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
Buy OMG! Is This Actually My Life? Hattie Moore's Unbelievable Year! by Rae Earl at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Robert James
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.

This review was kindly given to us by the ever-generous Ya Yeah Yeah.

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