Review: Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne || Feminism, mental health and positive female friendship!

Title: Am I Normal Yet?
Author: Holly Bourne
Series: The Spinster Club, book 1 [Can be read as a standalone]
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Mental-Health, [Young-Adult]
Heat Rating: Cool
Page Count and Format: 434, Paperback
Published: August 1st, 2015 by Usborne Publishing Ltd
Source: Purchased
My Rating:

Blurb (from Goodreads):

All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…

But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

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This book was such an epic read!! I breezed through it in no time. Though the beginning was a little slow and I was kinda afraid because of the hype surrounding it but then I understood why everybody loves this book so much!

Am I Normal Yet? follows Evie’s journey as she tries to live a normal life while struggling with her OCD and anxiety. But she is finally taking a step forward, she is ticking off all the things that she has always wanted to do in high school except one, being in a relationship. She wants to tick that off her list too but she can’t even tell her best friends about her condition, will she be able to handle love?

“Mental illnesses grab you by the leg, screaming, and chow you down whole.They make you selfish. They make you irrational. They make you irrational. They make you self-absorbed. They make you needy. They make you cancel plans last minute. They make you not very fun to spend time with. They make you exhausting to be near.”

This book was sooo freaking good. It dealt with so many important topics and it was so relatable! Evie is finally trying to get back to a normal life and be just like the other kids her age but she can’t completely erase anxiety and OCD out of her life. They take a toll on her every day and it’s a daily battle she has to fight. This book dealt with the importance of spreading mental health awareness and the aspect of mental health was handled realistically in this book. Not only that, I LOVED the perfect blend of feminism in this book too.

“Do you ever wonder,” he asked, “how we decide what’s mad and what isn’t? There’s so much crazy stuff in the world – everything’s a mess most of the time – but then people who can’t handle it are called mental and have films made about them… But what if they’re just reacting to the weirdness of the universe? Isn’t it more weird to just think everything’s okay, when it clearly isn’t?” 

Despite making two great friends like Amber and Lottie, Evie is reluctant to share that part of her life, afraid that they might turn her back on her and think her as a freak. As much as I wanted Evie to be open to them, I could understand where she was coming from. But yes, if she was more open to them, facing her problems might have been a little easier but try telling that you to heart. Damn you, heart! There were plenty of situations where it broke my heart, I just wanted to be there for Evie, I wanted to hug her and be there for her, it completely shattered me how she had to face those situations all alone.

From the moment she met Guy (what a weird name! seriously!!), she felt something towards him. Their attraction was visible but damn you, Evie! She deserved so much better than someone named Guy. From the beginning, that boy was anything but trouble and I guess, Evie was attracted towards the bad boy image more than him. The thing between them never felt right to me and it was kinda proved rightly so. I seriously hated Evie for how she treated Oli. I understood, I goddamn understood but she lied to hide more lies and that bothered me very much. She should have at least spoken up about it without taking sides. But I was soooo glad to read the last page of that book and I seriously wanted more.

Anyway, I loved the friendship between the trio. I envied their friendship, it was kind of a friendship that lasted forever. Evie, Lottie and Amber made quite an epic team and their idea to start a spinster club was damn awesome. I wish I could be a part of that team too. Jane was the only friend who knew about Evie but she now has to deal with their friendship falling apart due to Jane’s new found relationship as well. I could so much relate to her feeling overwhelmed and don’t even get me started on anxiety. Despite her daily struggles, despite everything, she was indeed a brave soul.

“Everyone’s on the cliff edge of normal. Everyone finds life an utter nightmare sometimes, and there’s no ‘normal’ way of dealing with it… There is no normal, Evelyn.”

Overall, Am I Normal Yet? was a great eye-opening read. The plot was executed in a realistic way and I fell in love with the characters despite their flaws. It dealt with so many issues which were treated in a sensitive and compassionate way. The writing was beautiful, smooth and easy to read and the pace was even throughout the book. I already have book 2 and I can’t wait to dive into it.

Recommend it?

Yes!

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So guys, have you read this book yet? What did you think about it? And if you haven’t, is it in your tbr?

• 4 stars
• 4 stars out of 5
• Am I Normal Yet?
• August release
• book 1
• can be read as a standalone
• contemporary
• Holly Bourne
• Mental Health
• paperback
• Purchased
• romance
• The Spinster Club
• Usborne Publishing Ltd
• YA
• Young-Adult