REVIEW: My Now or Never Diary by Liz Rettig

Kelly Ann has only just come to her senses and realised that G, the boy she’s fancied all year, is a total nerd and Chris, the boy next door who’s been in love with her all year, is actually the man for her. But does that mean she’ll live happily ever after with Chris, discovering the joys of sex and smugly advising her friends in the ways of true love? Of course not. With the help of her faithful friends Liz and Steph, Kelly Ann manages to muck it all up and finds that the path of true love never runs smoothly! Can her relationship with Chris survive being found by his parents semiclothed in their living room on the day of his surprise birthday party? Or her wild girls’ holiday to the domain of the holiday rep, Faliraki? Can Kelly Ann get through all these crises and manage to singlehandedly look after her sister’s baby and the fake baby school have given her as a project too? A hilarious riot of teenage fumblings, terrible teachers and skincare made from porridge.

Kelly Ann has to be one of my favourite fictional heroines of all time. She's such a brilliant character! She's hilarious and some of the things she comes out with are just genius. She's very naive at the same time though, which can be irritating sometimes, but at other times it can be a contributing factor to her lovableness! It annoyed me the way that she was convinced that Shelly was such a good friend, when it was obvious she wasn't. 

Stephanie and Liz are fantastic friends to Kelly-Ann, and I love them too! The friendship the girls have is so real and lovely! Stephanie changes in this novel, for the better. She grows up, and she becomes a more genuine person. Liz stays much the same, and doesn't really have a huge part in the book, but she's still great to have around as a character, because she's so funny!

I still don't know about Chris! He's the only flaw in the book in my opinion. I don't dislike him, he just doesn't feel real to me at all. His and Kelly-Ann's relationship doesn't feel genuine, and he doesn't come to life for me!

One of my favourite things about this series is that it's so true to life. Kelly Ann's experiences with friends, family, school, boys and everything else are realistic, and very relatable! This series describes the highs and lows of being a teenager, with no sugarcoating!

I flew through reading My Now or Never Diary. These books are so readable, and are literally impossible to put down! The (usually) short diary entries make the reader keep going and going, and you hardly notice the pages fly by! The author is amazing, it honestly feels like I'm actually reading Kelly Ann's real diary!

My Now or Never Diary is hilarious - the situations Kelly-Ann and her friends get themselves into are hysterical! If you need a good laugh, this is the series to read.

I know this is a short review, but to be honest I don't know what else to say - the Kelly-Ann series is fantastic, and if you're a teenage girl who hasn't read it yet, you're seriously missing out! My Now or Never Diary is one of the funniest books I've read, but it's also heartwarming and very likeable - like Kelly Ann herself! It's a great part of the series, not to be missed!

                                                Rating: 4.5/5

Source: For Review - a massive thanks to the publisher for sending me this in exchange for an honest review.

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320

Age group: 13+

Official Publication Date: 1st June 2006
Publisher: Corgi Childrens (an imprint of Random House Childrens Books)