Rating - 5/5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Date Read - January 23, 2024
Publication Date - March 5, 2024

*I received an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review* - Thank you @gretch_schreiber, @stmartinspress and @netgalley!

I have to say, I didn't remember to take notes on my thoughts and feelings most of the time because I got so caught up in this story! It hurt (in the best way possible) reading the perspectives of mom and daughter. I have a close relationship with my mom and it really made me think about times I have felt guilty about sacrifices my mom has made for me. At the same time, this story serves as a reminder that it’s so important for parents to listen to their children’s feelings and to find ways of meeting in the middle. I feel like so many things would have been different if Ellie and her mom were able to hear each other out and really listen to what the other was saying long before things got to a boiling point. Let’s just say, so many tears were shed in the middle of the night in my bed with my dog but it was so worth it!

If you love the found family trope with some romance and disability rep, this is the book for you!

Get excited to read Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal, available March 5, 2024! 🎉

*Please check trigger warnings*

This was an eye opening read on chronic illness. It made me realize that there truly is no ‘normal’ and that we really need to be mindful of the way we treat and perceive people in our day to day lives.

I loved seeing Ellie’s different relationships in and outside the hospital but it broke my heart that she felt she needed to separate those two. I loved seeing her relationships grow and change, and seeing her grow and change as well.

3.5/5

4.5 Stars - I have never felt more seen that this book. It accurately depicts chronic illnesses and how isolating they are. Everything is spot on from the oversharing moms, trying to keep invisible illnesses away from school friends, and gaslighting doctors. I thought I was the only one that experienced these, but this book validated everything I have felt when in high school. The anger, pain, and sadness shown in this book are all true and resurfaces old feelings. Often times, I felt myself get mad/frustrated/sad for Ellie and what she was going through because it was written in a way that was so real. I docked half a star because of the storyline of getting surgery to get her ex-boyfriend back. I think it could have done without trying to get him back and focused on her shifting from keeping friends separate to integrating friends and focusing on Ryan more.

I read 82 pages of this book, but then I had to stop reading. I was liking the story and the characters, but the transitions and writing were very jarring at times. This made it tough to understand what was happening in the story, which made it not enjoyable to read.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.
I was instantly drawn into this story of Ellie and life with a disability that required quite a bit of medical care. She struggled to let her school friends and hospital friends mix, and this story highlighted the complexity of her life. I think this is such a good book for young adults because it gives them a look into what it's like to live with a disability and a complex medical diagnosis. The author did a great job of educating the reader without taking them outside of the story. It was engaging and full of regular teenage feelings, too. I loved the development of the friendships in this novel. Ellie had to work to balance friends and upcoming surgery while also learning to set boundaries with her mom. This is a book of teens learning from their mistakes, and I think it will be realistic and relatable.

This was a good book with a decent message, but it just didn’t pan out the way I thought it would.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Ellie Haycock. She has VATER. I had not heard of it until this book which speaks for its rareness. I like when books use something that isn’t talked about often. It gives me more knowledge and makes me want to google more information. For a teenager she deals with everything that has been handed to her really well. She doesn’t want to basically live in a hospital and wants a normal life. It would be hard to not be able to have a life and go to high school games, dances, and have those impactful relationships when you can’t see your boyfriend/girlfriend everyday at school.

Just like with an teenager, she can be a bit frustrating with her decisions but I did want the story to turn out in her favor. She has a mom who blogs about it and that can’t be healthy. You are that girl and get a following, even a nurse she had knew who she was from that blog. I think people put too much on the internet now a days. I get it’s her mom’s way of dealing with what is happening, but I think she needs a therapist more than anything.

The writing was okay, but it could have been polish off a bit more.

Overall, this was good. I can see it doing well with teens who may be in a similar situation or want to read about a syndrome that isn’t talked about.

What a great story. It brings to light the lives of those living with a disability and shows how it can effects much more than just their bodies, plus the lives of those around them. I loved the character arc of Ellie as she learns that it’s alright to let others help as she finds people who really care.

This was such a sweet read and definitely the first of many I will be reading by this author. I found all the characters relatable in their own way. The romance aspect was written so well.

Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal didn't exactly go the way that I envisioned, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I had never heard of VATERS prior to reading this book, so I kind of went into this one blind. I expected it to be on the emotional level of A Walk to Remember. While there are some frustrating and touching parts, it did not evoke the same emotion (though I don't believe it was meant to based on the target audience). I think this will be a well loved read by teens. Ellie was a very likable and dimensional character. There were times where she drove me nuts, but I also was rooting for her the entire story. I adored the chapters where Ryan came into the picture.

I felt for Ellie and her desire to have her life outside of the hospital be as normal as possible. Though I struggled with that because it seemed like such a hard thing to do, especially with her mother's blog. It's kind of hard to believe that she was able to keep it a secret at all. But that's just me overthinking a plot line, haha.

One thing that did make me uncomfortable (but also brought up some philosophical questions as a mom myself) was her mother's blog. I understand it was her way of processing all that Ellie went through, but something about it just felt weird. I just don't know if it was her story to tell. But again, it could just be me overthinking.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This is the story of Ellie, a teenager with several disabilities caused by her unique condition - VACTERL. She has grown up as the main character on her mom’s medical mommy blog with every detail of her condition, surgeries and struggles shared openly with the world with little to no input from her. This is difficult for Ellie, because she tries to keep her medical situation hidden from her “normal” friends at school and only shares it with her “hospital friends.” However, the two worlds collide and her hospital friends work to convince her that her “normal” friends will love her for exactly who she is.

I felt like this was a nice coming of age novel with the unique detail of the main character being disabled. I enjoyed watching Ellie begin to desire and achieve control and autonomy over her own story and the ability to advocate for herself, all while discovering that she is lovable for exactly who she is. I applaud the author for writing this novel & adding diversity to the genre.

Overall, it was an okay read with a sweet story and somewhat unstable writing. It took me a while to get through it, but I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet coming of age novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Gretchen Schreiber for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

Ellie is a junior in high school. She is on the debate team with her best friend, Brooke, and her boyfriend, Jack. During a competition a cough settles in her lungs and keeps her out of school for months. Ellie has VACTERLs (and there are many different types), and this causes her to have several surgeries and illnesses. It also can cause her more problems than someone without her health issues. Ellie and her Mom go to Coffman, where many specialists are located and ones that have been helping care for Ellie since she was born. Ellie has her life-life friends like Brooke and Jack, who don't really know much about her health issues as she doesn't want to burden them with that information and have them treat her differently. She also has hospital friends. Those that she makes in the hospital and at the Family Care Home where families stay during the lengthy hospital stays, but those friendships, while they go deep quickly, usually don't last once the people leave that environment. Another part of her life that she tries to keep separate is the blog her Mom writes for other people with VACTERLs. While the blog brings in support that helps other families in similar situations, Ellie is tired of all of this personal stuff about her being posted online, and when people from her life-life find it, it never ends well. Caitlin is a hospital friend that Ellie has had for years, and she is always there for Ellie. This time, however, Ellie makes new friends with Luis, Veronica, and Ryan.

Ellie goes through several struggles during this stay at the Family Care Home. The doctors aren't exactly sure what is causing her coughing. She has always tried to keep her life-life and hospital friends separate, but that is hard when her boyfriend shows up to surprise her. She is tired of her Mom posting everything about her life on the blog. She is tired of others not understanding what she is going through and those who treat her differently.

I enjoyed this book. I think it is an eye-opening experience for someone who doesn't deal with health issues like the characters in the book do. Also, it is probably helpful for those who do have health issues to see a character who they can relate to and know that they aren't alone.

Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal follows a teenage girl named Ellie who has a chronic illness that she is hiding from all of her friends, kind of like Hannah Montana minus the fame and all of the other perks. Even when she is hospitalized, she still keeps it a secret from her friends. I really enjoyed this book.

What a unique perspective!

As a mom who blogged our journey to adopt our children, it really made me think about what side of the story I was telling. As they have gotten older, we as a family have been less into "sharing on line" but this story really puts that into a unique perspective.

I took more away from the book about Ellie and her mother's relationship than anything else, but I think that's because the perspective I was reading from. I would put this on a YA list for sure though.

I really liked the premise and diversity rep in this book and everything I learned about VACTERLs and the experience of having so many serious medical issues as a child in general. I thought Ellie was a realistic teenager and the dynamic between her and her mom was well-done and had a good arch. I also enjoyed the little friend squad Ellie developed at the hospital. Some of the dialogue was a bit hard for me to follow, like it didn't quite live up to the witty repartee I was hoping for it to be, but overall this was a good, important story that I'm so glad is out there in the world.

Some of the themes and lessons from this book remind me and mirror how I felt about 'The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green that was also made into a movie with Shailene Woodley. That book dealth with the trauma and sadness of leukemia. The book dealt with Vater syndrome, which I thought was made up at first, until I looked it up...

Learnig that the author suffers from Vater syndrome, I felt a lot of empathy from her and Ellie is an extention of her. Even though this was young adult, the severity of the disease and all the emotions of Ellie;s life-long struggle hits you in the gut and in your heart. Ellie has dealt with so much!

I liked this more than I thought I would. Recommended.

Thanks to Gretchen Schreibner, Netgalley and St Martin's Press WEdnesday Books fof an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 3/5/2024

what a great book and i loved reading this author. . loved the romance and how the couple came to be. Loved that they worked through their issues and found love. Loved this mystery

Ellie has had surgeries since forever and while she can't hide her appearance, she can still hide from her friends how bad things still are and all her life during the yearly periods she must stay away for her treatment. Thus, she keeps her life-life friends in one box and her hospital-friends in another. That's until her boyfriend comes for a surprise visit at the family home and finds out she's having another surgery without having told him. Suddenly, she sees that letting those walls fall and people help might be the way to get him back.

There's a lot to talk about this book, but one thing that never sat well was how half of it seemed to be preaching at me. I wasn't a fan of the tone, and Ellie was already a hard one to like without it. However, from what i could find out about the author, it comes from someone with experience in what Ellie is going through, so there is a lot to learn from Ellie's story too, lots of food for discussion if you're doing a group read. However, it also means the book feels a little like an autobiography, in a way that Ellie's voice mixed with the author's, and I wasn't sure if someone like Ellie would really be saying some of those things. Like there were two Ellies, and while one had a lot to say, one was just insufferable.

And she needed to be for her character's arc. I get that. And yet, I didn't like it.

The writing isn't very stable, as you can imagine from above. It's still a pleasant read—as it can be considering the theme. It's not sick-girl literature! Our main character happens to have health issues, she happens to be treating them, but this isn't about her being sick, but about her wanting to lead a normal life despite all the adversities. Ultimately, it's a coming of age with a romance on the side.

I'd say this was lukewarm, but it's a nice story and it raises great points, so I don't regret one bit picking it up.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Even though I am far past my young adult years, I very much enjoy reading young adult novels to share with my grandchildren. While reading Ellie Haycock Is Totally Normal, I could relate to the young characters as well as their mothers. I do know a bit about what it's like to be viewed differently by your peers due to medical conditions. The author did an excellent job of helping the reader walk in the shoes of a person trying to juggle two different worlds. It's hard enough surviving the tumultuous teen years without the added burden of a medical disability. Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Publishing and the author for an advance copy to read and review.

5/5 ⭐️
The way this book made me feel things on such a visceral level. So many times I wanted to rage for Ellie. I wanted to punch the doctor in the throat every time he greeted and only talked to her mom, even though Ellie was 17 and it was her body they were discussing. The internal rage I felt when her mom went into blogger mode. But then to swoon whenever Ellie and Ryan were being cute and how great her friends were. This is all I want from books, to react so viscerally and feel every emotion they do. And this book did that.
The mom blogging everything is such a double edged sword cause it does do good for other parents, but this is Ellie’s body and Ellie’s life she was dwindling down and contextualizing to fit into her narrative. It’s such an interesting aspect of the story, especially with the rise of people talking about family vlogs.
But the reason I enjoyed this book is the same reason why I enjoyed I Fell In Love With Hope by Lancili, this is the authors’ experiences and they’re sharing the unfiltered version. I felt like we were getting a glimpse of the varying experiences and emotions and outlooks for those chronically sick or disabled. Of what it is like to live their lives, even if for a 300 or so pages.
This was such an amazing book that in my opinion, wonderfully balanced punching us in the gut and the cuteness and capturing this unique experience with the universal experience teenage of craving autonomy and normalcy. Highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal is exactly as advertised: a big-hearted novel that's a cross between Five Feet Apart and The Breakfast Club. Gretchen Schreiber's note at the beginning was touching and definitely added to the reading experience. I also love the bright and cheerful cover! Thanks for sharing this advanced ebook for me to read and review!

Summary: Ellie Haycock has her life at home and her life at the hospital and she strives to keep them separated; however, her mom keeps posting about Ellie's hospital stays on her blog and it gets harder and harder for Ellie to keep her two "lives" apart. She typically can't stand the long hospital stays, but the most recent visit is different as she finds a group of friends who are also staying there. Her life has never been ordinary, but maybe these new friends could make it extraordinary.

This young adult debut novel was an enjoyable read, but I did have a hard time connecting with the characters since I've never shared their experiences. I know they're in high school and going through experiences I will never understand, but sometimes they were dramatic and I was annoyed with their attitudes. I think a YA audience will love this book, but as an adult, I struggled to relate. Knowing this story is close to Gretchen Schreiber's heart kept me pushing through and I think she's so brave for sharing her story. The right audience will adore this book!