Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Whiskey November
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About The Book
Jordan and Nathan couldn’t be more different, but when order and chaos collide, opposites attract. Jordan is a bit of an oddball at school. He likes rules, routine, old sci-fi novels, and is often the victim of his bully’s torment. When new student Nathan joins the school, he wears down Jordan’s walls and, with his love, empowers Jordan to stand up for himself.
Nathan’s parents are going through divorce, and at a new school in a new city Jordan provides him with the stability he can’t find at home. Through their friendship and eventually their romance, Jordan embraces his newfound self-confidence and proclaims his love for Nathan in front of the school. Each is just what the other needs.
Not Not Normal shows readers that sometimes the qualities we need most can be found in and learned from the friends around us. We just need to let them in. Embracing your differences and facing the unknown can be scary, but with true friends and support, you can handle just about anything.
The Review
I’ve read quite a few YA romances or romance-adjacent books, featuring queer main characters, written by authors identifying as male, nonbinary or trans. Most of these books have been good, some excellent. Many have been fairly high angst, with potentially triggering themes or events, presented in ways or with language that could be challenging, and thus I would recommend with caution for younger readers.
I’m happy to say that NOT NOT NORMAL by Peter Fenton is a YA sweet romance (kisses only) that I would confidently recommend to any reader over sixteen or to the caregiving adult for a preteen reader. This slice-of-life novella-length story, featuring two gay teenagers in Toronto, addresses grief (death of a parent and divorce), bullying, and anxiety.
POV character Jordan lives with his widowed father; they moved to a new neighborhood after Jordan’s mother died, about two years before the story begins. Jordan’s love interest is Nathan, who’s moved to a nearby neighborhood with his divorced mother and is new to the school. Neither has a sibling; both have good relationships with their caregiving adults. Jordan also has one close friend, a girl named Emma, who provides support that’s generally within Jordan’s boundaries, and an ally on the school’s staff.
The central story arc of NOT NOT NORMAL weaves Jordan’s budding romance with Nathan into the evolution of their high school’s book club. The climax is the presentation at a school assembly, by the members of the book club, of a story written by Jordan and inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night.’
The language used throughout is age-appropriate and the structure is linear. The average young reader could follow the story without difficulty. The small scale of this book (both the length and the limited scope, which rarely departs from Jordan’s home or the school) allows for a tight focus. It’s simply and charmingly about one sixteen-year-old beginning to accept himself. Recommended.
The Reviewer
Whiskey November is an urban professional with close family & friendship ties to the LGBTQ+ community. She supports the work of GLAAD, Broadway Cares, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, among others. She reads in excess of 250 books a year (romance, mystery, science fiction, history, and memoir) and is a self-published writer of contemporary and historical romance.
