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novelinsights's review against another edition
2.0
This book started off with perhaps the best first line of any book I'd read all year, so I had high hopes going in. It did continue to make me laugh throughout, but it also had a lot of poorly handled moments that needled me as I read, dragging it down to be a fairly average, forgettable read.
I was attracted to this book because it was inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. The protagonist is obsessed with the book's version of the game, Creatures and Caverns, and eventually things from that world start showing up in his actual life. It reminded me a little of Stranger Things in that respect (except this isn't horror and Stranger Things is better written).
Most of what I didn't like about this book centered around gender issues. This was written with the old-fashioned 'girls-don't-like-anything-nerdy' mentality, which frankly, I thought we were starting to grow beyond as a society. Granted, 2012 was a lot longer ago than it sounds, but even so, it's a trope I'm tired of seeing at this point unless it gets proven wrong, which in this case, it doesn't. As an added annoyance, the one girl who is nerdy by being the captain of the math team is described as "so brilliant that she has rendered herself asexual," effectively meaning that smart/nerdy girls exist, but because they are smart/nerdy, the protagonist has no interest in them (yet he still gets immensely frustrated when non-nerdy women view him the same way). This double-standard rendered the character relatively unlikable within the first 25 pages of the book.
Trans issues also cropped up in this book and weren't handled well. For no discernible reason whatsoever, one of the minor characters (introduced as Miss K) had an androgynous appearance, and despite the fact that she was presented as a "Miss," the protagonist just had to stumble over her gender any time he or the narration went to refer to her. She was a completely insignificant character and I have no idea what the point was of including this at all, aside from to annoy me as a reader. There was also a trans character (included only for plot reasons to "trick" the protagonist), and when it was discovered that she was amab, we get the following quote: "I remember the telltale sign you're supposed to look for with men versus women: the Adam's apple," implying that he should be examining strangers' necks to check their gender identity against their birth sex. That character was also referred to later as "transsexual," which may have been in use in 2012 (I genuinely don't know) but certainly isn't appropriate now. I should also mention, while we're on the subject, that homophobic slurs were used in a few places throughout the book as well, though this didn't bother me as much because they were used by bullies and it felt more like a realistic depiction of teen male bullying in the time period than it did any kind of actual commentary on queerness.
I also had an issue with the way that consent was handled in the book. At one point, the protagonist asks a girl if he could kiss her, and she says no, but she also tells him that you're not supposed to ask if you can kiss a girl; you're just supposed to do it. That seemed a little contradictory coming from a woman who wouldn't have wanted him to kiss her, and it also seemed like a weird message to put in a kid's book.
To further the consent conversation and also really cement the protagonist as unlikable, there's a scene at a dance where he does something really weird and unrelatable-- This really put the last nail in the coffin of me not really liking this character that well. Throughout the book, he is presented as a nerdy character who isn't particularly popular or well-liked because of his obsession with Creatures and Caverns, and I was under the impression that was supposed to make him more relatable, at least with the nerdy crowd. It even endeared him to me a little despite his weird, sexist double standards. But when this happened, all that went out the window. There was no good, logical reason for him to think doing this was a good idea, and seeing him do it made me reevaluate him and think, "Hmm, maybe there's a good reason no one wants to talk to him." It put me on the side of everyone else, which is decidedly not what the author wanted to do.
There was also a strange element where the protagonist was, at one point, the racial minority in a situation (the only white kid at camp), and it made him uncomfortable, but wasn't in any way used to teach any kind of lessons about actual racism or the experience of being a racial minority in the wider world, which made me question the point, again.
Now, looking back at everything I've written about this book, it is quite a long list of problematic elements. That said, they only cropped up here and there throughout the book, and there were plenty of spaces in between that were at least entertaining. It did feel as if it were written for the younger side of YA, as certain things that happened felt a little too on-the-nose or unbelievable (such as the camp randomly having a sign out in front of it saying "No lawyers beyond this point" or characters shunning other for deciding to partake in any kind of vice such as drinking or smoking). It also didn't feel like it was written to be problematic on purpose or for any kind of agenda; I think it was just a reflection of how the author actually saw the world and I doubt he ever thought anyone would have issues with it.
Overall, it was an okay book. It gave me some laughs and I did enjoy some parts of it, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone. I'm sure this same idea has been done better by someone else somewhere; I'll let you know if I find it!
I was attracted to this book because it was inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. The protagonist is obsessed with the book's version of the game, Creatures and Caverns, and eventually things from that world start showing up in his actual life. It reminded me a little of Stranger Things in that respect (except this isn't horror and Stranger Things is better written).
Most of what I didn't like about this book centered around gender issues. This was written with the old-fashioned 'girls-don't-like-anything-nerdy' mentality, which frankly, I thought we were starting to grow beyond as a society. Granted, 2012 was a lot longer ago than it sounds, but even so, it's a trope I'm tired of seeing at this point unless it gets proven wrong, which in this case, it doesn't. As an added annoyance, the one girl who is nerdy by being the captain of the math team is described as "so brilliant that she has rendered herself asexual," effectively meaning that smart/nerdy girls exist, but because they are smart/nerdy, the protagonist has no interest in them (yet he still gets immensely frustrated when non-nerdy women view him the same way). This double-standard rendered the character relatively unlikable within the first 25 pages of the book.
Trans issues also cropped up in this book and weren't handled well. For no discernible reason whatsoever, one of the minor characters (introduced as Miss K) had an androgynous appearance, and despite the fact that she was presented as a "Miss," the protagonist just had to stumble over her gender any time he or the narration went to refer to her. She was a completely insignificant character and I have no idea what the point was of including this at all, aside from to annoy me as a reader. There was also a trans character (included only for plot reasons to "trick" the protagonist), and when it was discovered that she was amab, we get the following quote: "I remember the telltale sign you're supposed to look for with men versus women: the Adam's apple," implying that he should be examining strangers' necks to check their gender identity against their birth sex. That character was also referred to later as "transsexual," which may have been in use in 2012 (I genuinely don't know) but certainly isn't appropriate now. I should also mention, while we're on the subject, that homophobic slurs were used in a few places throughout the book as well, though this didn't bother me as much because they were used by bullies and it felt more like a realistic depiction of teen male bullying in the time period than it did any kind of actual commentary on queerness.
I also had an issue with the way that consent was handled in the book. At one point, the protagonist asks a girl if he could kiss her, and she says no, but she also tells him that you're not supposed to ask if you can kiss a girl; you're just supposed to do it. That seemed a little contradictory coming from a woman who wouldn't have wanted him to kiss her, and it also seemed like a weird message to put in a kid's book.
To further the consent conversation and also really cement the protagonist as unlikable, there's a scene at a dance where he does something really weird and unrelatable--
Spoiler
he pulls down his pants and exposes himself to a girl he likes in public to "prove he is a man."There was also a strange element where the protagonist was, at one point, the racial minority in a situation (the only white kid at camp), and it made him uncomfortable, but wasn't in any way used to teach any kind of lessons about actual racism or the experience of being a racial minority in the wider world, which made me question the point, again.
Now, looking back at everything I've written about this book, it is quite a long list of problematic elements. That said, they only cropped up here and there throughout the book, and there were plenty of spaces in between that were at least entertaining. It did feel as if it were written for the younger side of YA, as certain things that happened felt a little too on-the-nose or unbelievable (such as the camp randomly having a sign out in front of it saying "No lawyers beyond this point" or characters shunning other for deciding to partake in any kind of vice such as drinking or smoking). It also didn't feel like it was written to be problematic on purpose or for any kind of agenda; I think it was just a reflection of how the author actually saw the world and I doubt he ever thought anyone would have issues with it.
Overall, it was an okay book. It gave me some laughs and I did enjoy some parts of it, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone. I'm sure this same idea has been done better by someone else somewhere; I'll let you know if I find it!
catladyreba's review against another edition
3.0
This was definitely out of my wheelhouse, I'm not huge into Fantasy or RPG's at all, but I'll tell you what. I gave it a chance, and it paid off. I found myself really into the story, and rooting for Perry, Ada, and Mortin. I think it helped that the chapters were short and the story was relatively fast-paced and moved well. I'm not exactly ready to roll the 20-sided dice, but I will for sure recommend this to my students who enjoy Fantasy & RPG's.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
DNF at 100p. The premise was good, but the execution was poor, at best.
aly_bu's review against another edition
4.0
I love Ned Vizzini.
He bit off a bit more with this book than I think he was ready to chew. His characters were (as always) brilliantly crafted, and the idea of the correspondents made character creation even dicier; he had to create similarities without giving away pairings. The plotline was solid as well; a perfect action/adventure/coming of age story that makes it easily relatable for teens and fans of all genres.
The 'more than he could chew' part comes with the world-building; in crafting an alternate reality that split off 600 million years ago, Vizzini really, really struggled. This book was not meant to be consumed as hyper-realistic, but even then there were massive holes in crafting the world of the other normals that made it hard to buy in. I would have loved to see more world-building, and I don't think it needed to come at the expense of any other part of the book; it wasn't too long to begin with, and the short, tiny chapters made it all easily digestible.
That said, Vizzini created a funny little world to take in and I once again had my heart opened to a less-lovable character like Perry. Kudos for that.
He bit off a bit more with this book than I think he was ready to chew. His characters were (as always) brilliantly crafted, and the idea of the correspondents made character creation even dicier; he had to create similarities without giving away pairings. The plotline was solid as well; a perfect action/adventure/coming of age story that makes it easily relatable for teens and fans of all genres.
The 'more than he could chew' part comes with the world-building; in crafting an alternate reality that split off 600 million years ago, Vizzini really, really struggled. This book was not meant to be consumed as hyper-realistic, but even then there were massive holes in crafting the world of the other normals that made it hard to buy in. I would have loved to see more world-building, and I don't think it needed to come at the expense of any other part of the book; it wasn't too long to begin with, and the short, tiny chapters made it all easily digestible.
That said, Vizzini created a funny little world to take in and I once again had my heart opened to a less-lovable character like Perry. Kudos for that.
andresreading's review against another edition
5.0
This book has taken me back to my weird, outcast teen years. And somehow that's not a bad thing.
jooke's review against another edition
2.0
As they embark on their quest, Perry realizes that his nerdy childhood has uniquely prepared him to be a great warrior in this world, and maybe even a hero.
This might be a little over rated...
I liked the concept of the story and it started quiet promising. But to me the author missed out on exploiting his idea to the fullest. Th ending was rather poorly to disappointing I mean
This might be a little over rated...
I liked the concept of the story and it started quiet promising. But to me the author missed out on exploiting his idea to the fullest. Th ending was rather poorly to disappointing I mean
Spoiler
Ok it wasn't a compleet fail, but they didn't succeed in completing the initial quest of saving the Princess nor kissing Annajlennidorner's review against another edition
5.0
What a shame it is that this author passed away. This book could have easily become a beloved series. It captures the youth of this realistic non-cookie-cutter teenage boy so perfectly. He's an outcast, someone who doesn't fit into any of the cliques. His parents are divorced, and both dating their divorce attorneys (hilarious, by the way). And all he wants to do is create characters for a role-playing game (which he's never played, because he has no one to play with him). That alone makes this book remarkable and moving. BUT IT GOES ON! In today's fiction market, there's a category called magical realism. What Ned Vizzini has done with this book is give the reader Fantasy Realism! (Yes, that's an exclamation point. And honestly, this book does it so well that I'm going to leave three more here just because that's how I really feel. !!! ) For my fellow Harry Potter fans-- Imagine if you found a portkey and it took you to Diagon Alley. That's basically the idea here. Oh, and then you'd have to escape some evil wizards to get back. And then deal with dating and dances as a teenager attempting those things for the first time. And your world would be different, but you're the only one who would know. And then more stuff would happen to make this even more "epic" yet. Yes, that's a way to describe this book. If you read or write fantasy, if you've ever felt like you didn't belong to ANY of the available groups or cliques, or if you enjoy tabletop RPG -- go, read this book. Now. Seriously. You're welcome
blooker's review against another edition
2.0
Ned Vizzini's The Other Normals tells the story of Perry Eckert, a young math whiz whose divorced parents' lawyers agree that it would be cheaper to send him to summer camp than to feed him at home, and since he got kicked off the math team, there's no reason not to send him. Also, socializing with other kids at camp could be good for him--his parents and brother think he spends too much time alone creating characters and reading rulebooks for the role-playing game, Creatures & Caverns. It's sadder than your usual stereotype of a fantasy role-playing game geek because these games are intended to be played by more than one person.
Perry goes to camp and runs into a fantasy creature similar to ones he plays in C&C who takes him to the world of the Other Normals--an alternate dimension version of earth that's still very closely tied to Perry's earth. He has adventures there, crosses back over to camp, goes back to the other normals, back to camp, adventures left and right, with Vizzini's humor injected throughout.
It's a fun, light fantasy x coming of age story. I'll acknowledge that I'm not a young adult, and that perhaps that's why I found the story to be less satisfying. The humor was occasionally too similar to an Adam Sandler movie for my taste. You do have to suspend belief for a magical conduit to another dimension that involves mushrooms and a car battery, but even so Perry sometimes behaves in an over the top manner that's forehead-slappingly unbelievable (SPOILER: a scene in which Perry's love interest at camp accuses him of being a boy, not a man, involves him dropping his pants in front everyone at the camp dance). If that sounds like the sort of thing that makes you chuckle, and you enjoy adventure and fantasy world building, visit The Other Normals for yourself.
Perry goes to camp and runs into a fantasy creature similar to ones he plays in C&C who takes him to the world of the Other Normals--an alternate dimension version of earth that's still very closely tied to Perry's earth. He has adventures there, crosses back over to camp, goes back to the other normals, back to camp, adventures left and right, with Vizzini's humor injected throughout.
It's a fun, light fantasy x coming of age story. I'll acknowledge that I'm not a young adult, and that perhaps that's why I found the story to be less satisfying. The humor was occasionally too similar to an Adam Sandler movie for my taste. You do have to suspend belief for a magical conduit to another dimension that involves mushrooms and a car battery, but even so Perry sometimes behaves in an over the top manner that's forehead-slappingly unbelievable (SPOILER: a scene in which Perry's love interest at camp accuses him of being a boy, not a man, involves him dropping his pants in front everyone at the camp dance). If that sounds like the sort of thing that makes you chuckle, and you enjoy adventure and fantasy world building, visit The Other Normals for yourself.
gabyisafreeelf's review against another edition
4.0
official rating is a 3.5. it wasn't life changing but definitely a fun and funny read! Haven't laughed out loud so much in a while by reading a book.