My Thoughts: The Nerdy and the Dirty by B.T. Gottfred

Pen Lupo is sick and tired of hiding who she is. On the outside, Pen is popular, quiet, and deferential to her boyfriend. On the inside, however, Pen is honest, opinionated--and not quite sure that she's like other girls. Do they have urges like she does?

His classmates may consider him a nerd, but Benedict Pendleton knows he's destined for great things. All he has to do is find a worthy girlfriend, and his social station will be secured. Sure, Benedict is different--but that's what he likes about himself.

When fate intervenes, both Pen and Benedict end up at the same vacation resort for winter break. Despite their differences, the two are drawn together. But is there such a thing as happily ever after for a nympho and a nerd?


**Review copy received from Raincoast Books for an honest review***

It has been a little while since I have read a Young Adult contemporary. a few months for sure. This may not seem like a long time to some, but for a while, contemporary was my jam, and it was all I wanted to read. However, I overdosed and got bored with the genre, and needed a break. But, when I read the synopsis for The Nerdy and the Dirty by B.T. Gottfred, I was curious. The book sounded obnoxious and crazy, so I thought why the heck not.

I have to admit, I wasn't completely sure about this novel when I first started reading it, so much so, that I even thought this would be one of the rare occasions I DNF a book. However, I kept on, and am I ever glad I did. The Nerdy and the Dirty was such a fun read.

B.T. Gottfred tells a story about a quite the story about Pen, a teenage girl who finds herself thinking of all things carnal... a lot. Not being really sure what to do with said thoughts and the feelings they invoke, Pen believes she is not normal and to avoid scrutiny, she tends to keep her mouth shut and fades into the background. Benedict on the other hand,  is brilliant and totally socially awkward (his words). He lives and breathes his father's advice (who is a world renowned psychologist, and best selling author). Ben has decided it is now time to get a girlfriend, but, you must remember, Benedict is socially awkward.  So naturally, both Pen and Benedict, end up at the same resort for their winter vacation and you can just imagine what comes about.

 This book was laugh-out-loud funny. And awkward, so awkward.  Like anything to do with teenagers and sex should be. There are some really great insights into how teens think about sex and sexuality found in the pages of The Nerdy and the Dirty. I really appreciated this. Sex is a real thing, and teens are going to think about it, and they are going to be curious about it. So talk about it. The book also addresses how little female sexuality is discussed. Pen is seriously conflicted with how much she thinks about masturbating- and she is afraid of her feelings. This is so so so sad. The Nerdy and the Dirty really opens up the discussion on teen sexuality.

Benedict is a favourite character of mine in this whole story. He is SO honest. It's so refreshing. He's not a perfect character, as was mentioned earlier, he is completely awkward, and totally pompous. He has no filter and says the first thing he thinks of, whether it's appropriate or not. You know who he reminds me of, Don Tillman from The Rosie Project. This could easily be a prequel to the Rosie Project.

There were a couple of things that bothered me in this book. The beginning dragged a bit, and the writing seemed a little immature. I sort of felt like the author was filling space until the big event at the resort. I felt like that could have been done better. Pen could have used a little more development in the early stages of the book, and her relationship with her parents could have been explored a bit more. Those parts felt lacking to me.

Overall, I enjoyed The Nerdy and the Dirty, I liked how realistic the relationships were, and how illogical teenagers are, and I really appreciated how it opened up the sex talk. This book is for teens, 100%. Anyone 16 and under are really going to resonate with what's being said in this novel. And I think that's fantastic. It's got an important message to rely.  So, while it fell short for me in some places, it certainly doesn't take away from the overall story.

~Happy Reading Everyone.