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splendidlyimperfect's review against another edition
1.0
This book lost me at page 30.
"...we branch out from there to the far reaches of nerd culture. Not the things that women like too, but the things that only boys secretly enjoy when we're boys without shame, like Warhammer and Magic cards."
Way to alienate 50% of the population and promote the stereotype that the only geek girls are "cool geeks" who look cute in cosplay
UPDATE: I couldn't finish it. The protagonist is horrible and unsympathetic, it's super sexist, and the plot is stupid as hell. I loved "It's Kind of a Funny Story", but this was just...the worst.
"...we branch out from there to the far reaches of nerd culture. Not the things that women like too, but the things that only boys secretly enjoy when we're boys without shame, like Warhammer and Magic cards."
Way to alienate 50% of the population and promote the stereotype that the only geek girls are "cool geeks" who look cute in cosplay
UPDATE: I couldn't finish it. The protagonist is horrible and unsympathetic, it's super sexist, and the plot is stupid as hell. I loved "It's Kind of a Funny Story", but this was just...the worst.
juhina's review against another edition
4.0
The Other Normals was just 400 pages of laugh out loud hilarious dialogue, characters, and plot. I enjoyed everything in The Other Normals. Ned Vizzini knows how to write humorous dialogue and has a way of portraying a fifteen year old boy's insecurities and issues without sounding whiny, cliched or boring. The whole setting of this novel had me cracking up. Peregrine, who hates being called that and prefers Perry, is the son of two divorced parents. His brother is a cliched bad boy but his parents are each dating their own divorce lawyer (weird huh?), Ned took it to the next level and showed us that through this divorce Perry got a set of new parents. Everything in his family is facilitated through the lawyers. Be it setting up time for lunch or sending in a birthday gift. I found that unbelievably funny especially when I read people's reactions later on. Also, the camp he is sent in had a sign saying no lawyers allowed, so what did the two lawyers do? they got out of the car in the middle of no where, and bid them farewell. I mean what? These scenes are so ridiculous yet so funny so you don't really think too much on how that made no sense.
Perry loves role playing games, his game of choice is Caverns & Creatures. However one day in camp he sees a creature just like the one in his story. This is when the fantasy is infused in the novel. Perry ends up going to the other world that can not be pronounced using the human language. A whole conversation is dedicated on choosing a name for that world and it was decided to call it "The Other Normals World". Now Perry is a late bloomer, or at least that is what his mom says which is backed up by his hairless situation that he mentioned once or twice to the readers. So once he is in The Other Normals World and ends up participating in a fight or two and actually using weapons to fight, he does not want to go back to the human world where everyone thinks of him as a white boy, not man or guy, but a boy. I really enjoyed the secondary characters, such as Mortin and Ada, who are Other Normals. The story was fast paced when we get to the action and we meet so many different creatures and species and I just had a blast imagining them all. One species had the bodies of supermodels but frog heads, others had human heads but octopus bodies.
One thing I really liked about this novel is the format of its chapters. I know many people hate long chapters and I am one of them. Some chapters were one page long! I found myself reading more and more this way, every time I end I chapter I see the next chapter is only two pages long so I tell myself to just read the next chapter. This cycle would stay like that and I end up reading 50 more pages that what I was planning to! Also whenever Perry and his gang moved from one city in The Other Normal World and also to our Earth, a two page header with the name of the city/world they are in is added. I really liked that because it felt like the book was divided in sections. Also we get to see a map that Ada has with her where I referred to it multiple times to see where they are exactly. All in all The Other Normals isn't just a novel, it is an adventure. Perry was a great companion on this adventure and I really enjoyed Ned Vizzini's writing. I honestly hope he writes more humorous young adult novels because I could not stop laughing while reading The Other Normals. I would definitely suggest it to all YA readers because this novel isn't like any YA novel I've read before.
Perry loves role playing games, his game of choice is Caverns & Creatures. However one day in camp he sees a creature just like the one in his story. This is when the fantasy is infused in the novel. Perry ends up going to the other world that can not be pronounced using the human language. A whole conversation is dedicated on choosing a name for that world and it was decided to call it "The Other Normals World". Now Perry is a late bloomer, or at least that is what his mom says which is backed up by his hairless situation that he mentioned once or twice to the readers. So once he is in The Other Normals World and ends up participating in a fight or two and actually using weapons to fight, he does not want to go back to the human world where everyone thinks of him as a white boy, not man or guy, but a boy. I really enjoyed the secondary characters, such as Mortin and Ada, who are Other Normals. The story was fast paced when we get to the action and we meet so many different creatures and species and I just had a blast imagining them all. One species had the bodies of supermodels but frog heads, others had human heads but octopus bodies.
One thing I really liked about this novel is the format of its chapters. I know many people hate long chapters and I am one of them. Some chapters were one page long! I found myself reading more and more this way, every time I end I chapter I see the next chapter is only two pages long so I tell myself to just read the next chapter. This cycle would stay like that and I end up reading 50 more pages that what I was planning to! Also whenever Perry and his gang moved from one city in The Other Normal World and also to our Earth, a two page header with the name of the city/world they are in is added. I really liked that because it felt like the book was divided in sections. Also we get to see a map that Ada has with her where I referred to it multiple times to see where they are exactly. All in all The Other Normals isn't just a novel, it is an adventure. Perry was a great companion on this adventure and I really enjoyed Ned Vizzini's writing. I honestly hope he writes more humorous young adult novels because I could not stop laughing while reading The Other Normals. I would definitely suggest it to all YA readers because this novel isn't like any YA novel I've read before.
elizabethseebee's review against another edition
3.0
This reminded me of Going Bovine, with the bizarre storyline... Not my favorite Ned Vizzini novel, but I liked it better than Be More Chill... The character dialogue was amusing in Vizzini fashion... Took me a few years to read because of Vizzini's suicide, but glad I finally read it...
jenmiller253's review against another edition
2.0
Just a little too much of the f word for me to really like it.
lucychanning's review against another edition
2.0
2.5*
It was more of some adventure book than a coming of age story as it was described. I didn't really feel like Perry went through that much development. The world was okay and I really do love Ned Vizzini's writing style so I did read it quickly.
It was more of some adventure book than a coming of age story as it was described. I didn't really feel like Perry went through that much development. The world was okay and I really do love Ned Vizzini's writing style so I did read it quickly.
meags1's review against another edition
3.0
I rather liked the semi-twist (portal fantasy is really in! As long as it is actually thinly disguised science fiction!), but the tone was sometimes all over the place. The pacing was frenetic to the point that once, when the pages stuck together, I missed a rather important SET of revelations. That said, I'm not sure I'd recommend it.
lisamquinn's review against another edition
3.0
I was very happy when a new Ned Vizzin showed up. I really liked "It's kind of a Funny Story", and I was expecting another realistic fiction. This was a fantasy that was kind of a bit out there for my taste, but I'll recommend it to the kids.
Tags: Roleplaying games, multiverse, camp.
Tags: Roleplaying games, multiverse, camp.
sageorion's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so cute and awesome. The only reason I gave it a four instead of a five is because I love Vizzini's other books a little bit more than I loved this one.
jcargabr's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I pre-read it to find out if it was a book my 10 yo boy would like and I would be OK recommending. Unfortunately, although the level is fine some of the language veers into inappropriate territory - and is not especially enlightened. The narrator is a 15yo "late bloomer" who loves reading the manuals to a D&D like game and magically gets transported there to learn about life and love etx. That world is a multiverse version of Earth that somehow affects what is going on in Earth. Great setup for various issues but the book does a terrible job of delving into those issues. A good scifi/fantasy author could have taken this world building idea and created a masterpiece but this author who's bailiwick is firmly in YA realistic fiction merely uses the barebones ideas to walk the well-trod paths of budding sexuality and honor without adding any insight. Further the author seems to not realize that there are women/girls who like fantasy/comics/D&D - and objectifies them. Disappointing and I will not be recommending to my child or any other child.
mildlyjulie's review against another edition
4.0
I am so glad that I generally go into books (and movies) as blind as possible. If I'd read anything about this book, I may not have read it. (I found it in the e-book collection at the library, and added it because I'd read and liked another book by this author.)
This was such a FUN read! I really wanted it to keep going. There's a throwaway line that caught my eye: something like "Real adrenaline is like insanity juice." This book is full of both adrenaline and insanity, and it's such a cool ride!
This was such a FUN read! I really wanted it to keep going. There's a throwaway line that caught my eye: something like "Real adrenaline is like insanity juice." This book is full of both adrenaline and insanity, and it's such a cool ride!