Faking Normal- Courtney C. Stevens

This book was really good. It can be hard for books about broken homes and horrible tragedies to really get you emotionally. This book did a great job with it. I wasn't expecting much when I opened up this book and ended up getting a lot from it. It starts off right away with Alexis attending a the funeral of Bodee's mother. Her mother is murdered by his father and he sees the WHOLE event take place. So right away, you know this is going to be a book about these two trying to get through these...more This book was really good. It can be hard for books about broken homes and horrible tragedies to really get you emotionally. This book did a great job with it. I wasn't expecting much when I opened up this book and ended up getting a lot from it. It starts off right away with Alexis attending a the funeral of Bodee's mother. Her mother is murdered by his father and he sees the WHOLE event take place. So right away, you know this is going to be a book about these two trying to get through these horrible things. Alexis has a problem of not being able to sleep and then sitting in her closet, scratching at her neck to calm down. She had been raped the summer before and no one knows about it. She's trying to pretend that it was no big deal and brush it aside. In doing so, she's totally losing it. Then the book becomes sort of a guessing game on who did this to her. I have to say that my first couple of guesses were completely wrong! She does a really good job hiding it because she totally acts normal around the guy now. She has been brainwashed to believe he is a good guy and it was just a stupid mistake he made. I couldn't believe who it was when it was revealed! Anyways, throughout the book, Bodee becomes her saving grace. In the end they both save each other. He helps her when she can't sleep at night, when she needs a friend. I really liked how they didn't just jump into a relationship. They both understood that they just needed friends right now and took it slow. Once they both started to heal they then took it to the next level. That was great to see. I was a bit disappointed by her friends. I would hope that my best friends would be able to figure a way to help me. They were worried about her but never really did anything about it. Bodee comes along and he figures it out right away. Why wouldn't her friends be able to see that she really needed help? This was a great book and I would highly recommend it!