Review: Measuring Up by Nyrae Dawn

Measuring Up
By: Nyrae Dawn
Release Date: August 9, 2012

Description:
Seventeen-year-old Annabel Conway is tired of the Hillcrest High School elite making her life miserable because she’s not a size two. This summer, she's hiring a personal trainer to help her lose weight.

Annabel doesn’t expect her trainer to be a gorgeous guy around her age. Boys like Tegan are jerks. They pretend to like girls like her so they can make an idiot out of them. Been there, done that. Totally not going there again. She kind of hates him on principal. Blond. Muscular. Funny. It doesn’t help that he knows her measurements!

Soon, Tegan's so much more than that. He’s the boy who teaches her to box when she has a bad day. Who jogs with her and lets her set the pace. Who kisses her until she melts. He makes her feel beautiful regardless of what the scale says. Unlike her mom, he doesn’t expect perfection, and he doesn't try to shield her from the world like her dad and best friend. Tegan likes her the way she is.

But what happens when he’s not there? He can’t always be there…

Will Annabel be able to stand on her own and learn that she already measures up? That her worth doesn’t lie in what the world thinks, the scale says, or even what Tegan tells her—but in herself?

Review:

This book is the epitome of what it is to be insecure about you; I know that many people can absolutely relate to this book in one way or another.  Nyrae Dawn has a way of bringing her characters to life and you completely fall in love with them.  You are right there beside each character rooting them on all the way.  This book did not disappoint in that in the least and I will definitely be reading more books by Nyrae in the future. 

We meet Annabel as school is recently over and it’s the last summer before senior year begins and she finally feels the need to change, is she doing it for herself or someone else, well it’s a toss-up really.  She is just tired of being bullied and not seen for the great person she really is, plus I can only imagine how much it would suck for one of these bullies to be your mother.  Ouch! She seems so unbelievably insincere in this book but then I get the feeling this is just the way she is, some people just don’t know how to express themselves as much as they want.

So here is Annabel about to go to the gym and meet her trainer, little does she know it’s Tegan, the guy she met before finally going in and had a bit of a situation with.  Doesn’t matter though because it’s very obvious that he has his defenses up about his insecurities and she in turn does as well.  Again another character that is completely relatable because no one wants to be judged or pitied which is what Tegan’s major issue is all about.  But the two start getting along, and soon they have work outs outside the gym.  One thing leads to another and even though Annabel is still in disbelief about the whole situation they start going out.

There’s a bit of turmoil and still self-doubt in both characters but after their stubbornness and anxieties are finally realized all ends well.  I really felt for the characters though. Especially Annabel even though I was never bullied the way she was specific by certain people every now and then you get a little sense of what she went through.  It’s tough. Bullying should not be tolerated and it shouldn’t be done but people are always trying to make themselves feel better.

Overall this was a quick and easy read and just let my mind flow with the situation.  Great summer read, and glad I finally picked up this book.  I’m really enjoying this author’s work.

Quote:
He said he’s looking. Tegan’s looking at me and I’m trying to figure out what he sees. I know what I see. There’s little dimple in my thigh, resting under my rear. My arms are too big. Is that what he sees? If so, why is he looking?
(Kindle Locations 657-659).