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    Faking Normal
    Faking Normal
    Faking Normal
    Audiobook7 hours

    Faking Normal

    Written by Courtney C. Stevens

    Narrated by Emma Galvin

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    An edgy, realistic debut novel praised by the New York Times bestselling author of Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys, as “a beautiful reminder that amid our broken pieces we can truly find ourselves.”

    Alexi Littrell hasn’t told anyone what happened to her over the summer by her backyard pool. Instead, she hides in her closet, counts the slats in the air vent, and compulsively scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more than the inside does—and deal with the trauma.

    When Bodee Lennox—“the Kool-Aid Kid”—moves in with the Littrells after a family tragedy, Alexi discovers an unlikely friend in this quiet, awkward boy who has secrets of his own. As their friendship grows, Alexi gives him the strength to deal with his past, and Bodee helps her summon the courage to find her voice and speak up about the rape that has changed the course of her life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 25, 2014
    ISBN9780062299949
    Author

    Courtney C. Stevens

    Courtney “Court” Stevens grew up among rivers, cornfields, churches, and gossip in the small-town South. She is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, and Olympic torch bearer. She has a pet whale named Herman, a band saw named Rex, and several books with her name on the spine: Faking Normal, The Lies About Truth, and the e-novella The Blue-Haired Boy. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. You can visit her online at www.courtneycstevens.com.

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    Reviews for Faking Normal

    4.5/5

    29 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Faking Normal, a debut novel by Courtney C. Stevens, is about two FakingNormalbroken teens, one exhibiting all his hurt, one hiding hers. The interesting thing about this book is that the cause of one pain is evident from the start; the cause of the other is revealed slowly but surely.In the same vein, one outcome of the book is predictable from the beginning and the other has a twist. This caused me to raise my eyebrows and say, “Oh my, I didn’t see that coming.” But, it follows the story, so cudos to the author.Alexi Littrell and Bodee Lennox are the two main characters. One is strong; one is weak. But together they make quite the pair.I really don’t want to say too much about this book. I know, I really haven’t told you much. But to my mind, it’s better to start without any knowledge and let Ms. Stevens unfold her tale to you. She has conjured up two characters you won’t easily forget.So, it’s Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I wanted to read Faking Normal because I am drawn to anything about self-harm. I used to be a cutter and still get the urges to sometimes. But books like this aren't really a trigger for me, just like I can read about suicide and depression. Everyone should know their limits. To me, it is very therapeutic and it gives me a sense of really being connected with the character and knowing that I am past that and they can heal as well. But I think that it handled these touchy personal subjects in a delicate and tasteful way. Courtney Stevens wrote a winner in Faking Normal. I was able to connect to Alexi, her pain was palpable and I totally relate with the putting on a mask and pretending like everything is okay on the outside when deep down there is pain. I don't share her particular pain of the past but there are things that I never wanted to talk about either, and put on that front. But her journey to realizing that she can trust her family and the right friends with her heart and her pain is so beautiful, watching her become strong enough to tell the truth and stand up for herself is amazing. I think that Alexi's silence is all too common. That she thinks she can handle it, and that she doesn't want the pain to be out in the world. She thinks it is her fault which is also common in these cases. I think that in these aspects, it keeps it really realistic and makes her sympathetic to what others have experienced. She couldn't find her voice to say no, but she was crying. She blames herself in this way too, while I wished she would have made a clear word or pushed him away, if she didn't want it, it is rape. That is hard too, that fine line of letting it happen and it being rape. But I think with the obvious circumstances when you find out who, it is a line that never should have been crossed. They weren't in any sort of relationship and it wasn't a precedent. So, like I said, amazingly handled, and I think that it shows a new issue. When she was raped but unable to actually verbalize no. Her silence is such a theme in this book, and finding her voice is such growth in her. And the circumstances for how it comes about is through Bodee. He is the underdog, the Kool Aid kid because he dyes his hair a rainbow of colors with Kool Aid and his painful past. He is quiet, awkward, but loyal to a fault. Over time as they are living in the same house, they begin to talk with each other or even just sit in silence together and they have a bond because they can recognize that pain beneath the surface. I loved everything about Bodee--that he doesn't have the need to fill silences, that he is strong, observant, and that he's a good guy. He steps in and talks with Alexi, lets her know that she can trust him and he proves himself as a friend over and over and going above and beyond what even a best friend might do. He is an ultimate book boyfriend and he is what made this a 5 star, amazing instead of just a 4, I love it. Because it is a friendship, a slow burn, a build up and anticipation. They want to help each other through their pain, give their fears and past a voice, help the other one be stronger. "And I promise to stop whoever is hurting you." I stand there barely breathing and he says something that sounds like "Even if it's you." How can you not love a boy man like that? Life has shown him the hard way that it can be cruel but also beautiful and even when he didn't before, to stand up for who he cares about and help them get out of the way of pain. He is so well developed and fleshed out. Amazingness. The story never lets up and there is character development and relationship progress at every turn. I thought that I had everything figured out but I didn't. There were things and twists that took me by surprise and ended up making it even more powerful. I read this literally in one sitting, and it kept this stay at home mommy who has to get up at 7am up until past 3 devouring these words and characters that stole my heart. So, I saw on my dear friend blogger The Eater of Books (even though the issues didn't sit well with her, she like me loved Bodee) but she posed the question, why do people cut, that it didn't make sense to her personally. So, as I have experience with this, I ended up writing a novella, and thought that I would put it here since it relates to the book. So... I will chime in and say that the cutting-- the nails on the neck--scars on wrist, whatever, I have been there and done that. It really does provide a sense of relief if you have ptsd or depression or even something hard in the past. It gives a sense of control, and release. I used to do it because I wasn't in control of what my parents did, where I lived, what other kids said about me behind my back, what my boyfriend did--if he paid attention to me, if he was mean to me, and even if I gave a voice to it, I couldn't really explain. I felt like I couldn't control anything, but I could control physical pain that I could feel.YES, it has been mainstreamed as "emo" and therefore it really doesn't have some of the seriousness that it should. It can be a cry for help, but it most likely to the victim can be a physical marker of the emotional pain that they feel inside. Maybe that explains a little better the why. And back to the book. The ending is amazing and even though I didn't want to leave the characters because I loved them and wished for more time with them, every thing was wrapped up well. It gave that perfect balance of realistic, giving hope and healing as well as giving me a taste of what their truly happily ever after could be. I wouldn't want them to completely have it in a powerful, deep and emotional story like this, because that would be glossing over their problems instead of seeking true help and healing. This kinda describes their ending, their friendship, their trust, their relationship. I know we’re still broken. Both of us. But Bodee’s got the glue to make us whole. He is love.- ARC, Faking NormalBottom Line: Powerful, emotional, and I related with Alexi and loved everything about Bodee.
    • 3/5
      Faking Normal opens at the funeral of a mother killed by an abusive father. Bodee is now alone, except for a grown brother. But he's not the central figure in this novel. That's Alexi, one of his classmates. Although they have gone to school together forever, and live nearby, they're not close. Bodee is, after all, the Kool-Aid Kid and not quite cool.Alexi, on the other hand, is one of the golden girls of Rickman. Her older sister has gone out with the football coach since they were in school together, her friends go out with football players and Alexi, well, Alexi is struggling. Perhaps her struggling allows her to feel some empathy for Bodee, who runs out of the funeral rather than speak over his mother's coffin. Alexi goes out to silently comfort him.Alexi is struggling because she let a guy go all the way last summer -- a guy she knows and who was on the outs with his girlfriend. She didn't want to do it, but she didn't say no. And now Alexi feels like she is damaged goods and it's her own fault. Alexi and Bodee form a solid friendship in which wise and comforting Bodee gently encourages Alexi to come out with the truth about what happened to her. (No one knows that something happened except Alexi and her attacker; Bodee suspects she is keeping a secret though.)Her other source of comfort -- and Alexi needs a lot of comfort, especially compared to a boy who lost his mother to a murdering father -- is lines of songs left by an unknown student on a desk they share. Could this unknown bard be the football player her friends want her to out with? And what's up with Bodee, who uses Kool-Aid to dye his hair and who is the most quietly confident teen in the book? Who is Alexi's attacker, and why is she scared to admit she was raped?Faking Normal has a lot going for it. Alexi's dilemma is real and her feelings are portrayed honestly. Bodee, however, seems too good to be true, especially with his healing seeming to go on the back burner for much of the book. It's also worth noting that most of the characters are portrayed as strong church-goers. Yet not much is done with the themes of forgiveness and the ways in which females have been historically portrayed in patriarchal churches as the ones to blame for any sexual transgression.The author's writing does shine in portraying the ups and downs of small-town life and a gorup that has gone through school together, forming a community that seemingly knows each other so well but still has secrets. It would be interesting to read any explorations Stevens may create regarding small towns and congregations in works to come.
    • 5/5
      FAKING NORMAL by Courtney Stevens is the best contemporary YA book I've read. The main characters, Alexi and Bodee, are wonderful but broken teens, and their stories are lessons in the strength and hope that can come after weakness and pain. Although the book is a heavy and thoughtful one, Stevens' skill with turning a phrase left me smiling with pleasure at many points in the book.After the first few chapters, I couldn't put the book down, and I finished it in a day. I sure hope Courtney Stevens writes a lot more books, because I am looking forward to reading more from her.
    • 5/5
      FAKING NORMAL was an excellent, heart-wrenching contemporary about two kids who have terrible things happen to them and who have to find a way to heal and move on. Alexi Littrell hasn't been the same since the pool party at the end of the summer before her junior year in high school. She has taken to hiding in her closet, scratching her neck raw, and obsessively counting the slats in the vent in her room. However, she has been successfully hiding her pain from her parents and her older sister and her sister's boyfriend.Bodee Lennox can't really hide the fact that his father killed his mother after years of abusing both her and Bodee. But Bodee would still like to be the loner at school who hides behind his Kool-Aid dyed hair and doesn't talk to anyone. Hiding doesn't mean that he isn't observant though. He recognizes that Alexi is in some kind of pain.When Alexi's parents take Bodee into their home, he and Alexi begin to form a friendship. Each finds in the other someone who understands and someone who gives them the courage to do the hard things that they have to do to move on.This story packs an amazing amount of pain around Friday Night Football games, Homecoming Dances, Halloween parties and other high school events. The daily drama of high school life plays against the major trauma Alexi has faced. The one solace that Alexi has is that someone she is calling Captain Lyric is writing song lyrics on her desk in Fourth Period Psych class. Each of them writes a lyric that means something to them and the other completes the lyric. Alexi feels that she finally has someone who understands her and she feels safe because because there is no messy human interaction.I couldn't put this one down. I can't wait to share this story with my high school readers.
    • 5/5
      Faking Normal is an fantastic blend of a real teenage voice echoing with life. It’s amazing and I can’t wait to read more stories by this author.Plot: Getting into this story is the easy part. It’s starts off hitting the reader fast with loads of emotion and loss. It then carries the reader into a place of peace (or at least you think) before more clues emerges. Let me tell you that this book certainly kept me on the edge of my sit. It’s raw yet so innovative that you can’t help but read it. The plot has a nice build, never-wavering but simply giving the reader enough to savor page after page. The last few chapters were an explosion of so much amazing writing.Love/Friendship: I really adored watching this friendship grow. They not only become friends but they help one another. They help each other fight off their dark past yet they bloom with their growing friendship. The buildup of their friendship is also a nice, slow build so it gives the reader time to invest in the characters. You feel their emotions and thoughts, and yet you yearn to know the truth.The Truth: OMG. I don’t think I have ever felt such a hard truth slap me in my face. I mean, I didn’t even see it coming!! It was like once minute I knew and the next…I’m slap in the face with something completely different. The realness of what happen and how it effected her left my heart aching. But like most cases, things aren’t always what they seem. Simply wonderful and breathtaking.A sensational read that goes above and beyond what I normally read, Faking Normal is a success. The blending of loss and a friendship, it grabs the reader for a fight that can be won with the help of a trusting friend. Slowly assembling piece by piece to make for a inventively constructed read, Faking Normal is a book I highly recommend.
    • 4/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This novel highlights the troubles of a depressed teen and her journey to fixing herself with the help of an unexpected friend. A great story and an incredibly sad ending, and therefore worth a read!Opening Sentence: Black funeral dress.The Review:Faking Normal is a depressing but beautifully written story of a teen who has mastered the act of pretending to be okay when her insides are a chaotic mess and her neck is criss-crossed with the scars she inflicted on herself. Alexi, or Lex, is stuck between denial of what happened over the summer and struggling with how to deal with it. Because something did happen, something that ruined her and left her in this shaken state, something that no one can help…except, it seems, a new addition to her household, Bodee. Bodee’s abusive father murdered his mom, and Bodee understands the hopeless hurting she is going through. As the story goes on, Bodee and Lex help each other to heal and let go, slowly but surely.Lex is very fragile. She is broken, and that is obvious from the first page. Her best friends, Liz and Heather, don’t know that she is, and neither do her parents . . . she is dealing alone. Bodee is her rock. At first, he’s just the Kool-Aid kid, and then he becomes the kid whose dad murdered his mom, and then he became Lex’s comfort.Okay, let’s talk about Captain Lyric. The Captain writes lyrics from a song on Lex’s fourth period desk every week, and Lex (a huge fan of music) always knows the next words. Then she leaves a new challenge for the Captain. He always seems to know just what songs to use, and how she is feeling. This was a mystery that lasted almost the whole book, and something that dragged me on when the book became slow. You fall in love with the Captain as you read. I had my suspicions about who he was, and I was correct, so it wasn’t very hard to guess. But all the same, it added another layer and spiced up this novel a bit.This book didn’t have a very stable pace. In the beginning, it went at a reasonably fast one, but towards the middle it began to slow and get boring. I understand that the author is letting Bodee and Lex get closer, and the author kept giving different hints to the different mysteries in the story probably to keep us reading, but it was a drag to get through a period of about 20 pages. After that, things began to get faster, and then moved very quickly. Information was loaded on you, but since the author explains so clearly and gave it to you in an organized manner, you weren’t confused.The ending. The ending was heart-wrenchingly sad and yet gave you a certain degree of pleasure when you see the wrongdoer of the story get punished. If I was a crier, I probably would have cried, but I’m not, so I mostly just screwed up my face and whimpered. It was a powerful statement to end a novel like this, and I really respect the way it was executed.Altogether, this is a very good read, and deserves a try. Fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower will very much enjoy this. It has the perfect blend of sadness and a healing contentment, and the tone is set very nicely. Read this if you liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower, because you won’t regret it!Notable Scene:But I don’t tell him to go back inside or that everything will be fine. I just sit beside him and let the inch between my thigh and his remain. He cracks his knuckles compulsively, and I stare at the break in the concrete where the little green weed lives.When the funeral director finds us, I finally speak. “See you Monday?”“Yeah.”And that’s it. I leave Bodee on the bench. The space between us is elastic now, stretching into yards.When I reach my mom, she kisses my forehead. “Lex, I love you,” she says.“I love you, too.” and as I say it, I think, no one will say that to Bodee anymore.FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Faking Normal. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 4/5
      Despite the enormously difficult subject matter, this book is equal parts heart-wrenching and hopeful at the same time. The highlight of the book is the evolving relationship between Alexi and Bodee. Both teens are trying to heal, coping in different ways, while trying to navigate high school and all its various complexities. Faking Normal is an intense and sobering read.
    • 5/5
      What a terrific book! Full of emotion and a few twists I didn't see coming! If you need a break from dystopian worlds before the Divergent madness starts on Friday, this is one you should definitely check out. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      "Faking Normal" is a beautifully written book about two broken characters, Alexi and Bodee. As their friendship develops they discover each other's secrets, pain and regrets. I really liked how they saw in each other what others didn't and I loved how they helped each other begin to heal. This isn't a light, fluffy read but deals with some tough issues. Although I didn't always like how the characters behaved, I did enjoy this story and the feeling of hope that the book ended on. A worthwhile read.