Komal Mikaelson

More of a 2.5 stars.

Adorkable was 70% dorky boring and 30% adorable. I was really excited about this book and all about badgered Jessie to read it with me and you can check out her review here. I mean, have you read the blurb? 17 year old dorky teenager, blogger extraordinaire, " an innovator and a one-girl zeitgeist and the queen of the outliers" AND a hot guy? Sign me up!
The story revolves around Jeane's break up with her boyfriend, Barney, and her navigation along the lines of dorkiness and loneliness and subsequent acceptance and development.

Character

Jeane Smith
First with the good part.
Jeane is ...fun. She is confident and blunt and doesn't take shit from anyone. A strong, independent protagonist. She is comfortable in her own skin and hell with you if you don't understand me. I don't give a shit. She is awesome that way. She is quirky, witty and brilliant in a way.

Now, the slightly disconcerting part.
Jeane is ...weird. Not dorky weird, just weird. She has half a million followers on Twitter but can't manage to talk/relate to even one person, except Barney, at her own school. It was like, everyone was beneath her and Miss. Dorky Personified couldn't be bothered with the lowlifes she was forced to spend time with.
She was all like:

She was too full of herself. She was ornery, obstreperous, obnoxious and "all other unflattering o letter words. I couldn't identify with her. I don't have a Twitter and like Micheal, I "don't get Twitter".
But that's just me.
I'll bet tons of people will relate to her, because let's face it, our generation do spend more time interacting with netizens that our school mates.
I could totally sympathize with Micheal's view that internet friends are not exactly real friends. It is nice if you are active virtually but you really can't substitute actual people with the internet guys.
Hmph.
I'm guessing, I just sounded like a 10000 year old there, but I like going out with my "real" friends too.

At the end of it all, beneath all the glitter and flashy, mismatched clothes, all the bluster and rambunctiousness, Jeane is just a lonely girl starving for a hug.

Michael Lee
In a word: AMAZING.
Your Mr. Popular and NOT a manwhore. Head of the debating society, captain of the football team blablabla. You get the drift. All in all, Mike was a pampered child. No traumatic childhood, no drunk dad or absent mom.
Normal. Happy.
There was this child-like innocence in him that was glaringly lacking in Jeane. But Micheal was timid too. 18 year old, following a time table to the T posted by his parents. Scared of breaking his curfew. Living within boundaries set by his mom parents.
You might call it spineless or obedient.
Your call.

Writing
Great.
There is something about British writing that makes it adorable. I haven't read many Brit lit, so maybe the unfamiliarity held a certain charm for me. I don't know. Whatever it was, I adored the writing.
The dialogues were witty and Jeane's monologue smartass-y.
All in all, enjoyable and entertaining.
And totes? Is it a British lingo for totally?
And what does blates meaning?

Story
Okay-dokey.
Nice at best and dragging at worst.


High Points
Jeane Smith. Adorkable. Lee. Humor. Christmas Eve. Stuck doors. Candies. Haribo. Gizmos. @winsomedimsum. Adorkable Manifesto. Cheating ex. Raw honesty. Dialogues. Straight forwardness.

The stupidest thing in the entire book
How Jeane and Micheal hooked up. No talking. No communication. No explanation. Just hook up. When the opportunity arises, one of them would jump at the other and snog the heck off each other and then be on their own merry way.
Seriously?
That is the height of WTF.

Conclusion
You will either love it or hate it, depending upon how much you can identify with Jeane's situation. Or how attached you are to your virtual life :)