Review by Luisa.
Bea feels boring and unglamorous, with her dull Saturday job, over-protective mother and three 'safe' schoolfriends. She thinks the most interesting thing about her is the Parisian father she's never met and who probably doesn't know she exists, and she spends her life dreaming of all things French.
Then Ruby, the school's queen bee, suddenly befriends Bea, and life starts to change. Soon Ruby's gang have invited Bea along on their Spanish holiday, and Ruby can be very persuasive. But in Spain, it's soon obvious that things aren't quite what they seem with the in-group, and Bea finds herself escaping from a nightmarish situation. She decides to take off on her own, on a voyage of discovery that includes Bilbao, Paris, a group of American backpackers and the truth about her father. Also, there's a boy named Toph.
This is the kind of book that you can wrap yourself up in and disappear for hours. Like all of Sarra Manning's characters, Bea is fascinating - she might not be the prettiest or most popular girl in school, and she might have many vulnerable moments, but she's also witty, down-to-earth and strong. There's a huge cast of other fun characters too. In the first section we meet manipulative Ruby; weasely Ayesha; utterly lovely Harry; solid Ruth. Bea's (sometimes bordering on horrifically) loving matriarchal family pops up throughout the book. And then there's the fabulous Toph...
Nobody's Girl delves into one girl's friendship, family and identity issues wonderfully, but for me this book has two additional outstanding aspects. The first is the romance, which is original, touching and sharply funny. The second is the way the story brings Paris to life, with Bea's warts-and-all love for the city shining through on every page, even when her experience of being there lets her down in ways she couldn't have imagined.
Highly recommended for fans of modern, witty, romantic coming-of-age stories.
Review by Luisa
Great review! I remember reading Guitar Girl a while ago and really enjoying it. And since this book sounds really great, I'll have to read it sometime soon along with her other books.
Posted by: Lauren | 10 February 2010 at 02:08 AM
Ooh, Guitar Girl! I can't believe I forgot to put that one in my Sarra Manning booklist above. I'm adding it right now *whistles*
Thanks a lot for your comment, Lauren!
Posted by: Luisa | 10 February 2010 at 08:13 AM
I can't wait to get stuck into this. Glad you loved it so much!
Posted by: Sophie | 10 February 2010 at 10:46 AM
Awesome review, Luisa! I really like the sound of this! I'm not reading much YA chicklit these days, and I think I want to. I need t get my hands on this book! Cheers!
Posted by: Jo | 10 February 2010 at 11:28 AM
Happy reading, Sophie! And thanks, Jo - I hope you enjoy it if you do get hold of it. YA chicklit is such a great genre! :)
Posted by: Luisa | 10 February 2010 at 11:38 AM
Yay, can't wait to read this one! Glad you enjoyed it so much :)
Posted by: Jenny | 10 February 2010 at 12:07 PM
Sounds like there is a great main character in this. Not my usual read but there is something so mysterious about Paris. Love the French accent!
Posted by: Becky (The Bookette) | 11 February 2010 at 07:42 PM
I am not surprised it got 5 out of 5 I LOVE EVERYTHING SARRA MANNING ever wrote.
Looking forward to reading this, I just finished Unsticky a few days ago.
Also I love this blog, thanks for all those great reviews
Posted by: Emily | 06 March 2010 at 12:19 PM
Will there be part 2 of Nobody¨s girl??? I really wnat too know what happend after Bea an Toph meet again in Paris
Posted by: ilham | 26 May 2011 at 04:03 PM