My So-Called Life (Rachel Riley, #1) by Joanna Nadin

My So-Called Life (Rachel Riley, #1) Reviews

• 
  Kylie🐾

  I enjoyed it!. I thought it was funny and witty and none of the book was a drag which is a surprise. The character was full on brilliant as well.
• 
  Sara

  2.5 tähteä
• 
  Danielle Lowe

  Very interesting book. It shows the reality of a normal girl, going on about the things you might expect. Friends, family, food and the like.
  
  What else can you expect? Well some how, even though this book is a very normal and simple book, there is something about it that is very appealing.
  
  This book is great, especially if you don't want to read a book that escapes reality - but rather something that makes you think about normal life and that perhaps you aren't the only one with a normal life.
  
  While it's a simple life, it's full of description and lets you imagine things the way real life would let you.
• 
  Sarah

  Absoloutely hilairious. I loved it! She's basically from a suburb, with a tragically snobbish middle class mother, a henpecked farther, and a litlle brother who's more like a middle aged man! Not to mention the Cleggs, the dog, and grandpa! However Rachel riely and her best friends, Scarlett and Sad Ed are desperate to be edgy and exciting, and utterly vouge and boheimian! A must read!!!!!!
• 
  Peony

  Very entertaining read. Made me laugh. There was no dull moment, even for me as an adult reader. The writer convinced me that the person keeping the diary actually was 13-14 (sometimes writers make children too mature) and the most entertaining parts for me was when the girl was describing the events that happened in the house and in the village amongst the adults. A lot of "adult content" so I might be embarrased to give this as a gift f.ex. for my neese.
• 
  Sarri

  Ihan kiva, päiväkirjamuotoinen romaani teinitytön elämästä. Vähän tuntui tosin uudelleenlämmitetyn haalelta, kun vertasin lukiessani alan ehdottomaan klassikkoon, Adrian Molen päiväkirjoihin. Tässä kirjassa ei päästä aivan samalle huumorin tasolle.
• 
  Ella

  I would’ve given like 3-4 stars BUT this book includes a lot of fatshaming and racism… It was overall fun and fast read, characters were funny and relatable, but nothing really big or super interesting happened…
• 
  Miriam

  A humorous book, perfect for lazy days.
• 
  Claudia

  When I was 12 years old, my mother bought me this book from Borders (remember Borders?!) because she was fed up of me reading Jacqueline Wilson books back-to-back over-and-over. Quickly, however, she noticed the “not suitable for younger readers” note on the back of the book and told me not to read it until I was older. Of course, a new book was too tempting and I read it in the secrecy of my room by head torch light when I was supposed to be asleep. Two years later when I was 14, we saw the 6th book of the series (The Facts of Life) in Waterstones and my mum deemed me old enough to start reading them.
  
  Ever since, I have read this diary (and the rest of the series) time and time again, ever laughing at the so-mundane-it’s-funny life of Rachel Riley. Since I was 12, this has been one of my all-time favourite books and I recommend it to everyone for light and easy reading that guarantees a good laugh.
  
  It’s relatability is prevalent on so many levels, from her often outlandish and thus unfulfilled Christmas and birthday lists to the struggles she faces with procrastination in exam season and constantly fantasising about being thrown up against a wall by her school-girl crush. I thank the Lord my mother isn’t a serial list writer, imposing bans on everything from Ribena to Channel 4 and whipping out Cillit Bang at the very whisper of a food item with the potential to create a stain.
  
  Rachel’s fantasist obsession reminds me of when I was younger, imagining I was someone other than myself, just as I’m sure every other 13 year old girl would.
  
  If ever you want to take a break from something complex or just need a good laugh, then I fully recommend giving this book (and any of the others in the series) a good read.
• 
  Misto

  This is kind of dumb but in the best possible way. I've always enjoyed these books. The main character is relatable yet you get to roll your eyes because of how dumb she can be. I'm glad I picked this up again after so many years.
• 
  Stargazer

  couldn't get into it
• 
  Emry Robinson

  A fun throw back to my teenage days. I can see why 13 year old me was the way I was as I was reading this.
• 
  Annie

  Even from about page 10 you could tell Sad ed Loves her and it isn't even revealed!
• 
  Francesca Pashby

  Enjoyed this but couldn’t quite get a handle on who it was written for. A more modern Adrian Mole, almost, but with references that a 21st century young teenaged girl just wouldn’t get.
• 
  Maija

  Yllättävän hyvin toimiva, mukaantempaiseva nuortenkirja jossa ajan hammas ei vuonna 2021 vielä pahasti näy.
• 
  TUUA

  Ei oikein iskenyt, tykkään enemmän lukea muun tyylisiä kirjoja
• 
  Matti Karjalainen

  Joanna Nadinin "Hanki elämä, Rachel Riley" (Gummerus, 2009) aloittaa englantilaisessa Saffron Waldenin pikkukaupungissa asuvan 13-vuotiaan teinitytön elämästä kertovan sarjan, jota on toistaiseksi taidettu suomentaa kolmen osan verran.
  
  Kirjan alussa Rachel kirjaa ylös seitsemän uudenvuodenlupausta, jotka hän aikoo toteuttaa kuluvan vuoden aikana. Listalle päätyvät muun muassa poikaystävän hankkiminen, Pariisissa käyminen, traagisten ja mielenkiintoisten tyyppien kanssa ystävystyminen ja kahvin juonnin aloittaminen. Viimeksimainitusta tosin joudutaan luopumaan jo puolentoista tunnin kuluttua, eivätkä muutkaan kohdat ole ihan niin helposti toteutettavissa. Teinityttömme tielle nimittäin osuu monenlaisia mutkia, joista mainittakoon mainittakoon kaiken eteensä ilmaantuvan syövä koira, itseään huomattavasti nuoremman naisen paksuksi pistävä isoisä, riidat parhaiden kavereiden Scarletin ja depis-Edin kanssa, karkoitukselta tuntuva lomamatka maaseudulle sekä monenlaiset ihmissuhdesotkut.
  
  Käytännössä kirja on 2000-luvulle siirretty ja ensisijaisesti tytöille suunnattu kopio Sue Townsendin "Adrian Molen päiväkirjoista", mutta sen verran onnistunut sellainen, että nopealukuinen ja paikoitellen hyvinkin hauska kirja jaksaa viihdyttää koko kolmensadan sivun kestonsa verran. Luultavasti tulen itsekin lukemaan vielä sarjan myöhäisempiäkin osia, mutta en kuolemaksenikaan keksi, miten tätä tulisi vinkata kohderyhmälle.
• 
  Tori

  This book made me giggle a lot. Rachel Riley is really naive, innocent and oblivious to so many things. She doesn't realize what is happening in her life (i.e Jack likes her, Sad Ed likes her etc)
  
  My friend's mom gave me this book and it was the Advanced Reader's version (the draft, if you will) so it had a couple of mistakes in it but not major ones. The story line is well developed and the main character is very likable.
  
  One thing that annoyed me, however, is how insensitive Riley's character sometimes was. For example, she and Scarlet said they "would become anorexic" but that only lasted for a day and she has no idea what anorexia is like. I know that Joanna Nadin added that in because most teenage girls do and say the same thing but it just rubbed me the wrong way.
  
  Overall though, this book is funny, witty and addictive and I'll be sure to read the rest of the Rachel Riley diaries.
• 
  Angela

  It was ok. I only read it cos I got it free with a magazine, and felt like an easy read. It was quite funny, and also rude :D so don't read it if you're... I'd say under twelve. It's about a girl called Rachael who is bored of her life, and writes everything in her diary. I thought it was ok but the character of Rachael kind of annoyed me, she didn't seem to have any sympathy for any of the other characters. And she spent the whole time obsessing over one particualr character, which got kind of annoying. But it was relatable ;)
  Overall, it was an ok, and good to read if you want something girly and quite easy-going.
• 
  Mark Farley

  I had this proof floating around at home and for whatever reason, it ended up in my bathroom. My girlfriend probably took it in there to read it in the bath or similar. As men do when they visit the bathroom, I found myself periodically dipping into this book and chuckling away at Nadin's witty Victoria Wood-esque euphemisms and observations. There is a great sense of Vicky Pollard about Rachel Riley's narrative and constant name dropping of such a vernacular amount of bit part players. But that is what school is like. You float through different phases and different friend groups, forever finding and settling into life's niche. I loved it and had to admit, I couldn't put the book down.