Am I Normal Yet? By Holly Bourne

Evie has OCD. All she wants is to be normal. She’s coming off her meds and starting at a new college. She’s even going to parties and making friends. But is she ready for dating?

Relationships are messy – but even more so when mental health issues and teenage guys are involved. But if she can't tell her new friends the truth about herself, what will she do when she actually falls in love?

This is rather heavy book, so don't go into this thinking it's going to be cute, romantic and fluffy. Although dating and love is a huge part of this novel, Evies OCD and GAD (generalised anxiety disorder) is the main theme, and is portrayed in the most honest way I have ever read. It shows her good moments, but doesn't skip over the awful overwhelming moments full of negative thoughts and feelings. It's truthful and genuine and you really feel for Evie. Seeing mental illnesses portrayed accurately is rare. 

Evie makes friends with two girls called Lottie and Amber, and together they become a group of empowered, female positive activists, reinventing the word spinster, and having meetings discussing everything from periods to the bechdel test. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, the bechdel test is a way of pointing out sexism and female exclusion in modern media. To pass, two females must have one conversation, at any point during any entire film, that isn't about a boy.  Pretty much half of all films ever made fail. I believed I was already quite well informed on feminist issues before reading this book, however I learnt so much from these girls conversations, and anyone who reads this book will hopefully find themselves learning, and striving for female empowerment. it was lovely to read a book that had female friendship at the forefront. 

There was a huge 'self love' theme throughout, which I was so pleased with. It's important for young people to learn to accept themselves, especially the uncontrollable parts like illnesses. Even Evies little sister reminded me a lot of my own situation, so accurately showing that feeling of helplessness you feel when you cant be the big sister you desperately wish you could be, when they become the one who look after you, spouting words of wisdom and watching out for you the way you should be for them. 

My only issue would be how central the word 'normal' was to the novel, and that there was a checklist of 'boyfriend' 'parties' 'no meds' and 'college' to finally determine whether she was like everyone else. Let me tell you, if those four things actually determined "normal", I am absolutely the most "abnormal" person in the world. Everyone has moments where they don't feel like they fit in with everyone else, but there could easily have been a stronger message to say that being different wasn't a bad thing. I understand why there was so much focus around it, written from a teenage girls perspective, nobody wants to be seen as an outsider, but it could have been a lot more 

I was so happy with how it wrapped up as well, I wont say too much for fear of spoiling it, but it was positive without simply dismissing everything Evie went through to create a perfect happy ending. This is the first book in a trilogy and I cannot wait to read the others, which will actually tell Amber and Lotties story! 

Holly Bourne also wrote a book called Soulmates, which I absolutely loved. It's a strong romantic novel, so please let me know if you'd like me to review that!