Rahul Kanakia

"Nandan's perfect plan for junior year goes awry after he hooks up with a guy for the first time"--

We Are Totally Normal

Bria

Before reading the book, I was warned about how the language was upsetting. I completely get it if reading sexist, homophobic, and ableist material can upset someone, but I do think it was used in a way to highlight just how horrible people can be and how it can affect someone’s view of themselves. This book really dives deep into how toxic high school can be and really highlights how social structures can affect a person especially when they’re still discovering themselves.

I like that I didn’t find myself rooting for Nandan. He’s in that horrible phase where he’s trying to figure himself out but lets the people around him control who he is at the moment. Although, it made the read a little less immersive. 

I went back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, but I settled on 2 because I really don’t like Nandan.

jess

Okay: I was vaguely aware of the controversy surrounding this book in that I knew there was controversy, so I picked it up myself to see what was going on. Spoiler: there's a lot going on in this book, much of it not good. While I wouldn't rush to immediately write We Are Totally Normal off as problematic, it was the tone-deaf borderline homophobic comments combined with the poor writing and shallow, manipulative main character that made me feel uncomfortable. 

So: the main character. Nandan is a teenage boy who's questioning his sexuality, and it's clear that he has a lot of internalized homophobia and sex repulsion, which is, like, honestly not something we see in books a lot. The thing is--it isn't really challenged. There's a lot going on when it comes to Nandan's sexuality, and it doesn't come to any satisfactory conclusion for the story. Moreover, Nandan is just ... not a good person. I found him incredibly shallow, self-absorbed, and unpleasant to read about. He's manipulative and uncaring and so distant from everyone around him. 

None of the other characters really caught my eye either; literally no one--including Nandan--were particularly developed. The entire book was just Nandan and his large group of friends going to parties over and over and over again, which got tiring after about one hundred pages. I couldn't tell any of the friends apart, and I didn't care for any of them either. I also found the writing very choppy and stilted, which definitely contributed to how distant I felt from every single one of the characters. It's clear that this is meant to be a character-focused book, but it was not pulled off well. 

I think it is important to show teens questioning their sexuality and still being confused about it at the end. However, it is not necessary to have the protagonist be a jerk and be lowkey homophobic about it or to have a lot of the LGBT characters fall into stereotypes. Ultimately I do not recommend this book.

Tiffany Robinson

This book made me cringe all the way through. I did not like the writing style and the characters were the worst. I should have stopped reading this after a couple of chapters, but I kept thinking that it was going to get better and it never did.

Sophie Elaina 

I’m rather disappointed. This was really not what I was expecting at all. There were some very problematic elements regarding the way the main character treats other people in addition to some very clear instances of sexism and manipulation. At times I could see the good shining through and honestly understand what the author was attempting to do. It was extremely honest, to the point of making this one of the most uncomfortable reading experiences I’ve ever had. And I did feel like that meant for an excellent conversation starter. 

The protagonist continuously takes advantage of other people’s feelings in order to forward his own social standing. He admits that he decided to come out in order to get attention and fit better into the popular group. And often his thoughts ponder over the fact he enjoys the social ramifications and will continue to lie about his feelings in order to develop a closer relationship with some of the girls. The pressure of society in no way should then pressure anyone to say or do anything or act any sort of way, but I can see how it does. However the behaviour this character portrays is on a complete level of his own. And the way his inner monologue is written makes it very confusing. His back and forth feelings often making no sense, and making Nandan feel like multiple characters in one. This book has one of the most insensitive portrayals of a lgbtq+ relationship I’ve ever read from an own voices author. I just don’t know that this is something someone questioning their gender or sexuality should read, I really feel as though it could be harmful and it’s not something I would’ve wanted to read when I was a teenager. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t accurate representation for some, I just personally didn’t gel with it.

Possible Spoilers Ahead!
I know the author has stated that this is queer and that it has a ‘happy ending’, however Nandan in my opinion didn’t read like someone denying their inner feelings. He read like someone taking other peoples feelings for granted and using them in a very dishonest way, while all the time truly believing that he is straight. And the ending didn’t quell any of those thoughts for me, I still felt like he was pretending in his relationship and the way this was written was the primary reason I felt like this. If it was more clear that Nandan was a very unreliable narrator then I wouldn’t have taken his thoughts to heart. But once again there was no realisation that he was denying his feelings, and so I took them at face value. I hate to call out bad writing but I honestly feel like this was too short and the way this was written meant for a bad experience. Either that or my arc had a lot of missing pages. I honestly wish I had stopped reading this half way through an imagined a better progressive end to the story.

In conclusion, I know some people will probably really love what this book does and have a completely different take away from it than I did. Life’s messy and uncomfortable and that is very much what this book is. But I’m sad to say it wasn’t the book for me and I just want to leave a warning and let you know to be aware that there are problematic things in this book if you’re going to read it.

Lysh (She/Her)

DNF at 19%.
It's already problematic and I don't have time for that. Reading other reviews now, I'm glad I trusted my gut on this one.

Alex

Kaylin

In this queer contemporary YA, perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story, Nandan's perfect plan for junior year goes awry after he hooks up with a guy for the first time. Nandan's got a plan to make his junior year perfect, but hooking up with his friend Dave isn't part of it--especially because Nandan has never been into guys. Still, Nandan's willing to give a relationship with him a shot. But the more his anxiety grows about what his sexuality means for himself, his friends, and his social life, the more he wonders whether he can just take it all back. Is breaking up with Dave--the only person who's ever really gotten him--worth feeling "normal" again?

We Are Totally Normal

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