To date, this is Summit Books’ latest offering, written by the same author of No Boyfriend Since Birth (which I will review sometime), also from the same publishing company. Incidentally, NBSB was made into a TV show a while ago (I have the DVD copy) starring Alessandra de Rossi. Honestly, I thought the show was pure crap—it was an epic fail in attempting to capture even the essence of the main character. I’ll probably rant more about it in my NBSB review.

Girl Meets World—let’s call it GMW—follows the standard story of girl meeting the love of her life while chasing after another guy. Kind of like realizing you’re in love with your best friend late enough in the game that you come off as either dense, slow to react, or simply running out of choices. Except here the ‘best friend’ is just a friend the girl meets on random occasions and places (yes, one meets someone today on the elevator and finds him the next day in the same hotel in Bangkok), and the original object of desire simply showed up in your office one day, became your chat buddy, which makes it logical for you to decide that he is The One. So you start running after him in three different Asian locations. Sounds a bit like Amazing Race Asia, in one long continuous leg.

OK, I’m being a bit cynical but I’ll stop there. The novel is quite fun—despite my reservations about logic and motivation—and it does paint a romantic yet realistic picture of Bangkok, Bali, and Vietnam. Mia, the long-suffering career girl who has been unlucky in love suddenly meets Leo, who is based in Bangkok but for incredible reasons had to fly to Bali and Vietnam. As Mia spends precious time and money chasing Leo’s shadow, she meets Nick, a guy she only previously saw in her office elevator. Of course, as Leo became more inaccessible, Nick became more present—ending with everything tied up nicely with Mia realizing she only liked the idea of Leo, but fell in love with the realness of Nick. Though I didn’t really believe these characters too much, I thought Mia’s best friend Joanna was completely credible and interesting. She convinced Mia to go on vacation, follow her heart, and showed the kind of over-the-top concern only a best friend can.

GMW is a relaxing read, with the author’s thoughtful quotes at the beginning of each chapter. Add to that the immense improvement of Summit Books’ quality, from cover design to paper used, and you’ve got something worth more than the P150 you’ll pay for.