Recent Read: Something Like Normal

After spending time in Afghanistan as a Marine, Travis is back home trying to figure out how to live a normal life after the death of his best friend and other traumatizing experiences at war. When he comes home, he has to face the ex-girlfriend who dumped in a letter for hi younger brother, his overbearing father, the disintegration of his parents' marriage, in addition to figuring out life after Afghanistan. It's when he runs into Harper a girl he knew in high school, that he finds someone in whom he can confide. But will he clean up certain aspects of his life in order to keep Harper in his life?

It's the emotion and characters of Trish Doller's Something Like Normal that really make this book. This is not a story of heroism in war, rather it's a story of a young man trying to adjust and find his place in the world after war has changed him so drastically. Characters and emotions are fleshed out in such a way that they become real, and I couldn't help but care and become involved in their story. Everything about Normal felt authentic--especially Travis's young Marine voice and the romance. That romance--it pushes a lot of the right buttons. It's tentative, playful, and emotionally intimate. I believed it all the way and was totally sucked in. Despite the cover, this is no Nicholas Sparks book. Rather it's a book that takes a look at what faces a young Marine when he comes home--ranging from family dynamics to ptsd to friendships to grief to intimacy. I think it has appeal for guys, too (damn cover!).