Monday, August 26, 2013

Review: OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Book Title: OCD Love Story
Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Publish Date: July 23rd, 2013
Published By: Simon Pulse
Genre: YA
Standalone
Book Link: Goodreads
Purchase Link: AmazonBarnes & Noble

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 
When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he’s her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again.

But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can’t stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic... and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a lot about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she’s obsessed.

Bea tells herself she’s got it all under control. But this isn’t a choice, it’s a compulsion. The truth is, she’s breaking down...and she might end up breaking her own heart.

Disclaimer: I won this book in a Summer Giveaway from Reading Teen.

Review:
As soon as I saw the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to have it. So I entered the giveaway and hoped that if I won,this book would still be available. And it was! I may or may not have jumped up and down like a crazy person.

I was excited to read this for the simple reason that I am OCD,but my OCD-ness is much milder than those depicted in this book. I was hoping that this book would do the tough subject justice as OCD is a very hard thing to deal with. To my pleasant surprise, OCD was handled very well and accurately throughout this book. It showed that OCD can manifest itself into different levels. It's not just constant hand-washing. It's far more than that.I was also worried that it would gloss over some of the unpleasantness of OCD and just pretend like it wasn't a big deal. 

Again I was pleasantly surprised. The author handled it with candor and honesty. No sugarcoating here. She did an excellent job of getting to the nitty gritty about this stuff. While making sure that the portrayal of OCD was accurate,she also created likable characters. Despite not being as severely affected as Bea, I saw so much of myself in Bea. I didn't take it to the level that she did,but my compulsions are very similar.

At times I found myself frustrated with Bea's friend Lisha. I know it's not easy to watch a friend deal with OCD,but she didn't seem to realize that Bea didn't want to have OCD. She wanted to be normal. Lisha seemed to be embarrassed by her towards the end. I kept yelling at the book (well technically at Lisha) that Bea needed support. She didn't need her only female friend to be,excuse my french, a total bitch. I really wished that Lisha tried to understand OCD a bit better. She needed to be aware that Bea didn't want to have to do all these things. She didn't want to be essentially controlled by her compulsions.

Oh Beck, how awesome he was. Despite his OCD-ness, I really liked him and I think he really liked Bea as well. I think at times he grew frustrated with Bea's apparent refusal to work on the compulsions. But I also think that Bea worried about Beck's various compulsions.

I liked the other characters in the group as well. Watching the progress they made in therapy was wonderful. I think reading this book could definitely silence those who don't put much stock into therapy. I liked Dr. Pat too. There were times, albeit, only a few times that I really wondered if she was really helping these teens or if they were helping themselves and each other.

Austin and Sylvia,the objects of Bea's obsession were quirky. I am still not sure how I felt about them. Yes they were kind to Bea which was a good thing. Towards the end,they really started to drive me crazy.

Overall, I really, really loved this book. It was full of likable characters and I identified so much with the main female character. It's not going to be a book for everyone because it's definitely not a light and fluffy read. It's raw and gritty and above all, it's real. Five stars to this relatable book and wonderfully real characters.

2 comments:

  1. Awwww, the honesty of this book was so refreshing. I learned a lot about OCD thanks to it.

    Lisha, however, is the worst. There are no words for how horrible of a friend she was. First, she encourages the OCD, but then she judges Bea for it. Helpful much? YEAH NO.

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  2. Yeah I was REALLY angry at Lisha. Like I said, OCD isn't something that Bea wants to have so why the judgment? Lisha could have been a much better friend to Bea.

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