Book Review – Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

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?

My rating:

I loved how Holly Bourne manages to really encompass so many complex issues in a fun and easy to read way, but at the end you come out realising that you’ve read something powerful with important ideas.

Evie’s OCD was pretty hard to read – I don’t have it but I totally understand some of the behaviours and thoughts around it. And seeing it in full force made me grateful I can only understand that small part. Also the part where she gets Angry (about people joking about MH conditions)? I totally have that conversation with my friends. It’s not okay to treat mental health like it’s less important. And that comes across both from that but also in every page where Evie is justifying her actions to herself – to repeat something, to wash, to not tell people she’s struggling even though she knows she is. I feel like this is something teens should be told to read. Not least because there’s some important messages that no teen really gets – there’s no such thing as normal, everyone is struggling with something, and especially around MH issues that they make it harder during a time when you just want to fit in.

Also I love the feminism aspect. And Amber. Though being 5’11” and ginger isn’t thaaaaat bad – I loved Amber’s attitude and feminism, but didn’t enjoy the moments where she let that get to her. I’m only 2” shorter and also ginger so was also taller than most people in school. It’s okay. I get it, and also get that she’s doing her own version of catastrophising, but I felt she was using it as an excuse for feeling awkward and I wanted someone to call her on it, supportively. Cause you know, feeling awkward is normal too, trust me!!

This impacted me more than I thought it would and packs more of a punch than the blurb implies. Definitely worth checking out.

Buy Am I Normal Yet? from Amazon UK.