BOOK REVIEW & SPOTLIGHT: “Some Kind of Normal” by Juliana Stone

TITLE: Some Kind of Normal
AUTHOR: Juliana Stone
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

 
Some Kind of Normal
 

May 5, 2015

Praise for Juliana Stone:

Just what readers need.” –School Library Journal

A contemporary romance with a conscience…Stone writes it with confidence and style.” –Kirkus

The classic miscommunication, the emotional pushing and pulling, the ‘will she?’ and ‘won’t he?’ of the destined-to-be-in-love. Readers of Miranda Kenneally, Jenny Han, and Susane Colasanti will enjoy Stone.” –VOYA

A story of family, first love, and forgiveness. I couldn’t stop reading. I loved it!” –Miranda Kenneally, author of Catching Jordan

 

Book Info:

What is normal? For Trevor, normal was playing fast guitar licks, catching game-winning passes, and partying all night. Until a car accident leaves him with no band, no teammates, and no chance of graduating. It’s kind of hard to ace your finals when you’ve been in a coma. The last thing he needs is stuck-up Everly Jenkins as his new tutor, those beautiful blue eyes catching every flaw.

For Everly, normal was a perfect family around the dinner table, playing piano at Sunday service, and sunning by the pool. Until she discovers her whole life is a lie. Now the perfect pastor’s daughter is hiding a life-changing secret, one that is slowly tearing her family apart. And spending the summer with notorious flirt Trevor Lewis means her darkest secret could be exposed.

This achingly beautiful story about two damaged teens struggling through pain and loss to redefine who they are, to their family, to themselves, and to each other is sure to melt your heart.

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Juliana Stone:

USA Today bestselling author Juliana Stone fell in love with books in the fifth grade when her teacher introduced her to Tom Sawyer. A tomboy at heart, she split her time between baseball, books, and music—three passions that carried over into adulthood. When she’s not singing with her band, she’s thrilled to be writing young adult and adult contemporary romance, and does so from her home in Canada.

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Juliana Stone High Res

 
REVIEW:

I will first say that I was not immediately caught by this book. But that is not to say it was a bad book. ‘Some Kind of Normal’ follows the story of two individuals who come together at a time in their lives when they need someone the most. Two completely different situations, both equally as serious, and intriguing to read about.

In the beginning I felt the store was going slow. It was a slow pick up… but turned into an amazing story. The amount of drama in this story is almost too much for a couple teenagers to go through, but they do it with grace and dignity. Without spoiling the whole story, Everly is handling family issues and Trevor is recovering from an intense TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). These two find each other at the time in life that is perfect for them. A time when they both needed someone… and we have all been there. This story is the perfect coming of age story. A true story of love, grief, and finding your true calling in life. Juliana Stone did a great job breaking down the angst of teenage life, while twisting in what it is like to cross that barrier from childhood to adulthood.

While I may not have thought I was a fan in the beginning, I definitely ended up liking this book. You can see, not only the growth of the characters, but the growth of Stone as she Stone as she wrote this book. I’d recommend other work to all you readers and give a round of applause to Stone for her work in ‘Some Kind of Normal’. Four out of five stars well deserved.

 

Excerpt from Some Kind of Normal:

“You got any?” he asked.

“Any what?”

“Tattoos?”

“Me?” I had to laugh at that. Wow. Before last year that would have been grounds for major punishment. Heck, up until my senior year, I hadn’t been allowed to wear lip gloss. Now I wasn’t so sure that my mom would even notice, and since I avoided my dad whenever I could…

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “My skin is untouched.”

His eyes widened a bit, and I felt heat creep up my neck. Great. Now I was blushing again.

“Untouched,” he said with that lopsided smile that made my stomach dip. “I like that.”

“You do?”

“Yep. A clean slate. There’s something almost poetic about that, you know? Tragic too. How many people get a do–over?”

Trevor reached for my hand, and though my first instinct was to snatch it back, his long fingers enveloped mine before I had the chance. He turned my hand over so that my palm faced up and then traced the little blue lines that ran down my wrist.

I can’t lie. It felt weird and good, and my heart took off once more, so fast that I was surprised he couldn’t hear it.

“This is…kind of…like ink,” he said, his words a little slow as if he was thinking hard. “But it’s alive.”

He glanced up again, and all I could do was nod before my eyes dropped to his hand. Mine was still there, small and pale next to his large palm and tanned skin. I saw the thin blue veins that ran down my wrist, the ones that carried blood from my heart, electrifying my cells and feeding my body.

His thumb rested just beneath my pulse, and I swallowed thickly. Crap, he was going to feel how fast it was, and that would be embarrassing.

“Your fingers are rough.” I blushed harder and thought that there was no way I could sound any more like an idiot. Not even if I was trying.

“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s from playing guitar. I practice a lot so my calluses are nice and strong.”

“I used to play piano.”

Wow. Good comeback. I guess it was better than a clarinet or trombone, but really. Dork much?

…Had he always looked this intense?

“What?” he asked. He smiled again and I thought that on a scale of one to ten, his smile was a total eleven. “You’re into the classics. That’s cool. Didn’t picture that.”

“Really. What exactly did you picture?” Shoot. Did I really want to hear this?

“I don’t know. PBS and that Jane Austen?”

Okay. First off, I was impressed that he knew who Jane Austen was, and secondly…he knew who Jane Austen was!

I dropped my eyes, because I was pretty sure that my cheeks were as red as the roses planted just outside the library. Trevor Lewis wasn’t anything like what I thought he’d be. He wasn’t stupid and he wasn’t arrogant. He wasn’t slow or weird.

He seemed pretty normal to me.

You know, for a guy with tattoos and blue hair.

 

Also by Juliana Stone:

NEW IN PAPERBACK!

TITLE: Boys Like You

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

 
9781492603290-P1
 

Book Info:

Two Broken souls…one hot summer

Nate Everet’s life was all about acoustic guitar, girls in short shorts, and hot Southern nights.Until the accident.

Monroe Blackwell’s life was full of soccer goals, flirty skirts, and bright city lights. Until the accident.

Now Nate has a best friend who might never wake up, a summer of community service, and enough guilt to drown him. Monroe has a family that’s falling apart, a summer of banishment to her grandma’s, and a choking grief that makes it hard to breathe.

Nate and Monroe are two lost souls struggling with grief and guilt. But together, they have a chance at acceptance and finally finding the forgiveness they crave.

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KRISTIN:

Professional Reader 200 Book Reviews Reviews Published Frequently Auto-Approved 2016 NetGalley Challenge 2015 Challenge Participant 80%

ELIZABETH:

Professional Reader Reviews Published 50 Book Reviews 2016 NetGalley Challenge

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