gustavocorona

Something Like Normal is a wonderful novel about a soldier on leave from Afghanistan and his struggles when he returns home to his family. It's written in first person (Travis's point of view), present tense and it's very short. Only 219 pages. It's a bit too short, in my opinion, and I considered rating it only 4 stars because I felt Travis's struggles with his family deserved more exploring, as well as his relationship with Harper. And though we didn't really need more with Ellen, I felt there could be more and would have only made the book better. We really do learn what we need to about Travis's relationships and struggles, but I liked him so very much that I felt cheated out of more time with him. When I knew I had about 5 pages left I was disappointed because I knew I wasn't going to feel satisfied. But Travis's voice was perfect, so I settled on 5 stars because I could have read about him for another 200+ pages. Travis's father and ex-girlfriend bordered on ridiculous and I wanted their characters to be less stock-character and more three-dimensional. Because how heinous do you have to be to treat a just-back-from-a-war Marine the way they did? I'm not implying people aren't insanely awful to our women and men in service when they come home, but I wanted more context, I wanted to understand where that behavior was coming from. Travis's brother Ryan was equally awful, but I didn't think he came off as one-note ridiculous as the ex-girlfriend or father. Travis's mother was heartbreaking and I think I could have used a little more time with her, too, just to know she's going to be okay. Love Travis and Harper as a couple. Wished they could have had more build up and more "after". And without knowing anyone who has recently returned from our current war, I still feel like Trish Doller portrayed Travis and his fellow Marines accurately and with much respect. I've always had little interest in reading fiction about teens and war for various reasons, but Something Like Normal was a pleasure to read. I regret the cover since I think it will make male readers shy away from the novel, but I hope people encourage boys to read it.

2022-09-03 11:55