Book Traveling Thursdays: A Book Set in High School

September 1, 2016August 29, 201613 Comments

Hello, welcome back to another Book Traveling Thursdays, which a weekly meme created by Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Danielle @Danielle’s Book Blog. The goal is to share the covers of a book related to that week’s theme, which you can see at the Goodreads group, indicating the original cover, the one of your country, your favorite and least favorite.

This week’s theme is “It’s back to school time! Choose a book set on high school or college“. I’m using The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson, because it’s such an important book, and it should be more hyped.

Original COver:

I love the UK cover, it’s so simple, and yet so well done and appropriate.

COVER FROM MY COUNTRY (PORTUGAL) & COVER FROM THE COUNTRY I LIVE IN (SPAIN):

This book is not out in Portugal yet, but it is in Spanish and Catalan, and while I LOVE the spanish white cover, I don’t like the catalan cover at all, because I feel like the blue of the background doesn’t fit at all with the other colors.

Favorite COVER(s):

I love the UK paperback edition, which is the one I own, and I love the spanish edition too.

LEAST FAVORITE COVER(s):

I kind of like the US edition, but I don’t think it’s the most appropriate one for this book. The same happens with the German cover… I like it and it’s pretty, but not for this one. Then my problem with the Chinese and Catalan covers is the background color… not a fan.

The Art Of Being Normal (Lisa Williamson)

August 19, 2016August 19, 201618 Comments

theartofbeingnormal

Two boys. Two secrets.

David Piper has always been an outsider. His parents think he’s gay. The school bully thinks he’s a freak. Only his two best friends know the real truth – David wants to be a girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.

When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long…

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time now, and I finally bought it earlier this year and finally – FINALLY!!! – I read it. This was my first read about transgender issues and I really loved it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but it surprised me right from the start by how young the two main characters are. David is 14 and Leo is 15, and for a moment I was afraid that the voices would be just a tad bit young for me, but nope, no problem at all there. Another thing I really liked was the setting – this book is UK based, and I just find the british way of writing amazing.

The book is told in dual POV, from David and Leo’s point of views, and although there’s no indication in the beginning of the chapters about to whom it belongs to, it is done in a clever way: each boy has a different font.

I really liked both characters, how their lives interconnect and how they help each other grow. I felt like David’s storyline had somehow more weight than Leo’s, at least at the end of the line, but I really liked that we know what’s going on with David from the start, while Leo’s story takes a little bit longer to unravel. It does though, and it’s sad, amazing and complex.

I loved how David’s character puts us in his head and makes us know exactly how he feels about his body – it isn’t his, and he hates almost everything about it. I think this was important, because most people, and most of us readers, are not familiar with these feelings.

The character growth and progression is awesome for both boys, and the story is very much character based, though the plot is still well achieved. In the end though, I felt like some plot points weren’t completely wrapped, and while the last few scenes are important, I still didn’t quite like the way it was done.

I would highly recommend this contemporary, because it deals with such important issues, and it was kind of refreshing to read a contemporary that wasn’t about a romance.

So, tell me guys, have you read The Art of Being Normal? What did you think about it?

August TBR

August 2, 2016August 1, 201616 Comments

Augusttbr

This month I’ll point to reading 14 books at least, some that I had on my list before, other are ARCs, and I might be reading the Off-Campus series again, in preparation to The Goal‘s release. I’ll be reading a few of these with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much.

TBR_august

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
Heartfall by J.B. McGee
The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
November 9 by Colleen Hoover
Tyson Caine (Brothers in Arms #1) by Aleya Michelle
The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years #2) by Sarina Bowen
Blind Spot by Katana Collins
Adulting 101 by Lisa Henry
Wrong Question, Right Answer by Elle Casey
The Form of Things Unknown by Robin Bridges
The Proverbial Mr. Universe by Maria La Serra
The Deal (Off-Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy – Re-read
The Mistake (Off-Campus #2) by Elle Kennedy – Re-read
The Score (Off-Campus #3) by Elle Kennedy – Re-read

July TBR

July 2, 201620 Comments

juletbr

Last month was a weird reading month, and I ended up not making the progress I wanted in the ARC department. So for this month I want to read 14 books, 12 of which are eARCs from Netgalley, and 8 of those I’ll be reading with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much (we need to be better in July!).

july_tbr_