Review Mashup #4: Geek Girl and Emmy & Oliver

YAY!! REVIEW MASHUPS HAVE GRACED US WITH THEIR PRESENCE ONCE AGAIN! 

• “Magic comes when you’re not looking for it.”


• This book was exactly what I need at that moment in time. I had just finished the most boring book of the century, Midnight in St. Petersburg and I needed something that was fluffy, easy to read, and funny. This book not only fulfilled those requirements, but it blasted my expectations out of the water.



• As both a nerd and a geek, I could relate to Harriet on a certain level, but I felt like she wasn’t developed enough or mature enough for her age. I wonder why this book was classified as “Young Adult”. Geek Girl feels like a middle grade.


• “Oh, she frightens me, but I’ll just frighten her right back.”


• Harriet was cute, but she felt a bit young for her age. She did develop a lot throughout the course of the book. Harriet grows into someone more sensible, but she is still very young for her age and isn’t all that sensible. I really liked Harriet’s random spout of facts, but for supposedly being so smart, she wasn’t always the most sensible in the measure of the world. Harriet ran off to become a model after some sketchy guy asked her to do it, and her dad agrees. Nothing bad happens of course, except the boy she loves doesn’t like her back until the end of the book.


• I didn’t like the relationship between Harriet and Nick. It wasn’t funny and felt extremely insta lovey.



• The parents annoyed me a lot. Her mom was insane and doesn’t tell her husband she’s pregnant before she tells her step-daughter, and is quite insane at points during the plot. Harriet’s step-mom wanted to win an argument so badly that she slept in her office. Harriet’s dad is whole other plot of insane. He allows his daughter ditch school for something that isn’t that too great. (sorry, I may be a bit biased here.) Harriet’s dad also allows his daughter to sign a contract without reading it through with a lawyer (when you also happen to a wife who is a lawyer). Not to mention Harriet’s dad signs the paper himself.


• Also, the “mean girls” didn’t even do anything too bad or mean. They watered down the plot if anything, and definitely made Geek Girl seem more like a Middle Grade.


• In conclusion, while Geek Girl is not anything special, and it isn’t too good ,but it was just what I needed at the time, and was off the charts in fluff and cuteness.

• “Sometimes love isn’t something you say, it’s something you do.”


• This book had great, funny dialogue that made me laugh out loud. One of my favorite things in Emmy & Oliver was the dialogue, and it helped lighten up the mood while dealing with something that was so hard and real.


• The flashbacks really added to the story because it showed you the connections that existed before everything just evaporated and the heartache from the aftermath. It also gave you an inside look at what they were dealing with and why it was such a mountain to overcome.


• “Sometimes happiness means different things to different people.”





• With the synopsis, you would think this book would be a darker contemporary that had little happiness, but that is wrong. This book somehow manages to be lighthearted while still not skimping on the gravity of the situation.


• The writing was very good. I loved how you could pick it up and then almost finish it in one sitting. I almost never devour a book that quickly, but this Emmy & Oliver had writing that made you want to binge the book. 


• I also want to give credit to Robin Benway for having such sensible characters. They don’t drink and drive. They don’t do dumb typical YA stuff. They have fun, but not the stupid kind of fun.


• Does anyone else spend a lot of time with their crazy family? I do and I loved how Benway portrayed Emmy’s and Oliver’s family. They were normal, and yelled at one another, but they also loved one another. I love that so much because it’s real. Not all teenagers hate their parents.


• “I guess the more you start to love someone, the more you ache when they’re gone, and maybe that’s the middle ground that hurts the most, when you can see them and still not feel like you’re near enough. So close and yet so far.”





• I love the other relationships in this book. Emmy and Oliver’s relationship was so cute. They wanted to be what they were before, but they were eight then. They needed to develop and grow together, but they had missed out on ten years worth of growth.


• I really liked the relationship between Emmy and her best friend. (I seem to have forgotten her name.) They helped each other when they fell, but not without making a sarcastic comment to lighten the mood.


• Oliver’s past was dealt with in a way that both showed the gravity of what he was going through, but was also respectful of the hardship he had and continued to go through. This made me happy because we all need to try to understand each other’s differences so we can help one another with their battles.


• “It hurt too much, watching him look for answers in his own reflection and not finding him there.”


• Did anyone else find Emmy’s parents to be hilarious?  My parents can do some quite hilarious things too, and I feel like Emmy and I both have similar relationships with both of our slightly crazy parents.

Have you read Emmy & Oliver or Geek Girl? What did you think of it / them? What are your thoughts on Review Mashups? Tell me in the comments below.