Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Am I Normal Yet?

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

9 reviews

chaneoosthuizen's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

** spoiler alert ** I loved this book, It tells a much needed story about OCD, a highly stigmatized mental disorder. The main character, Evie, is a teenage girl with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She is about to go on a date to a house party, with a guy she met in her psychology class, but she is unpleasantly surprised when he shows up absolutely pissed. Jane, her best friend and the only person who was there for her through a time when her OCD was really bad, is so obsessed with her boyfriend, Joel, that she ultimately becomes unreliable. Evie is about ready to give up hope when she meats Amber and Lottie. They soon grow very close and all become best friends. However, Evie deciedes not to tell them about her OCD as she fears they'll judge her. Together, the three of them form the spinster club, a feminist organization that discusses all the acts of sexism in their school and society in general. That is until she gets a little too closer to this guy called... Guy (that had to have been on purpose) who creeps into her life and becomes her worst nightmare. She ends up almost having sex with him before she realizes that he was just using her. After that, she has a meltdown. She wants to cleanse her entire body and sees only one way to do that. She pours an entire bottle of bleach onto her body and ends up in the hospital. When Amber and Lottie come to visit, she finally tells them about her diagnosis, and where she expects judgment, she finds compassion and understanding instead.

This book is an excellent, easy to follow story, although it gets dark at times. It is really fast-paced, and thoughts blend into each other seamlessly. In a lot of books recently, there is this gap near the end right before the climax. Where, it just feels like there is nothing going on, just pointless words on a page. This book, however, doesn't seem to have that. Overall, it is excellently written like all Holly Bourne books are!

The main character feels well rounded, and realistic. She's not exactly likable and can come off as too much sometimes. However, I think this can be seen as a good thing as that's how real people are! No one is perfect, and I think Holly Bourne is really good at creating imperfect characters.

This honestly would've been a 5 star book if we saw more of Oli's character. He's supposed to be the main love interest, but he's in a total of 5 pages. I know this is a feminist book that's supposed to be focused on Evie and her story, outside of love, but the book does heavily imply that Evie and Olly do end up dating. The problem is, we don't know if Oli is any better than Guy.

Regardless, this is still an amazing book, and I definitely think you should read it if:
- You are a feminist
- You are interested in modern-day feminism
- You want a raw story about mental health
- You want to read a story about the importance of female friendships
- You like "I knew you were trouble" by Taylor Swift

!!CHEACK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING!!

Content Warnings

jesse_5's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

theunfinishedbookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

m_r3ads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very emotional, yet also humorous when needed to be. The novel successfully explored mental illness and mental health in adolescents in an informative manner, so as to educate but also, imo resonate and reassure with those who are struggling themselves. Beautifully written to portray the ups and downs of friendships as well. Overall, I loved it!

Please be aware that there is sexual assault/ sexual harassment as well as detailed accounts of the impacts of OCD especially. Please only read this if you feel you are in the right head space to do so.

Content Warnings