Review: Burnouts, Geeks, and Jesus Freaks by Karen Gordon

Burnouts, Geeks, and Jesus Freaks: a love story

(Burnouts #1)

by Karen Gordon

Genres: New Adult, Contemporary Romance

[Goodreads | Amazon]

They’re burnouts - a little short on parents, money and plans for the future, but they’ve got each other and a whole lot of fun. With a world of crazy at home, Carrie Gould needs them to keep her sanity. To stay in their world she needs to keep dating the guy with the party house, which would be fine, if she hadn’t fallen in love with someone else. He’s such a geek. Ben Gorman is obsessive, smart, strong-willed and on the fast track to his dream of becoming an Army Ranger. He’s also the only geek with a girl. Joelle Welker is perfect for him; a self-proclaimed Jesus freak, who is dedicated to her beliefs and to building a future with Ben. But those plans don’t include his neighbor, Carrie, or Ben’s dedication to her. Their friendship started by chance. Their love started with trust.

This is a sweet, silly smart-sexy story of first love and first lovers.

The Good: 

• The nostalgic love story. 
• The characters of Carrie and Ben.

The Bad: 

• The ending felt rushed.

The Gif:

  You win, Karen Gordon. You made me ugly cry. Sure, I have my sappy moments with books. I can fangirl with the best of them. But it's really rare for me to cry. Burnouts, Geeks, and Jesus Freaks had me blabbering and sobbing throughout the last twenty-five percent.

  Carrie and Ben's story definitely transported me back in time to high school and all of the emotions from that time. Karen Gordon did an excellent job at capturing that feeling. I loved learning about Carrie, Ben, and their friends. They all felt like they could have been real people that I knew during my younger years. The authentic feel to this story is exactly what pulled so many emotions from me.

  The ending of the book felt like a rushed blur, though. The first sixty-five percent or so was really focused on high school and everything to go along with it. But it felt like the last part flew through the span of several years. So much happened that I had to reread certain pages to keep up.

  All in all, I really liked this book so much. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me cringe. It was the perfect reminder of how wonderful and awful that high school was. You won't be disappointed if you pick this one up!

**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Karen Gordon.