Luna's Reviews > Normal Functioning Adult

I think this book could do well with a rewrite. There's a good, solid plot here and some very interesting ideas at play. Two very different people meet one another in grief counselling and connect over that single, albeit massive, change in their lives. I also really liked Amy, a woman who has identified as a lesbian all her life, suddenly having a relationship with a man. This is rarely encountered in queer literature (and even more rarely in an honest and supportive manner), and this is great!

But reading the book, it felt more like a second draft than a finished novel.

There's a lot of conversations- everything is 'tell, not show'. There's ideas and plot points that suddenly come up abruptly and don't really go anywhere. Amy's teenage abortion, Mel's drug use, Luke's suicide attempt. Things flutter around but never get discussed in depth, which is a detriment to the book. Amy's workplace issues should have also been more at the forefront, given they did eventually lead to her quitting.

The frequent nicknames also became a bit of a chore and I had to remind myself each time how they connected to the wider story. I still can't quite tell how Maddie tied in, and why Zoe and Rachel were such big threats.

In summary: a lot of potential, but fell short.