty adorable.
For the first couple of pages, Jeane reminded me of Lola from [b:Lola and the Boy Next Door|9961796|Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss, #2)|Stephanie Perkins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358271832l/9961796._SY75_.jpg|7149084] but pretty soon Jeane proved to be more than that. Even though her obnoxiousness about how awesome and perfect her life is, I ended up liking her in the end.
The love interest, Michael wasn't that different than Jeane as the blurb's trying to feed you, 'cause Michael's obnoxiousness about how awesome HE is wasn't any better than Jeane's. In the end, I liked the book because of their quirkiness with each other. And I love a girl who's strong willed with a sky high self-esteem, basically a bitch in the stereotypical society's eyes.
Dual POVs should be written with the character's name as a starting title before the start of every chapter. Is it too much to ask? I always ended up thinking I was still reading from Jeane's POV when it was Michael's and vice versa after each chapter.
4.5 stars
So when I first heard about this book I was extremely excited. I mean, first up- that synopsis is golden. Why wouldn’t you want to read about a blogging superstar kissing a hot boy? There is no reason.
Anyway, when I pick up a book by an author I’ve never heard of, I like to do some research. Wait, before I carry on, I just have to say that there is no way this next bit isn’t going to sound creepy and stalkery. Whatever, I’ve committed now.
I like to do some research about what the author is like so I have a sneaky look on their website to see what kind of things they like, their sense of humour, that kind of thing. It’s just so I can get an idea of whether I will get on with their book. In doing so, I found out something so completely brilliant about Ms Manning. Well, actually I found out quite a few brilliant things about her but I focussed on one thing.
She used to work for J17.
My sister is 3 years older than me and when we were younger we both used to pick out a magazine every Friday when we did the big shop. I, being 10 and mostly concerned with whether Abs from 5ive had a girlfriend and what was going to happen in the next episode of Miami 7, used to read Mizz. My sister, cooler than me even then, picked up J17. Then after a mishap on a summer holiday (didn’t bring enough reading material, you guys!) I read my sister’s copy of J17.
I was hooked.
I learnt everything I know about everything from that magazine. You could probably say that Sarra Manning made me into the girl I am today.
Except, um, well that would be cruel to Ms Manning.
And possibly slander.
Anyway, a couple of years ago, someone scanned every copy of Smash Hits 80s era and put them online. My aim is to do that with J17. Or… um… like, pester someone else to do it.
I promise I’m going to talk about this book now, I just needed to get out of the way. Basically, the gist of all that was Sarra Manning is brilliant and there was an 87% that I was going to adore this book.
And guess what? I did.
I said earlier that my review was mostly going to be !!!!!!!! and OMG MICHAEL LEE and I LOVE YOU JEANE.
So let’s go with that.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This book was like a breath of fresh air. I went into this book thinking that I could turn my brain off and I’d laugh and chortle a little bit and I’d swoon because of kissing of the boy and I have to say if I had been hoping for that kind of book, I would have been severely disappointed. Because instead, I got a hilarious, clever, incredibly witty book that reminded me of the Bonfire Toffee you get from Thorntons.
Bonfire toffee from Thorntons? I hear you cry. This book will rip my fillings out?
Well… no. It’s not that much like Bonfire Toffee. What I mean is that this book is sweet, sugary, a bit dark, not-your-average-delicious-treat, you wish it would last forever and it’s the kind of book thatyou can only read when you’re watching fireworks that doesn’t come around often so it must be savoured.
Yeah, that analogy didn’t work, did it? Fine, I admit it; I just wanted to talk about sweets so Jeane and I can be best friends already. Seriously, it’s destiny.
Now usually, I don’t really like to talk about my own writing on here, but I have to say that this is the kind of book that I want to write. I don’t see why everyone has to write sad books about sad things. I like to think that if you took this book and hacked at it with a blunt instrument until it becomes almost unrecognisable… you’d probably end up with something similar to how I write.
And I’m OK with this.
OMG MICHAEL LEE
OMG Michael Lee, you are the salvation of YA boys. Not many women can convincingly write from the perspective of a teenage boy without sounding too ‘sexboobsgirlssexvideogamesbloodgutsandmoreboobs.didimentionilikeboobs?’, but Ms Manning can. Jeane, who I’ll get to in a bit, is such a larger than life character that I was a bit worried that Michael Lee (I don’t know why I feel like I have to full name him, but I do) was going to fade into the background and be the non-entity love interest I’ve become accustomed to.
Was he?
Was he ‘eck.
I love that he gave as good as he got and called Jeane out when she was being a ridiculous human being. I get so angry when heroines are constantly fawned over and nothing they do can be faulted.. Jeane isn’t always likeable and she can be a bit mean and one of my favourite things about this book was how, even at the end when all the things had happened, he still thought she was a bit funny looking, still thought she was annoying and he still thought she had horrible hair. It’s incredibly refreshing to have a heroine that isn’t loved by all. Because who is?
Even though there were times when they were arguing and sniping at each other that I wanted to yell ‘Huuuug’ a la Mac from Green Wing, their interactions were the absolute best. They just zinged off each other.
Also, Michael Lee is so hilarious, his dry humour and his observations were always spot on. I would inundate you with all my favourite Michael Lee quotes but I don’t know how the publisher would feel if I posted THE ENTIRE BOOK on my blog.
And he has great taste in sweets because parma violets seriously are the most disgusting sweets in existence. Errrrughhh.
And also, he’s bloody gorgeous… if you ignore the hair and if you picture him without the dodgy checked shirt. Which I never did for I am a serious book blogger who takes books seriously and stuff.
I LOVE YOU JEANE
As Maggie said in her excellent review, Jeane Smith stole the show and she stole my heart. No… seriously, I was eating a bag of Haribo and those squishy hearts are my absolute favourite and I save them until last and then she waltzed over and ate them all. Bitch.
I loved Jeane because she’s basically me. We both could snaffle an entire bag of Haribo without feeling guilty. We both have bitchin’ blogs. We both have a name that begins with the letter ‘J’…
I’m kidding… although my blog is bitchin’… I loved how she never backs down when she’s fighting for what she believes in. When Michael Lee is cruel and is a bit of a douche to her, she doesn’t become a simpering victim, even around the middle bits when it gets all angry and sad. She doesn’t want you to feel sorry for her, she doesn’t have time for you to feel sorry for her. If anything, I feel sorry for Michael Lee. He tries so desperately to keep up with her, to get on her level, but… mate, no chance. She’s running circles around you and, Michael Lee, I think you like it.
J’ADORK.
Seriously though, I think a lot of people will have gone through the things that Jeane goes through. Not in the same way of course (we can’t all be Guardian rated bloggers, can we?) but the feelings of sadness and loneliness you get when you’re a bit different and you’re at odds with everyone. And then you just get to the point where you’re like “You know what? Screw everyone! I’m awesome.”
This is what Jeane is like. She is a force of nature and she’s unstoppable and she’s so brilliant that even when I wanted to throttle her for being awful to Michael Lee, I mostly wanted to high-five her and hug her even though she’d probably Tweet about how boring my brown hair is.
Without sounding too much like a dork, I think that’s my favourite thing about this book. It had such a positive message for teenagers but it never crammed it down your throat with some schmaltzy, Hollywood message. None of this ‘ra ra ra LOVE YOURSELF’ kind of thing.
And a bit more !!!!!!!
Ms Manning gets teenagers. She knows what they’re like. She knows that they’re not always kooky and quirky but she also knows that not always depressive and sulky and slamming-doorsy. Sometimes I think that authors believe you can be either or. She is able to poke fun at them without being patronising and cruel, mostly because her observations are completely, utterly and deliciously true. This book read like a celebration of being a teenager, in all its awkward glory. It’s ok to be different, it’s ok to have messy feelings about yourself, it’s ok to have messy feelings about boys/girls, it’s ok to be a blogger (*cough*), it’s ok to be passionate about something that not everyone is passionate about, it’s OK to want to do well at school, it’s OK to go to gigs and stay out all night and drink cocktails and yes, it’s even a-OK to have sex… as long as you use protection and you’re over 16, of course.
You should totes read this book.
Nah, sorry Jeane. I can’t say ‘totes’ seriously, maybe I’m less of a dork than I originally thought. I just can’t do it.
You should totally read this book.
Also, not completely unrelated, Ms Manning has officially won the prize of “The Author Jo Most Wants to Sit and Eat Sweets and Watch Every Series of ANTM With”.
I think you’ll agree that this is a coveted prize.
So when I first heard about this book I was extremely excited. I mean, first up- that synopsis is golden. Why wouldn’t you want to read about a blogging superstar kissing a hot boy? There is no reason.
Anyway, when I pick up a book by an author I’ve never heard of, I like to do some research. Wait, before I carry on, I just have to say that there is no way this next bit isn’t going to sound creepy and stalkery. Whatever, I’ve committed now.
I like to do some research about what the author is like so I have a sneaky look on their website to see what kind of things they like, their sense of humour, that kind of thing. It’s just so I can get an idea of whether I will get on with their book. In doing so, I found out something so completely brilliant about Ms Manning. Well, actually I found out quite a few brilliant things about her but I focussed on one thing.
She used to work for J17.
My sister is 3 years older than me and when we were younger we both used to pick out a magazine every Friday when we did the big shop. I, being 10 and mostly concerned with whether Abs from 5ive had a girlfriend and what was going to happen in the next episode of Miami 7, used to read Mizz. My sister, cooler than me even then, picked up J17. Then after a mishap on a summer holiday (didn’t bring enough reading material, you guys!) I read my sister’s copy of J17.
I was hooked.
I learnt everything I know about everything from that magazine. You could probably say that Sarra Manning made me into the girl I am today.
Except, um, well that would be cruel to Ms Manning.
And possibly slander.
Anyway, a couple of years ago, someone scanned every copy of Smash Hits 80s era and put them online. My aim is to do that with J17. Or… um… like, pester someone else to do it.
I promise I’m going to talk about this book now, I just needed to get out of the way. Basically, the gist of all that was Sarra Manning is brilliant and there was an 87% that I was going to adore this book.
And guess what? I did.
I said earlier that my review was mostly going to be !!!!!!!! and OMG MICHAEL LEE and I LOVE YOU JEANE.
So let’s go with that.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This book was like a breath of fresh air. I went into this book thinking that I could turn my brain off and I’d laugh and chortle a little bit and I’d swoon because of kissing of the boy and I have to say if I had been hoping for that kind of book, I would have been severely disappointed. Because instead, I got a hilarious, clever, incredibly witty book that reminded me of the Bonfire Toffee you get from Thorntons.
Bonfire toffee from Thorntons? I hear you cry. This book will rip my fillings out?
Well… no. It’s not that much like Bonfire Toffee. What I mean is that this book is sweet, sugary, a bit dark, not-your-average-delicious-treat, you wish it would last forever and it’s the kind of book that
Yeah, that analogy didn’t work, did it? Fine, I admit it; I just wanted to talk about sweets so Jeane and I can be best friends already. Seriously, it’s destiny.
Now usually, I don’t really like to talk about my own writing on here, but I have to say that this is the kind of book that I want to write. I don’t see why everyone has to write sad books about sad things. I like to think that if you took this book and hacked at it with a blunt instrument until it becomes almost unrecognisable… you’d probably end up with something similar to how I write.
And I’m OK with this.
OMG MICHAEL LEE
OMG Michael Lee, you are the salvation of YA boys. Not many women can convincingly write from the perspective of a teenage boy without sounding too ‘sexboobsgirlssexvideogamesbloodgutsandmoreboobs.didimentionilikeboobs?’, but Ms Manning can. Jeane, who I’ll get to in a bit, is such a larger than life character that I was a bit worried that Michael Lee (I don’t know why I feel like I have to full name him, but I do) was going to fade into the background and be the non-entity love interest I’ve become accustomed to.
Was he?
Was he ‘eck.
I love that he gave as good as he got and called Jeane out when she was being a ridiculous human being. I get so angry when heroines are constantly fawned over and nothing they do can be faulted.. Jeane isn’t always likeable and she can be a bit mean and one of my favourite things about this book was how, even at the end when all the things had happened, he still thought she was a bit funny looking, still thought she was annoying and he still thought she had horrible hair. It’s incredibly refreshing to have a heroine that isn’t loved by all. Because who is?
Even though there were times when they were arguing and sniping at each other that I wanted to yell ‘Huuuug’ a la Mac from Green Wing, their interactions were the absolute best. They just zinged off each other.
Also, Michael Lee is so hilarious, his dry humour and his observations were always spot on. I would inundate you with all my favourite Michael Lee quotes but I don’t know how the publisher would feel if I posted THE ENTIRE BOOK on my blog.
And he has great taste in sweets because parma violets seriously are the most disgusting sweets in existence. Errrrughhh.
And also, he’s bloody gorgeous… if you ignore the hair and if you picture him without the dodgy checked shirt. Which I never did for I am a serious book blogger who takes books seriously and stuff.
I LOVE YOU JEANE
As Maggie said in her excellent review, Jeane Smith stole the show and she stole my heart. No… seriously, I was eating a bag of Haribo and those squishy hearts are my absolute favourite and I save them until last and then she waltzed over and ate them all. Bitch.
I loved Jeane because she’s basically me. We both could snaffle an entire bag of Haribo without feeling guilty. We both have bitchin’ blogs. We both have a name that begins with the letter ‘J’…
I’m kidding… although my blog is bitchin’… I loved how she never backs down when she’s fighting for what she believes in. When Michael Lee is cruel and is a bit of a douche to her, she doesn’t become a simpering victim, even around the middle bits when it gets all angry and sad. She doesn’t want you to feel sorry for her, she doesn’t have time for you to feel sorry for her. If anything, I feel sorry for Michael Lee. He tries so desperately to keep up with her, to get on her level, but… mate, no chance. She’s running circles around you and, Michael Lee, I think you like it.
J’ADORK.
Seriously though, I think a lot of people will have gone through the things that Jeane goes through. Not in the same way of course (we can’t all be Guardian rated bloggers, can we?) but the feelings of sadness and loneliness you get when you’re a bit different and you’re at odds with everyone. And then you just get to the point where you’re like “You know what? Screw everyone! I’m awesome.”
This is what Jeane is like. She is a force of nature and she’s unstoppable and she’s so brilliant that even when I wanted to throttle her for being awful to Michael Lee, I mostly wanted to high-five her and hug her even though she’d probably Tweet about how boring my brown hair is.
Without sounding too much like a dork, I think that’s my favourite thing about this book. It had such a positive message for teenagers but it never crammed it down your throat with some schmaltzy, Hollywood message. None of this ‘ra ra ra LOVE YOURSELF’ kind of thing.
And a bit more !!!!!!!
Ms Manning gets teenagers. She knows what they’re like. She knows that they’re not always kooky and quirky but she also knows that not always depressive and sulky and slamming-doorsy. Sometimes I think that authors believe you can be either or. She is able to poke fun at them without being patronising and cruel, mostly because her observations are completely, utterly and deliciously true. This book read like a celebration of being a teenager, in all its awkward glory. It’s ok to be different, it’s ok to have messy feelings about yourself, it’s ok to have messy feelings about boys/girls, it’s ok to be a blogger (*cough*), it’s ok to be passionate about something that not everyone is passionate about, it’s OK to want to do well at school, it’s OK to go to gigs and stay out all night and drink cocktails and yes, it’s even a-OK to have sex… as long as you use protection and you’re over 16, of course.
You should totes read this book.
Nah, sorry Jeane. I can’t say ‘totes’ seriously, maybe I’m less of a dork than I originally thought. I just can’t do it.
You should totally read this book.
Also, not completely unrelated, Ms Manning has officially won the prize of “The Author Jo Most Wants to Sit and Eat Sweets and Watch Every Series of ANTM With”.
I think you’ll agree that this is a coveted prize.
I HAVE A GIRL CRUSH! I HAVE A GIRL CRUSH! I loved this book. It was soo funny and sweet. And Jeane was sooo smart and sexy and awesome.