Gingerbouf Does Books

Geekhood by Andy Robb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Haha, this was pretty gosh darn funny. It took a little while to get into, mainly because I don't know any 14 year old boys, so I was uncertain as to whether the narrator was particularly accurate. I kept forgetting he was a 14 year old boy. But what do I know, maybe there are insightful, astute, intelligent 14 years old's out there. I think the problem I have is that not only do I not know any right now, but as far as I can recall, I never met any either. No-one springs to mind from my school days, though that was a rather long time ago...and I didn't really talk to boys much ¬_¬ To be fair to Archie (the main character/narrator of this tale) he does spend most of his time alternating between putting his foot in it and generally making things worse, yet he does this armed with plenty of wit and charm, which helps remind us that he is but a hapless youth on the cusp of manhood.

The author does an excellent job of creating a character you feel you know. He also has a flair for banter of a highly amusing nature. Archie's observations ring with an alarming amount of truths, and as a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and possessed of geeky tendencies myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the use of all the nerdish references.

I really cannot stress enough the quality of the writing. It often had me chortling to myself, which didn't make me look like a nutter at all (sarcasm). Other than the over use of the word Tosser, I can find no fault with it whatsoever.

What the author also does very well is use humour to deal with tougher subjects, divorce, being an outsider, but he doesn't do it in a way that's patronising. He manages to make the feelings and emotions accessible. In a way, he's saying that all the things young adults feel when they grow up are normal, that they don't have to be ashamed of them. And that's the kind of thing young people need to hear, especially when it is delivered with such

In a time when Geek is the new cool, and smart is the new sexy, Geekhood is a welcome sign that we are entering a new era.

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