Beautifully written, Very Nearly Normal by Hannah Sunderland is a perfect contemporary fictional read for either curling up on the sofa with a blanket, or for a beach/garden read. It has everything to lift your spirits and make you giggle to feeling unbelievable sadness (and I cried uncontrollably, which I never do), to being incredibly frustrated at Effie and wanting to knock some sense into her.
I found it really easy to follow the storyline and I just adored the characters that Hannah brought to the pages, they really brought this book to life. Effie, who is perfectly named, is a character you can instantly relate to in some kind of way and that's because, like us all, she isn't perfect. She is constantly arguing with her Mother, her best friend seems uninterested with her, she drinks too much, and her love life...well, what love life? Effie believes every aspect of her life is a shambles, because that's just who she is, and that her course is set in stone. That is until a blind date goes horribly wrong and Effie's luck begins to change.
There are so many things I loved about this book, including the backstory of Arthur and Toby, which just gives this read that extra umph, to the sideline story of Ali and Otis, although their part is small, their impact in Effie's life is huge.
At 400 pages it is a little lengthy, but there isn't a moment where I thought that a chapter was unnecessary. They are all put adequately together.
There are very few books that I would read again, this is definitely one of them. 5/5 Highly recommend.
Publication date 14 May 20
Thankyou to Avon Publisher and Readers First for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I found it really easy to follow the storyline and I just adored the characters that Hannah brought to the pages, they really brought this book to life. Effie, who is perfectly named, is a character you can instantly relate to in some kind of way and that's because, like us all, she isn't perfect. She is constantly arguing with her Mother, her best friend seems uninterested with her, she drinks too much, and her love life...well, what love life? Effie believes every aspect of her life is a shambles, because that's just who she is, and that her course is set in stone. That is until a blind date goes horribly wrong and Effie's luck begins to change.
There are so many things I loved about this book, including the backstory of Arthur and Toby, which just gives this read that extra umph, to the sideline story of Ali and Otis, although their part is small, their impact in Effie's life is huge.
At 400 pages it is a little lengthy, but there isn't a moment where I thought that a chapter was unnecessary. They are all put adequately together.
There are very few books that I would read again, this is definitely one of them. 5/5 Highly recommend.
Publication date 14 May 20
Thankyou to Avon Publisher and Readers First for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.