Book Review: Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me by Becky Jerams

Author: Becky Jerams

Title: Reasons to Love a Nerd Like Me

Length: 508 pages

Release Date: October 2015

Publisher: Becky Jerams

Categories: YA, gay fiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26828797-reasons-to-love-a-nerd-like-me

Scotty Williams is the nerdiest 17-year-old at Havensdale College – and proud of it. However being a nerd can have its downsides, particularly when you’re constantly being targeted by the school bully Taylor Raven and his cronies. As Scotty tries to navigate his final college years with the aid of his best friend Olive, he also finds himself on the radar of the mysterious and intimidating Vincent Hunter, toughest guy in the Sixth Form. Is Vincent really as bad as he seems? Will Scotty’s darkest secret ever be revealed? Can he ever just finish his last few college years in peace? But most importantly… will any guy ever find the reasons to love a nerd like him?

The Wattpad hit Reasons To Love A Nerd Like Me by Becky Jerams comes to Kindle for the first time in a new and improved edition. With over 2.5 million reads and counting, the first draft has resonated with readers across the world and been compared to authors such as John Green and David Levithan. Recommended for fans of teen drama and unconventional romance.

I’m a big fan of YA, and I often like the associated tropes in a good young adult contemporary romance. This book hits all the high points for me: Opposites attract, a bullied kid who’s stronger than he knows, a bad boy with a heart of gold, and best friends who meddle just the right amount. There’s a collection of quirky, interesting side characters, a Really Big Secret, and a happily-for-now ending. There are dozens of reasons to love this book and its nerdy hero.

Virtually anything I say about the plot might spoil the fun of discovery. Everything is told through Scotty’s eyes, which could easily lead to the narrative being entirely slanted in his favor. Yet because of who he is—someone who cares deeply about other people—it never feels like he sees himself as blameless. He shows a lot of growth over the course of the story. Through the crushing weight of his secret, the torment at the hands of the only other person who knows, and the inevitable explosion when everyone discovers the truth, he eventually learns both to forgive and to make things right. He’s everything a good teenage narrator should be.

Some readers may not connect to this story for a number of reasons. It’s not a traditional romance, but it does have a love story. I’m a fan of books which straddle that line, but some readers do prefer clearer genre lines. It’s also long, which again, was not a problem for me but might put some readers off. There’s a part at the end involving one of the adults which is a bit over-the-top and probably isn’t realistic—it’s only there to provide motivation to revive the romance, and even so, there’s still more drama to come. Speaking of which, there’s a lot of drama and a lot of people not talking to each other or poorly explaining themselves. That’s part of the charm, and without it there would be no story, but some people might think it’s a bit much.

I fell hard for Scotty right from page one, and I couldn’t put the book down. The writing is superb and flawless in style, and the story flows well. I loved all the clues about how the reveal of Scotty’s secret would happen, but I didn’t find it predictable. All in all, this was a well-written, engaging story which delivers a full range of emotions.

For superior writing, a stellar cast of characters, and a story which left me wanting more, this gets 10/10 fountain pens.

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasons-Love-Nerd-Like-Me-ebook/dp/B015VL47M4/

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Love-Nerd-Like-Me-ebook/dp/B015VL47M4

Becky Jerams (born June 26th, 1987) is a writer and musician from Portsmouth, UK. Reasons To Love A Nerd Like Me is her debut novel and has been featured on the website Wattpad where it has gained many loyal readers and over two million hits. After receiving such an overwhelming response for her writing, she recently released the new and improved edition of her story as an official eBook through Kindle Direct Publishing.

She lives with her boyfriend in a little flat near the sea and splits her time between fiction writing, songwriting sessions, performing acoustic gigs and working in a student art shop. Her songs have been featured internationally on various shows and adverts, and her stories have been read by thousands of young people across the world gaining her fans from UK, US, Spain, Philippines, Nigeria, France, Egypt, Jamaica, Australia, India and beyond. Her pacey, emotional style of writing aimed for a young adult audience has been compared to the likes of John Green, David Levithan and Jenny Downham.

Becky is currently working on the spin-off sequel to Reasons To Love A Nerd Like Me titled Could You Love An Apple? which will be available on Kindle in the near future. She hopes to continue writing about the characters she has created for as long as people want to keep reading about them.

Website: www.beckyjerams.com

Twitter: @beckyjerams

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckyjerams/

Tumblr: beckyjerams.tumblr.com

Youtube (Featuring Book Trailer): https://www.youtube.com/user/beakyboo123

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