Publication: June 16th 2015 by Disney Hyperion
Goodreads summary:
If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.
Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.
My thoughts:
I've been seeing glowing reviews of Every Last Word for ages and finally picked it up the other day,and I'm so glad I did because I loved this book. It was such a powerful story that made me think about who I am and who I really want to be. It was a beautiful and touching and held my attention the whole time.
This book deals with some serious topics such as anxiety, depression, suicide, bullying and mental illness in an excellent manner. I think the things the characters were dealing with were portrayed realistically and respectfully.
I liked all the characters for the most part. I felt like I knew Sam and connected well with her. Tamara Ireland Stone did an excellent job of making Samantha feel real and relatable. It's nice for readers to know that there are people out there who think they are crazy too.
Sam's psychiatrist, Sue, was one of my favourites. I liked getting to see how she made such an impact on Sam's life and the choices she made. Sam would often do something and think:this would make Sue proud. I also loved seeing how Caroline had such a positive impact on Sam. She made her feel normal and pushed her to do things that she wanted to do but scared her,like reading at Poets Corner.
We do get to know the other poets but I felt like they weren't as developed and Sam's 'friends', the crazy eights, felt a bit flat and cliche as the high school popular group.
Poetry is a big part of this book. All the poems were fantastic. I like how some where funny and lighthearted while other were much more emotional. Reading about Sam writing made me want to write more.
There was a twist thrown in near the end that I didn't see coming which I really liked. I love a book that can surprise me, and this one did.
Every Last Word is an engaging read. Once I started I couldn't put it down. It's very easy to get through even though the topic is very serious.
I think this book is super important because there isn't a lot of YA out there that deals with these kind of topics. It was a emotional story but a beautiful one and I think everyone should read it.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars!
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