Am I Normal Yet? (The Spinster Club Series #1)

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Bourne makes Evie a relatable character to many teenage girls, with her interest in boys and relationships, her excitement about going on a first date and going to parties with her friends. However, I wish the feminism talked about in this book was intersectional and didn’t exclude anyone, nor made anyone feel bad for talking about men. Along with her OCD, Evie is trying to manage the growing distance between herself and her best friend Jane now that Jane has a new boyfriend, as well as dealing with her own boy problems as she dips her toes back into the pool of dating. Holly started her writing career as a news journalist, where she was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. The idea that you have to be one or the other, feminist or “slut”, brainy or bimbo, good girl or bad, is a total false dilemma.

For those who aren’t young adults, the book still stands up, being funny and heart-warming and a reminder of those teenage years. After reading Am I Normal Yet, the first thing that came to my mind was: ”I have to get the second book ASAP! Or in the cases of bookworms, when we own a book series that are not in the same height or format, we get anxious.It hindered my enjoyment of the characters and overall message, I ended up being completely unimpressed with every one of the characters. The Spinster Club series has also inspired the formation of Spinster Clubs across the UK and Ireland. She's losing her best friend Jane to her boyfriend Joel, who plays in a terrible heavy rock band, and goes on a string of terrible dates with Ethan, Oli, and Guy, whilst her therapist warns her about the complex difficulties that dating will bring to her life. She is starting to believe that she could really be on top of things - so she braves a real 'date' with a boy from her sociology class.

Just sit down with a nice cup of tea (or coffee, for the weird ones among you) and some relaxing music and you will find yourself immersed in wonderful story that gives lessons about friends, men, feminism and anxieties. Inspired by what she saw, she started writing teen fiction, including the best-selling, award-winning ‘Spinster Club’ series which helps educate teenagers about feminism. I don't know that anyone can replace Louise Rennison, but those looking for similar teen girl shenanigans should enjoy this. It should come as no surprise or spoiler, though, that Evie’s OCD plays a significant role in the climax.

They all seem to have their own issues, but they are never really explored since this is the main character's Evie's story so by the end I'm like ARE THEY OK? Bourne’s 16-year-olds are every bit as complicated and messy and imperfect as real 16-year-olds, and that is awesome. Feminism is a key part of the story with a real sense of sisterhood between Evie, Amber and Lottie, collectively known as the Spinster Club.

It reminds me of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls, which also pulls no punches, and also features the protagonist’s younger sister finally seeing the true injuries of a mental illness. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Evie, to a large extent a teenager right outta the books, suffers from OCD, she definitely has been worse and is on her way to recovery, but sometimes slaying that nasty demon in her ear gives her da damn hard time. Evie’s fear of relapse and her burning desire to be “normal” drives the whole plot, of course, and what’s interesting is what Bourne does with that. I think I'm going to have to do a whole video on this book and my relationship to it because this book is just so, so important to me.

She has a plan: not let anyone know she was the 'girl who went crazy', make friends, and maybe get a boyfriend? I can count on one hand, if I think really hardly, the amount of books I've read that discuss periods, and I mean actually discuss, not just gloss over them, or make them into jokes about PMSing or whatnot. It starts from birth, with women being given their father’s last name (which they are, traditionally, expected to retire in favour of the husband’s name upon marriage). If you feel at home on Twitter, the girls' discussions on feminism may feel like conversations you've joined in with before.

It was refreshing to read about girls discussing periods and women’s mental health for a change as feminist issues.Dark, self-deprecating humor is my jam, it's my chosen method of dealing with difficult situations and this book did it so well. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor, and general ‘agony aunt’ for a youth charity – helping young people with their relationships and mental health.