Customer Reviews

Beaner O'Brian's Absolutely Ginormous Guidebook to Guys

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My 14-year old daughter LOVED You are SO Cursed and Chloe, Queen of Denial so I put Naomi on my "auto buy" list for her.

She received Beaner O'Brian's Absolutely Ginormous Guidebook to Guys as an early Christmas gift and loved it! Her Christmas list also contained the following line: "Any Naomi Nash books I don't have."

I've also read all three of Naomi's books and will definitely buy them in the future for my daughter! You can find the details about this book from other reviewers, I just wanted to share that one 14 yeard old girl AND her mother are now "auto-buying" Naomi's books in the Smooch line!

Maybe it would have been smart for Beaner O'Brian to begin writing her report on the opposite sex immediately after her teacher, Miss Benson, assigned it, that way she could get it over with and move on with her life, and summer vacation. But, alas, she ignored the fact that it wouldn't be easy, and is now stuck with trying to complete the 5000 word assignment in a mere thirty-three days. And, by her calculations, that gives her only forty-seven thousand, five hundred and twenty minutes to complete the dreaded assignment. And as if that weren't enough to deal with, Beaner is now trying to put-up with her step-Mom's goal to be "hip and cool," help her Father's employees find love in all the wrong, and hopefully, sometimes right, places, figure out why she's having feelings towards her sister's ex-boyfriend, and trying to get over her reaction about her sister's disturbing living arrangements. There's not much more a girl can take in a mere month.

Naomi Nash has introduced us to many wonderful characters, but none have been as engaging, and enjoyable to read about as Beaner O'Brian. Beaner is a character who will easily appeal to both female teens, as well as adults who enjoy a good dose of chick-lit. Her quirky personality, and freak-out persona are hilarious, and keep the reader on their toes at all times. Filled with wonderful bits of information about guys at the beginning of every chapter, and thrown into each and every page, this is sure to be a hit with all!

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Beaner O'Brian has decided that she is no longer a child, but instead she is fifteen year old Harriet who is ready for boys. She toils with a summer school paper on what she anticipates as an easy topic for how hard is it to write a five thousand word essay about the opposite sex. She knows she cannot depend on her stepmother who seems more childish than she nor her older sister Molly who's in a nuptial trance with her wedding date coming soon. Her father is a good example of the older generation salivating over the next era as proven by his marriage to a decade plus younger bimbo.

Beaner realizes her understanding of males ranges somewhere in negative numbers. For instance, Eugene tells her she is "harmless", the type of girl to talk to about other girls he desires. Faris, her father's intern at the TV show he produces, shows interest in Harriet, but she remains in denial feeling cursed by her lack of perception. Of course there is Antonio. As Beaner, call me Harriet, begins to date, she wonders if the male of the species is a cosmic joke?

With the exception of the stepmother who is supposed to provide comic relief but instead slows down the perceptive tale as if she is from Ork, the cast make for a fine coming of age tale in which Beaner call me Harriet struggles to find the truth about boys. Her observations and woes lead to a sudden popularity yet no insight. Middle school readers will appreciate the amusing observations of Harriet as she struggles with what it is all about guys.

Harriet Klausner

This book was OK. Definately not the best in the Smooch line. I felt that the plot was kind of thin in places and you never really related to the main character. I mean, how many people get kissed on national television? I think this is one book that you should skip.

This book is really easy at straying off the topic. The writing is choppy, unsmooth, and tries and fails to keep the book from being put down. Reading this gave me a headache and I had to put the book down every 5-7 pages or else my head'll blow. The story plot is really bad and the romance on a scale of 1-10 (1-bad 10-good) is probably a 3. This book is probably the worst Smoochya book ever. If you want to read much much better Smoochya books, find the author KATIE MAXWELL.

This book started out okay. Then it just got more farfetched. Beaner O'Brian is trying to write a paper on the opposite sex. Her dad is a talent scout on some teen music show. She meets one of the guys from one of her fave boy bands. He kisses her on national television.
This didn't seem realistic at all! The writing was tedious, farfetched, and didn't hold my interest. In no way did I feel compelled to go on reading, but I forced myself to. However, I got so frustrated with this novel that, about half way through, I gave up.

I just could not read it. The plot is transparent and farcical. The characters are over-exaggerated and unconvincing.

Usually I am not the type of person to bash books, as I love reading. I am a big fan of Young Adult fiction and especially the Smooch books. But this is just one book I could do without.

Only read this book if you are completely bored and have nothing else to do. Occupy your time with something else. Needless to say, I did not think this was a good contribution to the Smooch books.

Maybe I am just outgrowing these kinds of books - after all, Beaner is 2 years younger than me. Maybe these books are really intended for a younger audience. Yet I have read other Smooch books that did hold my interest, despite the fact that some of the main characters were younger than me.

I truly resent the time that I spent trying to read this book. I could have been reading a good classic or something. Well, now I know not to read this book again. I have given it a lot of chances and it just didn't work out for me.

If you are really curious about this book, get it at the library. Sorry for this utterly bad review, but I'm quite angry at the way this book turned out.

**** Maybe 5000 words does not meet the criteria of Ginormous, but it's a lot more words than 30, the number Beaner O'Brian is stuck at on her report about the opposite sex. Word 31 just won't come, leaving her 4970 words shy of her goal. With the clock ticking, she begins living her research. That will involve; dealing with a step mom who wants desperately to be "hip", discovering disturbing things about her sister's living arrangements, helping her dad's employees find love, seeing her sister's ex through new eyes, having what should have been a dream come true only to be a let down, and trying hard to be real. This witty, madcap look at love from a teen's eyes will entertain young and less young alike. ****

beaner yes i know you !, i know what you do at night with that taco sause and thous blasted fingers u grubby sack of saulsberry. U know guys you say well do u know who i am? perhaps you'd like to know if you'd like to see your cat again. I beat that pussy daily and play my infamous banjo toon just to watch it twitch and scream. I'm telling you tight know you know nothing of beaners

8===D