I'm not the biggest fan of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fan but i do like Rachel Bloom and enojy her outside the show. The book was a mix of memoir, essays and a little bit of self help but it was all very funny and gave me an insight into Rachel that made me understand certain things about her better. I liked how this was set out and the use of pictures and pictures of diary entries in this to show little Rebecca and how she relates to current Rebecca.

I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are is a brutally honest, laugh out loud funny and wonderfully visceral anthology of essays and assorted pieces from the amazing Rachel Bloom, and what I loved about it is that anyone who has ever felt out of place, been an outsider or has been labelled a weirdo will find this profoundly relatable; you'll find no sugar coating here as she approaches everything with her formidable no-nonsense attitude. At its heart, it is a memoir and one of its greatest lines is ”if you're a person of substance, you are going to get bullied at school”. I strongly believe that some of the most incredible people are those who don't fit into boxes, and although it certainly doesn't feel that way if you're bullied endlessly throughout your formative years for your individuality, I still think that individuality should be celebrated. She rightly addresses the fact that what's normal is not definable despite its ubiquitous use. Bloom explains that if she encounters bullies now she calls them out, and I can attest that the only way I managed to get the target off my back during high school was by doing exactly that (and maybe a little bit of uncharacteristic violence, too).

There's poetry, anecdotes, fairy tales, interviews with past and future selves, diary clippings from her school days, and I found the potent mix of musings from her adult years intertwined with thoughts and feelings from her childhood years interesting and engaging; it's a unique memoir and one of the more fascinating one's I've read. It's wonderfully witty and sardonic in places and approaches the issue of individuality from a refreshingly original perspective. There's nuance throughout the pieces and the book is split into easily readable sections. It explores the issues of bullying, sex, OCD, shame, toilet training and theatre, to name but a few of the topics. It's a quick, absorbing read, and I found it the perfect piece of escapism. In some parts, it's lighthearted and irreverent and others powerful and punchy and the wide and rich variety of literary methods and formats Bloom utilises means there's something novel and exciting waiting with every turn of the page. A delightful, brave and down to earth memoir that many readers will find hits close to home. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Coronet for an ARC.

I have been a fan of Rachel Bloom for years now, so finding out she had a book coming out was definitely something I wanted to read.

Going in I did have ideas about the types of things that would be covered - namely theater and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but I wish there was more content about them.

A book of essays is always a complex thing to review, but overall I just felt underwhelmed with this book. It felt like it was trying too hard to be funny. Of course, there were funny moments, and whilst I did enjoy reading this book, it wasn't be best humorous celebrity book I have read.

Perfect for fans of Rachel Bloom. A collection of intrusive, dark, truthful and humorous essays, poems and thoughts. I loved reading this.

A collection of essays, poetry, and just random bits of media from the Rachel Bloom, of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fame? I don't think I've ever requested an ARC so dramatically. Thankfully, I was approved sharpish and thus was able to read it super quickly. Love when the universe aligns with my few impulsive moments.

Honestly, this was just funny. If you get on with Bloom's humour, you'll not be surprised by the feeling of being an outsider (but also kinda above everyone?) being put across, nor the more toilet-focused pieces. I don't think you can expect to be blown out the water, but it made me laugh out loud multiple times and just gave a little window into Bloom's life navigating being the ~weird kid.

A quick read, perfect for fans of Bloom, or CEG. This was just a wholly nice and funny little time. Would definitely recommend. I think Bloom is recording the audiobook for this one? I'm not usually a fan of an audiobook but, if I'm correct, then I might just have to cave for this one.

Big thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC. This one's to be released in the UK 17/11/20.

Sometimes, the cover does its job! I've never seen the TV series CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, but this Judy Bloom / Babysitters Club cover had me at its pink bubble-letters. Over this election weekend, I needed something to relax with, and this one jumped out at me as a potential fun read; something to wash away the stress of ... well, everything. Job done. I'll admit, I was not expecting as much discussion on bodily functions as I encountered at the start, but I certainly commiserated with Bloom's stories of an anxious childhood complete with all the weird things we get up to in the name of growing up. This is a quirky story, a quick read, and a bit of an inside-scoop on TV-making. It succeeds at being funny while also digging into sexism, power plays, and skewed gender ideals in Hollywood. I enjoyed this book, and am now all set to binge some CRAZY EX. Thanks!

I'm a big fan of Rachel Bloom and My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend so I was really excited to read this, and it didn't disappoint!

I sped through the essays and found them engaging and had Bloom's trademark ability to sensitively make serious topics funny.

I was disappointed to not enjoy this book more. I really liked the chapters about Crazy Ex Girlfriend and how it was made but I didn’t engage with the rest of the essays in the way I was hoping to.

This is a fab essay collection written in such a way you feel like you’re having a chat with Rachel. I’m so excited to see if she does the audiobook for this. There were so many points while reading this book I exclaimed that happened to me or I remember that happening to me. There are so many interesting anecdotes about Rachel’s journey to fame and the creation and filming of crazy ex girlfriend. I really hope she writes more and will be preordering anything else she releases!

This was delightfully more vulgar than I expected it to be (that's on me, I should have known better).

I'm a huge fan of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, so I of course jumped at the opportunity to read an ARC of Bloom's book of personal essays, poems and stories - and I have not been let down. Every piece in this book evoked the wit and (sometimes potty) humour we all know and love from the show, and I really appreciated the honest and open insight into Bloom's mind and mental health struggles.

Rachel Bloom fan's will definitely want to check out her brand new essay collection I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are. If you enjoyed Crazy Ex Girlfriend, you'll love Rachel's sense of humour. There are plenty of hilarious moments, but there are still heartbreakingly real moments. Rachel is honest and it shows. Even if you aren't a fan of hers, you'll find entertainment in this book. Highly recommended!

Books written by comedians tend to be pretty hit and miss, with depth and insight often sacrificed for humour. I don't mean to sound curmudgeonly; readers would quite rightly expect some degree of hilarity given the author's profession, I just find it to be a very fine balance in these types of memoir and they quite often disappoint me for skewing on the wrong side of this balance.

Rachel Bloom's debut book unfortunately fell into the disappointing category for me. I only have a passing familiarity with her work, and requested a copy of this as I wanted a read with some degree of levity given the current affair climate we're living in right now (Covid, US elections, Brexit... etc.). It's worth stating that knowledge of her career and familiarity with her work aren't a prerequisite coming into this.

I Want To Be Where the Normal People Are was just a bit too bitty for my personal taste. The book is a mixture of personal essays (quite a few of them are on her undiagnosed mental health issues) and mildly humorous (and some quite sad) anecdotes from her childhood. The essays were too short to delve into topics with any real depth, and the humour didn't land for me at all.

Might be worth checking out if you're a fan of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but I'm afraid I'm not sure who else I'd recommend this to.

4.5 stars

I loved this book!! 'I Want To Be Where The Normal People Are' made me laugh and cry, and some of the stories Rachel told were incredibly relatable. The writing was incredibly easy to read and made the book so much more enjoyable. Even though this book is short, there is a lot that Rachel talks about and you learn a lot about her life, whilst also being given chapters of Harry Potter fanfiction (where Harry discovers the Hogwarts drama club) and her ideas for a adult theme park.

I wanted to read this because I absolutely love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and class it as one of my all time favourite TV shows, and so I really enjoyed the sections of this book where Rachel talked about the show, even though those sections were short.

This book is exactly what I imagined a book by Rachel Bloom to be like. It was funny and made me laugh, but also had moments where the book was more serious and talked about more serious topics like mental health. It is perfect for anyone who loves Crazy Ex-Girlfriend or Rachel Bloom.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had a feeling I would relate far too much to Rachel Bloom's memoir, being an anxious, autism-spectrum unabashed musical theatre nerd, and was hoping to laugh out loud at least once or twice, and thankfully I was not disappointed in the least - Bloom is often hysterical, especially at her most cringe-inducing, and I'm not ashamed to say I cried multiple times, still feeling the same pain and lack of self-worth that comes from being bullied throughout childhood and having a brain that is wired so *very* differently from everyone else around you. A fast, but entertaining, often bewildering, read for sure!

I'm not sure I would make this a general bookseller recommendation - her candor and shamelessness can be, ahem, disconcerting, to put it mildly - but anyone who knows Rachel Bloom from her tv series should be well aware of what awaits inside, and the look inside a truly unique mind is absolutely fascinating. I would happily give this to anyone who enjoyed (and related to) Allie Brosh's brilliant Hyperbole and a Half and Jenny Lawson's equally, delightfully deranged Let's Pretend This Never Happened - and of course, your favourite person who begs you to watch the Tony Awards together every year.

As a massive Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fan, I was thrilled when Netgalley approved me to read and review Rachel Bloom's autobiography.

First off, love the title. For someone who watched The Little Mermaid every day for a good portion of her childhood, I got it immediately. Also 10/10 for the cover.

I've always related to/been a huge fan of Rachel Bloom, but I after reading this both excruciatingly honest and heartwarming selection of personal essays, I appreciated her and her work on another level - I couldn't put it down, and I read the entire thing in a matter of hours. I would definitely check out the audiobook version as I'm sure it's even better narrated by the woman herself.

Little-Mermaid-inspired title? ✅
Gorgeous cover, with an 80s/90s teen book vibe? ✅
Rachel Bloom, aka the amazingly talented creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? ✅
Was there every chance I would love this book? YOU KNOW IT!

I love the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (and am, coincidentally, just in the middle of a big re-watch) so I was extremely excited to read a collection of essays by Rachel Bloom. My expectations were sky-high with this one, and I was not disappointed.

Through her distinctive style and using her original voice to the fullest, Rachel Bloom takes us on a journey to explore the concept of "normality" in a quest to find the oh-so-elusive "normal people". This was certainly one of the most original, amusing and refreshing books I've read in a while, and it managed to touch on hard topics such as bullying, OCD and depression, and so many more in an incredibly honest and heartfelt way.

Some essays resonated with me more than others, and some were definitely... something; some made me laugh out loud, some really moved me, but all of them showcased Rachel's incredible talent and her honesty in talking openly about topics that are often, sadly, still taboo.

Overall, this is a great book that will appeal to fans of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and those who haven't yet seen the show alike (though if you're in the latter category - what are you waiting for??). Highly recommended!

Rating: 4.5/5

Everything I wanted and expected of Bloom. I'm a big fan of the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and this book was just as strange and weird.

If you're a Crazy-Ex Girlfriend fan, you'll love this book - Rachel Bloom touches on many of the same themes as in the show, with a frank, rude and very funny look at mental health. If you're not a Crazy-Ex Girlfriend fan, you're probably a bad person who hates good things so you won't like the book either. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

I adore Rachel Bloom - 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' is a hilarious and honest show which does not hold back when confronting the truth of sex, love, mental illness and life. This same comedic and chaotic energy is channelled in Bloom's wonderful book which I would highly recommend, whether you are a previous fan of hers or not. And yes, you will have 'Part of your World' from 'The Little Mermaid' circling round your head the whole time - even better!

Bloom's collection essays are largely chronological, detailing significant moments in her life, trying to fit into the ideal of being 'normal'. There are hilarious, heart-breaking and heart-warming moments in equal measure, the unfiltered honesty making Bloom's writing really resonate with her readers. The most profound chapters for me are the details of her struggles with mental health across her life and how this impacted upon various relationships from boyfriends to roommates. Bloom's personal reflections made me appreciate even more the excellent storytelling achieved through Rebecca Bunch in 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' and how honestly they were able to depict mental illness and its effects. There are also some witty moments where the narrative is flipped on its head - the chapter from Wiley the dog being a personal favourite of mine! What a hero!

Overall, this is hilarious and heartfelt read which I would highly recommend. Bloom has a hit on her hands!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are by Rachel Bloom is an excellent collection of personal thoughts, ideas, essays, anecdotes, advice, memories, and biographical stories written by one of my most favorite people EVER, Rachel Bloom (actress, singer, dancer, writer, and all-around awesome woman). I loved Rachel even before My Crazy-Ex Girlfriend came onto the CW, but now I her even more. She is honest, quirky, hilarious, imperfect, authentic, relatable, talented, and I was so excited to read more about her life experiences and history.

The collection presented in this book lets us all know just how funny, dark, sadistic, sarcastic, and real she is. It also let me know that I am not as strange as I originally thought. (Oh, I am still different, don’t get me wrong.) But, instead of hiding and apologizing for it, I found a sister in my quest to accepting and owning it.I am who I am, and all I can do is improve how I respond to, and treat others, just as she describes in her book. I also learned more about Rachel in general, which I immensely enjoyed. I literally laughed out loud with the occasional snort, and devoured this gem in one day. So awesome.

And kudos to the 80s-90s Judy Blume throwback cover. Very awesome.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Coronet/Hodder & Stoughten for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 11/17/20.