Favourite Female Characters

Happy International Womens Day! 

I thought I'd celebrate the day by posting a little on a few of my favourite fictional female characters in YA . This list isn't a conclusive list but just a few of the fictional women I hold dear to my heart. Click the covers to see my reviews!

Harriet - Geek Girl 

Harriet from the Geek Girl series is one of the most relate-able, funny and heart warming characters I've ever read.  Harriet is dramatic, intelligent, a loyal and good friend and also a caring person. She shows that not only can you be incredibly intelligent and then become a model, but you can do all of this and still remain true to your roots and own your geek-iness! 

Georgia Nicholson - Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series

Georgia is one of the most dramatic, over the top, outrageous character....ever. She attracts drama and makes silly mistakes but this is one of the sides to her that makes her so relate-able. Georgia is a loyal friend, although she can stray and be selfish at times, but this all makes her so much more realistic. 

Georgia is such an iconic, laugh out loud character that once you read you will never forget. She is strong willed, opinionated, dramatic but also strong. She goes through a lot of growth over the series but still at the end she is the same Georgia the reader has come to know and love. 

Arya Stark - A Song of Ice & Fire Series

Arya is such an interesting character. She is definitely more of a tomboy in comparison to the previous girls on the list. She is also probably the youngest on this list. Arya lives in a very dangerous and adverse world that would especially be dangerous for her as a girl. But Arya is strong, self motivated, independent and determined to shape her own future and constantly move forward and survive. 

Arya is not your typical girl but she does have a lot of aspirational characteristics that female readers can look up to and take some sort of inspiration from. Definitely one of the best characters in  the series. 

Top Authors I Discovered in 2015

So, 2015 was such a great reading year for me. I read lots of great books, even if I did not meet my Goodreads reading goal, I went to lots of bookish events, made lots of new friends and read so many new authors whose novels I fell head over heels in love with!

The top authors I discovered in 2015 are;


Louise O'Neill                         (Reviews: Only Ever Yours ,  Asking For It )

Louise O'Neill is one of my all time favourite authors. After reading both of her novels, I immediately wanted to shove them into the faces of all of my friends while saying "READ THIS NOW" and that is a sign of a good author, right?
Louise O'Neills novels are always hard hitting, thought provoking and memorable. Her writing style is sharp, shocking, and she has a way of getting inside the characters and laying bare their inner thoughts in a way that the reader can connect with. 


Juno, formerly known as James, Dawson
(Reviews: Under My Skin, This Book Is Gay, All Of The Above )

Every novel I have read by this author has been incredible and unique. One thing I feel sometimes happens is an author writes a new novel loosely based on their last success but Dawson does not do this. I adored This Book Is Gay so very much and found it incredibly informative. Under My Skin was dark, fun and gripping. Dawson got into the  minds of the characters and wrote a fantastic YA horror. 
My all time favourite Dawson novel that I have read so far is All Of The Above. This novel shows Dawson's skill at character creation, growth, plot, writing realistic teenagers and relationships and a realistic representation of teenagers sexual discovery. Please pick up a book by Dawson, you will not forget it. 

Review: Picture Perfect (Geek Girl #3) by Holly Smale

 Publication Date: June 5 2014

Publisher: Harper Collins

Source:  Library book

Series:  

Geek Girl Review Here!  

Geek Girl; Model Misfit (#2) Review Here! 

[Goodreads]          [Book Depository] 

Blurb: 

"My name is Harriet Manners, and I'll always be a geek."

It's the hilarious third book in the No.1 bestselling, award winning GEEK GIRL series!

Harriet Manners knows more facts that most. She knows that New York is the most populous city in the United States. She knows that its official motto is "Ever Upward". She knows that 28% of Americans believe we never landed on the moon.

But she knows nothing about modelling in the Big Apple, and how her family will cope with life stateside. Or how to "become a brand", as the models in New York put it. And, even more importantly, what to do when the big romantic gestures aren't coming from your boyfriend...

Does geek girl go too far this time?

The laugh out loud follow-up to award winning GEEK GIRL and MODEL MISFIT will have you in stitches. 

This series is quickly becoming one of my favourites! Every novel fully engrosses me and gets me out of any reading slump I may be in.  Please check out my reviews on the other novels in the series if you have not already, they are listed above. 

So when we meet Harriet again in this novel, she as been out of the modelling world for a couple months. Harriet has gone back to her life of facts, parents, friends and normal life. Harriet is happy with her boyfriend, and life seems like it may be on the return to normal apart from one thing. Does Harriet miss the modelling world? 

I really loved this novel as the reader really gets to see Harriet grow from being somewhat immature to finally gaining more knowledge of the real world and becoming more considerate towards others. Harriet misses some aspects of her modelling career and I found some of the decisions she made to try and get back into the world of it to be naive and foolish but the consequences really did shape some character development for her. 

Review: Geek Girl Model Misfit by Holly Smale

Publication date: September 26 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens
Source: Library
Series: 2nd in Geek Girl series, Geek Girl Review Here

[Goodreads]        [Book Depository] 

Blurb: 

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

Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this.

What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives.

With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes.

Because, this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like.

Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world or is Harriet lost for good? 

 The Geek Girl series has quickly become a favourite of mine only two books in. The series is so fun, witty, laugh out loud hilarious and entertaining, and Model Misfit was no exception.

To see my review of the first novel in the series, Geek Girl, click here. 

Model Misfit picks up a few months after Geek Girl ended. Harriet is still at school, doing exams, learning facts and being on the receiving end of Alexa's bullying. Harriet is learning to take this in her stride as she balances a normal life with her model life. I was interested to see how people in Harriet's school would react to her modelling and to my surprise it has made them behave more mean to her than before! 

Review: Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: Feb 28th 2013
Source: Borrowed from local library
Series: 1st novel in a series


[ Goodreads ]      [ Book Depository ] 


Blurb: Harriet Manners knows a lot of things. 

She 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. What she isn't quite so sure about is why nobody at school seems to like her very much. So when she's spotted by a top model agent, Harriet 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 the impossibly handsome supermodel Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves. 

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

And as her old life starts to fall apart, the question is: will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?

Review: 

I was sort of worried going into this novel that they hype and buzz around it would make my expectations too high and result in me not enjoying this novel as much as everyone else has but thankfully I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. 

The themes in this book were put across so well by the author. I loved the way the novel made the reader look at family, friendship, betrayal, secrets and trust in a new way and really made you think about family and the importance of family and friends. 

The plot of  the novel was so fun and easy to read. I found that once i had started reading it was hard to stop. Each time I picked up the novel I was sucked into quirky Harriet's life with her problems and mistakes and hilarious antics. I loved reading about the modelling side and about Harriet's "transformation", which I had thought was going to be cliche but was written in a refreshing and wonderful way. 

I loved every character in this novel, even the antagonist because of how well she was written! First off, Harriet Manners is the kind of character I would love to jump out of the page and be my best friend. She was quirky, sarcastic, witty and had facts to last a lifetime. I loved her refreshing narration voice in this story.