6 Reasons the Geek Girl Series is My Comfort Read: Why the story of an undiagnosed female autistic main character matters to me

Originally published on Medium

I recently recommended the Geek Girl series by Holly Smale to a friend and, after checking out the synopsis, she was confused.

“It doesn’t seem like your type of book,” she explained.

Which made sense. My earlier recommendation for this same friend was a nonfiction history about the dangerous effect of radium on factory girls during World War 1.

A book about a teenage girl that’s chosen to be a model seems out of place.

So let’s go back to 2021.

I had just learned that I was autistic for the first time. I had started deconstructing my whole life. I was reading depressing statistics about autistic adults and sad memoirs. I needed a positive distraction.

And then I came across an article in one of the many autism subreddits I joined at the time that mentioned a British author Holly Smale getting an autism diagnosis as an adult. And she mentioned that her Geek Girl series main character, Harriet, was based on her own experiences. Which meant Harriet was also an undiagnosed autistic female main character.

I had to read it.

I read the sample on Kindle and loved it. But I couldn’t find it in my local library and it wasn’t available in my e-library. I wanted it now so I bought the Kindle ebook. And then I bought the next one and the next one and the next until I had read all 6 books in my Kindle library.

I recently reread the series again and was instantly reminded why the Geek Girl world was (and still is) the perfect comfort series for me.

1) The Main Character’s family is always on her side

YA books have this common trope of the family not understanding the Main Character. I identify with those stories, of course, but does every story have to be like that?

Harriet’s family feels like a real family — nobody is perfect, they get tired and upset and say things they don’t mean. But at the end of the day, they are always on Harriet’s side. Always. She doesn’t always go to them for help, but when she finally does, the situation is resolved in a way she never could’ve predicted. I need to see examples of functional families like this.

2) The best friendship is goals

I can’t count how many books I read where the Main Character is a loner but somehow has a best friend and the friendship is never explained. It just happened, no effort required.

For someone looking for friendship tips in books, this is no help at all.

In the Geek Girl series, Harriet’s best friend Nat is not like Harriet at all. They have different interests and families and looks. But Nat understands Harriet and they choose each other as friends over and over. I can see that friendship is a relationship that needs to be nurtured.

3) The plot is based on real life

I like my fiction to have some basis in reality. While I have no idea how much of the story is based on real events, the author was recruited as a model at 15 like Harriet.

4) The romantic relationship is healthy

Yes to the healthy romantic relationship! I don’t want to give away any spoilers in case you read the books yourself.

I’ll just say the love interest likes Harriet for who she really is. Not for how she can make his life better and rescue him. And he doesn’t need to rescue her from her sad life because he’s the only one who understands her. *shakes fist at this romantic YA trope*

When they have miscommunications, he doesn’t go off and sulk or revenge date but actually realizes his role in the problem, admits it, and they talk it out.

5) The Main Character is proud to be herself

This is not a 90s rom-com movie makeover plot.

Even when bullied for being a geek, Harriet doesn’t want to change herself to be more popular. She likes herself just fine. She just tries to change her life and hope that will change how others see her.

The only makeover scenes are temporary, just for her modeling jobs. Harriet dresses for comfort and practicality. Her modeling agent Wilbur even praises her clothing choices and dislikes when she tries to “dress like a model” outside of jobs.

6) The books are full of random, interesting facts.

I can enjoy a good story AND learn random facts. And the way Harriet uses random facts as metaphors for how she’s feeling is just what I do, too.

I don’t expect everyone to like this series as much as I do but do I hope my reasons made sense to you.

Now, excuse me while I finish up the Geek Girl special stories.

Read my thoughts on the Netflix TV series Geek Girl compared to the book series here:

This autistic woman’s thoughts on the Geek Girl Netflix show