'I think I will always be known as the Hot or Not girl, defined by it for the rest of my career. Even my tombstone will read: Angelica “Geli” Voyante, beloved trendsetter. Death? Not Hot.
Yet, it doesn’t sound right. Why won’t anyone realise that there is more to me than this fickle persona I have inadvertently become?'
Yet, it doesn’t sound right. Why won’t anyone realise that there is more to me than this fickle persona I have inadvertently become?'
Geli Voyante is bored of being the Hot or Not girl, even if it has the perk of sitting next to Theo, the newspaper's very Hot political columnist. She's also getting a little lonely being single.
When her arch-nemesis Tiggy Boodles gets engaged, and other loved ones start to settle down, it's time for Geli to convince Theo that she’s not as shallow as her column suggests and, more importantly, she’s the one for him. Geli should remember though that there are always two sides to every story, and that applies to people too...
Angelica Dawn Voyante, or Geli as she prefers to be called (as in Jelly) knew her parents had a cruel streak, after all, they named her sister Claire...
Geli writes a newspaper column, 'Geli Voyante's Hot or Not', instructing readers what new trends they should be following (as in air high fiving, no more air kisses for Geli...so Not Hot), which clothes to wear and where to eat, and basically: What's Hot or Not!
Geli secretly fancies, no - loves, Theo Bones, fellow columnist (political editor). He's sexy, drop dead gorgeous and works in the pod next to her in the New News office. She doesn't think Theo would look twice at her though as she is ditzy, knowing far more about which shoes are Hot or Not than about current affairs, which she knows is the only way to impress a Political editor.
She accidentally commits a huge faux pas when Theo is discussing the US election 'race' between Obama and Clinton, assuming he's actually referring to a real running marathon. She offers her opinion of who should win the 'race' and Theo automatically assumes she has been hiding her political light under a bushel, so asks her out on a date. Oops...
As she opens up her Facebook she sees a string of updates down her timeline, the first that springs out is that Tiggy Boodles, her arch enemy has got engaged to the delectable Calvin Murphy-Lee. This makes her blood boil as at nearly 25 she feels that her clock is ticking rather too loudly, she is suddenly determined to make Theo realise that she is the woman for him.
Geli is deliriously happy to begin with, dating Theo, but little by little she sees a different side to him, things begin to go wrong, and reaches a crescendo at the highly unlovable Tiggy's wedding.
Geli Voyante's Hot or Not is a really fabbity (Hot), fun and sassy read. I loved Geli's character - admittedly I wanted to shake her into waking up and smelling the way things were heading, and exactly what I suspected was going on right under her nose, but still, she came really good in the end.
The description of South Africa is really beautiful, and very interesting for someone like me who has never been to SA (Geli is South African and that is where the ending of the book is set).
The book culminates in a very explosive ending at the evil Tiggy's wedding, with secrets and lies finally being revealed, with very shocking consequences.
There are some surprising family secrets revealed and shocking betrayals, but the story does have a really strong family/friend ethic running through. I especially liked the friendship between Geli and flatmate, Glinda, and eventually the relationship between the two sisters, Geli and Claire.
All in all, a fantastic second novel from Elle Field, and one that I would highly recommend!
Read the review for Elle's first novel, Kept, here -
Elle is kindly offering a giveaway of 2 x £10/$20 Amazon giftcards!
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