Adorkable by Sarra Manning
Stand Alone
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: May 24th 2012
Synopsis: Welcome to the dorkside. It’s going to be a bumpy ride…
Jeane Smith’s a blogger, a dreamer, a dare-to-dreamer, a jumble sale queen, CEO of her own lifestyle brand and has half a million followers on twitter.
Michael Lee’s a star of school, stage and playing field. A golden boy in a Jack Wills hoodie.
They have nothing in common but a pair of cheating exes. So why can’t they stop snogging?
My Thoughts:
“We have nothing to declare but our dorkiness.”
Adorkable is a contemporary novel that I found to be undeniably charming. The book is fun, adorable, and has a really good message. Adorkable also had an uncanny ability to make me laugh, which is always a good thing 😉 This might not be a contemporary filled with emotion and impact, but it was fun.
I admit that the plot is a little ridiculous and the circumstances in the book can be even more ridiculous. I myself probably wouldn’t have liked this book as much as I had if it wasn’t for one thing: Sarra Manning’s great characters.
First is Jeane Smith, who is now one of my favorite characters. Jeane Smith is the blogger (see? She’s awesome already) behind the famous Adorkable, has half a million followers on Twitter, is the queen of jumble sales, and isn’t at all afraid of being her. She can be really terrible, but even then she is sort of fantastic.
“Never shield your oddness, but wear your oddness like a shield.”
Jeane is one of those people who, upon hearing that you don’t approve of them, will say, “So? I think I’m freaking amazing” and then walk calmly away as if you didn’t exist. I find that absolutely refreshing since there definitely aren’t many characters out there that are like that.
Michael Lee wasn’t as amazing as Jeane, but he was definitely good. I was actually surprised by how believable and honest he was written. Even though he is a genuinely good person, Michael Lee’s thoughts can be pretty unpleasant at times, especially when Jeane is being a little intolerable. But I’ve always valued honest and imperfect more than unbelievable and perfect, so me and Michael Lee got along just fine.
The chemistry and relationship between Jeane and Michael Lee: Perfectly written. Jeane and Michael Lee’s relationship is an undeniably messy one. The way it progresses is not the norm. But that messy relationship was perfectly written, and to be honest, even when Jeane and Michael Lee were verbally battling out, I wished that I was a character in the book so I could ‘accidentally’ push the two together.
Manning’s writing is great, with dialogue and narrative that really made me smile and laugh, making Adorkable a breeze to read. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted to write and understood how she was going to do it.
Adorkable is a very good contemporary and is one of the more refreshing stories out of the genre. I would recommend this book to lovers of fun, adorable stories with great characters. Oh, and also people who want to take a step into the dorkside. Because the dorkside really needs some members.
book adoration 
Awesome review Lottie! I just bought the book thanks to you. Adorkable sounds awesome with a capital A :P. I love books like this. I like the part where you are talking about the chemistry where you “accidentally” push them. LOL. But seriously: Awesome review.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it– I definitely thought that Adorkable was awesome with a capital A 😛 Haha, when you read the book, you will see what I mean and understand why I want to push Jeane and Michael Lee together, you will see!
Oh, and long time no talk! Gotta go visit your blog now 🙂
:). Can’t wait to read it :). I have been very busy but I will start publishing on my blog more often. And thanks for visiting 😀
Glad this one worked for you! It sounds pretty fun- I actually have a promo post card with the rules of being a dork on it, and that is pretty excellent- and it’s good that it wasn’t a let down. I’m not really drawn to it myself, though- I don’t know if I’d be able to enjoy it. Great review!
” Jeane and Michael Lee were verbally battling out, I wished that I was a character in the book so I could ‘accidentally’ push the two together.” Oh we all know where it’ll go from there. ;D Saying she’s a blogger. Heck yeah I’m sold. Talking about dorkiness+adorable romance+awesome characters= mind+blown = bloodshot on the inside = need to read this book
Aww, this book sounds adorkable (yes, it’s my new favorite word). I love that one of the MCs is a blogger (it’s pretty rare) and the whole book just sounds so fun&cute 🙂 Cute review!