Review: Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

Title: Faking Normal

Author: Courtney C. Stevens

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: 2.25.2014

Pages: 336

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Issues

Series: No

Source: eARC from publisher

Rating: 5 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

Alexi Littrell hasn't told anyone what happened to her over the summer. Ashamed and embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does.

When Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward boy next door, comes to live with the Littrells, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in "the Kool-Aid Kid," who has secrets of his own. As they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally face the truth.

Review:

So a few months ago I was having a twitter conversation about books that make you cry. I was forced to admit the truth—books hardly ever make me cry. Music can pull the waterworks out of me, movies can (especially those involving furry animals), but books … it’s a harder sell for me.

Of course the next book I read was FAKING NORMAL by Courtney C. Stevens. And of course I was sitting in a parking lot, bawling my eyes out before I had even hit the mid-point.

Yeah. It’s that freaking good.

Alexi and Bodee are two horribly broken people dealing with some of the hardest things anyone regardless of age can comprehend. But this book is so much more than two people with issues trying to sort through them. Anyone can write about that, but it takes someone with grace and humility to capture the despair and desperation so perfectly as Stevens does.

This book shattered me as much as it did Alexi and Bodee. Even still, through the pain and the tears, it’s not a hopeless book. Stevens subtly and gently weaves in threads of hope throughout the novel to show you can go on. One moment does not define us.

If there is one book I want everyone to read this year it’s FAKING NORMAL. It’s that book that everyone needs to read. I promise you won’t be sorry you did. 

Buy: Amazon