Book Corner | The art of being normal by Lisa Williamson

Rating: 5/5
Pages: 368

I picked this book up last month on quite an impulse buy as I'd never heard about it before. But I was quite drawn to the cover and had a fair inkling as to what it would be about. I'm always looking for books that are slightly different from the normal teen romance or dystopian stories and also for those that are on subjects I don't know much about or have never read about before. Well this book ticks those boxes. This book features two protagonists and the chapters alternate between both of their perspectives. 

The first protagonist is called David and his secret is that he wants to be a girl. Only he two best friends know this and David is preparing to break the news to his parents.

The second protagonist is called Leo and for circumstances that don't become apparent towards the end of the book he has to move schools which just happens to be the same school that David goes to. 

Everyone has theories as to why Leo got kicked out of his previous school and see him as the moody scary one. However David is drawn to him especially when Leo decided to hit the bully that is picking on him.

This book follows the two as their friendship unexpectedly grows and how David is dealing with his secret.

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 5/5 stars on Goodreads. I felt that it was a very refreshing and eye opening to the subject of being transgender and it was like nothing i've read before. 

Here is the video I recored on my YouTube page.

The rest of this post contains spoilers.

Throughout the book I knew there was something big behind why Leo left his previous school. And as the book went on I had my suspicions that Leo was also transgender or gay. Well my theories turned out to be right Leo used to be a girl and he had to leave his precious school due to a large amount of bullying that was putting his safety at risk. I was extremely relieved when David and Leo both shared their secrets with each other as it meant they could really relate as to what they were going through. Naturally I wanted David and Leo to get together however I understand that that wouldn't be the realistic outcome and I'm glad Leo was able to repair his friendship with Alicia. 

It was also nice to see David's parents be so understanding about him being transgender and they acknowledged that it would take time to adjust and that they would face hurdles on the way. 

I hope you enjoyed this review and might even read it yourself. So until next time, Sophie x