Holly's blog

I'm worried about the future, but that is alright.

Since I started my A levels three years ago I've been having large periods of time where I'm just anxious about everything and worry about stuff that I don't need to worry about. I'm now in university and to be honest, the worrying has gotten worse.

I worry about home life, university work, grades, graduating, money, getting a job, getting a mortgage (I'm 19, that will not happen for years), getting a car and a bunch of other stuff that involve not knowing what the future will hold.

I am 19 and in my first year of university so I have no need to be worrying about half of that! I need to remember that it is alright to not know what will happen and that things can change at a moments notice. Worrying means suffering twice or for no reason at all. Whilst I'm not very good at not worrying, I'm trying to work on it. Just know that if you are worrying about things that you are not alone and I hope things get better for you! <3

This is my last full month off before I start university in September and so because of this I want to read as much as I can!

The first book I want to read is The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. I've borrowed this from the library so don't have long to read it but I've just started and so far its really interesting. I'm only a few pages in so I can't tell you too much about it but I am enjoying it!



The next book I want to read before it has to go back to the library is Monsters by Emerald Fennell. I don't know much about this but I've seen it on Carys' from Carys On Reading's talk about it a lot and I really like the cover. It is set in a seaside town which appeals to me as I live in a seaside town but have never read a book set in one.



Then if I get around to it before it has to be returned to the library, I want to read The Walled City Ryan Graudin. I don't really know much about this one either but I've seen it mentioned on booktube a lot so thought it'd pick it up.



I'd love to read How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne this month as it is the second book in her Spinster Club Trilogy. I read the first book Am I Normal Yet last month and adored it so I'm hoping to love this one just as much, if not more!



Then finally I'd love to re-read Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. I read this a year or two ago and can't remember much from it but I do know I really enjoyed it. I want to re-read this and read the rest of the series as the 5th book is coming out in September and I'd quite like to be caught up with the series.

In August I read Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne as part of my TBR for the Booktube-a-thon and I really enjoyed it. I'd even go as far as to say that it is my favourite book I've read so far this year and I thought that I'd do a book review on it!



This was my second Holly Bourne book, the first book I read by her was The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting which I had quite neutral feelings towards but I thought I should give her writing another go as Carys from Carys On Reading loves The Spinster Club trilogy, of which Am I Normal Yet is the first instalment.

Am I Normal Yet centres on Evie, a sixteen year old girl who suffers from OCD and anxiety and as a result has been in and out of hospital and takes medication. Evie has just started sixform college and wants to have as much of a normal life as possible whilst slowly coming off of her medication. She wants to make friends, get a boyfriend, go to parties, go on dates, get good grades and just live the life of a normal teenager. Whilst at college she meets Lottie and Amber who quickly become her best friends and they all realise how important feminism is and start their own feminist club!

I loved the friendship between the characters of Evie, Amber and Lottie and they were all so well developed. I also loved how the settings and the characters were all realistic, which sometimes doesn't happen in YA contemporaries. The book also dealt with mental health in a respectable and educational way.

My one and only problem with the book is a conversation the girls have near the beginning of the book. The girls have a discussion about feminism but during this discussion Amber and Lottie discuss how "all boys are the same" and "all boys are bad". This to me is the opposite of feminism as feminism is equality for all and how can you expect people to respect you if you don't respect them. One way this is redeemed however, is by Evie who says that talking like that isn't feminist and gives feminism a bad name, the girls also learn from this mistake and redeem themselves later on in the book.

Overall, I love the book and it is a great fast and entertaining read that is full of friendship and feminism!