May 23, 2015

"The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek" Review


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Book: The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek

Author: Seth Rudetsky

Format: ARC

Page Count: (Final Paperback) 288

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

My Rating: ★★★ 1/2

Synopsis: Broadway, New York. The shows, the neon lights . . . the cute chorus boys! It's where Justin has always wanted to be--and now, with a winter internship for a famous actor, he finally has his chance to shine. If only he could ditch his kind, virtuous, upright, and--dare he say it?—uptight boyfriend, Spencer. But once the internship begins, Justin has more to worry about than a cramped single-guy-in-the-city style. Instead of having his moment in the spotlight, he's a not-so-glorified errand boy. Plus, Spencer is hanging out with a celebra-hottie, Justin's best friend Becky isn't speaking to him, and his famous actor boss seems headed for flopdom. Justin's tap-dancing as fast as he can, but all his wit and sass might not be enough to switch his time in New York from nightmare-terrible to dream-come-true terrific.

Seth Rudetsky's second YA novel is endearingly human, laugh-out-loud funny, and for any kid who's ever aspired to Broadway but can only sneak in through the stage door.

This book jumped out at me because a) it's about New York City which is my endgoal, b) the main character is a theater geek, much like myself and, c) the main character is gay. I had high hopes because I felt like this book had the potential to be highly entertaining and I felt like the narration was really going to help push this book through.


Overall I really liked this story. Although it was pretty predictable and didn't really have any depth to it, it was very enjoyable and addicting. I read it in one sitting because I wanted to know what would happen. The first half had me cringing a lot though. I felt like Justin, the main character, instead of being a character that happens to be gay allowed being gay to determine who he is, which isn't a probably, but I felt like his character was just so... stereotypical. He also focused so much on the wrong things a lot and at times he was a pretty bad person. In the end he learned his lesson though. 

The second half of the book was WAY better than the first. I think the second half really pulled everything together for me. Yeah like I said before it was predictable, but it was also so thrilling and fun. I don't know, I really liked it. 


If you are looking for a fun, LGBT contemporary, I would recommend you give this book a chance.

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