Hello Everyone!
Today I am participating in the blog tour for a wonderful book, Normalish by Margaret Lesh, hosted by Xpress Book Tours.
Normalish by Margaret Lesh
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Publication Date: October 5, 2012
Rating: 4/5 STARS!
Synopsis:
Fifteen-year-old Stacy questions the strange world of high school, love, her role in a harsh universe, and life, in Normalish.
People tell you high school's so great and wonderful, but they're lying. It's mostly horrible and full of disappointment. It sucks. Your best friend abandons you. The jerk you're in love with pretends to be into you, and then the big dump. The boy you've really clicked with as a friend decides to go all crushy over you, so you break his heart just like yours was -- smashed into little pieces. Your sister goes mental, and you get involved with a guy who’s even crazier than she is (who you know is a very bad idea, but you do it anyway). Math only adds another stink of failure to the whole thing.
High school blows. Just ask freshman Stacy. She’d want you to know.
People tell you high school's so great and wonderful, but they're lying. It's mostly horrible and full of disappointment. It sucks. Your best friend abandons you. The jerk you're in love with pretends to be into you, and then the big dump. The boy you've really clicked with as a friend decides to go all crushy over you, so you break his heart just like yours was -- smashed into little pieces. Your sister goes mental, and you get involved with a guy who’s even crazier than she is (who you know is a very bad idea, but you do it anyway). Math only adds another stink of failure to the whole thing.
High school blows. Just ask freshman Stacy. She’d want you to know.
My Review:
Wow! I am surprised about how much I enjoyed this book! I
began it thinking it would be a normal story about a teenage girl dealing with
her own personal problems. Yet, this book divulges deeper, moving away from the
surface, into the true identity of Stacy and how she comprehends the people
around her. From the first page, Stacy thought about everything, thrusting her
blend vulnerability and courage on me.
Stacy is a freshman in high school questioning the reality
of being normal. A current of realism runs through a course, splashing through,
Stacy dealing with a family member, a sister, with a mental illness, teen
angst, losing a best friend, Summer, disappointing a guy, who was a close
friend, who felt unrequited loved towards her and so much more.
This angst-ridden book is was not consistently morose. Every
page squirted its own blast of humor. There are many memorable scenes, like one
on a beach with an adorable dog, which thrust sweetness into the story.
This book is full of brilliant title cards marking each day,
sharing the individual story of each chapter.
For instance, “October 1 – Unemployed Wizards and Godzilla”
(Lesh 54)
Lastly- the characters!
Chad- sweet, strong, amazing friend
Summer- Stacy’s ex-best friend who grew throughout the
story, a little anyway.
Bobby- sweet eccentric guy
Becca and Roman- best couple! It is amazing how loyalty
Roman stands by Becca through EVERYTHING she goes through. Becca is also a
caring sister who tenaciously works with the mental struggle she faces.
If you read- Confessions
of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett- and loved it too, I am sure you would
enjoy this story two. They have different plot lines but leave with a similar
wonderful state of connection with younger teenage narrators.
Giveaway!
I'm glad to hear there is a little humour to balance it all out. :) Sounds like it is done well! Great review, Rachel. It's great that you were pleasantly surprised by this. I have to admit that I didn't look twice at it before, but now it has my attention. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review Rachel I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I also really want to read Confessions of an Angry Girl!
ReplyDeleteOoh, this indeed sounds like a fun read. The blurb makes me think that the MC is very cynic but with your review I know she'd grew and learn a lot throughout the course of the story. Fantastic review, Rachel! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love it when a writer balances serious issues with humor. It takes the sting away. Wonderful review, Rachel and thanks for the giveaway. I'll have to enter it later because I'm on my phone and it's such a pain to try and do it that way. :)
ReplyDeleteOh I absolutely love Confessions of an Angry Girl and this books sounds like something I would love too! Thank you for the lovely review Rachel and for putting this book on my radar! :)
ReplyDeleteYou had me at how fun this book is and I too loved Confessions of... so I will be adding this to my tbr list!
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