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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
I read most of this book in the last 24 hours and I really really like it. It's another one about mental health, but not only. Am I Normal Yet? is about teenagers, falling in love, feminism (more about it than I thought), stupid people, friendships and yes, a lot of mental illness.
Evelyn - who is called Evie by everyone - wants nothing more than to be normal. She doesn't want to be "the mad girl" and wants to have friends and go to college and she really really wants a boyfriend. She is suffering from OCD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and for a long time she has been in a very bad place. She is getting better now, but obviously it's taking its time.
Evie is going to a new school and she is making new friends, but a lot of things aren't working out the ways she wants them too.
She has problems with the boys she's meeting (most of them are incredible assholes), with her mental health, with being "normal" and "like everyone else".
Being like everyone else is a huge topic in this book. Evie is totally convinced she is not normal and a freak because of her OCD and anxiety and if she beats it or seems to have beaten it and gets a boyfriend, then she's normal and like everyone else. Obviously things are not that easy, but Evie doesn't really get that. She gets quite annoying at some points with the whole relationship-thing, like it's the most important thing for a sixteen-year-old to be in a relationship. And it isn't. Sadly that isn't really pointed out more in this book.
What Holly Bourne points out a lot though is how sexist society is and how sexist teenagers especially are. Evie and her friends Amber and Lottie are forming a Spinster Club and they talk a lot about very interesting feminist topics. I really like those conversations, it's very interesting to see how much they learn about it. I wish more people our age would be like that.
I don't know a LOT about OCD and I definitely can't relate to it but I found it very well described in this book. Evie goes through a lot and she has huge problems but you don't only learn about the bad things. You learn about her therapy and her coping strategies and how her family can help or tries to.
I think one of the big messages in Am I Normal Yet? is: You are not alone, you can talk to your friends, and they will understand. Maybe not all of them, but some. Don't eat yourself up on your thoughts, get them out there. Hiding won't help. (This goes for every mental health problem, I can confirm.)
And thankfully Evie realises she doesn't have to be "like everyone else" because that doesn't really exist. Everyone is different and everyone is going through bad stuff. No one is perfect, however it may seem.
The plot is sometimes rather predictable and a few things I find quite annoying, especially how focused everything is on the "I need a boyfriend" part. But apart from that there are many really interesting and important passages in this book, so you should read it.
I found some chapters a bit upsetting because of how well and detailed Evie's OCD and anxiety is described, so if you're triggered very easily by stuff like this please be careful.
Evelyn - who is called Evie by everyone - wants nothing more than to be normal. She doesn't want to be "the mad girl" and wants to have friends and go to college and she really really wants a boyfriend. She is suffering from OCD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder and for a long time she has been in a very bad place. She is getting better now, but obviously it's taking its time.
Evie is going to a new school and she is making new friends, but a lot of things aren't working out the ways she wants them too.
She has problems with the boys she's meeting (most of them are incredible assholes), with her mental health, with being "normal" and "like everyone else".
Being like everyone else is a huge topic in this book. Evie is totally convinced she is not normal and a freak because of her OCD and anxiety and if she beats it or seems to have beaten it and gets a boyfriend, then she's normal and like everyone else. Obviously things are not that easy, but Evie doesn't really get that. She gets quite annoying at some points with the whole relationship-thing, like it's the most important thing for a sixteen-year-old to be in a relationship. And it isn't. Sadly that isn't really pointed out more in this book.
What Holly Bourne points out a lot though is how sexist society is and how sexist teenagers especially are. Evie and her friends Amber and Lottie are forming a Spinster Club and they talk a lot about very interesting feminist topics. I really like those conversations, it's very interesting to see how much they learn about it. I wish more people our age would be like that.
I don't know a LOT about OCD and I definitely can't relate to it but I found it very well described in this book. Evie goes through a lot and she has huge problems but you don't only learn about the bad things. You learn about her therapy and her coping strategies and how her family can help or tries to.
I think one of the big messages in Am I Normal Yet? is: You are not alone, you can talk to your friends, and they will understand. Maybe not all of them, but some. Don't eat yourself up on your thoughts, get them out there. Hiding won't help. (This goes for every mental health problem, I can confirm.)
And thankfully Evie realises she doesn't have to be "like everyone else" because that doesn't really exist. Everyone is different and everyone is going through bad stuff. No one is perfect, however it may seem.
The plot is sometimes rather predictable and a few things I find quite annoying, especially how focused everything is on the "I need a boyfriend" part. But apart from that there are many really interesting and important passages in this book, so you should read it.
I found some chapters a bit upsetting because of how well and detailed Evie's OCD and anxiety is described, so if you're triggered very easily by stuff like this please be careful.
I liked the mental health representation in the book but the only complain I have is that she could have done without involvings boys. It really out me off. It seemed like a very typical ya. But the good thing is that mental health was represented very nicely
I liked the mental health representation in the book but the only complain I have is that she could have done without involvings boys. It really out me off. It seemed like a very typical ya. But the good thing is that mental health was represented very nicely
Tämä on kaikin puolin tärkeä kirja. Suosittelen suosittelen suosittelen! Lisää feminismiä nuortenkirjoihin!
Wow finished this in less than 24hours. What a great and compelling story. It definitely isn’t an easy read in places and could be triggering for some people.
Evie was just such a fantastic character! So endearing and the friendships in this are wonderful. I thought the mental health aspect was handled brilliantly.
I need to buy the rest of the books in the series now. I hadn’t read a contemporary for ages and I’m so glad I picked this up. Loved it!
Evie was just such a fantastic character! So endearing and the friendships in this are wonderful. I thought the mental health aspect was handled brilliantly.
I need to buy the rest of the books in the series now. I hadn’t read a contemporary for ages and I’m so glad I picked this up. Loved it!
I'm literally only reading this because for some reason it was the only book preloaded off the Cloud of my Kindle app and I didn't have WiFi to get any more. I am not enjoying it. Poppy is an odious twat. Noah is a preening idiot. I'm eyerolling so hard I may go blind.
NOV '14 - MARKED DNF
NOV '14 - MARKED DNF
Feminist "Turtles All The Way Down". CW: Anxiety, OCD, thought spirals. Triggered me. Will write proper review after thinking about it a bit more and not being so lazy. Thanks for gifting me this great book, Lea!