![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Mar. 5th, 2020 09:48 pmMy friend Rahul's second book, We Are Totally Normal, is coming out at the end of March, and she kindly sent me an ARC!
Based on how much I loved Rahul's first book, Enter Title Here, I also fully expected to enjoy We Are Totally Normal; I absolutely did not expect to get gut-punched with so many moments of emotional recognition.
We Are Totally Normal focuses on moderately terrible teen Nandan, a high school junior who, having achieved a degree of social success, is now trying to figure out how to turn that social success into something that allows for genuine conversation and connection rather than the endless stream of boring drunken keggers preferred by the bro squad. In the meantime, Nandan has decided to pay it forward by mentoring sweet nerdy Dave through a first high school romance with equally sweet nerdy Mari.
Unfortunately, before Nandan can really get Dave/Mari off the ground, Nandan and Dave hook up in Nandan's basement after a bad party, launching Dave straight into infatuation and Nandan into a spiraling, complicated, incredibly messy journey through sexuality and identity. Rahul does some of the most honest writing I've seen about feelings that don't map to a standard narrative. This isn't a fluffy or a feel-good book, but it's absolutely a book that feels true.
( some general spoilers, some navel-gazing )
Based on how much I loved Rahul's first book, Enter Title Here, I also fully expected to enjoy We Are Totally Normal; I absolutely did not expect to get gut-punched with so many moments of emotional recognition.
We Are Totally Normal focuses on moderately terrible teen Nandan, a high school junior who, having achieved a degree of social success, is now trying to figure out how to turn that social success into something that allows for genuine conversation and connection rather than the endless stream of boring drunken keggers preferred by the bro squad. In the meantime, Nandan has decided to pay it forward by mentoring sweet nerdy Dave through a first high school romance with equally sweet nerdy Mari.
Unfortunately, before Nandan can really get Dave/Mari off the ground, Nandan and Dave hook up in Nandan's basement after a bad party, launching Dave straight into infatuation and Nandan into a spiraling, complicated, incredibly messy journey through sexuality and identity. Rahul does some of the most honest writing I've seen about feelings that don't map to a standard narrative. This isn't a fluffy or a feel-good book, but it's absolutely a book that feels true.
( some general spoilers, some navel-gazing )
