Review of “The Summer I Became A Nerd” By Leah Rae Miller

Role Models (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello everyone! I was super excited when I got this book via Netgalley – and I read it almost right away and it absolutely lived up to my expectations – so without further wait, here is the review!

The Story – from Goodreads Summary:

On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl’s body isn’t just unknown, it’s anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever..

What I thought:

This book was a fun, and light read.  It had a cute storyline and a pretty good plot.  I also enjoyed the characters.  I really enjoyed Maddie’s character, and her back and forth. I can remember feeling this way in highschool – not sure what to do – and of course we all wanted to be “popular”!  So I can totally relate to what she was feeling – however I did get frustrated with her through the middle of the book for the continued back and forth. I LOVED Logan – in my head he was hot and sweet and the perfect guy.  The one thing I wasn’t totally sure about was the “level” of nerd she was engaging in.. going from not letting people know she reads comics (which I honestly thought was kind of silly) to dressing up to go to character parties or battles.. It kind of reminded me of Role Models (the movie) to behonest – do you remember the big battle? And while I did identify with Maddie’s feelings, I thought maybe this whole keep the “comic” reading a secret went too far – not sure how big of a deal that was, it wasn’t like she was hiding an alter personaltiy -although I guess she was.  The overall picture of the book was good though, be yourself – don’t conform to the crowd. I also thought it was a great message that her friends remained her friends, had they not that would have been very shallow – although in highschool we all know people like this do exist. I really loved getting to see Maddie and Logan fall in love, despite how hard she tried to fight it – and I gave a secret cheer everytime Logan pushed back and called her on the way she was acting.  Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was the humor – I haven’t laughed this much at a story in awhile.  I love a good book where you can laugh.  There is one particular part where she burps in front of Logan – if you havne’t read it, you will get to that part – it was hilarious! I don’t want to give away too many spoilers so I’ll just end with the fact that I really enjoyed the book overall – in fact I wish I had read this in time to list as one of my top ten favorite light reads – it was perfect after the few heavy hitters I had just finished.  This is a perfect book to read on a beach, or curled up in a chair on a rainy day. It kept me interested and didn’t drag. And overall I think Miller took what could have been a tough subject, handled it well, with a good message, and injected some humor and a great romance to make for a great story!

The Overall Thought:

Buy it, I reccommend it being worth the money.  Read it, but maybe trade it out after or sell it or share it – while I really enjoyed the story, this is not something I would probably re-read for any reason.  It’s a one time – good read- and move on type of story.  I am not sure whether the author has written anything else, but I really enjoyed her style of writing and would read another book by her. So overall I give this 4 stars, def check it out! If you’re looking for a great summer read – this is one of them.

Quotes I adored:

* I have to note there are not a lot of quotes that I felt like were… made for this section – but since quotes are one of my favorite takeaways from any story – I still have to include a few…

“But you can make you happy, my father’s voice repeats over and over as I stare at my ceiling.
Have I been trying to do that all this time? Has that other part of me been trying to break through because deep down I know I’ll never be happy until… Until what? Until I’m able to freely discuss who I think would win in a battle between Darth Vader and Lord Voldemort? (The answear obviously being Lord Voldemort. He’d Avada Kadavra Vader way before Vader could even think about the force choke move.)” 

* I liked this quote b/c it showed the internal struggle Maddie was having – and in a way that wasn’t too heavy.

———-

“I can’t swallow another drop of soda by this point because the carbonation is burning my throat.
“Oh really? Well…” I trail off as I feel bubbling at the base of my throat. This is not good.
Before I can stop myself, I let out the biggest burp I’ve ever, ever, ever had. I slap a hand over my mouth and stare at Logan whose eyebrows have reached astronomical heights.
“Dude! So not smooth, man! Girls cannot stand rudeness,” Dan yells from the back room.”

* This second quote is from the burping scene – it def shows some of the humor I loved in the book!

If you’ve read this – what do you think? Let me know – if you haven’t are you going to read it?

Keep Reading!

Kelley

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