Every Last Word, by Tamara Ireland Stone Blew My Mind

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Published by Disney-Hyperion ISBN: 1484705270
on June 16th 2015
Pages: 368
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis

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.

Once upon a time, I roamed the aisles of a bookshop, touching books, looking for the last book I’d buy on my trip before returning to my country. Destiny made me pick Reawakened, by Colleen Houck, and Every Last Word. Dismayed because I could only take one, I made a very smart choice. Buy Reawakened as an ebook and take Every Last Word with me.

I’m glad I did because Reawakened turned out to be a disappointment, and Every Last Word rocked my socks.

 

I love books that feature characters’ affinity with words in an original way

Books sometimes use characters who like to read or write to make them appear clever, or at best, trying to make them relatable, which is OK. Only, c’mon, there are more imaginative ways to show your love for words IN the book. A secret poetry Club in high school is one way to go. It was inspiring to think of walls full of people’s thoughts surrounding you. All those feelings and talent!

 

Bitch friends are realistic bitches

I couldn’t help comparing the likes of Sam’s bitch friends ‘The Eights’ to Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers’ ‘Fearsome Five’. The Fearsome Five were some serious crazy mean girls, who you’d think are also psychos.

Everything was about  power, and while this made for a crude, riveting story, I can’t help but appreciate the ‘The Eights’ quite a lot more.

You see, ‘The Eights’ are complex. You expect them to behave according to this ‘mean girls’ stereotype, and they do, mostly fit in it, but then there are things that make you see that there’s more to them than that. And no, it’s not about family issues, or tragic pasts; it’s just that they’re people, they’re high school girls for heaven’s sake, so they’re not demons. They’re just the popular ones.

 

AMAZEBALLS Plot twist

You’d think that in a book that seems character-driven, there’d be nothing exactly exciting, but holy shit there is one hell of a plot twist. The beauty of plot twists is that some people are super clever and see them coming. I doubt most would be able to see THIS one coming. Honestly, I didn’t see it until it was right fucking there.

Confession: I actually went back to look for the clues and yep! they were all there the whole time!

 

You can tell the mental illness aspect is well-represented

When we’re speaking of books, we claim diversity; speaking of diversity, we claim it to be well-represented as well. I think that was the case here. Sam’s OCD is ever present in her life, it makes her brain work non-stop, sometimes attaching to an specific thought that won’t let her let it go. She has regular psychiatrist visits, and pays close attention to never let hints of her OCD slip by in front of her friends. Her family is very supportive of her, even though they don’t hover.

 

But what about Sam herself?

I had fun tagging along with Sam. I did cry at one point, and felt inspired, and fell in love with AJ, and Caroline. All of these through Sam’s eyes. That she’s an amazing narrator is an understatement.

 

You won’t regret reading this book, that I can assure you 🙂

 

Have you read any other books with a character that lives with a mental illness?

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