Review: Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

Something Like Normal

By: Trish Doller

Pub. Date: June 19, 2012

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's

Pages: 224

Source: ARC

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.

Something Like Normal is a short read, but packs a lot of emotion. There is so much heart and I loved that it was in the POV of a 19 year old Marine. Trevor is home for one month on leave from Afghanistan and has three more years of active duty. He watched his best friend, Charlie get killed and now suffers from nightmares. The last place that he wants to be is home, with his father who he can't stand and who can't stand him, his mother who has been so worried about him, that she couldn't deal with anything else but him while he was away, and his brother who stole his girlfriend while he was gone.

I loved Trevor. He was a normal teenager and his voice was so realistic. I absolutely loved getting to know him. He really was dealing with a lot, but refused to talk about it. Knowing his inner thoughts made me realize how hard it is for young men to come home after being at war, and trying to live a normal life. Trevor was always looking for bombs and couldn't deal with loud noises. It was so hard to read, but was something that needed to be read.

I loved Trevor's love interest, Harper. She had the best comebacks and could definitely hold her own! I think that Harper saved Trevor and I was so happy that they found each other and was able to move on from their shared pasts.

The first 50 pages or so was a little slow for me, but then the rest of the story just flew by. I was so amazed at the writing and was intrigued by the story. I am so happy that I got the opportunity to read this story early and I would definitely recommend picking up this book when it hits bookstores on June 19th!