It Sounded Better in My Head By texasbeerguide.com

texasbeerguide.com Í 5 Read

William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist! From debut author Nina Kenwood comes It Sounded Better in My Head, a tender and funny love letter to coming of age, and first love and its confusions, perfect for fans of Booksmart and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

When her parents announce their impending divorce, Natalie can’t understand why no one is fighting, or at least mildly upset. Then Zach and Lucy, her two best friends, hook up, leaving her feeling slightly miffed and decidedly awkward. She’d always imagined she would end up with Zach one day―in the version of her life that played out like a TV show, with just the right amount of banter, pining, and meaningful looks.

Now everything has changed, and nothing is quite making sense. And then, an unexpected romance with Zach’s older brother comes along and shakes things up even further It Sounded Better in My Head

Finished in 2 days, as I couldn’t put it down. Anyone who is or has been a teenager will thoroughly enjoy. Evangelism This book tugged at my heartstrings. Having grown up with severe eczema, I dealt with all those sorts of skin conditions and have been through most everything that Natalie seemed to have experienced. Body shame, lack of confidence, lack of self esteem, emotional abuse, it was terrible. I could even recognize the medication she's taken, and some of the bizarre solutions she's tried in an attempt to cure her condition.

Natalie is everything you'd want in a protagonist. She's your average girl that is relatable on so many levels. She's your 18 year old teenager, graduating from high school and ready to head into new territory with her two best friends. Everything is in limbo as they all wait for their acceptance letters, hoping to get in the same university. Zach and Lucy are in love and dating, and they are also Natalie's best friends, but that means, she's always left third wheeling them. She doesn't mind it so much, but sometimes, it does get to her.

Natalie is an introvert, through and through. She's not a fan of socializing, happy with her two friends, does not like partying or drinking and loves her routine. Except one night, on a whim, she decides to go to a party with Zach's older brother Alex and his best friend Owen. Owen is good looking, and she thinks maybe there could be something there, but then once she gets to the actual party, she realizes Owen is the farthest thing from her mind and Alex is the one she can't keep her eyes off.

It was such a sweet read. Everything about it made me melt. I loved their chemistry, I loved the slow burn of their first kiss, I loved it all. I did think their romance was a bit too quick and slightly, very slightly, fluffy, but this is exactly what I needed when I picked it up and it did not disappoint in the least. I did not like Zach very much though. I wish I could say I understood his point of view, but I didn't, and outing his brother like that was not cool.

I did feel for Alex after that. He had a lot to prove, and it wasn't fair on him, but he tried, and I appreciated Natalie and the way she handled the whole thing.

Can't wait for Nina Kenwood books! Evangelism My daughter love this book Evangelism This was a decent book but not sure if it’s worth the price. I’d read a sample first before purchasing Evangelism I have conflicted feelings about this book. It did some things really well, but other things were really irritating.

Natalie, the main character, has struggled with bad skin since puberty. I really felt for her, and I thought the author did such a great job of showing how this emotionally and physically affected Natalie. It’s rare to talk about acne in YA fiction, so I appreciated how it was done in this book.

What really bugged me though was how often the main character talked and thought about sex. Sex seems to be a really casual thing that is done throughout this book, which I found to be really disappointing. I think sexual intimacy is a beautiful thing, but it shouldn’t just be viewed casually.

There was also a lot of swearing in this book, including the f and the s words multiple times.

In conclusion, I appreciated the author taking on the challenge of talking about body positivity through the lens of a character who used to struggle with bad skin. But this book just wasn’t for me. I was really disappointed by how casually physical intimacy is viewed throughout the book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Evangelism

It Sounded Better In My Head is the first novel by Australian author, Nina Kenwood, and winner of the 2018 Text Prize of YA and Children’s Writing. When Natalie’s father announces on Christmas Day that he and her mother are separating, it’s a shock. This news, and their infuriatingly calm manner of imparting it, is almost eclipsed, however, by the fact that they kept this from her for ten months. Her world (already somewhat disordered when her two best friends, Zach and Lucy decided they were in love) has now turned upside down.

Further disruptions to her reassuringly predictable, neatly mapped out life are not welcome, and when Alex decides to take a romantic interest in Natalie, she’s wary, even sceptical: surely he’s not genuinely interested; there must be some other motive. An added complication is that Alex is Zach’s older brother, and Zach is uncomfortable with the whole situation for a number of reasons, only one of which doesn’t totally irritate Natalie.

Kenwood gives the reader a cast of very believable characters who are appealing for all their flaws and quirks. Eighteen year old Natalie is, as Zach says, “smart, funny and interesting”. Kenwood includes lots of entertaining dialogue which means that readers should avoid reading this novel in the quiet carriage on public transport as the inevitable laughing out loud might disturb other travellers, but this also means it would make an excellent telemovie.

For the extremely fortunate many who will never suffer it, in Natalie’s description of her experience with cystic acne Kenwood shines a spotlight on the effects, both physical and psychological, of this devastating condition: “pimples that turned, almost overnight, into deep cystic acne. Thick, hard, welt like lumps formed under my skin on my back, shoulders, neck and face It was gross. I was gross. I woke up every day thinking that for a long time.”

In particular, thoughtless, uninformed or downright nasty comments from strangers about appearance undermine self esteem: “My body was a shameful disaster. I was too embarrassed to go outside unless I absolutely had to. No, it was worse than that. I was too embarrassed to exist” to the extent that Natalie actually decides “…’my parents are splitting up’ is a refreshingly normal and acceptable problem to have, and it’s far less embarrassing than an ‘I have an infected pimple that’s so huge and disfiguring that it has sent me into a spiral of depression so I won’t be getting out of bed today kind of issue’”

So Natalie’s anxiety over what could be her first love (and possibly first sex) is, naturally, enhanced by her insecurity, and her second guessing just about every social interaction is hardly unexpected. Her voice is genuine, often self deprecating, and her inner monologue oscillates between hilarious and heart breaking.

While it is labelled Young Adult and will definitely appeal to that age group, that does not mean that older adults will not enjoy it. This is an outstanding debut novel; if you've overdosed on psychological thrillers lately, take a break with this delightfully fresh and funny feel good story.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by Text Publishing Evangelism Bought as a present so no review Evangelism Nia Kenwood beautifully captures the messiness and beauty of being eighteen and on the verge of big life changes. Natalie is such a relatable character; her experiences will undoubtedly strike a chord with young people who've ever felt as though they don't quite fit in. Evangelism