This story follows a teen girl who stays at home or goes to the hospital and is trying to find her “normal”. I really enjoyed the storyline of this book. Schreiber did a good job describing a teen girl’s story and how Ellie wants a normal, basic life but has to through so much. I’m not a huge fan of hospital-themed books but I wanted to give this story a chance and really liked the message behind the story. I was not a huge fan of the MC as I kind of found her annoying at times but I did try to understand that she was going through so much and is just angry at the world in the understandable moment. I liked the friend group in this book and how supportive they were. The romance wasn’t it for the book and I didn’t feel the chemistry between the couple. Overall this was a great book that showcases so much of a young girl’s disability and how she navigates the world.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

My heart<3

What an adorable and educational read by Gretchen Schreiber! High school student Ellie navigates life in two separate worlds: one at home, and one at the hospital. During her stay, Ellie forms unexpected friendships and discovers the possibility of an extraordinary life beyond her illness. This heartwarming and inspiring story is perfect for fans of Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott.

This was a good story with a lot of insights for readers to learn from. I feel like the main character learned a lot and was frustrated with the cards they were dealt. But also had her friends help her put things in perspective. It was a great read.

I really felt for Ellie, and I liked the story that was told using the medical diagnoses she'd been dealing with as a child and her sanding up for herself. I felt for the mom and ultimately I liked how the story played out.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This book is about a teenage girl named Ellie who has a condition (VATRS) which causes parts of your body to not develop correctly in the womb. Ellie’s mom blogs about the details of her illness online. Ellie has “school” friends and “hosptial” friends which she keeps in very separate groups. Her friends from school do not know many details about her disability. Ellie becomes close to a group of friends at her last hospital stay. Ellie needs another surgery and these friends help get her through the hard times. This book touches on Ellie’s inner struggles and also on her various her relationships. She meets a boy named Ryan at the hospital who is a new patient. He encourages her to think differently and challenges her. Overall, this was a good read. Ellie had a negative way of seeing life at times but she is a teenager who is struggling with a life consuming illness. Overall, I give this book a 3.5. Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

This is angsty medical drama about teenager Ellie who was born with a rare medical condition, VACTERLs, a condition also shared by the author. Ellie is sent to the hospital with an unknown lung condition and is facing yet another surgery (after >40 surgeries in her lifetime) and meets a group of teens with their own medical issues while there.

I think the book goes to great lengths to realistically portray the complexities of being a medically complex teenager facing a lot of hard realities - between being away from school, having "hospital only" friends, and not having any guarantees around medical treatments, there's a lot of complicated emotions that are portrayed here. Ellie's mom is also a mommy blogger who puts Ellie's entire medical history on the internet, adding a loss of privacy and autonomy into the mix.

Unfortunately, because of the complexity, this book made it pretty hard to get into. Ellie is a pretty complex character with a lot of angst, making her hard to relate to and understand. As a character she is very closed off and stubborn and also kind of a wimp. She refused to stand up for herself and has a very avoidant personality, making for a pretty frustrating read. I also didn't feel a lot sparks between her and Ryan, the love interest. Ryan came across as a very bullish character who came in bossing Ellie around despite having no real authority or experience to back it up. And when they finally kissed, Ellie's reaction was basically just, "well, I didn't hate it." It made it hard to root for them as a couple.

I think it's probably a realistic portrayal of a teenager in her position, but maybe overly so - I was really hoping for a bit more magic and sparkle from this one.

This read is both sweet and heart wrenching. It deals with some heavier topics of more serious illnesses in younger people and all the issues/situations that can occur because of this. I feel that these heavier topics were handled well in this book by being realistic and respectful with it. I enjoyed the supportive friends and circles the characters had as well as the development of the main character and her relatability.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal by Gretchen Schroeder. This YA book has stayed with me because it so artfully tells the story of teens who are suffering serious disorders and illnesses and just want to feel “normal.”

Ellie Haycock has VATRS, which has caused her many surgeries and hospitalizations. Her mom is a successful blogger who documents every step of Ellie’s journey—sometimes even when Ellie doesn’t want those details shared.

Ellie is determined to keep her hospital life and “normal” life separate… She keeps her school friends totally in the dark about her health issues because she doesn’t want to be seen as different. But her latest hospital visit makes her rethink everything…

This is a great book, with a message that those of us blessed with good health may especially need to hear.

Thank you to the author, St Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie lives two lives - her hospital life and her normal life. She never wants her paths to cross and keeps her friends completely separate. However, she's not well and her "normal" friends want to know more about her life and illness. Ellie has to choose - can she accept that the hospital will always be a part of her life and allow her two lives to finally intersect?

This is an emotional read learning about Ellie and her lifelong health struggles/amount of surgeries she's had to go through in her lifetime. Her mom blogs about all of it as a release but now that Ellie is older she's conflicted on how to talk to her about it because it's HER life not anyone else's business. It took me awhile to get into it because of how emotional it was and reading about the struggles of having lifelong illnesses but I'm so happy that I finished. It's a beautiful read and highly recommend others try it out.

I loved this sweet book! The author did an amazing job connecting us to Ellie and taking us through her day to day struggles. It definitely encapsulates what its like to be a teenager, and it has great messaging about autonomy and owning your life and choices. As an adult reading it, some parts about Ellie's temperament and outlook were frustrating, but I still think it rang true. That's how teenagers are!

I think its a wonderful YA coming of age option for teens who are exploring what it means to be a good friend.

Well done!

Thank you for the advance copy!

This is a young adult novel that centers around a teenager that suffers from an unusual disease, VATRS. It was interesting to find out more about the realities children that live with any disease have to deal with everyday. As an adult it's so hard to handle tedious medical tests and hospital visits, so I can imagine that it is so much more difficult for a young person.
I enjoyed the pace of the book, the writing, as well as the way the author structured the book. The only issue I had with the book is that I didn't really like Ellie. Although I felt bad for everything she was going through, it was hard to relate to her. She was acting insufferable at times and made stupid decisions. Yes, teenagers are known for that type of behavior, but it didn't resonate with me. Hence the three star rating.
It was ok overall, but I wouldn't know what type of reader to recommend this book to.

Rating: 4.5/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This book will take you through Ellie Haycock's life, you will be there with her when she is at the children’s hospital, the house for the family to stay while having treatment done, and how she is dealing with trying to be a normal teenage girl. All she wants is to forget about the hospitals, the doctors and she just be a teenage girl in love with her boyfriend.

This book had me laughing and a few tears, the way that the author wrote this book made it so that I felt what the characters were saying, and it helped me to connect with them. I can’t lie and say that I loved Ellie right away, I did find her annoying at times in the book, but it helped me to understand where and why she acted the way she does sometimes. I loved the character growth from Ellie and to watch her grow into a young lady who stands up for herself and asks the important questions.

I thought the author did a great job with helping the audience to understand how a teenage girl navigates friendships that she has in the hospital and the house to her friends from high school who doesn’t know how to explain to her friends what is really going on with her. I found Ryan to be the best friend/boyfriend that Ellie could ever have. He pushes her in all the right ways and helps her to find her own footing.

This book is for anyone who likes to found family tropes, great friendships, great plot and pace throughout the book and of course teenage romance.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martins for the opportunity to review this book.

Ellie Haycock was born with a litany of genetic abnormalities that have necessitated regular stays at the children's hospital for treatments. She wants to keep her "normal" life and her "medically fragile" lives separate, and largely ghosts the friends in whichever group she isn't with at the time. Ellie has to learn that she cannot separate the two parts of her life - that it is one big whole. She also needs to confront her mother's constant and invasive blogging about her medical journey and the affect on her privacy.

This was a moving glimpse into the life of kids who consistently require medical interventions, their treatment by their peers, the support system of kids in a similar position, and their hopes for a normal life. It was told with both optimism and realism about the devastating toll on the kids and their families.

An excellently written story that blends representation in a way we don't usually see it. Seamlessly woven own-voices with fiction I'd be happy to share/lend. Youth will see themselves and their friends in these pages--delightful.

This book was okay. I loved the idea of it. I loved Ellie’s friends.

I did not love Ellie. I can’t pretend to understand her situation but she definitely frustrated me?

Wouldn’t always recommend this story but if the right kid asked I would recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

Since the blurb and cover of this book are a little bit vague, I didn’t quite know what to expect from this book, but I ended up really enjoying it! It features a main character with a disability that I’d never heard of before and creates this very human story of a disabled teenage girl navigating being both of those things. Ultimately it’s a book where disabled people are able to just be people while also acknowledging the various roadblocks society puts in the way of that. On top of that, I think there’s an important thread going through it of faith in the medical system and those who are supposed to care for us. It’s also the story of a girl navigating friendships and crushes and coming of age along the way. The part of me that did speech and debate in high school kind of wishes that had been a bigger element that we got to see, but it was still fun to see realistic representation of it! Ultimately, I thought this was just a really good book in general while also giving us a nuanced story of life spent in hospitals, and a multifaceted main character trying to figure out what she wants in life and working to achieve that. It was well worth the read and I definitely recommend it!

While I really enjoyed this one, let me just say the cover is entirely misleading. The cover says cute ya romance not angsty ya found family story with a subplot of romance. It didn't affect my review of the plot but it did make it very jarring to start reading expecting one thing tone wise and getting another so. I just wanted everyone to be aware.

I was not expecting the angst of this going into it so it took a moment to readjust but this is a very sweet book that is about Ellie and her journey to self acceptance with a hearty dash of found family and romance. I had not heard of VACTERLs before this book but it was enlightening to learn about and I love some great disability rep.

While, my disability is in general vastly different there are parts of Ellie that were all too relatable. I had a severe brachial plexus birth injury (nerve damage in birth paralyzed my right arm and hand but I was the 21st person in the world to have surgery to repair it.) As a result of surgery as an infant, my right arm functions largely well but will never straighten and lacks full range of motion. I generally have never let it stop me from doing anything I want but I absolutely know how it feels to have limitations that make you feel less than normal in high school when all you want to be is "normal." Outside of searching to see if I could get any college scholarships because of it (sadly no), I did everything I could in hs to pretend my arm was just like everyone else's. So, while different I totally got Ellie's impulse to just keep her non hospital life totally separate. There's not a lot of disability rep in fiction so I love to see it.

I loved her found family at the Family Care Home! And Ryan is just the best. I loved that through all of them we got such great perspectives on everything from friendship, the various stages of chronic illness, being a "sick kid", teenage romance, and more.

This is a heavy read for sure, but it is also beautiful and sweet and fun and absolutely worth reading.

an intimate, emotional look into living with disabilities and the toll they take on a person's body and heart.

Even though this book had similarities to others, it also felt very original to me. It was an honest and sometimes painful account of living with chronic disease and everything that goes along with it. The brutal impact on not just the patient, but also her parents and friendships is also explored through the words inside this book as we go along for the ride with Ellie.

Ellie has lived a lifetime in her young life - - a lifetime of surgeries and being poked, prodded and explored. A lifetime of having doctors "theorize" what may be wrong or "how to fix" Ellie's most recent issue. Ellie has lived a lifetime of trying to keep her two lives separate - - her life when everything is normal and her life when she's sick and away for surgeries. She tries so hard to not let the two cross. What she fails to realize is that she's missing out on extra support by keeping everyone separate. As the story progresses, Ellie will learn that there's so much more at play in her life that even she realizes. She will also learn more from her other friends who are suffering with their own illnesses and from the healthy friends that she's locked out of her life while she's been sick. She'll learn that balance is key.

Even though there were slow spots for me in the progression of this book, I really felt it had an important message that was worth sticking around for. It was a meaningful story and I did enjoy watching Ellie's character develop.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The audiobook was really well done. I enjoyed the narration and felt that it was a good depiction of Ellie and the other characters in the book. It was very enjoyable. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook.

I didn't hate this, but I didn't love it either. Overall, it was a good story.
I like how it outlined the importance of having bodily autonomy. I really liked all of Ellies hospital friends. I also like how it showed that not all doctors are the same. Some are really good, and some just unfortunately don't care. I also liked the love story. It was a cute YA love story.
I didn't like the main character. She was so bitter, rude, etc. It was annoying to read at some points. I also felt torn about her mom. I didn't like that she was using Ellies story for money, but I also understood where she was coming from. A mother will do anything, give up everything, for their child.
I also felt like Brooke and Jack's characters weren't developed enough. They were there but we didn't really know them. Brooke was supposed to be Ellies best friend, but there was barely anything written about their friendship. It seemed like her out of hospital friendships were shallow, but at the end, we see that they aren't.
Again, I liked the story overall, but there were some parts I felt just fell flat.