Anatomy of a Misfit

Andrea Portes is the author of “Anatomy of a Misfit”, and her other books include “Hick” and “Bury This”. For more information about Andrea Portes go to https://andreaportes.wordpress.com. The author chooses to write about points in young women’s lives that are empowering, frightening, and mysterious. “Anatomy of a Misfit” is about a teenage girl who hides her true self, never living in the moment. The novel goes through a period in her life that is filled with scary, tough, and emotional challenges. The book is really about how people pretend to be someone they are not; and shows how they finally free their true-self and decide to live in the moment.

                  

Anika Dragonir is considered the third most popular girl in school. On the outside she is blonde, pretty, and popular. On the inside she says she is a freak and made of spider stew. Becky Vilhauer is the most popular girl.  But, one step on her bad side and she will make your life a living hell. So when Logan McDonough, the former loner nerd, comes back to school transformed, Anika is trapped between her thoughts of him and another. Jared Kline, the hot bad boy every girl wants, including Becky, keeps asking Anika on dates. So Anika is forced to go through high school with these challenges while hiding her spider stew true-self. “I kept it a secret. ‘Cause I cared, I cared what everybody thought more than what I thought. Or more than my heart thought. And that makes me an idiot” (Portes 323). This quote stuck out to me because it reveals that Anika knew that her actions and thoughts were conflicted.  She knew what really mattered was what her heart thought.  What she has to go through to begin listening to her heart is truly powerful.

               

I would recommend this book to anyone in a heart beat. I believe anyone would gain insight into their own lives by reading it. The novel shows how a lot of teens pretend to be someone they aren’t and don’t live in the moment.  It’s a story that could inspire people; and it’s definitely one I would read again.

Book Review by Hannah S.