Harriet Manners is a geek, there's no doubt about it: she constantly wishes she was someone else. With her irresponsible dad and over-responsible stepmother Annabel at home, and the spiteful bully Alexa with her worshiping crowd of classmates at school, she feels nothing, not even her carefully-laid plans, can work out. So when an opportunity to become someone new comes along, she jumps at the chance and is whisked off to become a model in a frantic tornado of make-up and clothing, all the way to Russia. But there's a catch. She must keep it a secret. Harriet is desperate to get away from all her problems including jealous best friends and tedious stepmothers and therefore must lie and deceive during the whole trip, which leaves her with a gnawing feeling inside. And when she gets home and finds that her secret has been discovered, it's up to Harriet to set everything right. In the process she is to find out whether being a geek is such a bad thing after all.
A story of humour and fun with much to reflect on, it is everything I wanted in a book. It draws on everyday issues like friendship, bullying and lying but makes them fun and involving to read about. I think Harriet is a very down-to-earth, genuine character with real issues which makes the book relevant and gripping; the author got into my head. The emotions in the book, embarrassment, anger, sadness, desperation, guilt, are portrayed very realistically so that you are almost experiencing them. An all-round engrossing and thought-provoking story.
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