All That Glitters + All Wrapped Up

All That Glitters is the 4th book in the Geek Girl series and therefore this review may contain spoilers for the previous books.

Harriet Manners is looking forward to starting sixth form. So much so, she turns up a day early. This year will be different, for starters she’s not in any classes with her nemesis Alexa. She’s still a geek of course, but that doesn’t mean she can’t make new friends… Or does it?

I struggle to behave like a normal human being in private, let alone when it’s being recorded for posterity and shown to millions.

All that Glitters is probably my favourite Geek Girl book, which surprised me as I felt they were getting a bit repetitive with the previous instalment. Here is hope for our favourite series, they can recover after a dip!

Harriet spends most of the time at school. She starts out wishing for a fresh start at sixth form, a chance to make new friends, especially as Nat has gone to a different college to study fashion. It’s tough making new friends, especially when groups have already formed. Harriet gets off to a bad start but suddenly, everyone seems to love her. Who knew dinosaur cookies were so popular?

Of course, things are not so straight forward. It seems Harriet’s fashion career has been given a new lease of life, and now everyone wants to be her friend. She’s actually a really sweet girl and wants to see the best in people. She’s also trying to pretend she’s completely fine over her break-up with Nick. She was the one that dumped him after all.

I’ve seen a few reviews exasperated by Harriet’s idiocy when she’s supposed to be a genius. Well, for starters she’s good with facts, not with social situations. I don’t think she’s supposed to be a genius, just someone interested in learning. And you know, when you feel like you’ve got no friends, you’ll grab onto to any olive branch. Wanting to fit in overrides any sense of what if they don’t mean it. Lots of people are friends at school without particularly liking them, it’s part of social hierarchies and, most importantly, survival.

I also read All Wrapped Up which is a novella set around Christmas and falls chronologically just after the end of the first book. As well as plenty of festive facts, Harriet also goes on her first date with Nick. It’s a lovely little story and I think you could read it any time of the year really. It kinda made me extra sad that they weren’t together in All That Glitters.

“Did Jane Bennet just sit around, waiting for Bingley to call her? No. She went to his house, uninvited, and pretended it was to see his sisters and got the flu and stayed there for weeks, remember?”

Nat frowns. “That’s the example you’re using? Seriously?”

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Book Source: Purchased