Yet another entry in the series of
Louise Rennison’s comic novels about British teen Georgia Nicholson, Then He
Ate My Boy Entrancers is a great deal of fun.  In this episode, Georgia and
her family travel to Nashville for a week and Georgia also struggles about how
to act towards he boy she likes, Italian hottie Masimo. She isn’t sure if he
likes her, or whether he is going out with her rival Wet Lindsay.  She also is
not sure how to react when she gets a letter from New Zealand from her former
boyfriend, Robbie the Sex God, and when Dave the Laugh, who she is able to have
the most fun with, flirts with her. 

There isn’t a great deal of
difference between this book and the previous ones in the series.  Rennison
keeps up the great use of language, with Georgia referring to New Zealand as
Kiwi-a-gogo land, and the USA as Hamburger-a-gogo land.  Masimo is the Luuurve
God of the Universe and Beyond.  When she expresses amazement, she says "Sacré
bloody bleu."  She has the same group of female friends, "the
ace gang," who greet each other on special occasions with Klingon
greetings, and do a disco inferno dance.  Georgia still spends much of her life
in a state of panic and confusion, and has utter disdain for her family,
especially her embarrassing father, who she refers to as vati.  She is a really
funny narrator, and her family and friends are crazy enough to give her plenty
of great material.  But there are some signs of Georgia getting a little more
mature — at one points she actually has a heart-to-heart conversation with her
mother about what to do about her romantic dilemmas, and she relies on the
friendship of the ace gang to help her through some difficult moments.  When
she is in the presence of Masimo, she manages to keep from throwing herself at
him even though she really likes him.  She knows that she can occasionally be
at the mercy of her hormones, which leads her to displays of red-bottomosity,
and her knowledge helps her to control her actions.

It would probably be difficult for
readers to follow unless they have read some of the previous novels in the
series, because it refers to many of the trials and tribulations of Georgia’s
love life, as well as to her family and pets, without a great deal of
explanation.  So this book is really for existing fans of the series.  It is a
quick read, and it is really enjoyable.  There are some hilarious moments,
especially when Georgia is with her family in Memphis and when she goes to the
local club to see the band the Stiff Dylans.  The book includes a small CD,
which has a short interview with the author, which isn’t at all revealing but
has its charms. 

 

Links:

·       
Review of Away Laughing
on a Fast Camel

·       
Review of Dancing in
My Nuddypants

·       
Review of On the Bright
Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God

·       
Review of Knocked Out by
My Nunga-Nungas

·       
Review of Angus, Thongs
and Full-Frontal Snogging

 

 

© 2005 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

 

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island, and editor
of Metapsychology Online Review.  His main research is on
philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Children