Measuring Up by Nyrae Dawn

Measuring Up by Nyrae Dawn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 Stars

I’m actually not surprised on my subpar review I’m about to write. Measuring Up just didn’t… measure up for me.

Where do I begin? Reading Dawn books to me are pretty much hit or miss or maybe she’s working out the kinks. I was a HUGE FAN of Charade but that was written about 3 months after Measuring Up, so maybe from here on out, her books will get better. I’m giving Dawn one more chance and will leave Dizzy on my TBR list.

I loved the summary, who doesn’t want to read about a girl who tries to lose weight and have the personal training show interest in the heroine? Can we say adorable? HOWEVER, two things just killed it for me, the predictability and how unrealistic everything was.

Annabel is overweight; she’s 5’2” and weighs about 160lbs. It’s the summer before her senior year and she decides to join a gym and hire a personal trainer so she can show up at school, looking thinner to get the girls jealous and catch a boy’s eye. Tegan is Annabel’s personal trainer. Tegan and Annabel don’t make a good first impression but decide to work-out together anyhow.

I thought the beginning was okay. Annabel didn’t seem too superficial and her issues weren’t so bad. Let’s just say she could have been all “diva”, but really she just seemed like a normal over-weight teenager. I’ll be honest; I don’t read books about girls losing weight. I was a little larger in high school, I was 5’3” and weighed 140lbs, that’s about a size 10. Now, just hear me out, at 140lb it doesn’t seem large, but you put that on a petite frame, let’s just say I never had a boyfriend. So, when Annabel says she’s 5’2” and 160lbs, she’s pretty much statistically over-weight. I have no issues with Annabel’s weight, because it’s 100% realistic, my issues are how unrealistic Tegan and Annabel relationship is.

No hot, good-looking boy would ever be interested in an over-weight gal (trying not to offend people, let’s just say, this typically does not happen), let alone a personal trainer. Sure, Tegan can see past Annabel’s looks and he sees her heart, but I find it hard to believe there’s a legitimate connection. I think Annabel needed to do more than help someone’s wheel chair out of the van (I know, it was explained, I still didn’t buy it).

Also, I was fed up with pretty much of all the side characters, except for Timmy; he seemed to be the only cool character. Annabel’s mom was beyond annoying and although most mothers do act like her, I felt no closure and in the end I felt deflated. I wanted to slap Emily in the face and just scream “get over yourself”. Even Annabel’s dad frustrated me (I know he’s sweet, but there was something off-putting with him). It’s seemed like all of these annoying characters were written in for conflict, but it never really meshed with the story.

I didn’t like how fast everything went with Tegan and Annabel. I think Tegan and Annabel should have just formed a friendship for the majority of the book. I guess I set my mind up to think this would be a light YA read, but instead I got a New Adult read and it just didn’t feel right. I thought Tegan and Annabel were pretty much a sweet innocent couple, so when things got heavy, I seriously cringed out loud.

On the positive note, Measuring Up leaves off on a happy, feel-good-about yourself feeling, even though it’s unrealistic, the “happy” tone is there. I should be happy for Annable, it takes a lot of effort to lose weight and feel pretty, but it just seemed (I know I say it a lot) unrealistic. I think I maybe reading way too much into it. You can form your own opinion.