Something Like Normal

What Our Readers Are Saying

Share your thoughts on this title!

Average customer rating 4.5 (2 comments)

---

`

Travis has returned home for a leave from his tour in Afghanistan. While being at home for four weeks should be a happy affair, things aren't exactly as he expected them to be. His brother is now dating his girlfriend and his relationship with his parents is strained. Even worse, he's haunted by events that happened in Afghanistan. There are so many emotions we experience through Travis - guilt, anger, sadness, and more. Trish Doller does an excellent job putting us inside the head of a soldier in today's world, and we feel everything Travis feels. It's one of the best YA contemporary novels I've read this year. All of the relationships and the feelings Travis feels in regards to those relationships are so authentic. A fantastic read. I highly recommend.

`

Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1 edition (June 19, 2012 ISBN-10: 1599908441 Cover Art: I like it, I really like how you can see the dog tags. Author: Trish Doller Overall rating: **** out of 5 stars Obtained: ARC copy from the publisher via Netgalley. Thank you. Something like normal byTrish Doller Reviewed by Moirae the fates book reviews. When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero. (Synopsis provided by goodreads) I think the thing I liked most about this book was how raw it was. We get to see Travis going through the different stages of grief while he is trying to deal with the death of Charlie, his best friend who was killed in Afghanistan. The book is told from Travis' perspective. Which was awesome, I really books told from a male P.O.V. especially in YA as I haven't found many and even fewer that I enjoyed. The war in Afghanistan is a really interesting topic for a YA book. I read one earlier this year and loved it. I'm really enjoying this topic in YA and am so glad that we are getting more of it. There was a lot in this book that I didn't see coming, but there was also a lot that I did see coming, I figured it would end the way it did although, it got there in a different way. For me, the only thing that kept this book from a 5 star rating was the middle, there were a few chapters there that moved slow for me and I had a hard time moving through them. The story it's self felt very real and I felt that Travis was a character that the reader could relate to. I really felt for him and his struggles and wanted the best for him, he was the type of character that you'll route for from page one. The dialog of this book is incredible it's poignant and strong. This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys male P.O.V or wants to read a book based on the war.