Georgia Nicolson

Character Analysis

Georgia's name may not be in the title, but that doesn't mean she's not our protagonist—she totally is. After all, this book is her diary, so it's pretty much all Georgia all the time for us as readers. Luckily for us then, Georgia is a funny, naïve, and self-critical teenager, and since she's British, she busts out all kinds of cute English colloquialisms. Like all teens—heck, maybe even all people—Georgia's a bit of a walking contradiction, though, so let's bust out our magnifying glasses and take an up-close and personal look at our leading lady.

Fake It 'Til You Make It

Georgia's biggest problem in Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is her self-esteem. She's fourteen, an age at which she is both most definitely a teenager but still way younger (and less experienced) than most teens. Georgia's a newbie, if you will, and she responds to this status with pretty epic insecurity.

Georgia's insecurity is really clear when it comes to how she navigates her number one goal, a.k.a. attracting boys. Instead of taking the mature and confident route of just being herself and trusting that the right dudes will come along, Georgia operates under the (super common among teens) belief that if she can just look the right way, boys will come a'running. This leads her to do things like shave her eyebrows off (because plucking is too painful) and bleach part of her hair until it falls out. Oops.

Her fascination with her body doesn't stop with failed makeovers, though—Georgia also spends a fair amount of time measuring and rating both her body and the bodies of her female friends. In fact, it's kind of a past time of theirs. Like Georgia's interest in changing herself to appeal to the opposite gender, though, again we see Georgia thinking of her body as something with social worth instead of personal worth. It's all about what other people think when it comes to Georgia's relationship with her body, which is kind of a bummer, though also super relatable.

Family Matters

As she is when it comes to her own looks, Georgia is also very critical of her parents' appearances. Though she doesn't seem aware of it, this is likely due to Georgia's age—she's in a place developmentally where she craves independence, but also sees her parents as a reflection of who she is. So when her mother offers Georgia a new pair of shoes, Georgia rejects the offer based on her assessment of her mom as devoid of any good fashion sense.

Georgia's rejection of her family isn't strictly fashion-related, though. She also has a tendency to shake off sweet moments between her and her family. When Mum asks Georgia if she misses her father, for instance—which Georgia totally does—she simply responds by saying, "Who?" In her efforts to become her own person, Georgia steadfastly resists really connecting with her parents. We know she still really cares about them, though, because she frets over their marriage when she suspects her mom has started an affair with the decorator she hires, Jem, and she makes them really thoughtful presents for Christmas.

Another sign that Georgia isn't the toughy she tries to be on the home front is her relationship with her little sister, Libby. Georgia's generally really nice to her, even when Libby causes major embarrassments like exclaiming to Robbie that Georgia took a big poo. Georgia might really want to be her own woman, but when it comes to her kid sis, Georgia's a caring sibling first.

Best Friend?

Jas is Georgia's best friend. Well, sometimes. Georgia always seems to be irritated by Jas, almost no matter what Jas does. To be fair, though, Jas deserves irritation a fair amount of the time. One of her favorite things to do to her bestie is point out Georgia's "flaws"—think: her looks or things she struggles with in school. Some friend, right? We'd be irritated, too.

Importantly, though, while a more confident teen might be able to blow Jas's critiques off, Georgia's low self-esteem makes her inclined to put a lot of weight on Jas's opinions. It's all about external validation for Georgia at this point in her life, and Jas doesn't exactly offer two thumbs up on the regular. Check out this exchange between the two purported best friends for an example:

Jas was going on wisely, "Yes they do, I think they (boys) do like girls who are a bit soft and not so, well… you know" […]

I yelled at her as she went through the door, "Not so like me you mean, don't you?!!!" (1.54-55)

Georgia is so openly concerned about her body and looks that there's pretty much no way Jas doesn't know she's touching on a sore spot here for our main girl. But touch she does anyway. Thing is, much as this drives Georgia nuts, it's also likely part of what draws her back to Jas time and again. Georgia wants to be the confident kid who knows what's up—and Jas comes across as just this kind of person. Well, to Georgia anyway. She never questions whether Jas is the authority on all things bodily and romantic that she claims to be.

It isn't all drama, though, and Georgia and Jas share some sweet moments together, like singing together in the car or planning out what to wear. And they always end up forgiving each other in the end. They do genuinely care for one another, and when push comes to shove, they return to having each other's backs pretty quickly.

Plus, without Jas, Georgia would never have met Robbie, a.k.a. the "Sex God."

Love Is All You Need

Tom is Jas's love interest, and she enlists Georgia to help her woo him. Through doing so, Georgia meets Robbie and officially becomes obsessed with this older boy. No, really—she calls him the "Sex God." Thing is, instead of this relationship being a source of strength, it more or less manifests as another way for Georgia to not feel good about herself. For instance, she goes from this: "The Sex God will not be able to resist the new, confident, radiant, womanly me" (2.232) to this: "My only hope is that a) he didn't recognize me and b) if he did recognize me he likes the 'flushed stupid idiot' girl look" (2.244) in a matter of paragraphs.

Tempting though it may be to tell Georgia to get a grip, Robbie's wishy-washy judgmental ways really feed into her insecurity. He's hot and cold, giving her grief when he sees her kissing another guy—even though Robbie's with his girlfriend at the time—then kissing Georgia and telling said girlfriend that Georgia threw herself at him. Heck, he even tells her he doesn't want to date her because she's too young… and then saves her cat and starts a relationship with her in the end.

In other words, Robbie's perfect for Georgia—and not in a good way. His commitment-phobic and weirdly possessive ways feed right into Georgia's hot and cold sense of self. When Robbie gives her approval, she's on top of the world, but the second he takes it back, she clambers for its return.

As this book ends, Georgia and Robbie are finally together… but then her mom comes home and announces they're leaving for New Zealand, where her dad is, next week. While we think Georgia will be devastated by leaving her beloved behind, we hope that stepping into some unknown turf will help her become more confident in who she is.