Contempo-May Review: Adorkable by Sarra Manning

In One Line:  Girl hates boy, boy hates girl, much kissing ensues. 

Genre: High School Heart Break

The Gist:

Meet Jeane: she has half a million followers on Twitter, a blog lifestyle emporium thingy, and spends her weekends attending jumble sales and eating cupcakes. Then meet Michael, who is Mr Conventional Perfect and wears Jack Wills hoodies (I had to look up Jack Wills because I actually had no idea what it was, I am that uncool). Their respective ex-partners hook up, leaving both parties slightly enraged. Michael even knocks Jeane off her bike (accidentally)! But then they discover that they make quite good kissing buddies. And then they discover that they are quite good sexytimes buddies. And then all the emotions happen!

The Cover:

I’m going to go all out there and say: I hate it. It’s like someone’s photo-shopped in a load of images and pasted them on beige. Which is such a shame because the title logo is AMAZING and the cover models look EXACTLY how the main characters should look. But, I can’t get over the beige. I really can’t. 

Why You’ll Love This Book

• Here we go again, it’s my favourite type of literary romance! I Hate You But I Love You But I Hate You! It’s Beatrice and Benedick, it’s Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, it’s When Harry Met Sally! It’s electric and it keeps you reading because even though you know the main characters are totally unsuitable for each other, they’re also, paradoxically, TOTALLY suitable for each other. These characters get under your skin unlike any characters I have read in a long time. 
• Talky talky he-said, she-said! One of my pet hates in books with alternate character chapters is when the publisher feels the need to Spell It Out for you. Some books go with different fonts for the different characters, some feel they have to put the character’s name in MASSIVE letters at the beginning of their relevant chapters. The great thing about this book is that it doesn’t patronise you, and the editors have left the writing to speak for itself. Well done publishers!
• Dylan’s Candy Store! This place was MY LIFE when I worked in America. If you don’t know about it, google it now. And then let the dreaming begin. 
• All of the Geek Chic. This book is an overdose in awesome. It’s cool, it’s quirky, the dialogue is eerily current (judging by what I overhear in Edgware Starbucks) and I can totally believe that somewhere, if not now but in the really near future, there is a lonely Jeane Smith just waiting for someone to sneak into her heart. 

Why You May Not Love This Book:

• The characters aren’t what you’d automatically call likeable... in fact, they’re pretty horrid. Jeane is a freak of a emotional mess and there is no way that I’d ever be friends with her (she’s way too scary for me) and Michael is the kind of guy I’d see in school and stay away from because he’s blatantly too cool for me, and he hangs with a mean crowd. So why did I continue reading this book? The characters get under your skin and reveal their emotional depth slowly, keeping you hooked. 
• There’s not a lot of plot. In fact, there was a point about a third of the way in where I wondered if there was ever going to be a plot. It made me nervous, it made me wonder if anything was ever going to happen. Needless to say this was never going to be an action-packed affair, but just stick with it. Even through the bits where nothing happens. Because the Feelings are worth it. 

The Hypersomnia Test:

Alas, it didn’t pass. That’s because I had a tube journey to take when I hit that sneaky third-of-the-way-through lull. So I put it down, and had a nap, and then after I hit the halfway point it was all systems go! I couldn’t get enough! 

Final Verdict:

This book is dorky and adorable. ADORKABLE. It’s got a weird, unexpected charm that may not grab you straight away, but by the end you are totally on side. Geek Chic in book form, and also oddly inspirational, this book makes me want to embrace my friends and bake cakes all at the same time. Also, I now giggle every time I walk past Garfunkle's in Leicester Square.

Further Reading:

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler (read my review HERE!)

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

To buy Adorkable please click HERE!!!