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A review by bluebeereads
Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens
5.0
Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books
4.5 stars
I'm not even sure if I should write this review now or in the morning. Maybe now is better even though I can't get my thoughts straight. But I'm afraid I won't say everything I want to say when I wait until tomorrow. So here goes...
The first thing that comes to my mind is that this is a very good and powerful debut. Courtney managed to bring tears in my eyes from the very first page and that's not an easy thing to accomplish. When I saw that one sentence in the blurb, you know "A searing, poignant book, Faking Normal is the extraordinary debut novel from an exciting new author-Courtney C. Stevens." I was a bit... hesistant about it. But now I know that's just an understatement. This book made me laugh, cry, giggle, sigh,... I felt so much and I'm happy I got to read this book.
The story is about Alexi and something has happened over the summer. She's ashamed and embarrassed and afraid. She hides in her closet and scratches the back of her neck in an attempt to make the outside hurt more than the inside. And then there's Bodee. His dad killed his mom and now he comes to live with her family. They become friends and lean on eah other.
The writing was very very good. Like I said, this book made me feel a lot and that wouldn't be possible if the writing wasn't good. Courtney is very talented. And she knows how to set up a bit of mystery too. There's this guy who writes lyrics on Alexi's desk and she answers them but she doesn't know who he is. She and her friends call him Captain Lyric. Honestly, I didn't know who it was, but I know who I wanted it to be and I was right in the end. And then what happened to Alexi too. I guessed pretty early on what had happened, but I couldn't figure out who did it. I wasn't really surprised when I found out... I can smell creeps from miles away and I didn't trust him from the start so.
I loved Alexi, she's very relatable and strong. I really felt sorry for her and wanted to help her. And Bodee too. He's such a sweet guy and I felt even more sorry from him. Their romance was perfectly done. It built up slowly and it was really amazing. I don't really liked Alexi's sister in the beginning but she came around eventually. I didn't like most of the guys. None of them actually except for Bodee and Alexi's dad. But I liked her friends Heather and Liz.
This really is an extraordinary debut and I really loved it. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this author. I'm sure there'll be more books like this one to come and maybe they'll be even better! And damnit, another book that kept me up until almost 3 am.
4.5 stars
I'm not even sure if I should write this review now or in the morning. Maybe now is better even though I can't get my thoughts straight. But I'm afraid I won't say everything I want to say when I wait until tomorrow. So here goes...
The first thing that comes to my mind is that this is a very good and powerful debut. Courtney managed to bring tears in my eyes from the very first page and that's not an easy thing to accomplish. When I saw that one sentence in the blurb, you know "A searing, poignant book, Faking Normal is the extraordinary debut novel from an exciting new author-Courtney C. Stevens." I was a bit... hesistant about it. But now I know that's just an understatement. This book made me laugh, cry, giggle, sigh,... I felt so much and I'm happy I got to read this book.
The story is about Alexi and something has happened over the summer. She's ashamed and embarrassed and afraid. She hides in her closet and scratches the back of her neck in an attempt to make the outside hurt more than the inside. And then there's Bodee. His dad killed his mom and now he comes to live with her family. They become friends and lean on eah other.
The writing was very very good. Like I said, this book made me feel a lot and that wouldn't be possible if the writing wasn't good. Courtney is very talented. And she knows how to set up a bit of mystery too. There's this guy who writes lyrics on Alexi's desk and she answers them but she doesn't know who he is. She and her friends call him Captain Lyric. Honestly, I didn't know who it was, but I know who I wanted it to be and I was right in the end. And then what happened to Alexi too. I guessed pretty early on what had happened, but I couldn't figure out who did it. I wasn't really surprised when I found out... I can smell creeps from miles away and I didn't trust him from the start so.
I loved Alexi, she's very relatable and strong. I really felt sorry for her and wanted to help her. And Bodee too. He's such a sweet guy and I felt even more sorry from him. Their romance was perfectly done. It built up slowly and it was really amazing. I don't really liked Alexi's sister in the beginning but she came around eventually. I didn't like most of the guys. None of them actually except for Bodee and Alexi's dad. But I liked her friends Heather and Liz.
This really is an extraordinary debut and I really loved it. I'm definitely keeping an eye on this author. I'm sure there'll be more books like this one to come and maybe they'll be even better! And damnit, another book that kept me up until almost 3 am.