Girl Out of Water
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: maximumpopbooks (Released 2nd June 2016)
A thoroughly
British teen comedy starring a hilariously flawed heroine with a quip for every
occasion - perfect for fans of Holly Smale, Holly Bourne, Caitlin Moran and
Sophie Kinsella. Lou Brown's life is going down the pan. Best friend Hannah
sailed through the Olympic time trials and is off to her fancy-pants new swim
training school, while Lou's own failure to qualify leaves her without a hobby
- or a friend. As Lou tries to navigate her post-swim world, a chance encounter
with three boys with stars in their eyes takes her life in a surprising new
direction. One that leads to a crazy world of underwater somersaults, talent
show auditions, bitchy girls and one great big load of awkward boy chat.
When I won this book in a competition, I honestly had no idea what it
was about. Apart from the fact that 99% of books that maximumpop books
recommend are bloody awesome. I always enter all of their competitions for the sheer fact that they never fail
me. I read this book in a day. It came a few days ago and a few hours after, I’d
finished it. It was simply unputdownable.
Girl out of Water is the debut novel
from Nat Luurtsema. After finishing this book, I was immediately researching
her in the hope of a sequel…and she did not disappoint! Book number 2 is in the
pipeline already and I can’t wait! I’d say the book is for teenagers and young
adults but I’m 22 and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Girl out of Water is written from
Louise Brown’s perspective and my god, this book is funny. I’ve been doing a lot
of heavy reading recently about subjects that are really quite awful but this
book was the complete opposite and exactly what I needed to brighten my day. It’s
quite difficult to make me laugh but there were a lot of times during this book where I was in stitches because you
know what? I remember being a teenager, and how awkward I was around boys and
how embarrassed you feel by your parents and how one bitchy girls comment is
the end of the world and this book brings those memories rushing back (or
reminds you that you’re not alone with these feelings if you’re still a
teenager now!).
The story starts and Lou is competing to be in the Olympics for swimming
with her best friend Hannah. Like a lot of things you try when you’re younger,
you realise you’re not as good as you thought you were and there’s always
someone better. It just so happens that the “someone better” was her best
friend Hannah. In the try outs, Hannah came first and Lou came…last. Lou was
devastated and Hannah was whisked away to some fancy camp for pro swimmers. Lou
was convinced it was the end of the world (I remember not being in the same
class as one of my best friends in school and to me, that was the end of life
as I knew it). She had no friends now in school and she felt pretty crappy.
She gets back into the pool one day and finds 3 boys watching her. They
ask her for help. These aren’t just any 3
boys. They are popular, good-looking, available boys. Naturally, Louise says
yes. I don’t want to give too much
away but they ask for help about a certain topic and honestly? She has
absolutely no idea what she’s doing but she’s getting closer to the boys and getting paid so it’s definitely not
a disaster waiting to happen, right?
Louise starts to find her old self again and she realises, she isn’t
just training these boys anymore, they’re her friends. As the book continues, her
happiness is more prevalent but Hannah’s happiness is dwindling by the second.
Swimming camp wasn’t all as fabulous as it seemed…
There’s friendship, there’s love, there’s laughter and this book is one
of a kind. I feel more books like Girl
out of Water should be written because we seem to have forgotten that books
can simply be happy. They don’t need
a hidden meaning or a moral…sometimes they can just be fun and put you in a
good mood and this book certainly did that for me! I was asked to do a review
on Twitter for this but 140 characters did not give this book the recognition it
deserved. So, as an awkward teenager who related to everything Louise was
feeling in this book, Nat Luurtsema, I salute you.
No comments