Review: Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes

Anatomy of a Misfit

By: Andrea Portes

Pub. Date: September 2, 2014

Publisher: Harper Children's

Pages: 336

Source: Edelweiss

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.

I received this galley in exchange for an honest review. 

I was so excited to read Anatomy of a Misfit, but unfortunately I was left feeling really disappointed. I couldn't get into the writing style, the characters, or the plot, and the ending pretty much killed me. Maybe it was because I was expecting a fun, light hearted book, the complete opposite of what I ended up getting that made me not enjoy it as much as I could have.

Anika is one of the most popular girls in school. She looks and acts differently than the other people at school and her family, but she is still in the in crowd, and won't do anything to compromise that standing. Anika was too annoying and dramatic for me. The book started to get a little better for me when we really start to get to know Logan. His story was very painful, and I was just hoping for a happy resolution for him and Anika. I did want them to get together. They had a sweet little relationship forming, which made the ending that much worse.

It was a really short read, but the fact that it took me almost a week to read it shows how much I couldn't get into it. While this book wasn't for me, there were some wonderful moments scattered throughout, and I do think others will like it. It's definitely a different kind of a YA than people are used too.