Expected publication: 09/02
Published
by HarperTeen (2014)
Paperback (ARC)
330 pages
Pre-order your own
Amazon
Book Depository
Ratings
Content: ★★★
Cover: ★★★★
Summary
This emotional, hilarious, devastating, and ultimately triumphant YA debut, based on actual events, recounts one girl’s rejection of her high school’s hierarchy—and her discovery of her true self in the face of tragedy.
Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite.
Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?
Anatomy of a Misfit is Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Anika’s hilariously deadpan delivery will appeal to readers for its honesty and depth. The so-sad-it’s-funny high school setting will pull readers in, but when the story’s dark foreboding gradually takes over, the devastating penultimate tragedy hits like a punch to the gut. Readers will ride the highs and lows alongside funny, flawed Anika — from laughter to tears, and everything in between.
Published
by HarperTeen (2014)
Paperback (ARC)
330 pages
Pre-order your own
Amazon
Book Depository
Ratings
Content: ★★★
Cover: ★★★★
Summary
This emotional, hilarious, devastating, and ultimately triumphant YA debut, based on actual events, recounts one girl’s rejection of her high school’s hierarchy—and her discovery of her true self in the face of tragedy.
Fall’s buzzed-about, in-house favorite.
Outside, Anika Dragomir is all lip gloss and blond hair—the third most popular girl in school. Inside, she’s a freak: a mix of dark thoughts, diabolical plots, and, if local chatter is to be believed, vampire DNA (after all, her father is Romanian). But she keeps it under wraps to maintain her social position. One step out of line and Becky Vilhauer, first most popular girl in school, will make her life hell. So when former loner Logan McDonough shows up one September hotter, smarter, and more mysterious than ever, Anika knows she can’t get involved. It would be insane to throw away her social safety for a nerd. So what if that nerd is now a black-leather-jacket-wearing dreamboat, and his loner status is clearly the result of his troubled home life? Who cares if the right girl could help him with all that, maybe even save him from it? Who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy every girl dreams of, is asking her on dates? Who?
Anatomy of a Misfit is Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Anika’s hilariously deadpan delivery will appeal to readers for its honesty and depth. The so-sad-it’s-funny high school setting will pull readers in, but when the story’s dark foreboding gradually takes over, the devastating penultimate tragedy hits like a punch to the gut. Readers will ride the highs and lows alongside funny, flawed Anika — from laughter to tears, and everything in between.
DISCLAIMER: I WON A FREE ARC OF THIS BOOK THROUGH GOODREADS' FIRST READS PROGRAM IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Anatomy of a Misfit is a very strange read. Reading it, I was—and still am—ambivalent about it. There are a lot of things that baffle me, things that make me wonder how long it has been since the author attended high school. Nevertheless, I find the book to be a very quick, occasionally funny read.
To be honest, most of the time I laughing about how some of the things are narrated. Anika has a uniquely odd voice that made normal things sound completely different. I had trouble getting used to it, and even disliked Anika at the beginning, but, once I became accustomed to her voice, she stopped bothering me and even became slightly amusing.
The characters are unlikeable and unrealistic, and the ending seems out of place and clichéd, but he middle of the book gets a lot better, at least until the climax.
Anika is difficult to like. From the very beginning she is portrayed as an over-dramatic brat living in a world that I can't even collate with my own high school experience.
The biggest fault in this book is the unrealistic world caused by ignorance. For example, Anika mentions the hierarchy that exists at her school many times. Anika is the third most popular girl at her school. Her best friend, Shelly, is the second most popular, and their spiteful frenemy, Becky, is the first most popular. Becky dates the most popular boy in school, the second most popular has a crush on Anika, and all that keeps Shelly and Anika safe from social ruin is their friendship with Becky. Without her Shelly would be the school slut, and Anika would be the school... immigrant? None of that matters, however, because the most popular boy in town, Becky's boyfriend's older brother, suddenly develops a crush on Anika, perhaps making her even more popular than Becky.
How in the world can anybody tell if someone is second or third most popular? Where in the country are high schools anything like the one described in this book? If a so-called nerd suddenly turns hot, the populars will not prevent him from joining their clique solely based on his previous status as a nerd. Also, a moped does not in any way make you cooler.
Throughout the book, Anika keeps telling us that she doesn't fit in because she is a "half-breed," or, as Becky calls her, an "immigrant." She is different. The truth, however, is that we are all different from one another, but Anika doesn't see that. She lives in all-American Lincoln, Ohio, where people of color are virtually non-existent and to be looked down upon, a place where people use offensive words, such as queer and gay like it's a sport.
If that sort of thing bothers you, this is not the book for you. Personally, I found it really annoying, and even considered DNFing. I had to tell myself that those things are used to describe a backward town, but it is hard when my experiences could not be farther from those portrayed in this book.
The biggest plot problem was the romance. Anika is a 15 years old who has never been kissed, but she suddenly finds herself surrounded by guys who are interested. She develops a relationship with two of them, creating a strange little love triangle. Although we are told Anika gets a ride from the Moped Kid every day for over a month, we never see that. Needless to say, when she realizes that she is in love with him after the first date, it is hard to believe. The Other Guy says he really likes her, but when she tells everyone she is in love with Moped Kid, the Other Guy is the first one to clap, and is not at all affected.
Anika shows some growth throughout the book. She goes from being a girl who thinks she is a criminal mastermind, to showing a more caring side. She regrets stealing, develops a friendship with a person of color (apparently, that is a big deal), and stands up to Becky.
No other character shows any kind of growth. They don't develop or become any more realistic as you read the book. Often times it feels like you skipped all the bonding scenes, because although we are told they are happening, we are never shown.
It is all going great until the very last scene, which I have deemed utterly unnecessary. Anika does not deal well with what happens, and goes a bit overboard in her speech. It is unnecessary to slam someone, even if you want to get a point across. It is, again, overdramatic and seems entirely out of place.
Anatomy of a Misfit is the kind of book you read just because. You won't learn anything from it, but you will probably find it entertaining. It could definitely be labeled a "guilty pleasure read," similar in that way to the Twilight Saga. Despite its faults, people will find it enjoyable.
Have you read Anatomy of a Misfit? Leave your thoughts down below.
Anatomy of a Misfit is a very strange read. Reading it, I was—and still am—ambivalent about it. There are a lot of things that baffle me, things that make me wonder how long it has been since the author attended high school. Nevertheless, I find the book to be a very quick, occasionally funny read.
To be honest, most of the time I laughing about how some of the things are narrated. Anika has a uniquely odd voice that made normal things sound completely different. I had trouble getting used to it, and even disliked Anika at the beginning, but, once I became accustomed to her voice, she stopped bothering me and even became slightly amusing.
The characters are unlikeable and unrealistic, and the ending seems out of place and clichéd, but he middle of the book gets a lot better, at least until the climax.
Anika is difficult to like. From the very beginning she is portrayed as an over-dramatic brat living in a world that I can't even collate with my own high school experience.
The biggest fault in this book is the unrealistic world caused by ignorance. For example, Anika mentions the hierarchy that exists at her school many times. Anika is the third most popular girl at her school. Her best friend, Shelly, is the second most popular, and their spiteful frenemy, Becky, is the first most popular. Becky dates the most popular boy in school, the second most popular has a crush on Anika, and all that keeps Shelly and Anika safe from social ruin is their friendship with Becky. Without her Shelly would be the school slut, and Anika would be the school... immigrant? None of that matters, however, because the most popular boy in town, Becky's boyfriend's older brother, suddenly develops a crush on Anika, perhaps making her even more popular than Becky.
How in the world can anybody tell if someone is second or third most popular? Where in the country are high schools anything like the one described in this book? If a so-called nerd suddenly turns hot, the populars will not prevent him from joining their clique solely based on his previous status as a nerd. Also, a moped does not in any way make you cooler.
Throughout the book, Anika keeps telling us that she doesn't fit in because she is a "half-breed," or, as Becky calls her, an "immigrant." She is different. The truth, however, is that we are all different from one another, but Anika doesn't see that. She lives in all-American Lincoln, Ohio, where people of color are virtually non-existent and to be looked down upon, a place where people use offensive words, such as queer and gay like it's a sport.
If that sort of thing bothers you, this is not the book for you. Personally, I found it really annoying, and even considered DNFing. I had to tell myself that those things are used to describe a backward town, but it is hard when my experiences could not be farther from those portrayed in this book.
The biggest plot problem was the romance. Anika is a 15 years old who has never been kissed, but she suddenly finds herself surrounded by guys who are interested. She develops a relationship with two of them, creating a strange little love triangle. Although we are told Anika gets a ride from the Moped Kid every day for over a month, we never see that. Needless to say, when she realizes that she is in love with him after the first date, it is hard to believe. The Other Guy says he really likes her, but when she tells everyone she is in love with Moped Kid, the Other Guy is the first one to clap, and is not at all affected.
Anika shows some growth throughout the book. She goes from being a girl who thinks she is a criminal mastermind, to showing a more caring side. She regrets stealing, develops a friendship with a person of color (apparently, that is a big deal), and stands up to Becky.
No other character shows any kind of growth. They don't develop or become any more realistic as you read the book. Often times it feels like you skipped all the bonding scenes, because although we are told they are happening, we are never shown.
It is all going great until the very last scene, which I have deemed utterly unnecessary. Anika does not deal well with what happens, and goes a bit overboard in her speech. It is unnecessary to slam someone, even if you want to get a point across. It is, again, overdramatic and seems entirely out of place.
Anatomy of a Misfit is the kind of book you read just because. You won't learn anything from it, but you will probably find it entertaining. It could definitely be labeled a "guilty pleasure read," similar in that way to the Twilight Saga. Despite its faults, people will find it enjoyable.
Have you read Anatomy of a Misfit? Leave your thoughts down below.