Book Review- Something Like Normal

Title- Something Like Normal
Author- Trish Doller
Pages- 224
Rating- 4 out of 5
Companion/Sequel/Other- Stand Alone

This book honestly surprised me. When I picked this up I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did! There will be SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS in this review!

This book follows 19 year old Travis Stephnson when he returns home from a tour in Afghanistan. He’s been gone for about a year and a half and he doesn’t even want to return home. The only person that is there when he gets back is his mother. She is hugging him and so excited that he’s safe and home. She lets him know that he’s father wanted to be there but he had an important meeting and his bother had work. Seriously? You’re son and brother(who you haven’t heard from or seen in a year and a half) is returning home and you can’t reschedule a meeting or get a few hours off from work? Right then I didn’t like his dad or brother.

Throughout the book we find out that Travis’s dad and brother are even worse than we thought. His dad is a no good asshole who just so happens to be cheating on his mom, his brother Ryan is a class A douche who doesn’t seem to care about him, and his ex girlfriend Paige is a bitch, who just so happens to now be with his brother Ryan. Yeah, when Travis was over in Afghanistan, Paige was sleeping with his brother. Talk about class. And she sends him a letter letting him now that before he comes home she’s with Ryan. UGHHH!! Although Travis really doesn’t seem to care at all which I loved! He has bigger problems to worry about than her and his brother! Although that doesn’t seem to stop Paige from sneaking into his room now that’s his back. That’s what put me off from this giving this book a 5 stars. Travis is so much better than to go back to sleeping with his ex, especially when she’s with his brother. I know that his brother basically did the same thing to him, but come on, Travis is a lot better than that!

Anyway moving on from that rant. Travis is back home and nothing is the same, especially with him. He just lost his best friend Charlie over in Afghanistan and he is now seeing him wherever his goes, talking to him, and having these horrific nightmares. He doesn’t really want to get help, so he tries to ignore them, but it doesn’t really work. Everything seems to change for him though when he meets Harper Gray.

Harper Gray is a girl that Travis has known since middle school. She also is the girl who isn’t the biggest fan of Travis and punches him the face when she sees him in the bar. Although we find out that she has a good reason for that. However, they end up spending quite a bit of time together and things start to change.

What I loved about this story was that yes it has a romance(one that I loved) but it was so much more than that. It was dealing with loss, guilt, learning to let go, move on, and not let the guilt destroy you. And I just have to mention that when we were finding out about what happened with Charlie, it was so sad! Harper was there for Travis when he needed someone the most.

I really enjoyed this story, and I think anyone who picks it up will enjoy it as well. If you’re looking for a great story, an addicting read, and something that you can read in one sitting than this is the book for you!