The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek by Seth Rudetsky

The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek

by Seth Rudetsky

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.

Reviewed by Leah on

3 of 5 stars

Share
This was such a cute read.

I would have loved it more if Justin wasn't so obsessed with Spencer; as the book opens, Justin is so excited about going to New York, but worries that if he stays with Spencer, he can't find a "proper New York boyfriend", which was fine, but when Spencer breaks up with Justin, all of a sudden, Justin just can't stop making everything about Spencer, and it honestly drove me insane. Considering Justin was going to break up with Spencer, it didn't make sense that he was so obsessed. When Devon entered the picture I was so excited, because he and Justin got on so well, but Justin only attempts to date Devon to make Spencer jealous, and it just seemed so selfish. You don't do that to a person.

I loved the theatre stuff in the book - and the mystery behind Hubert's reasons for making sure Justin stayed away from the theatre and Chase where he was meant to be interning for JobSkill. That whole plot line was addictive, and I devoured the second half of the book as it all kicked off for Justin, and he got his Veronica Mars on.

The book was such a fun, cute, quick read. I wasn't a massive fan of the way Justin acted towards any of the boys in the novel (a case of having his cake and eating it) but I loved everything else about it (and was so curious why he wasn't the size of a freaking house, considering how much he eats, and eats, and eats, and eats). It was a really sweet read, and nice to see a book set around the whole Broadway scene, which isn't something I've ever read about before.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 June, 2015: Finished reading
  • 2 June, 2015: Reviewed