Review: Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

I wanted to read this book from the first time I read the summary. Because it connected with me and it sounded so heartbreaking and perfect. Been meaning to read it for a few months, since I got accepted via Edelweiss, and today I finally did. Started today and I read until I finished. Could not stop.

I don't know how to talk about this book. Will try my best without spoiling it, though some things I will just have to talk about. But anyway. I can tell from the first page of a book if I like the writing or not. And with Faking Normal I loved the writing. Which was very good. The writing was awesome.

The book is told from the point of view of Alexi, which I loved. She was the right person to tell this story. Though, to be honest, I would have been just as happy if the book had been told from Bodee's point of view. <3 Because he would be amazing to read from too. Anyway. Alexi is an amazing girl. But oh, she's very broken. And my heart hurt so much for her. But I also loved how broken she was; as I tend to love these kind of heartbreaks.

Something happened to Alexi a few months back, and she can't get past it. She tries to. She tries to cope by hurting herself; by scratching her neck. I must admit to finding that a bit weird, as I didn't think it would work. But when I think about it, it is a perfectly good way to hurt yourself. But anyway. I felt so sorry for Alexi. Because she has no one to talk to. And we find out what happened and how it happened and how she is and isn't dealing. It's awful and heartbreaking. And I might have loved every second.

Then there is Bodee. Who just had his dad kill his mom. And oh, his story is so heartbreaking as well. Even more so. And I just wish we had gotten to see more about it. But I am happy with what we did get. Bodee is an amazing person and I loved him. We get to see him and Alexi become friends. And it's adorable and sad and I loved it. He's very protective and sweet and loving. I just wish there had been a tiny bit less drama. Sigh. But other than that I loved it. They are both such amazing characters.

The story in this book is beautiful. Yes, it is heartbreaking and all kinds of awful. But it's also very real. It took me a while to figure out who the bad guy was. Thought I had it all figured out, then I got confused. It was awesome. The writing in this book is so good. The characters are all amazing. There are many to read about and I'm not going to mention them. Just know that they are awesome. I loved reading about Alexi's family. They were sweet. Though I'm not sure if I liked her sister. Probably not.

There was this one thing I wasn't sure if I loved or not. See, Alexi have this desk partner at school were they exchange song lyrics. And it's so sweet. But, I also just read about it in Plus One, where they exchanged photos. And I might have loved that a tiny bit more. But oh, the lyrics in this one were so beautiful. Just a bit sad that Alexi didn't know who it was. Took ages for her to find out, and I'm not happy about how she dealt with it at first. Made me a bit sad, which may be the reason for the 4 star.

Anyway. There is some romance in this book. Not too much, but enough. And it's sweet. But here's the thing. This book would have been a five star if not for Alexi going around kissing someone else. I get that she was confused and whatever, but that is not something I ever want to read about. Not ever. Not after the girl has found the boy she likes. It isn't fair and it isn't fun to read about and I did not enjoy that part. But still. Any part with Bodee made me happy because he is an amazing person, just saying.

Okay. I think that is just about everything I have to say about this book. I hope I said enough to get you excited for it :) For while I had a few issues with some things, I still mostly loved it. Thought it was an awesome book. And I would love to read more like it. And more by this author, since I loved her writing. May hope for a sequel, but don't need one. The ending is pretty good, but I may have wanted a little bit more, hih. But overall Faking Normal was a great book that I enjoyed reading a lot. It was amazing.

I'm giving Faking Normal a four star. A few times I wanted to give it a five, but then I remembered the drama that I did not like. And how Alexi was a bit slow at doing something; and that I wished that part had been written a bit better. But other than that I thought Faking Normal was an amazing book. It's heartbreaking but sweet. It tells a beautiful and sad story. I loved reading it. I think you should all read it when it comes out in February because it is a great story. You all need to read it. Just so you know :)
Thank you so much to HarperCollins for the auto-approval on Edelweiss. <3 So happy that I read this.

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