Jaime’s Thoughts
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Madelyne Summers isn’t really who she pretends to be… after an embarassing incident in middle school, she decides she has to hide the things she loves in order to fit in. That means no nerdy stuff like comics… something she loves.
She buries those interests under Cheerleading and popular friends and dating the football team quarterback. The only time she can be herself is behind closed doors and during the summer.
She’s been looking forward to the arrival of the last issue of her favorite comic series. Only it doesn’t show, so desperate she makes a trip to the local comic book store … incognito, or so she thinks.
And we get to meet Logan. He’s adorable and he’s geeky and he owns it. His parents own the comic store so he’s able to provide some perks to Maddie and they connect through their shared interests.
Which apparently includes LARP’ing. Come on, you all saw Role Models right? Well … imagine that in someone’s backyard.
But of course along the way there is drama and a bit of angst.
What did I like…
I loved Logan – I love geeky boys. I can’t help it, and he’s sweet and endearing and has crushed on Maddie for years. When she shows up in his store he takes it as a sign and makes his move. I loved that he put himself out there.
I loved Dan – the kid is hilarious… and he has Logan’s back. I loved every part that he was in.
I loved the geeky stuff!! This is why I was so looking forward to this book. I found myself smiling and really enjoying it.
What I didn’t like…
Maddie’s relationship with her ‘friends’. I wasn’t sure why the bitchy cheerleader was even a part of the story to be quite honest and everytime she showed up, all I could hope was that someone would haul off and punch her in the nose.
While I liked the Role Playing parts of the story, I kind of felt a bit confused about it… probably because I’ve never done it, but the whole points thing and the stuff she was doing without Logan knowing really didn’t make much sense to me. I found myself kind of skimming over that part to get to the other stuff.
Overall this is a story about being true to yourself and not hiding who you truly want to be. If you’re looking for a cute, summer read… and you like your boys a bit geeky but cute, I definitely recommend this one!
Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for the advance copy for review.
View all Jaime’s reviews
Absolutely loved this one.
Maddie Summers is hiding something big…or so she thinks. After an embarrassing costume contest in middle school, Maddie has made an effort to hide who she really is and be popular. Maddie’s big secret…*GASP* she loves comic books. Her favorite one is ending and because of a backorder situation, Maddie puts on her disguise and heads out to The Phoenix, the local comic shop, to pick up a copy.
Enter Logan. He is a nerd and not afraid to show it. He LARP’s, loves comics, and yes, he wears glasses when he wants. He’s also had a crush on Maddie since 9th grade and her walking into The Phoenix, which just happens to be his parent’s shop, when she did, was fate. Since the store didn’t have any additional copies of the book Maddie was looking for, Logan takes a chance and lends her his copy with the caveat that she will return it that night. When Maddie looks at his number her biggest fear comes to life – he knows who she is and she is definitely worried who he is going to tell about her love of comics. We find out he isn’t even remotely concerned about what other people at school think and really just wants Maddie to call him…which thankfully she does.
I found myself wanting to shake Maddie through most of the story – mostly because she was lying to everyone and it was over something as simple as the love of comic books. This doesn’t mean I didn’t like her, I just wanted her to make better decisions. I’m glad she finally got the fact that not everything is about her and that the way she was acting had a larger impact on those around her. She treated her best friend and Logan pretty badly…she is lucky they were both pretty forgiving.
I liked the secondary characters in this book as well. Dan is a great friend to Logan – he’s funny and always has his back. I found myself laughing the most at the parts of the story where he was involved. I didn’t get the bitchy cheerleader (Rayanne) only because I don’t know that she was necessary.
In the end, Logan helps Maddie evaluate what is really important and the great thing is he doesn’t come out and say “figure your crap out.” Instead, he shows her how great it can be to just do what you like and not worry about what others think. Maddie fights it pretty hard and tries to distance herself but it is clear she and Logan are connected in a way that she and her football playing boyfriend (Eric) are not.
I picked this one up at the perfect time and found myself unable to put this down. If you are looking for a light and fun summer read, this is a great one to start with as there is the perfect mix of humor, romance and yes, nerdiness.
Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC.
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