I have to say that I wasn't keen on this book when I first started reading it. Effie, the main character, was a pain in the backside. Very self-absorbed and immature and I felt that the difficulties in her life resulted from her behaviour. However, as the book progressed and her relationship with Theo grew, she became more likeable and by the end I really felt that we could be friends.
The main story is the romance (or not) of Effie and Theo, but there were other side plots regarding other characters , some happy stories and some less so. All believable and valuable editions to the book. Some not completely sewn up but that is the way life works, I suppose. I would like to know more about Effie's parents, who seem to have an unusual relationship (though the reader only sees it through Effie"s eyes) and about Kate .
I will definitely look out for more from this authoress, A good read which leaves you with plenty to think about.
Thankyou to Net Galley & Avon books for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review & well done Hannah Sutherland for an excellent first novel

The reader is drawn into the story from the start. Using familiar settings and situations that we can all relate to, we are carried along wondering what will happen next.
Easy to read, and with ups and downs of romantic involvement it will appeal to young readers.

This book slapped me in the face with a bunch of thoughts and feelings that I didn't know I needed to have in my life 🌸 Being honest I felt related with Effie, she broke my heart every time she was talking, she reminded me a lot of myself and also it's like many people I know. Jealous of others happiness while she feels unhappy, meaningless and a failure. Looking at everyone else having the "perfect life" while she doesnt even feel if she has real friends, she is lonely and feeling completely abandoned. I just couldn't stop crying while reading it and when I finished it I cried again 🌸 You will love the characters!! There's no way or space for hate in there. Effie and Theo, Arthur, Toby, everyone. You won't be able to even hate the "bad one" 🌸 I felt so sad, so related, my heart was broken for her. And then you can become so excited, with her!!! But the twists slap you over and over again letting you there reading and feeling exactly the way she is feeling 🌸 Started reading and couldn't put it down. I will definitely buy the physical copy and goes directly to my shelf of special books that have changed my life in some way. I never read a book like this before, I will just keep it close to my heart.

Very Nearly Normal is Hannah Sunderland’s debut novel and it is a dark horse! I knew I was going to enjoy it but it blew all my expectations out of the water. Very Nearly Normal is one of my favourite books of 2020.

Please be aware that there are some triggers in this book such as suicidal thoughts.

This book made me smile, it made me laugh and it made me cry (numerous times). It is raw, it is emotional, it is romantic and it is realistic.

I have never related to a character as much as I did with Effie. She is going through a tough time in her life and things are not going to plan. She works hard but life is screwing her over. She feels like she’s a disappointment, that she’s failing at life and is barely scrapping by. She believed she would make a difference in the world, because growing up you’re led to believe that you can, and she’s angry and fed up. Effie is incredibly relatable and realistic that I definitely saw myself in her.

I loved Theo, he was charming, he was sweet and he really did want the best for Effie, even if she didn’t agree with some of his decisions. I loved how sarcastic he was and how hard he was willing to try with Effie and push her out of her comfort zone. Honestly, his life-changing secret had me in tears and my heart broke for him.

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions for me but it was perfect in every way. Very Nearly Normal is a book about figuring out how to be happy, no matter what life throws at you. It’s about taking risks, figuring out who you are as a person and letting love in even if it doesn’t go to plan.

I recommend picking this up when it releases on May 14th 2020!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

at first I did not like this book, I loved the writting, the story line, but somthing about the main character bothered me. Effi seemed to me liked someone who victimize themselves, always blaming others for everything that happens to her. when she meets theo, it almost seems too god to be true and she keep on being a walking disaster for the first quarter of the book.. I almost stopped reading it , she annoyed me so much. But i'm glad I kept on reading because the story goes a completly different way, i surprised me, I am giving it 5 stars in the end... loved it...

I really enjoyed this book despite the first few chapters being a bit slow. It covered a wide range of topics and lifestyles underpinned by romance and different relationships

Firstly a big thank you to Avon for approving my request to read on netgalley.

This is a debut that has become one of my favourite reads of the year. This is everything!

Beautiful,life affirming,funny and relatable.

I love Effie who has lost her way somewhat in life and finds a new path with the help of Theo. I could see myself in her in so many ways.

Sweet and romantic while also sad and hard to read in some places.

She rediscovers her love of life and most importantly herself which we all need to do .

A love story with a difference .it is also so much deeper than a love story

If you enjoy authors such as Jojo moyes and Roxie cooper then i highly recommend this.

I wish Hannah every success with this book and i cant wait to see what she writes next.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
This book was an absolute joy to read. The characters, though quirky were so well written it was very easy to relate to them. It is a rich mix of flawed people, humour and sadness. It touches on contemporary concerns such as homelessness, social unaccepability, and coming of age in a harsh modern world. It's a book I an highly recommend and will definitely read again. I give it 4.5 stars.

This was a cute and intriguing book! Would recommend to those who want a unique spin on romantic tropes.

Very Nearly Normal is a wonderful debut from author Hannah Sunderland.
I particularly enjoyed how the book set out its plot on failure, the characters underlying problems with her mental state of being unconfiddent whilst living with her family at a mature age. I feel that every human fails on a daily basis whether directly or indirectly and could relate to her emotions.
Main character Matlida is what I prefer calling her is likeable. The diversity of other characters should be applauded.
This book will have you reflecting on your life, laugh and make you smile.

Thank you for giving me this book to review and I look forward to Hannahs upcoming reads.

Overall I really enjoyed this book.

The plot broke my heart, and it touched upon a few areas that definitely could’ve done with trigger warnings. It was powerful. I really disliked Effie to start with, but her development as a character was brilliant and I ended up really liking her.

I adored Theo, but he’s a handsome closet geek who loves books, how could I not love him?! His story really touched me.

I’m from North Wales, Gwynedd is the next county along to mine and Chester is a mere 45 minutes away and I have to say I loved that Gwynedd was picked as the place in Wales that Theo came from. These parts of Wales are rarely ever mentioned in books, it might be the first time I’ve ever seen a location from this area mentioned in a book and I think the author perfectly captured the beauty of Snowdonia!

I’d rate it 3.5 out of 5 but I’m rounding it up to 4!

This was a lovely quirky romantic story. I did struggle with the beginning - I found the language used by Effie and her downbeat attitude very hard to take. But once I had got into the book I loved it and read it overnight. Effie is a failure - living with her parents at 28, no career, no boyfriend - and a borderline alcoholic. She meets Theo who challenges her view of herself and her life but who holds secrets of his own. She falls in love to be let down by Theo and then has to put her life back together. She finds ways to accept herself and her faults, to look outside herself and find a purpose.

A feel good story - well worth the effort.

What a delightfully funny and self-aware book this is. Matilda ‘Effie’ Heaton is convinced that she is a loser and a clumsy one at that. She hardly has any friends and she's living at her parents' house at the age of 28, where she often spends her evenings frowning, with copious glasses of wine as her only loyal companion. As you may have guessed it, her dating life is a disaster too, we literally see someone walk out on her after realizing that she is not the 'hot girl' in her dating profile picture. Effie's life-long dream was to be a writer but after being rejected by numerous publishers, her manuscript has been lying below her bed gathering dust. So, all, in all, not an ideal situation

And then, in comes Theo, this man with kind eyes, a rippling body and such an audaciously handsome face that Effie spends most of her time wondering what he possibly sees in her to look past all her indiscretions and wants to deliberately spend time with her awkward self. During one drunken night with Theo, a list is drafted for Effie to complete tasks that would definitely take her out of her comfort zone but also take her closer to the person she wants to be. 

This book is a beautiful and often funny journey of self-discovery, of unyielding oneself from the kind of pressures that are being put on women in their late 20s (of having things in order, moving up the corporate ladder, settling down etc.) and figuring life out in one's own terms. Plainly put, this book made me smile, took my mind away from a global pandemic wrecking quite the havoc on our lives. And I would consider that as a job well done.

This book starts off with Effie who is a self loathing alcoholic who works in a bookshop and is unlucky in love. Then by chance she meets Theo, at first she is reluctant to make things works and does everything she can to push him away whilst also revealing her insecurities and flaws.

I didn't quite enjoy the first half of the book as I hated Effie but I can see how others would love her, but I persevered and was pleasantly surprised with the second half of the story. After heartbreak she decides to finally pick up the pieces and learn to love herself, she finally became a stronger person and fixed broken relationships. You also learn of Theo's illness and how he tried to protect Effie by breaking up with her but this is why I loved the book and character growth by the end of this story as it focused on friendship, love, loss, happiness and finding yourself. This book made me laugh and cry and feel heartbreak and joy.

It's not your typical romance book and for that I would recommend for people to read but some like me, may have to push through the first half but it's worth it, I promise.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for an advanced copy of this delightful book! Effie is 28 and a self-confessed failure, but fate leads her to meet Theo, who changes her life in more ways than one. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions (in the best way), as I went from being annoyed at Effie's lacklustre attitude to being angry at Theo to cheering Effie on and being content with the book's ending. With strong character development, I feel like fellow fans of Josie Silver and Beth O'Leary will love this book as much as I did.

I sped through this book relatively quickly, and it was a little different to your boy-meets-girl story.

Whilst it was obvious that Effie was in a dark place, I felt like this was emphasised a lot and really early on, which meant that I didn’t feel much of a connection with her as a character.

I did enjoy the character development and her relationship with Theo, but it wasn’t the heartbreaking love story that I was expecting.

A sweet and quirky book that was nice for some light reading.

When I started this book, I thought it would be a typical romance. An eager boy falling for a hard to love woman. I was so wrong. This book has twists and turns that make it impossible to put down. I was rooting for Effie and loved watching her transformation for herself and for her relationship with Theo. This was a perfect escape!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the advanced copy of this novel.

This book started out quite rocky but I ended up enjoying it. I loved seeing Effie's character development but the book took a very long time for any character development to start forming. Maybe it was because the book was from her point of view but in the beginning, every word she said was to insult herself and felt a bit overboard. Similarly, the pace in the first half was quite slow but the second half was unputdownable (I more or less read the second half of the book in one sitting). Arthur and Toby are amazing characters; their interaction with each other and support they had for Effie was a delight to read. Overall, the book was a good read. I would have liked to have seen Effie's character fleshed out more in the first half but when the story picks up, you aren't going to want to put it down..

Wow! So often I read romantic novels where the female protagonist is like 'Oh, I'm so quirky and I can't get my hand-painted greetings cards/cupcake business together but then I met this mildly eccentric guy and he's helped me to self-actualise.' Apart from the self-actualisation, this is not that book.

Matilda Effie Heaton (who is rather too concerned with her depressing initials, MEH - frankly they seem to be the least of her problems) is a real but relatable hot mess. More Eleanor Oliphant than Bridget Jones, Effie is a borderline alcoholic (sometimes not that borderline - and she doesn't give up drinking even when her boyfriend has to almost completely cut down, which made me slightly uneasy because she is written like someone who has a genuine problem, not just someone who enjoys a few jars).

The traditional gender roles feel as though they are reversed - Theo, her love interest, is a manic pixie dream boy while Effie is the crotchety, addicted, sarcastic lead who still lives with her parents and vomits a lot (this also isn't an easy book for emetophobic people, by the way). But is Theo as perfect and untroubled as he seems? Course not! The writing is terrific, and Hannah Sunderland has real raw talent. I will be looking out for her in future.

I really enjoyed this book, I didn’t like the main character at first, but as the story developed, I grew to like her. Lots of life lessons in this book, which is very uplifting. I did shed a tear and I was surprising by the ending in some ways (I don’t do spoilers – you’ll have to just read it for yourself!)

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.