Awkward

by Marni Bates

[Angie]

Awkward is adorable. Completely over-the-top, unbelievable, and far-fetched, but that's what made it so fun. Seventeen year old Mackenzie is just your average geek. She takes AP classes, tutors jocks, trips over her own two feet, and spews random trivia when she's nervous. She's content to be invisible with her two best friends, but then an unfortunate (and kind of hilarious) accident occurs, and she winds up as YouTube's newest It Girl. Mackenzie's quiet life is now full of reporters, paparazzi, and phone calls from TV producers. She's also got a brand new, designer wardrobe, and she's finally getting invited places where these garments will come in handy. However, as much as she wants to finally let loose a bit, she also doesn't want to lose herself to the fame.

I liked Mackenzie. She's a wonderful narrator, and the author did an amazing job at creating an authentic teen voice for Awkward. She's smart, clumsy, and...well, awkward. She also has some abandonment issues due to her father leaving when she was young, making it harder for her to get close to boys. I must say that Mackenzie did get on my nerves at some points. She seems quite judgmental, and is very focused on the whole Notable/Invisible dichotomy. She also came across as having a bit of an elitist attitude, despite always putting herself down as not as good as the so-called Notables. Luckily, she does realize this about herself during her brief brush with popularity, and decides to work on it. She does get caught up in the fame and stickin' it to the Notables, but she doesn't forget who she really is.

Of course there's an adorable romance in Awkward. It's the typical nerd girl gets the hot guy kind, but I think it works for the most part. I assumed there would be a guy who only wants her because of her sudden fame, and she falls for it, only to get heartbroken. That doesn't happen though. Yes, that jerkwad guy is there, but Mackenzie is smart enough to realize what he's up to. Unfortunately, she fails to realize that a great guy has been genuinely into her the entire time. Logan is the hot, popular, jock but there's more to him than that. I like him, but I do wish there had been a bit more scenes of him and Mackenzie being adorable together.

Awkward is a really fast and fun read. It's about a very unlikely situation, but it never takes itself too seriously so it's easy to fall into Mackenzie's suddenly crazy life. There are a lot of cliches and stereotypes and tropes and all that, but somehow the author made it all work. The only thing that I didn't think worked out too well was all of the real life pop culture references and name dropping. Awkward is seriously dated by this, so I doubt teens in 20 or even just 10 years are going to get half of what's mentioned. I still enjoyed it though.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.