The Art Of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

For the category in my book challenge 'a book your friend loves' I decided to go for my friend Mylie's recommendations (because she knows her books) and read The Art Of Being Normal.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started it, but I can safely say now that I've read it, it is one of my new absolute favourite books. I enjoyed every single second of it, and I also found it kind of educational because I learnt a lot about something that I've never really had much to do with before.

However, I doubt it will be everyone's cup of tea. It is about a 14 year old boy called David who only wants one thing in life - to be a girl. He then befriends the new boy Leo after he defends David in a fight and discovers that Leo has a very big secret. An unlikely friendship forms between the pair as they begin to trust each other with their secrets.

I found this book to be so heart breaking and heart warming at exactly the same time, and I loved the ending, although me being the hopeless romantic that I am hoped there would be some huge confession of love at the end. Sadly to no avail.

To be completely honest, there isn't a huge amount that I can say about this book without ruining one of the GINORMOUS twists in it (literally, I screamed and then spent the next half hour texting Mylie with questions!) I would just really recommend that you read it, even if it doesn't sound like something you may enjoy. It is written so beautifully from both of the boys point of views with so much emotion, I just want to meet these people and give them the biggest hug ever!

Like I already said, I also found it really educational. I'm one of those typical awkward Brits who never really knows what's acceptable in polite society when talking about the LGBT+ community (though don't get me wrong, I am totally for it). I feel like this book has just kind of smashed all the rules and rewritten them and I am so pleased about that!

I love this book and I can't wait to read it again. It has definitely earned a spot on my favourite books shelf!

So thank you Mylie for this awesome recommendation, and I will definitely be coming to you in future for some more! Don't think you can get away that easily!

The next category on the book challenge is 'a book published this year' and I'm pretty sure you can guess what I'll go for, the biggest release of 2016: Harry Potter And The Cursed Child!

See you soon!