Author: Holly Bourne
Edition: Usborne Publishing Ltd. 2015, UK
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis
All Evie wants is to be normal. And now that she's almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the-girl-who-went-nuts, there's only one thing left to tick off her list...But relationships can mess with anyone's head - something Evie's new friends Amber and Lottie know only too well. The trouble is, if Evie won't tell them her secrets, how can they stop her making a huge mistake?
Review
When I finished this book, I logged straight into Goodreads – it's like a ritual now. I sat there, Goodreads in one hand, this book in the other, being asked what rating I would give it. Initially, I was thinking four stars, but then, out loud, I asked myself "what's wrong with this book?" The answer? Nothing. So five stars is what it gets.
I knew going in that Am I Normal Yet? was jam packed with themes and issues but I don't think I realised just what that meant. This book has everything. There's the things you expect to find in YA – love and friendship – and then there's the bigger issues of feminism and mental health. Even reading it at 21, I've taken so much from it that I really wasn't expecting to. I've learnt a lot about feminism and have realised that I don't think about it as much as I should. I would shove this book into the arms of every teenager if I could. If I, a grown-up *internal cringe*, can be affected by it, I can't imagine the impact it must have on the readers it's intended for (although I'm fully against YA being for literal 'young adults' but that's another post entirely).
One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the number of potential love interests. I remember growing up, there was never really one boy. I developed crushes, obsessed for a month or two, nothing happened, and I moved on. At the time, I loved to read stories of girls and boys falling in love, where there was one boy, but that wasn't an accurate reflection of my teen years. It was nice to read a book that felt closer to my reality.
I loved Evie and her voice: the humour, and the language, the blunt and literal descriptions. I also really loved the way Evie wanted to be normal. It made a change from characters who are aiming for perfect, forgetting, or not even realising, that perfect doesn't really exist. I'd never thought about the notion of normal following the same principle. Everyone has different ideas about what's normal; you'll never be normal to everyone, so don't stress yourself out trying.
I can't recommend Am I Normal Yet? enough. Whether you're 16 or 25, there's so many lessons, so many perspectives on important issues, that it just shouldn't be missed.
Favourite Quote
There are so many snarky comments and comebacks, all of which I love, but I'm going to go with one quote of description and one that just sounds like something I would do!
"Like basil, or something more romantic-sounding than basil. But basil is a pretty lovely shade of green to have eyes made out of."
"I only knew to come let you in because you woke me up screaming that African bit at the very beginning of 'The Circle of Life' from The Lion King."
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