Review: Geekhood: Mission Improbable (Geekhood, #2) by Andy Robb

Spoiler warning! This is the 2nd book in the Geekhood series and this review may contain spoilers from the first book. You can read my review of Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind here instead. You have been warned!

Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb

Author: Andy Robb Website|Twitter
Published: 1 April 2013 (Stripes)
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Buy the paperback: Amazon|BookDepository

Source: Won

Plot Summary (from Goodreads):
Archie is a Geek to his core - and despite having a Close Encounter with Sarah at the beginning of term, he's still completely clueless about girls. Enter Clare - an older woman (she's sixteen) who Archie meets on his weekend trip to see his dad and his nightmare step-mum, Jane. Clare and Archie hit it off - and she's got a brilliant, foolproof way to get their crushes to notice them: pretend to be going out with one another! What can possibly go wrong? In the midst of school, getting Sarah to forgive him and dealing with his insane family, Archie and his mates step-up the nerdiness and go Live Action Role-play gaming. Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering a new era...

My Review:
I absolutely adored the first Geekhood book and this has been sitting at the top of the to-read pile next to my bed for a few weeks. I got to the point where I couldn't wait any longer and just had to dive in! Geekhood: Mission Improbable follows Archie, Beggsy, Ravi and Matt as they take their geeky exploits to a whole new level with a bit of LARP - Live Action Role-play. There's still the issue of Archie's feelings for Sarah but he has a plan to win her over.

When you go into the second book in a series having loved the first book, I suppose there's that nervousness that the book won't live up to its predecessor. I'm very relieved to say that I loved this book as much, if not more, than the first! I ate it up in practically a day and every time I put it down (which I only did because of those annoying necessities such as work and sleep) I would miss reading about Archie and his adventures, and I couldn't wait to get back to it.

When writing down notes in my book journal during my read of Geekhood: Mission Improbable, the most common word in my notes was "hilarious". Because this book made me laugh. So much. I don't think I mentioned it in my review for the first book (because there was so much to fit in that I literally could have written an essay if I hadn't held back!) how much I loved Archie's "Inner Monologue" which he uses to express those thoughts he can't say out loud. What made me giggle away during this book was that his IM spends a lot of the time singing the Mission Impossible theme. Seriously, I was laughing so much at that. Of course it means if you read this book you'll have it stuck in your head for days afterwards, but I think it's a small sacrifice to make...

I loved how Geekhood 2 takes Archie and his friends' geekiness to a whole other level. I just got so wrapped up in how excited they got about the live action role-play and how the build up to the big event really drove the plot. Again, Archie questions himself over his geekiness and whether it's something to be embarrassed about but his excitement totally outweighed that and this book was all about the geek pride!

I really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Archie and Tony and Archie and his dad play out throughout the story, because it seems the roles of the two father figures has flipped a bit and now suddenly it's his dad acting weird. There were some hilariously (there's that word again!) embarrassing moments between Archie and each of them that are moments I imagine all teenage boys dread and would relate to (like when it comes to Tony preparing Archie for the big wide world i.e sex) that were so funny and so brilliantly done. It was also so freaking funny seeing Facebook come into play like with Archie's dad using text speak (my mum does it too and it drives me mad!) and Tony adding him on Facebook. These are the real ways to embarrass your kids these days, people.

What was super awesome and got me really excited were the scenes set in York! I live in York and I think everyone will agree that reading about somewhere where you live is pretty cool. It was taken to a whole new level when Archie bumps into some York locals (apparently, according to Archie, all York girls are attractive so reading this book gave me a confidence boost = winning) and reflects on their accent. I laughed so hard. Seriously. Because I have a Yorkshire accent and if there's one word that people take the micky out of me for saying, it's the word phone (which Archie accurately observes comes out a bit like "phern" when you're talking all Yorkshire.). And then Archie ends up picking up on that exact word and I was kind of jumping up and down and laughing at the same time because it was such a freaking accurate reaction. Kudos to the author for that one!

I loved how Archie's crush on Sarah is carried through to this story. He's still totally smitten so when he meets a pretty girl on the way to his dad's who offers the chance of a fauxmance to make Sarah jealous, Archie jumps on board. I really enjoyed seeing Archie deal with both his fake relationship and his feelings for Sarah. As well as that, Archie's friends are exploring the world of girls as well, and I loved seeing how they all coped with that. It was awesome that some the girls got involved with the LARP geekiness, too.

This book was definitely all about friendship and the friendship between Archie, Ravi, Beggsy and Matt is one we should totally all be jealous of. I want to be friends with all of them because I'd just laugh all day long and you'd know they had your back. There were some great ups and downs for the guys in this story and it was really good seeing them tested and seeing how they reacted.

What was great about having the LARP plotline was that you got some pretty kickass scenes towards the end that you would expect from a fantasy novel, only this time it's people in costumes kicking some orc backside. It still made for a pretty exciting conclusion to the story! I loved how the other storylines were tied up too.

Basically this book is one I will be thrusting into people's hands in the future and urging them to read. Not enough books make me laugh out loud and this one certainly did! And it's just so refreshing to find such true to life characters instead of all these glamourised ones we're supposed to aspire to. There need to be more Archie's in the YA world, please. If you still haven't grabbed this book and you loved the first then go and track it down now! You won't regret it. I promise.

Rating: 5*
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Review: Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb

Author: Andy Robb Website|Twitter
Published: 4 June 2012 (Stripes)
Format: E-book
Pages: 352
Buy the paperback: Amazon|BookDepository
Buy the e-book: Kindle|Kobo

Source: Borrowed from e-library

Plot Summary (from Goodreads):
If you haven't worked it out yet, girls don't do this. They don't come to the Hovel. They don't like goblins and dragons. They don't paint miniatures. They don't play role playing games or re-enact fictional battles. And they don't talk to Geeks like me especially if they're pretty. And this girl is pretty. What do you do if you're a fourteen-year-old Geek, and a Beautiful Girl has appeared in the midst of your geeky world? And she seems to like you... For Archie, the natural reaction would be to duck and cover ... run for the hills ... buy a new model elf... Anything but risk stepping into the Real World. But even Geeks have to put their heads above the parapet at some point. With his mum barely able to contain her excitement that her son is about to join the human race, and his step-father, Tony the Tosser, offering crass advice, it's time for Archie to embark on a daring Quest to win the Beautiful Girl's heart and shake off his Geekhood for good...

My Review:
Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind follows Archie as he battles his way through teenage life and the many obstacles it throws in his way. His mum's boyfriend is, in his words, a "tosser" and his dad is disappointingly absent, but it's okay because he has his friends and their regular gaming meet-ups to keep him sane. Then one day a girl pops up in  his life creating a whole load more awkward teenage boy problems for Archie.

Okay, so you know sometimes when you start reading a book and it just seems so perfect it's as if it was written specifically for you? That's how I felt during Geekhood. All these little references just made it call out to me. I mean I was always going to have a great deal to like when it comes to a book about geeks, but I just connected with this book on so many levels!

I'll start out with the humour which was just brilliant. Archie himself was such a funny character and I loved his voice throughout the story because he just absolutely jumped off the page. I have never been a teenage boy so I can't relate to him per say, but his character is exactly like the kind of teenage boys I encountered at school, and who I so rarely see portrayed in books. I think it helps that this book is so freakingly British and British humour > every other type of humour. I mean take the amount of tea Archie drinks (because making tea is what you do in every possible situation). Those observations Archie makes are the same ones I make in my own household with my own family and just being able to recognise those characters and situations made me grin like a madwoman.

Onto the geekiness! Archie and his friends are huge fans of RPG games and love hanging out at The Hovel, their favourite gaming shop. I loved how the gang bonded over their games and how passionate they were about what they love. There's several moments in the book where Archie starts to question what he does and his identity and whether he should be moving on from those parts of his life as he grows up, and I loved seeing that kind of identity crisis he goes through. I think all of us geeks have looked at ourselves and wish we could be that much cooler and hidden our inner geek, but at the end of the day, this book definitely made me want to wear my geekiness with pride!

The range of teenage problems covered in Geekhood was brilliantly accurate, and I loved how the author hasn't shied away from the most awkward and embarrassing teenage moments. As Archie tries to impress the new girl on the block Sarah, he starts worrying about his image and suddenly it's like the whole world revolves around her. I think we all remember those first proper crushes and the freaking out about how to act around them and what to wear. I was giggling my way through so many of the scenes where Archie's mum tries to help him out and interfere. What I loved most of all is that whilst the book covered those awkward experiences, not once did it make me cringe. Because seriously, I hate cringing, and so often I cringe my way through books and it completely distracts me from the story. So I was relieved I could just completely lose myself in Geekhood and just laugh!

The friendship between Archie and his best friends Matt, Ravi and Beggsy was a real highlight. There were some ups and downs that I'm sure we can all relate to, thanks to jealousy and that one friend who starts to change and drift apart from the group, but the four of them are just so funny and obviously have a really strong friendship. I mean reading this book left me totally want to hang out with them and play games. It was interesting to see how they coped with the negative attention their geek status gets them. I also really liked Sarah, Archie's love interest. She just takes everything as she comes and seems like a genuine person who will take the time to talk to anyone. I loved that she was a bit of a misfit too.

I mentioned earlier how this book felt like it was meant for me, and even the little things like having a character called Sarah made me smile. (I have this theory that authors avoid that name because it's so common, but surely the fact it's so common means there should be one in every book?! And I loved this particular Sarah!) And then it threw in references to my home city of York and I was convinced it was a sign. Me and this book were meant to be.

I laughed so much throughout Geekhood and I'm certainly going to be recommending this to everyone I possibly can. If you've ever been labelled a geek or been ashamed of your passion then it's the perfect way to let you embrace that side of you. It was a brilliant portrayal of those awkward years of growing up and figuring out who you are and discovering those new feelings that come with the hormones. I think everyone will be able to relate to Archie and really empathise with him. Plus it will make you laugh. A lot. Go grab it now!


Rating: 5*
What to read next: Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb, the second Geekhood book
Books like this: Spy School by Stuart Gibbs