The Wrong Kind of Weird

The Wrong Kind of Weird, by James Ramos, is a new YA romcom. When the story opens, nerdy high-schooler Cameron is secretly dating the cheerleader prom queen girl, who’s also in an weird off-again-on-again with her handsome, popular boyfriend. At the same time, Cameron’s starting to spend time with a supercool nerdy artist girl, who might become more than a friend… This was a sweet YA story, with fun secondary characters. I really liked that both love interests actually had their own hobbies and interests! I did not love that nerd-girl Mackenzie was just bubbling over with geek trivia at all times, though.

The Wrong Kind of Weird is a hard one to review, because there was a lot to enjoy in a book that riffs on both Dragonball Z and Pride and Prejudice, but I found Cameron’s story slightly flat. Cameron — and his nerdy friends — are unpleasantly obsessed with the idea that hobbies are the same thing as personality, so he uses his geek hobbies almost as a shield. I’m a nerdy outcast! I’m weird! he screams at all times, no one will ever like anime as much as I do! Cameron’s not quite posting on incel Reddit, but it doesn’t make for a particularly likable protag. As nerd hobbies become mainstream, accessible interests, it’s more awkward to hide behind a niche interest. Can you *really* be a comic book outsider with popular, big-budget Marvel movies coming out left and right? This makes the book’s overall just-be-yourself message feel even more heavy-handed.

Fortunately, every single secondary character — from the girl crafting weekends to win a cosplay contest, to an older sister explaining the hand-flex in the P&P movie, to a divorced dad asking his son awkward music questions to relate — felt like a real person.

Overall, a main character to roll your eyes at, but an author to watch.

I received a copy of this novel to review from BookishFirst. All opinions are my own, as always.