Book Review - The Valentines: Happy Go Lucky by Holly Smale - #HolidayReading Mexico

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title:  The Valentines: Happy Go Lucky

Author: Holly Smale

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Harper Collins Children

Publication Date: 7th February 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

Introducing The Valentines. Fame – It Runs in the Family!

Sisters Hope, Faith and Mercy have everything: fame, success, money and beauty. But what Hope wants most of all is love, and it doesn’t matter how far she has to go to find it.

Except real-life isn't like the movies. Even if you're a Valentine . . .

Happy Girl Lucky is the first hilarious, heart-warming book in The Valentines series. From the internationally bestselling author of Geek Girl, Holly Smale.

The author of the wonderful Geek Girl series is back with a new series about The Valentines Family. 

After I got used to Hope Valentines way of thinking that everything is a Hollywood movie and that she daydreams a lot, plus often uses words incorrectly, I whizzed through this book. 

All she wants is to be 16 to be allowed to start being an actress like everyone else in her family. She has three older siblings who barely notice her, and parents who aren't really about. 

You can't help but feel sorry for Hope, as she hopes to meet her one true love. In fact every boy she comes into contact with is considered for leading man role! 

This is a light fun, and quick read and  I am already hoping to read more of the Valentines family in future books.  

This story just shows that just because you are from a rich and famous family that your life may not be perfect and for YA read that is an important message for the celebrity obsessed, social media addicts out there, that you need to look beyond the surface to know more about a person. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Forever Geek by Holly Smale

Amazon UK

Title: Forever Geek

Author: Holly Smale

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books

Publication Date: 9th March 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

My name is Harriet Manners and I’ll be a geek forever…

The FINAL book in the bestselling, award-winning GEEK GIRL series is here!

Harriet Manners knows almost every fact there is.

Modelling isn’t a sure-fire route to popularity. Neither is making endless lists.
The people you love don’t expect you to transform into someone else.
Statistically you are more likely to not meet your Australian ex-boyfriend in Australia than bump into him there.

So on the trip of a lifetime Down Under Harriet’s to-do lists are gone and it’s Nat’s time to shine! Yet with nearly-not-quite-boyfriend Jasper back home, Harriet’s completely unprepared to see supermodel ex Nick. Is the fashion world about to turn ugly for GEEK GIRL?

It’s time for Harriet to face the future. Time to work out where her heart lies. To learn how to let go…

Number of times I lost track of where I was, while reading Forever Geek - Plenty, I have no idea where my commutes went

Length of twenty minute lunch break while reading Forever Geek - at least 30-35 mins, and I'm not sure I finished all my lunch yet. 

In a world where there are thousands upon thousands of books vying for our attention, I'm not sure I know what the odds were that I cam across Forever Geek, or in fact any of the Geek Girl series, but I am so glad that I did. I also know that Harriet Manners would be able to give precise odds on that and many other unlikely circumstances, as is evidenced in this latest book. 

Straight up if you have read the rest of this series, then you absolutely must 100% without a doubt read Forever Geek, the brilliant conclusion to the series, and you really do get a sense that this honestly will be the last book featuring Harriet Manner, super geek / model with the way everything is concluded, which I can't talk about as it would be spoiling it. 

In fact I really not sure I want to say much about this book, purely as it is so great that I think it needs to be read for itself. 

The majority of it is set in Australia just a few days after book 5 ends, and amongst other things in Australia, there are modelling opportunities, the boy she hasn't spoken to in 6 months and is adamanth she is over, nor will bump into, her best friend Nat and her fashion empire to launch, and Bunty her beloved grandma. 

The first modelling assignment in this book, from start to finish is pure Harriet Manners, the loveable, well meaning character that I adore. She stumbles into a job, doesn't quite get the gist of what she is actually being asked, while her brain goes off at a tangent, and the consequences are hilarious, as is the whole nature of that shoot. 

If you haven't read any of the Geek Girl series, then my best advice would be to start. Don't worry if you are an adult, I'm in my early thirties and found so much to enjoy with the series, and they are very easy and quick to read too. I love being able to embrace my inner geek, and pick up all sorts of random facts while I'm following Harriet Manner's adventures. 

Forever Geek is the perfect way to round off this amazing series, I have read all of the six main books and loved every second of all of them. All I can say is I am really looking forward to seeing what else Holly Smale has for us,  as I am definitely a convert! 

Thank you so much to Harper Collins Children's Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Head Over Heels by Holly Smale - Back Catalogue Books

Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it!

I'm so excited that Forever Geek, book 6 of this series is just out, its occurred to me I really should read book 5 first, so that I'm up to date! So here is a review of Head Over Heels. 

Amazon UK

Title: Head Over Heels (Geek Girl Book 5)

Author: Holly Smale

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books

Publication Date: 7th April 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Harriet Manners knows almost every fact there is.

She knows duck-billed platypuses don’t have stomachs.
She knows that fourteen squirrels were once detained as spies.
She knows that both chess and snakes and ladders were invented in the same country.

And for once, Harriet knows exactly how her life should go. She’s got it ALL planned out. So her friends seem less than happy, Harriet is determined to Make Things Happen!
If only everyone else would stick to the script…

But is following the rules going to break hearts for GEEK GIRL?

*Stands up straight and says* "
 Hi, my name is Rachel, I'm in my thirties, and I am a Geek Girl addict" 

Yes I absolutely love this series, and I'm not ashamed to admit it, and Head Over Heels, is no exception, in fact I think they get better and better each book, as the story progresses. As a result I am not the person to tell you if this can be read as a standalone, as frankly it is one of the few series that I feel right at home with the second I start the next book, so can't even work it out from my normally forgetful brain! 

I will say as a book in a series, this works, and I loved the development that Harriet goes through in this iteration, and the lessons she is gearing up to realise towards the end.  I loved her determination to be a good model this time around, and for completely selfless reasons. 

As fans of the series will know Harriet Manners has a habit of slotting random facts into just about every conversation she has, and she is still at it. These range from the interesting to the obscure, but clearly Holly Smale must enjoy researching this element of her character. I really enjoy reading the facts, as they are such an integral characteristic of Harriet. 

As is her need to try and make sure everyone she knows is happy, and comes up with the most elaborate plans to ensure it. Her friendship group has grown and Team JINTH is now a thing, and means Harriet like a lot of teenagers (and to be fair a lot of adults) is continually on her phone messaging people.  

I love Harriet's friends, they are a mixed bunch but all have certain skills to offer our well meaning main character.  

Head Over Heels kept me entertained for the few short hours it took for me to read it, let me enjoy a brand new country in an epic modelling shoot, as well as another modelling shoot that was memorable for other reasons. I have learnt even more about how to try to deceive my parents, with well thought out plans, while enjoying Harriet's rather awkward social interactions with everyone.  This is another fabulous addition to this series. 

Book Review - Geek Girl by Holly Smale- Rachel Reads Randomly Book #30 - #20BooksOfSummer Book 2

Amazon UK

Title:  Geek Girl (Book #1)

Author: Holly Smale

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books

Publication Date: 28th February 2013

Rating: 5 Stars

“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.”

Harriet Manners knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a “jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

But she doesn’t know why nobody at school seems to like her.

So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.

Veering from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, Harriet begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.

As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

I was aware there was a lot of hype about the Geek Girl series even before I bought the first few books, but what I didn't fully appreciate until I started reading Geek Girl was just how enjoyable it would be for an adult in her mid 30s. 

I think this is the most absorbed I have been in a book, and unaware of everything going on around me, for ages, and I didn't think I could achieve this level of absorption still. I found myself sitting and just turning the pages, as the writing is so easy to read, and such a pleasure. I know I used to get this deep into books when I was a teenager, I just didn't realise books aimed at the same market would still have that affect. 

I really identified with Harriet Manners, a self confessed geek, who knows shes not popular, but can't quite put her finger on why so many people don't seem to like her. Academically she is brilliant at school but socially she is slightly inept, and its easy to see Harriet's in just about any school you go to. 

However when Harriet is spotted by a model agent, at an event she didn't even want to be at, she realises that this could be her ugly duckling transformation moment, but of course like real life nothing ever goes smoothly. 

At times I was almost cringing with Harriet at things go wrong, and the descriptions of her in high heels for the first time are hilarious, although given my own inability to walk in a heel, I maybe shouldn't have laughed as much as I did. 

I'm not really going to say much about the story, there must be plenty of other reviews around to do just that, I do want to say that this book is brilliant. I loved the characters, I loved the parents, the school dynamics (I was a sucker for a school story when I was younger) and realistically the only thing going through my mind  is what on earth happens in book 2! 

There was an overwhelming majority of you that voted for Geek Girl to win this week, and I can't thank you from the bottom of my heart enough for categorically demanding me to read this book in some cases. Clearly I have been missing out over the past few years, just because I don't tend to read YA, and do feel a bit weird reading so called kids books. In fact mum has told me that I shouldn't take the others of this series on holiday with me because I'll be laughed at!

Rachel Reads Randomly will be back on 11th July with a new vote. I hope you will all join me then!