Sunday, July 12, 2020

We Are Totally Normal

Written by: Rahul Kankia

First line: The music in the car was so loud that my teeth vibrated.

Why you should read this book: Nandan hangs out with the popular kids, even though he doesn't really like any of them except Avani, who he used to hook up with but doesn't anymore because sex is weird; right now, while his bro-friends are trying to get Nandan laid, Nandan is really focused on helping out his weird buddy Dave, who is totally adorable and knows less about girls than Nandan does. But Nandan's efforts to help Dave get a girlfriend lead to Nandan having drunken sex with Dave, and now he has to figure out whether he's actually gay or what, because he loves Dave, but he doesn't really love having sex with him, and he doesn't want people to think he's just being queer to get attention, or to get closer to Avani. This is a very inwardly-focused story, rife with Nandan's dissection of high school social dynamics, relationships, and, of course, sex, which covers honest ground about sex and queerness that doesn't often hit the page in YA novels.

No comments: