This was quite the rollercoaster! Told through the perspective of the oldest child, we soon find out that he sold his sperm and became a very popular sperm donor, ultimately fathering nearly 40 children. This is a raw and brutally honest family story, that highlights the challenges of having a mentally unstable mother and an absent father. As the protagonist gets older, the perspective shifts from one of blame to understanding, seeing her parents as flawed humans just like her. Highly recommend.

A warm memoir about an unconventional family. I love memoirs about non-famous people whose lives are…different, and this one fits the bill.

Very interesting read! This reminded me of the Netflix show about the fertility doctor in Indiana. The author did a good job at immersing the reader in her journey.

Chrysta and her sister are the daughters of a dynamic and damaged woman, a single lesbian who yearned for a child in the rather unaccepting 1980s – and found her ideal sperm donor in a hair salon. But both Debra and Jeffrey hid many secrets from their children.

There’s that oft-quoted opening sentence of Anna Karenina – “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I thought of that quote, and how it’s subverted in this book. The author has a very unusual family, as we come to learn in the opening pages, but the focus stays on a far more relatable core. For the most part the book focuses on Bilton’s insecure childhood and her complex relationship with her parents.

The writing is simple but evocative, and places you on the spot with Chrysta and her sister throughout their turbulent lives. Both Debra and Jeffrey are larger-than-life, off-beat figures, and it was interesting to see the way Chrysta’s understanding of them morphs and broadens as she grows up. I liked that the headline-grabbing aspect of the story, the unexpected discovery of her multitude of siblings, is rolled into the greater story of the author coming to accept her childhood and her family.

However, I did think the story was a little spotty at times, as we hop around from place to place and from troubling or bizarre incident to troubling or bizarre incident. I also wished that we delved more into what shaped Debra and Jeffrey into becoming the people that they were. For a book that engages so heavily with the concept of generational trauma, I felt that we did not necessarily learn as much as I wished about what made Bilton’s parents the people that raised her.

This was everything my queer little mind desired for an honest recounting of ordinary life without fanfare or pretense.

By the title, this was a very interesting book. Bilton is an incredible writer and having lived in some of the places that she described her writing is eloquent and succinct. Interestingly, I loved reading about the stories of her family's relation to California state history; however, I felt like I wanted to read and learn more about her 35 siblings. I understand where she may be limited as far as protecting their privacy, but even learning more about her relationship with her sister would have added more to the component of the subtitle with 35 siblings. All in all, this was an interesting read.

***I received a free copy of this e-book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.***

At times delightful and at times heart-rending and at times infuriating. Adults behaving badly throughout. Hardly "normal".... or is it? Who gets to define "normal"? It is a memoir of resilience in the face of adversity. And let's face it: coping with adversity is what is "normal" for most of us.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Very entertaining. Makes you think a lot about the sperm donor industry and how well it’s all regulated.

HUGE thanks to Little, Brown and Company, as well NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Normal Family!

Wow.  Just WOW!!!  I found Normal Family to be utterly fascinating and totally unputdownable.  The first part of the book tells of Debra's burning desire to become a mother.  There was just one problem.  Debra was a lesbian.  Her attempt to go the artificial insemination route was a no-go when she found out that the donor may have been highly intelligent ... but he was also short and quite ugly.  That would never work. Debra decided she would find a donor, herself. “It couldn’t be just any sperm. She needed someone gorgeous. Talented. Someone who looked the part with brilliance and a pedigree".  While at a hair salon, she found THE ONE.  (And Jeffrey Harrison absolutely WAS gorgeous!  Google him.)  

Normal Family then tells of the births and childhoods of Chrysta and her sister, Kait.  Their lifestyle seemed to constantly teeter between opulence and abject poverty.  Debra's partners came and went, as well, which the girls struggled with.  

Then came the day when Chrysta sent a cheek swab to a DNA website and discovered that she had a few dozen half sisters and brothers! Possibly as many as 100.  After Chrysta and Kait had been born, Jeffrey started donating his sperm a couple of times a week to the California Cryobank.  At that time nothing was verified on donor applications so donors could write totally fictitious applications.  Jeffrey had written that he had an interest in yoga, that he played multiple musical instruments, was college educated, and had a background in acting,  That, plus the fact that he was 6' tall and had blue eyes, made him the donor parents requested time after time.

I could go on and on but you need to read this book!  Seriously!!  The author did a fabulous job. As she says, I also want to embrace the wonderful traits of my parents. You can see your childhood as ALL great or ALL terrible. Or, instead, you can look for the good things and try to repeat some of those.

One of the best memoirs I’ve read. Every page is intriguing and this story gets better and better with every page. Truth is stranger than fiction and this is such a unique story. I loved every second of it!

Chrysta's family is anything but normal. Growing up with a lesbian mother who used donor sperm to conceive Chrysta and her sister, Chrysta's childhood is chaotic and unpredictable. Parental figures, homes, and money come and go. The adults in this story often behave erratically and selfishly, creating an unstable environment for children to grow up in.

Although the story was intriguing at first, the irresponsibility of the adults became extremely excessive. I could not even read on, much less imagine growing up in these conditions.

I am such a sucker for a memoir, especially one featuring a wild and dramatic childhood and this one absolutely hit the spot. The story was so compelling and it was definitely one of those can’t-look-away memoirs as the details of the author’s life just keep getting wilder as the story goes on.

I do think the title is a little misleading as the story of meeting her 35 siblings wasn’t really the main focal point of the story (though it was part of the story). It centered a lot more around her childhood with her eccentric, and often unstable, parents and family. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend to fans of Wild Game and American Daughter.

This memoir was enthralling. Chrysta Bilton writes eloquently about her childhood and relationships with her mother, sister, and father. While I enjoyed this book, I was disappointed that the focus was not what I expected. I expected that it would primarily be about discovering, getting to know, and processing having so many half-siblings because Chrysta's father was a sperm donor for dozens of families. I was curious about the process of discovering each other and the relationships that the siblings formed. I was curious about the genetics and how the siblings were similar or different. She does touch on these topics, but mostly this book is about the unconventional childhood that Chrysta had. She was raised by a mother who struggled with addiction and had a childhood that was unpredictable; they yo-yo-ed from riches to rags and back again. Overall, I found this to be a well-written and thoughtful memoir about the experiences of a child of an addict and her struggles to grow into an emotionally healthy adult. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

I was really excited to read this one. I recently learned of my own donor conception and have found multiple siblings, so this story really resonated with me. Even without the personal experience I think this story will captivate and engage readers. I identified personally with the author, but others will find her likeable and trustworthy. Anyone who enjoys memoirs will love this read!

This memoir stuck out to me and after reading the description I had to learn more. This story is about Chrysta who grew up with a single gay mom who used a sperm donor for her and her sister. Eventually, they learn that they were not the only family that used their father as a sperm donor.

This story was so incredibly fascinating and was so much more than sperm donation. Chrysta’s life was anything but normal in so many ways. My heart broke for her over and over but in the end I was left with a lot of hope. I have always loved stories about people, and while sci-fi or fantasy are nice to escape to a new world sometimes I just want to hear a real story about a person just like me. And this memoir was such an incredible narrative I couldn’t put it down.

I was very impressed with Bilton’s writing and organization. There is a lot to unpack but she laid it all out in a very easy way to follow and left me itching for more on several occasions. I thought it was great overall and highly recommend this memoir to anyone!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for an ARC of this book.

I’m fascinated with human behavior and this type of book is right up my alley. I loved reading the family dynamics and the storytelling was excellent.

Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton is a riveting, unputdownable memoir I am still thinking about. I can't get enough of these DNA discovery stories- but what makes this one stand out above the rest isn't just the rollercoaster story itself, but the author's beautiful writing and compassionate introspection. This memoir reads like a juicy family saga novel. Highly recommend!

Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton is the best memoir I've read in a long time. It was an absolute page turner. At times, many times, humorous, heartbreaking and most of all felt very honest and authentic. I finished the book wanting very much to give Chrysta a hug and go have coffee with her. Chrysta shares stories about her childhood, family life and growing up to learn that her father was one of, if not, the most used sperm donor's in CA. Resulting in learning about dozens of half siblings. Chrysta's story is captivating and everyone should read this book! Highly recommend.

Normal Family is a beautifully written memoir by Chrysta Bilton, who has finally come to terms with the unconventional and sometimes chaotic upbringing that she experienced. Born to a lesbian mother who convinced a man to give him her sperm so that she could have children. This man then went on to donate sperm hundreds more times in an effort to obtain some cash flow. The novel follows Chyrsta's life through so many trials and tribulations, including her mothers alcoholism and drug addiction which caused her childhood to be littered with seemingly toxic situations. While Chrysta's father came in and out of her life intermittently, she found a new family in finding the half siblings she had no idea that she even had from the sperm donations that her father provided likely in an effort to keep himself afloat financially.

Bilton is a fantastic writer, and as a reader I felt like I learned so much about how her upbringing influenced the person she is today. I truly was astounded at all the hurdles her mother faced and sometimes did not successfully jump over, but finally at the end her family came out on top. What a triumphant story, I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to read this novel.

I received a review copy from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley and I voluntarily provided an honest review. This does not affect the opinion of the book or the content of the review.

Normal family by Christ Bilton is about a child growing up with a lesbian mom and a bio dad/sperm donor who have chaotic lives. The lack of stability makes Chrysta's life far from normal. The author then discovers that the bio dad went on to become a sperm donor that conceived 35+ children. It also makes the readers wonder about the ethics of donor conception (which has become a hot topic recently). It was a fast read but the book overall could use some major editing to tighten the story-telling.