Nerdcrush

 Nerdcrush

by Alisha Emrich

Running Press Teens, 2023. 262 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Shy sixteen-year-old Ramona uses cosplay as a way to escape her shyness and feel seen, but when she emails her crush using her online persona, Rel, and he starts to fall for her, Ramona must decide whether to hide behind her character forever or take a chance and let her crush see the real her.

This is contemporary YA at its best. There is an interesting take on the love triangle, because Ramona's alter ego Rel becomes very present in the story. Ramona uses this alter ego as a shield at first, but then she feels like she is competing. With herself. The angst-filled back and forth between Ramona and Caleb is believable and the email banter that turns confessional between Rel and Caleb is poignant. This book takes the romance tropes and turns it into an opportunity to talk about social media, identity, and honesty.  This book is definitely for fans of Nicola Yoon and Kasie West. 

 

If you like Nerdcrush, you may like:

No Filter and Other Lies

by Crystal Maldonado

Holiday House, 2022. 326 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Twenty-one-year-old Max Monroe has it all: beauty, friends, tons of followers on Instagram. Except it's all fake. Max is actually 17-year-old Kat Sanchez, a quiet and sarcastic, bisexual Puerto Rican teenager living in Bakersfield, California. While Kat's life is far from perfect, she thrives as Max: doling out advice, sharing beautiful photos, networking with famous influencers, even making a real friend in a follower named Elena. When one of Max's posts goes ultra-viral and gets back to the very person she's been stealing photos from, her worlds-- real and fake-- comes crashing down. Can she figure out a way to get herself out of the huge web of lies she's created without hurting the people she loves? Or is already too late?

What Happened to Goodbye

by Sarah Dessen

Viking Childrens Books, 2011. 402 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Following her parents' bitter divorce as she and her father move from town to town, seventeen-year-old Mclean reinvents herself at each school she attends until she is no longer sure she knows who she is or where she belongs.

 

Happy Every Afters

by Elise Bryant

Balzer and Bray, 2021. 378 pages. Young Adult Fiction

Sixteen-year-old Tessa Johnson has never felt like the protagonist in her own life. She's rarely seen herself reflected in the pages of the romance novels she loves. The only place she's a true leading lady is in her own writing--in the swoony love stories she shares only with Caroline, her best friend and #1 devoted reader. When Tessa is accepted into the creative writing program of a prestigious art school, she's excited to finally let her stories shine. But when she goes to her first workshop, the words are just ... gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own. And she's ready with a list of romance novel-inspired steps to a happily ever after. Nico, the brooding artist who looks like he walked out of one of Tessa's stories, is cast as the perfect Prince Charming. But as Tessa checks off each item off Caroline's list, she gets further and further away from herself. She risks losing everything she cares about--including the surprising bond she develops with sweet Sam, who lives across the street. She's well on her way to having her own real-life love story, but is it the one she wants, after all?

AG