The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Recently I flew through The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. I'm classing this as a November read even though I finished it in December. I absolutely loved it!

This is about a boy called David who really wants to be a girl. He feels trapped in his body and feels the person on the inside doesn't match the person on the outside. He has never told anyone about this and instead keeps a journal with all his thoughts and feelings in it.

He has been bullied at school for a number of years and gets called 'Freak Show'. He tries to not let this bother him however and just gets on with school the best he can. He has two friends called Essie and Felix who support him so he's not completely alone however sometimes he feels like he is due to his huge secret.

Another character we follow throughout this story is Leo. He has moved from his school and joined the school David attends. There are rumours going round the school as to why Leo left his old school but nobody actually knows the true story because just like David, Leo has a huge secret of his own.

The two end up building an unlikely friendship after Leo sticks up for David when he is getting bullied. They begin to hang out together and Leo ends up helping David through his maths exams as he really struggles with that subject.

But when the boy's secrets start to emerge, how will they deal with the reactions of everyone else?

I was completely gripped with this book. I read is so fast and just couldn't put it down. I found it highly engaging and I loved the twists and turns it had throughout this story and it had me feeling every emotion.

I completely fell in love with Leo straight away. I liked how he could be quite mysterious and played along with the rumours everyone had of him at the beginning of the story. David took a little longer to grow on me but when he did I loved him just as much. You really see a huge amount of character development throughout this book and you really feel like you know the characters inside out by the end.

I also loved the support elements to this story. The strong friendships and relationships came across really well and developed at a steady pace. I found that the diverse elements were dealt with perfectly, nothing felt forced or out of place, and the story flowed nicely.

Overall I think this is a perfect book for if you want a diverse read and also if you want to fall in love with some more fictional characters...and who doesn't want to do that?!?!?

Rating /5

5

If you've read this book then let me know what you thought of it as I'd love to know and I'll speak to you all very soon!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx