The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes and Noble
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.
So, I felt a reading slump was coming on majorly, and I’m, like, girl, you need to stop it, because your reading game has been on fire lately. I remembered from the last time I was in the slump, tons of people recommended reading an old favorite. Therefore, I picked up my favorite contemporary of ALL TIME.
And it did NOT disappoint. This little book (and honestly, it is rather little when you look at page number) has made me laugh out loud, make that face where you’re holding in all the fangirl squeals together, and hold unrealistic expectations that I, too, will find the nerd-hot comic bookstore owner’s son of my dreams. It holds the best sidekick I’ve ever read, a reference to The Princess Bride, and a main character whose favorite movie is Tangled – which is quite ironic since this book has all the Rapunzel ratings for me because THE SWOONS AND FEELS ARE LITERALLY OFF THE CHART. OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
I will admit that in the reread that it didn’t have as many LOL moments as I did remember (but this is my third time rereading it, so you know, maybe I’ve given up), but there are still some great funny parts, and the feels are so, so, so real. I literally stayed up until 1:30 in the morning to finish this – even though I knew exactly what would happen and how it would go down. It didn’t stop me.
This book is the book I measure every ship against (Logan and Maddie are so much adorableness), and every contemporary book against. It’s not perfect, and it’s rather cheesy – but it’s just a novel that makes you feel happy and good and just like the sun is shining down. It’s the perfect summer read, and it totally has fixed my reading slump (although, it kind of made me want to go back and read all the contemporaries on my favorites list, which is probably not the best idea because I have a tonnnnnnnnnn of new books to read. Oops). So, so, so much love for this book, and if you love some, nerd contemporaries out there, this is a fantastic coming of age story with them.
Five crowns and a royal princess book train: a Rapunzel and Aurora and Moana rating!
Oh man, I read need to read this at some point. No slumps!!!!
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YESSSSSSSSSSSS. It’s so cute and wonderfully done with the fandom stuff. 😀 *pushes it at you ;)* And I know. These slumps are totally messing with me. D:
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I totally feel you. I think it’s been so crazy being home that I don’t even know what to write when I sit down. So I commiserate on the slump. Hopefully, we both get out of them soon!
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This book sounds so adorable!!! I have to read it!
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Yesssssssss, it’s so cute and fun! I think you would so enjoy it, Em! 🙂
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My ultimate contemporary is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart!
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Oooh, I’ll definitely have to add that one to the list. 🙂
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Oh, awesome! I did not know this was one of your favs! I’ve seen it but never read it. Sounds like I need to though!
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Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss, Krysti. I super need to push this at you. It’s so full of swoons, nerdy goodness, and SWOOONS. It’s funny, cute, and so feely.
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It sounds PERFECT! Oh, I really want to read it!!!
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YES. YES. YES. XD And thankfully it’s a super short read so you could breeze through it in a night. XD
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Hahaha. As long as I can get myself to put down the blog/SM, then yeah! LOL. XD
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Ahahahahaa yes! That is honestly the most difficult part. XD
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It really is! It’s a big struggle for me for sure.
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Yes! (and this is where my comments end so I think I might have lost a few of the conversations we had going D: – stupid WordPress likes to cut me off D:)
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I got cut off one day last week too! I’m going to feel so bad if I didn’t respond to people. 😦
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I KNOW. I tried to go through most of hte posts but I still think I missed a few. I wish WordPress would just let you through all the way until your last viewing.
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Totally agree. WordPress should just let you scroll through comments as long as you want to. I don’t understand why there’s a cap.
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Yes! I don’t get it either. The mysteries of WordPress never cease. XD
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Truest statement I’ve heard yet today. LOL.
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(New plan: going from the bottom of the WordPress up so I don’t lose anymore than I mean to. But I still think I’ve missed a few of yours. D:)
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Oh, no worries if you did! I’m more concerned with you having balance and not over doing things again right now. 🙂
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Ahahaha I think I did it with myself it again. XD The plan was working for a hot second and…then I fell off. I don’t know what I did, Krysti. XD
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Oh no! Always feel free to DM me lady if you need to talk things out. I’m always here. ❤️
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Thankies! I shall! I think I got myself back together for a moment. XD At least I’m going to try. XD
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Hahaha. I hope so! We’ve missed you lately. <3<3<3
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Yes! I’ve missed everyone on here nd seeing all the greatness that YA and Wine and Krysti are doing. 😉 I’m like, I’m missing my wine pairings and that is a crime. D:
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LOL. I don’t know about greatness. But I have gotten myself to slow down a bit. Next week is crazy with blog tours though, but that doesn’t count, because I signed up for those before we had our little burnout.
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Ahahahaha oh no! But yes! Totally doesn’t count because we’ll go back to the night, new schedule. We got this. I ended up binge doing a ton of posts on my day off the other day so I pretty much have a lot of my September posts done so I dont’ have to worry too much about it in the future to get burned out.
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That’s awesome! I did that last week when I was off work. Now if I can just do one every 2-3 days, I’ll be able to stay in the not stressed out mode. Which feels strange and amazing. LOL. Hope you’re doing something fun during your hiatus!
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Ahahaha yes! If we do it, then we’ll feel the stress less. How is it going for you?? And yes! I went on vacation so it was a nice break. 😀
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Getting better actually. I’m learning how to prioritize. This week I had a TON of blog tours, but this is my last crazy blog week. Hopefully ever. LOL.
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Ahahaha yes! Hopefully! Back to going slow and steady. 😀
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Yay on a super fun and awesome reread! Rereading for me is very limited but I will do TLC, Narnia and the Penderwicks any day! This one sounds cute as well! *adds to list of all the books Mandy keeps telling me are super-fantabulous!*
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Ooooh, I didn’t know that there was a list of special rereads. But they are quite special indeed. Do you do them every year or just when the need calls for them? And Yes, yes, I super recommend. So much cute.
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I like to think once a year I can reread but a lot of the times they just call to me spontaneously 😉
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Ooooh that works. 😀 It’s more fun that way too sometimes.
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I’m currently suffering from a reading slump; I need to reread something like this ASAP. :’)
My ultimate contemporary novel is probably the Anna and the French Kiss series by Stephanie Perkins!! It’s definitely a lil cliche but it’s also lighthearted and fun and I LOVED IT. I read it a looonnnggg time ago, though, so hopefully my opinion of it won’t change!!
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Yesssssss. It totally got me in such a happy mood and more than eager to get to the rest of my reads.
Yes! That is such a good one. I haven’t read that one in such a long time as well, but I definitely think that it is one of those books that could be reread and still be good (I know a few in the past feel so questionable). Definitely hope that you will enjoy it again! 😀
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Eee thanks!! Currently rereading it right now and it’s going well, so fingers crossed!! :p
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Aaaawww this book! I’ve heard so much about it hahaha
It sounds like the perfect, feel-good, summer read indeed and I really want to give it a try sometime. Maddie and Logan sound absolutely adorable!!
So glad to hear you still love it after the third time re-reading it, Mandy! That’s how you can tell it’s a favorite, after all 🙂
Amazing, amazing review ❤ ❤
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This one has been on my TBR for ages, because it looked so adorable, and I am glad to hear it delivered. Sometimes a little cheese that makes you smile is exactly what you need. These types of books are my comfort food. Great review!
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LOL! Favorite rereads are always the best cure for a reading slump. It reignites the fire, I think.
I really enjoyed this book too. I loved the LARPing. I’ve secretly always wanted to try. It seems like an exaggerated version of RenFest.
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Yes! I was a bit skeptical of it at first, but I definitely have to agree now.
AH I DID NOT KNOW THAT YOU HAD READ THIS. Yes! I think that was one of the coolest parts about it. I had always seen things occasionally mentioned but I thought it was so cool to see them doing it. 😀
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Yes! I love anything about LARPing! It was my favorite Supernatural episode too.
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Oooooh yes! That one was so brilliant too. XD
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Awesome review!
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Sorry that went through before I was finished. I enjoy reading reviews on re-reads to see how it makes you feel second time around, or third, or so on. I am glad it helped with your slump as well!
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Oh, I hate that when it happens. Yes! I feel like it heightens everything you felt the first time around, and it really shows just how good the book is. They are definitely the most fun for reviews. I’ve definitely found that rereads are so a way to beat the slump now.
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I’m holding on to Jackaby by William Ritter as my go to re-read for future slumps because I had so much fun reading it! I am looking forward to how I feel on my re-read of it too! 🙂
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Yes! That one is a terrific one to go back to. It’s so much fun. 😀 Are you planning on continuing with the rest of the series soon? 🙂
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I am!! I am going to play a little catch up and then binge read the next 2! 😀
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oooooh that sounds good! 😀 Book 2 was one of my favorites of the series so hopefully you will enjoy. 🙂
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I have heard that from others as well. I am trying so hard to catch up so I can read it lol!!
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I read the synopsis and your first paragraph and I knew I had to read this book. I saw your post for the first time yesterday, and have already finished reading. (I may or may not have stayed up till 1 am to do it) I loved it! Thank you, Thank You, Thank You for writing about it otherwise I probably never would have discovered it.
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