Title: Something Like Normal
Author: Trish Doller
Blurb:
When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.
Links:
Something Like Normal on Goodreads
Something Like Normal on Amazon
Trish Doller's website
Kala's Review:
I read this book so fast! As soon as I started it I was completely hooked! I love that it has a very realistic male protag with a first person point of view. So often in YA when we do get a male protag, he ends up sounding nearly as cheesy and sappy as the females. Travis is completely different and I bought into him 100%.
Travis has just returned from a stint in Afghanistan and has suffered a traumatic loss over there. He's currently got PTSD, though he doesn't want to admit it. He also has changed a lot from who he was before the military to who he is now, and he has to deal with that while interacting with his old friends who haven't changed or moved on at all.
I thought his relationship with Harper was also really well done and realistic. They were not professing their undying love and claiming to not be able to live without each other forever and ever after their first date. Their relationship progressed naturally and I liked that.
While the romance is a big part of the book, overall this book seems to be about dealing with loss. I thought Trish Doller handled this so well. I recently read another book where the main character was supposed to be scarred and emotionally disturbed because of her past and it was handled so poorly. Doller knocks it out of the park here. Travis was tortured and real and so believable. I love how she handled his PTSD and the slow healing process he went through during the novel.
I also loved the end. I was worried when he had three years left of active duty that she would cop out and find some way for him to stay local and be with Harper, but she didn't and I love it. The book has a happy ending, but a real one. When I finished this book I was happy and satisfied and immediately went searching for more books by this author. I can't ask for much more than that!
5 out of 5 stars :)
Travis has just returned from a stint in Afghanistan and has suffered a traumatic loss over there. He's currently got PTSD, though he doesn't want to admit it. He also has changed a lot from who he was before the military to who he is now, and he has to deal with that while interacting with his old friends who haven't changed or moved on at all.
I thought his relationship with Harper was also really well done and realistic. They were not professing their undying love and claiming to not be able to live without each other forever and ever after their first date. Their relationship progressed naturally and I liked that.
While the romance is a big part of the book, overall this book seems to be about dealing with loss. I thought Trish Doller handled this so well. I recently read another book where the main character was supposed to be scarred and emotionally disturbed because of her past and it was handled so poorly. Doller knocks it out of the park here. Travis was tortured and real and so believable. I love how she handled his PTSD and the slow healing process he went through during the novel.
I also loved the end. I was worried when he had three years left of active duty that she would cop out and find some way for him to stay local and be with Harper, but she didn't and I love it. The book has a happy ending, but a real one. When I finished this book I was happy and satisfied and immediately went searching for more books by this author. I can't ask for much more than that!
5 out of 5 stars :)
Link to Kala's review on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/406005794
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