Hello fellow book lovers! Today I'm hosting a stop for the new YA contemporary, Normalish by Maragaret Lesh! Check out the rest of the tour here and read an excerpt from the book!
Enjoy!
About the Author:
California girl Margaret Lesh lives with her husband Steve and son Andrew in a quiet suburb near Los Angeles. Co-creator of StoryRhyme.com, she writes middle grade, young adult, and women’s fiction. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about baked goods, especially donuts, far too often. She believes tacos are magic.
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Blog
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Review:
Release Date: October 5, 2012
Series: Stand-alone
Publisher: Euterpe, YA imprint of Musa Publishing
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 175
Source: Review copy provided for blog tour - thanks!
Interest: YA Contemporary; Blog Tour
Buy the Book: Amazon | Smashwords | Musa Publishing
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.
Rating: 3.5 / 5 Riceballs
Book Review:
For me, reading Normalish was kind of like eating chocolate. It was sweet, relatively short, and once I started, it’s a difficult to stop! (I happen to like chocolate… a lot) Of course, afterwards I felt like I wanted a bit more…
Of course, one look at the cover should tell you that the book should be sweet, maybe warm and fuzzy. In a way, it is. During the book, you follow the story of high school freshman Stacy York, who goes through the usual – parties, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, best friends, ex-best friends, dances, sloppy kisses… you get the idea. Throughout her journey, her humor and sarcasm stands out, although there are times where she is just as vulnerable as any teenage girl could be. I should tell you there is a happy ending, which of course, was short, sweet, and satisfying for the end of the novel.
That’s not to say that Stacy didn’t have her share of troubles, either. There was a darker side to the novel that dealt with dealing with death and her mentally ill sister. Surprisingly, I found that I eventually became attached to many of the characters, and when a certain character was forced to make a departure, my heart did hurt a little. Her voice during those times also stayed realistic, but still portrayed a certain degree of emotion. Eventually, I felt like I was able to connect with Stacy’s character, and sympathize with or gleefully hope for her at the appropriate times.
My one qualm about the novel was that some of the problems Stacy dealt with seemed a little skimmed over. For example, in the beginning you learn that Stacy becomes ex-best friends with Summer. but it seemed like Stacy was mostly nonchalant. It seemed like she was okay with it, since Summer was a social butterfly and was friends with everybody, but I suppose she didn’t show a lot of emotion.
More (and better) examples, with slight spoilers, if you want to read – highlight to read –> When Stacy and Summer finally became best friends again, it seemed a bit too easy, considering the type of person Summer was described to be in the beginning. It might be different for others, but in my experience, it could take years to rebuild a friendship, especially to the “best friend” level. Chad’s eventual hook-up with Stacy also happened pretty quickly, although I suppose it’s reasonable, to a point.
And on a last note, I loved a lot of the side characters! Rose and Bethany were pretty awesome friends to Stacy, even if they weren’t as close as they could have been. Becca, Roman, and Bobby were each also very unique characters, but their friendship and loyalty to Stacy were also clear. And her relationship with her Mom and sister Jill was pretty tight, and I’m glad that the author didn’t rely on the reluctant and ignorant parent or sibling cliché.
Overall, Normalish was enjoyable read for me because if its combination of sweetness, seriousness when appropriate, emotion, and characters! Contemporary fans of weekend-style books just talking about life in a comical but entertaining way may enjoy this novel (:
Of course, one look at the cover should tell you that the book should be sweet, maybe warm and fuzzy. In a way, it is. During the book, you follow the story of high school freshman Stacy York, who goes through the usual – parties, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, best friends, ex-best friends, dances, sloppy kisses… you get the idea. Throughout her journey, her humor and sarcasm stands out, although there are times where she is just as vulnerable as any teenage girl could be. I should tell you there is a happy ending, which of course, was short, sweet, and satisfying for the end of the novel.
That’s not to say that Stacy didn’t have her share of troubles, either. There was a darker side to the novel that dealt with dealing with death and her mentally ill sister. Surprisingly, I found that I eventually became attached to many of the characters, and when a certain character was forced to make a departure, my heart did hurt a little. Her voice during those times also stayed realistic, but still portrayed a certain degree of emotion. Eventually, I felt like I was able to connect with Stacy’s character, and sympathize with or gleefully hope for her at the appropriate times.
My one qualm about the novel was that some of the problems Stacy dealt with seemed a little skimmed over. For example, in the beginning you learn that Stacy becomes ex-best friends with Summer. but it seemed like Stacy was mostly nonchalant. It seemed like she was okay with it, since Summer was a social butterfly and was friends with everybody, but I suppose she didn’t show a lot of emotion.
More (and better) examples, with slight spoilers, if you want to read – highlight to read –> When Stacy and Summer finally became best friends again, it seemed a bit too easy, considering the type of person Summer was described to be in the beginning. It might be different for others, but in my experience, it could take years to rebuild a friendship, especially to the “best friend” level. Chad’s eventual hook-up with Stacy also happened pretty quickly, although I suppose it’s reasonable, to a point.
And on a last note, I loved a lot of the side characters! Rose and Bethany were pretty awesome friends to Stacy, even if they weren’t as close as they could have been. Becca, Roman, and Bobby were each also very unique characters, but their friendship and loyalty to Stacy were also clear. And her relationship with her Mom and sister Jill was pretty tight, and I’m glad that the author didn’t rely on the reluctant and ignorant parent or sibling cliché.
Overall, Normalish was enjoyable read for me because if its combination of sweetness, seriousness when appropriate, emotion, and characters! Contemporary fans of weekend-style books just talking about life in a comical but entertaining way may enjoy this novel (:
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Margaret has generously donated one $25 Amazon Gift Card, one eBook copy of Normalish, and Normalish Bookmarks! The giveaway is international and ends on January 28, 2013. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
