Reviews - Am I Normal Yet?

1.09k reviews for:

Am I Normal Yet?

Holly Bourne

4.12 AVERAGE

fionab7's review against another edition

5.0

Very well written. I also learned a lot about OCD and what it is like to have it.

book_dragon_julia's review against another edition

3.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I got the third book out the library not knowing it was a third book so I listened to the audiobook of this and it was kind of ruined for me by the narrator. It just grated on me a bit. I'd have probably enjoyed it more just reading the book.

claire_lou's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is one of the most accurate representations of OCD I've ever read - the bad thoughts, the worse thoughts, the rituals to make the bad thoughts go away.

Although Evie's OCD is the most commonly portrayed type of OCD that focuses on hand washing her thoughts are so accurate to mine that it's not just because she wants things to be clean which is where most media stops

The fear of getting sick, of infecting people around you and being responsible for every bad thing that creates the need for control was so true. I'm glad I found this book as far into my recovery journey as I am now - earlier on it would have been too difficult and sent me into my own spiral of doom. Now though, it's so nice to see someone else's thoughts that mirror my own (even a fictional character) that it made me feel less alone and more understood

juuliaseppala's review against another edition

4.0

loved the mental health rep & feminist issues discussed in an accessible, realistic and still entertaining way. i also thoroughly enjoyed the writing style & will be reading the other books in this series! probably would've given this five stars if i'd read it a few years ago

gemfortheloveofbooks's review against another edition

4.0

There were so many things in this book that I could relate to. I really felt for Evie and what she was going through. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more Holly Bourne books.

wjreadsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I kinda put Am I Normal Yet on my TBR on a whim, especially since the ratings are so high on Goodreads. And I'm really glad I did because it's a funny, heartwarming story about a Evie, a girl with OCD who just desperately wants to be a normal teenage girl. Evie is sixteen and at college, about to do her GCSEs but she's had to grapple with her OCD, which had been so totally out of control that she'd basically dropped off the face of the earth for a while. When she returned, her best friend no longer seemed to have time for her and her old friends have become distant. This year, all Evie wants to do is for life to be "normal" and to find a guy worth dating. In between her adventures navigating her relationships, she befriends two other girls Lottie and Amber.

The book also deals with some pretty heavy topics of how having OCD and being mental unwell is like:

These words - words like OCD and bipolar - are not words to use lightly. And yet, they're everywhere. There are TV programmes that actually pun on them. People smile and use them, proud of themselves for learning them, like they should get a sticker or something. Not realizing that if those words are said to you by a medical health professional, as a diagnosis of something you'll probably have for ever, they're words you don't appreciate being misused every single day by someone who likes to keep their house quite clean.

But it does so with so much humour and warmth, as Evie gradually learns that fitting in doesn't mean that she has to hide the person that she truly is.

Spoiler

The book also explores how difficult navigating life with OCD can be, and how tired Evie can feel about the prospect of having to manage her OCD for the rest of her life. The downward spiral that Evie gets caught up in was also quite scary to read about, because you can see it coming but also understand why she's unable to stop herself or to acknowledge that she needs help.

And I also thought that the author did a great job in explaining the Bechdel test and its history, which even I didn't really know about, in a way that doesn't talk down to its readers:

"Have you really not heard of it? I thought you would've done it in film studies. It's like a feminism litmus test for films and books and stuff. Basically, in the eighties, this super cool illustrator who I LOVE called Alison Bechdel realized that all female characters do in fiction stuff like films and books, is talk about men. So she made this simple Bechdel test. And, to pass it, a film's got to have at least two men in it -"

Lottie butted in. "And they've got to have at least one conversation about something other than men. Just one conversation, that's it. And it's passed."

"Oooooh, okay." I thought through all the hundreds, possibly thousands, of films I'd watched, thinking it would be easy. Two minutes later, I had nothing.