OMG! Is This Actually My Life? Hattie Moore's Unbelievable Year! by Rae Earl
| OMG! Is This Actually My Life? Hattie Moore's Unbelievable Year! by Rae Earl | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Robert James
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| Summary: This fun diary with a great sense of humour doesn't quite live up to early promise but is still an entertaining read. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 336 | Date: February 2013 |
| Publisher: Walker | |
| ISBN: 978-1406340013 | |
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Hattie Moore has got a nightmare family with an evil brother, a gran who’s a ‘total mental’, and a father who she knows nothing about. As well, she wants to be a total hotness goddess and take down rival Miss Gorgeous Knickers but there’s no boy interested in her (or is there?) Hattie’s diary tells the story of a year that could just change her life. As long as her stepfather doesn’t hate her too much for throwing up in his fish tank, that is…
I enjoyed this book; Hattie has a brilliant voice which drew me in and I read it in just a couple of sittings. It’s a breezy read full of fun characters – Hattie herself being the stand-out, but I also loved her dirty-minded Gran, boy next door Goose, and friends Weirdo Jen and dimple. Hattie’s relationship with her family, particularly her frustration with her mother and stepfather, is particularly well-captured – it’s clear that they’re a loving family but you can see why they get on each other’s nerves a lot. As well there are lots of lines which made me laugh out loud – I loved Hattie’s gran’s reassurance that she’d have no problem getting home from a rather wild New Year’s party as ‘she’s put her name and address on her dentures if she gets lost.’
My only complaint with this is that I think it tails off towards the end. I could see the revelation about Hattie’s father coming a mile off and as that part of the story comes more to the fore, the humour seems to fall away a bit. That’s not to say it’s bad, and I still enjoyed reading it, but the last third or so didn’t live up to the early promise for me.
Despite this, it’s an easy book to recommend as a really fun read, and I’m looking forward to starting the sequel this week!
My go-to recommendation for teens wanting a light contemporary read is still Have a Little Faith by Candy Harper, along with sequel Keep the Faith. I also think fans of this one would enjoy Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison. We also have a review of OMG! I'm in Love with a Geek! by Rae Earl.
This review was kindly given to us by the ever-generous Ya Yeah Yeah.
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You can read more book reviews or buy OMG! Is This Actually My Life? Hattie Moore's Unbelievable Year! by Rae Earl at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy OMG! Is This Actually My Life? Hattie Moore's Unbelievable Year! by Rae Earl at Amazon.com.
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