Plus, Evie talked a lot about all the stigma around mental health and all I could do was scream “HELL YES” while reading it.

I’m also very happy with the anxiety and OCDs representation, which I found to be perfect and I never read a review saying the contrary. Holly Bourne is really good when it comes to writing through the eyes of a 16 years old, and I’m really glad for that. It felt so good to read about teenagers actually acting like some, and not trying to be all grown up. In the end, none of the characters were perfect but they were perfect teenagers and made mistakes everyone does at their age. Thanks to her and to this book, I am starting to understand that no one is “normal”, that I’m not different in that way and that you should always be nice and care about your friends and family – they care more than you think. No matter what, Evie was strong, nice and she inspired to keep getting better, but also to keep doing better. I have been through what she’s facing in this book and I know how hard it is to accept that you are relapsing, that you are sick and that you need help, no matter how normal you want to be and try to be. She is far from perfect but I related to her so, so much. That’s why I separated this review in two parts: what I loved and what bugged me off. Now, even though this book is important and has a great representation when it comes to OCDs and anxiety, it still has some issues and not a lot of people have been talking about it, even though I read tons of reviews before starting writing mine. I have been diagnosed with OCDs only recently so it felt good to read about it: It made me feel less alone and way more understood. I too suffer from OCDs and anxiety, and I learned somehow so much more about the two of it. I related to our main character, Evie, immediately. I was glad to start it knowing nothing, as it was a bigger surprise. It’s the kind of book you see everywhere and know about without even picking it up.

I didn’t know anything about it, expect that this book is well loved in our community and that it talks about mental health. I started this book for two reasons, one being that Holly Bourne will be attending YALC 2018 in London, where I am going in a few weeks, and the other being my friend Roxanne who told me to do so. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love? They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…īut relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. She’s even going to parties and making friends.

She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy.

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne