The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae MillerPublished by: Entangled Teen on May 7, 2013
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 326
Source: Blog Tour
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
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.
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Me with some of my video games!
The Summer I Became a Nerd was adorable! I’m a huge nerd so this book appealed to me for obvious reasons. It’s about a girl struggling between “fitting in” in high school and just being herself in all her nerd glory. It’s filled with pure nerdiness (including comic books and live action role-playing) and an adorable, awkward, hesitant, sweet romance!
I’ve never been a huge LARP (live action role-play) girl myself, but I really enjoyed reading about it in The Summer I Became a Nerd. I do like video games, and LARPing is basically like acting out a video game in real life. Not 100% my thing, but so much fun to read about! It’s like Lord of the Rings comes to life!
But my absolute favourite part of this book was the romance. Honestly, it’s pure YA sweetness. There are so many cute awkward moments that make the relationship feel real. It’s not perfect and it’s not always flawless, but it’s adorable and it’s about two teenagers who like each other but don’t really know what they’re doing or how to do it.
The one annoying thing about this book was Madelyne. She wasn’t always the most likable character. That does make for some great character development though, because she certainly learns her lessons and becomes a better person at the end.. but it doesn’t change the fact that she was pretty aggravating for the first part of the book! She’s not exaggerating when she says she has a “secret life”. At one point she goes on a date with Logan and when she sees her friend there she HIDES. Like full on ducking-behind-counters and ignoring-texts and pretending-she-didn’t-see-her-friend. She doesn’t want to be seen with Logan because then she has to explain to her friend why she’s with a nerd and not with her jock boyfriend. I just didn’t like how she cared so much about what other people thought. But in a sense, I guess this was realistic because teenagers are definitely like that. Many girls in high school do think that popularity is the most important thing in the world. It’s sad, but I guess it’s true.
In any case, the book ended on a really great note and I think that Madelyne pulled through in the end. She really went above and beyond when it came to making up for her mistakes. There is a totally and completely epic showdown at the end that had me screaming and squealing and wanting to go out and join the LARP game! If you have any interest in comic books or video games or other awesome nerdy activities, I definitely recommend The Summer I Became a Nerd! It’s cute, it’s fun, and it will definitely give you an entertaining afternoon!
Giveaway
The blog tour folks have kindly provided a giveaway! Up for grabs are 3 ebook copies of The Summer I Became a Nerd — open internationally!
The Verdict
I’m so excited about this book, it sounds really cute and appeals to my inner (and outer) geek!
I’m a nerd, so yeah I want to read this!
Yes! so excited
sounds great! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m super excited for this one! In fact, it was my WoW pick last week! 😀
Great review. Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
I loved this too. So fun! 🙂
I am really looking forward to reading this- it sounds like a lot of fun! 🙂
It was such a wonderful book. I’d love to win another copy to give to a friend. 🙂
Excited to read this!(:
Sounds like a fun read!
Looks great!
I love YA, and this really looks like it would be a fun read!
I’m so looking forward to reading this book! It sounds super cute and light, a great summer read. 😀
Cannot wait to read this, seen a lot of fab reviews for it and seen as you enjoyed it so much, I’m sure it’s a hit 🙂
You don’t even know how bad I want to read this one. Sounds so cute.
I learned about LARPing on Supernatural. lol
I don’t know why but I could have sworn you reviewed this book already. Weird.
Haha that is weird! I did post my review on Goodreads a few days beforehand.. maybe you saw that?
OR YOU’RE GOING CRAZY!
Jk, ilu <3
Yes, it sounds great! 😀
Absolutely! Sounds Fantastic!
I am most definitely looking forward to it!
I’m excited to read this book and to see what my students have to say about it!
Wow! I can’t WAIT to read this! I love that cover, too ; )
I wonder what kind of events or people inspired the author while writing this book!?
Thanks for the giveaway!
mestith at gmail dot com
I’ve been dying to dig into this since I first saw it in a WoW post! Totally loving gaming myself and having never swam with the popular crowd, I am all for a nerdy book!
Definitely excited to read this story!!
Yeah! I am a big old nerd myself. I have always been a nerd though, so it will be interesting to read an account of someone turning INTO a nerd. Weird, but interesting!
I can’t wait to start this now. Great review!
ya.. 😀
I have read a few reviews about this book and couldn’t be more excited about it!! I’ve never really been into comic books but I do get into some fantasy books and movies and of course I LOVE to read, so I feel like I have a small connection to the nerds out there.
this sounds quite cute…I do like the nerdy characters! 😀
Yes, it sounds great. Thank you for the giveaway! 🙂
I loved this book!