Owned Or Library?
Own Kindle Edition (it was on special offer for 99p)
The Cover
Hard to see on Kindle but the Goodreads photo (above) shows it to be very striking and hits the point well.
Synopsis
Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne is a gritty, realistic story about one girl and her struggles with mental health issues. Add in some boy drama, great new friends and a dose of feminism and stir it up into a strikingly relevant book for the times.
Characters
Evie struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder yet despite this (or maybe because of it) she is a smart, nice, strong character that I relish getting to know.
Jane is Evie's former best friend who's life now revolves around her boyfriend Joel.
Amber and Lottie are the two new best friends Evie makes at college.
World Building
Set in the UK (mentions of pounds, the way college is set up and a characters wish to visit the US) which I really like and connect with. Everything seemed so realistic and really well researched, I love Evie's film obsession and the trio's feminist group the Spinster Club is awesome! Especially loved the mention of the tax on feminine hygiene products despite them being a necessary evil. It's very current since this is an issue being discussed right now.
Conclusion
An amazing book that had me hooked from the start, I love Evie's narrative voice and the characters are amazing. There was one pleasant surprise for me, when it was mentioned that Jane knew about Evie's illness I kept expecting her to somehow reveal it out of spite but she didn't which I loved! I wish they could have explored more why she attached herself so strongly to Joel and changed her image to match/please him. I also wish we could have had more about Oli and about her sister Rose's issues but I do understand that it's not their story.
The back of my copy mentioned that this is the first book in a kind of trilogy each focussing on a different member of the Spinster Club and I will definitely seek them out.
Rating 5/5
