Customer Reviews

Geek Charming

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Geek Charming is geek-tastic! Again, I bought this for my daughter and got caught up reading it as well (I actually read it before I gave it to her)

The characters were nicely developed and the story kept me turning the pages. I recommend this book for anyone who likes to read and is young at heart.

Oh please Ms. Palmer, if you are reading this, please come out with more books a lot faster than every year!!

Wow!!! And HOLY WOW!!!! *standing ovation*

I don't even know where to being. At first, I didn't pay attention to the chapter titles *which I should have but I just wanted to dive RIGHT IN!* and understood the story is told by the two main characters: Dylan and Josh. I love how Robin wrote the book this way and I wish more authors did!

Overall, I saw a little bit of myself in this book (as within Cindy Ella) and also got an inside look into the "popular world." It shows that we're ALL human and we ALL have our issues to deal with; popular or not. It's about whether or not we take the time to think outside of the box and try to put ourselves "in the other person's shoes" and walk "that mile" in them. Trust me...in some shape, way, or form...young or wiser...you will identify with this book and flashback to your high school days *"good" or "bad"*.

GREAT JOB ROBIN!!! I can't wait for the next one!!!! :) When will that be exactly??

I just loved this book.some people are saying this book is bad and Dylan is selfish but that is not true!she is really sweet inside!Josh is funny too.I love how he mentioned Charlie's Angels!(:

There are two ways to read the female protagonist of this novel:

1) She'll make you want to scratch your eyes out because she's annoyingly shallow and conceited
2) You'll be so caught off guard with her self-centered naïveté that you can't help but picture the entire novel a la Cher's perspective from Clueless

I chose option number 2.

This book made me laugh out loud so many times! Like, big belly guffahs and everything. The thoughts that run through the heads of these dual perspectives of Dylan and Josh will have you chuckling throughout the entire book.

While I couldn't relate much to Dylan (I'm not exactly the fashionista, and could barely catch up with her long list of fashion designers), I could easily sympathize with Josh's germophobic tendencies and film-centric ego. Both of these characters are borderline neurotic (mostly Josh).

A very cute and charming read.

I have to say, I'm a bit shocked to find that this book has gotten so many negative reviews.

I discovered this book when I went on a trip with my mom to a used bookstore. It was in the way back, in the itty-bitty YA/Children's section, and had it not been under one of Sarah Dessen's novels, I probably would have never noticed it. When I first picked it up, I thought it sounded pretty interesting, considering the store I was in tends to have a low selection of good books for girls my age. Anyway, I opened it up and got to reading it right there in the store and was immediately hooked.

The story is about Castle Heights High's Queen Bee of popularity, Miss Dylan Shoenfield, and self-proclaimed film geek Josh Rosen. After rescuing Dylan's brand new designer bag from a fountain, Dylan agrees (if a bit unwillingly) to be the star of a documentary Josh is putting together as a part of his college application to a prestigious film school. What starts out as a nightmare for both parties soon becomes a strong bond that only grows as they continue to get to know each other.

I think that the biggest reason why people feel that this novel was a let-down is because of Dylan's character. They find her to be conceited, selfish, materialistic, and utterly clueless to everything that goes on around her that doesn't involve the latest fashion craze. While that may be true for the first chunk of the novel, the audience soon begins to see a shift in Dylan's personality. After spending time with Josh, she starts to open up to him and reveal the various flaws that she has, as well as a "haunted" past that I find to be very relatable to a variety of young girls. She finds herself changing her views on geeks, and people in general, the longer they are together. By the end of the novel, she goes from being a self-absorbed princess to a likeable and decent character that takes her entire experience as a chance to get to know herself better and work on her people skills.

Josh, on the other hand, is great from the start. He's got a wonderful personality-from honest, to loyal, to creative and witty-that is a joy to read about. Though he initially can't stand Dylan and only tolerates her for the sake of documentary, he soon learns that Dylan isn't as one-sided as he thought. He goes from fearing the popular crowd to becoming a part of it without loosing who he really is.

One of the best aspects of the novel is the wit that is involved throughout the whole thing. The countless ironic statements that Dylan makes are an hilarious touch, as well as the bountiful supply of sarcasm and one scene where Josh tells Dylan off on the side of the road.

The ending is a bit unexpected and a little bit disappointing, given the title of the book, but overall it's unique and has real closure to the entire story.

I'd recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a good laugh, a good heart-felt story, or just a good book in general.

Robin Palmer's writing continues to amaze me! It's just so fun and refreshing to read one of her novels and this one is no exception! This novel is told from two different perspectives. Dylan, the popular girl who thinks everything is perfect and Josh, a film geek who just wants to get into his first choice college. The Different perspectives was really fun and I could clearly see the difference from the beginning of the novel to the end. We see Dylan transform from a big time drama queen to someone who could admire herself for her. Josh turns from a shy guy to someone who can stand up for himself. Palmer clearly captures the frustration and changes, peer pressure of high school. The only thing that I didn't enjoy were Dylan's point of views in the beginning. She was just too conceited but I gyess its necessary for the novel to come out the way it did. 3.5 out of 5 paws.

My Thoughts: This book took a little longer than I expected it would. Usually I can zoom right through YA novels. They are so fast paced that the words flow right off the page but this one took some serious thought. I had to really think about what was going on, but that is a good thing! I liked the character of Josh, he reminded me of a lot of the boys I hung out with in high school. Always got along better with the "nerds." And it is awesome being a nerd. I can honestly say looking back to the days of high school, I was kind of a nerd. You know, the girl who sits with her head in a book all the time and carries one around to class with her incase she has time to read after she does her work. That was me! Dylan started off snotty and acts like she's queen of the world, but we learn how sensitive she really is and how she has dreams/fears like everyone else.

Overall: Neat book and makes us think about the "popular" girl falling for the "unpopular" boy. As much as I wish cliques didn't exist and everyone got along, they do exist and its something we learn to live with. This book reminds us that everyone has a soul even if they act like they are "all that." I recommend it!

Cover: This cover is AWESOME. It is really shiny and sparkly. The covers are bright and it is eye-catching!

Oh by the way, I discovered a cool thing!!! Robin has a new book coming out soon. It is going on my wishlist!!!! It is titled Little Miss Red!!
(Reviewed by Princess Bookie)

This story was very sweet and make a great easy beach read. I really like how the story ended.

I enjoyed reading Robin Palmer's Cindy Ella, and expected similar writing for her second novel. I was surprised with how much better this book was.

Like her first novel, Geek Charming takes a popular and well-known fairytale and puts it in a modern day, high school, L.A. setting. Instead of the beyond popular Cinderella, this story uses The Princess and the Frog. The Princess character is a spoiled, rich, and snobby senior girl who is at the height of her popularity, while the frog is essentially a film geek (who is really quite obsessed with films, directors, and the movie industry in general). By saving a purse, the film geek enters the world of popularity, ending up hanging out with Miss Popularity herself. The ending, however, is not as cliched--opting instead for more originality.

The main characters are well-developed and believable. Ms. Palmer writes well-enough to create sympathy for a seemingly harsh character (the princess), and engages the reader from the first page. Each chapter goes back and forth, changing the view point from Dylan (the princess) to Josh (the film geek).

The novel is also full of fun movie references, from the more obscure to the popular, which fits in nicely with the story since one character's life is surrounded by them.

I would recommend this book to anyone who liked the first book, or wants to read a light and fun modern day fairytale. The ending caught me a little by surprise at first, but I liked it better for it. This is a quick, fun read that had me smiling at the end.

This book was awesome! Such a fun read and I could not stop reading it until I was finished, unless I had to stop for whatever reason.
Geek Charming is a cute entertaining read about Dylan, a stuck up popular girl who owes this "geek" Josh a favor (there's of course more to this). He wants to be a film maker and in order to get into USC he needs to have a film. That's where Dylan and her two best best friends come in. Josh and Dylan end up having to spend more and more time together in order to get this film done. They both have their reasons for being involved in the making of this film but in the end, who knows what will happen. :D
This book is not predictable, so don't go thinking that you know what will end up happening in the end, because you're probably going to be wrong, surprised and happy about it especially since there is such a great message behind it.
I'll admit that I had a problem with the fact that the popular girl was so stereotypical, but I overall I can let that slide because it definitely did not get in the way of me enjoying the book or liking Dylan.
The narration in this book alternates between Dylan and Josh's POV so the reader really gets in the mind of both of the protagonist. I gotta say I loved knowing what each of the characters were thinking about certain situations. I also loved the funny things each characters said. I found myself laughing out loud at certain lines, so of course I had to share some of them (read below for more).
I do not understand why it is that Robin Palmer's books do not have more fans. I love her writing. This book was a really great, entertaining, YA book. I highly recommend it. Next I'm checking out her other book when I get the chance (read way below for more about this).
Isn't that cover beautiful? I especially love those shoes. :D
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