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Total Constant Order
Fin can't stop counting. She's always heard a voice inside her head, ordering her to listen, but ever since she's moved to the Sunshine State and her parents split up, numbers thump like a metronome, rhythmically keeping things in control. When a new doctor introduces terms such as "clinical depression" and "OCD" and offers a prescription for medication, the chemical effects make Fin feel even more messed up. Until she meets Thayer, a doodling, rule-bending skater who buzzes to his own beat—and who might just understand Fin's hunger to belong, and her struggle for total constant order.
Crissa-Jean Chappell's candid and vividly told debut novel shares the story of a young teen's experience with obsessive compulsive disorder and her remarkable resolve to find her own inner strength.
Crissa-Jean Chappell's candid and vividly told debut novel shares the story of a young teen's experience with obsessive compulsive disorder and her remarkable resolve to find her own inner strength.
279 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2007
8 people are currently reading
539 people want to read
About the author
Crissa-Jean Chappell
8 books148 followersCrissa-Jean Chappell was born in Miami and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her debut young adult novel, TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER (HarperTeen) is a NYPL Book For The Teen Age and a VOYA Perfect Ten. Chappell’s second novel, NARC (Flux Books) is currently optioned for film. MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH (Flux Books) is a Florida Book Awards medalist, which Kirkus calls, "compelling and emotionally nuanced." Chappell's newest YA novel is SNOWBIRDS (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). “…an engrossing mystery,” School Library Journal. Next up: SUN DON’T SHINE (Fitzroy Books, spring 2024). She holds a PhD and MFA from the University of Miami and has taught creative writing and cinema studies for over fifteen years. When she misses South Florida, she talks to the parrots in Green-Wood Cemetery.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
February 21, 2009
Fin knows that something is wrong, she just doesn’t know what. She can’t stop counting. Some of the teachers at her new school think she just isn’t paying attention, but Fin knows that maybe she’s paying too much attention--to everything. Her dad wants to be buddies with his new girlfriend. Her mother wants her to go to counseling. Her counselor wants her to take Paxil, but her mother doesn’t want her to take meds at all. Fin feels like she’s all alone--until she begins a “conversation” with a tagger on the stall wall of one of the girls’ bathrooms. Maybe she’s not so alone after all, but will she ever be able to stop counting everything? Will she take the meds? Will she meet this tagger? Read Total Constant Order by Crissa-Jean Chappell and see.
Chappell does for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) what Jack Gantos and his character, Joey Pigza, do for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Neither Gantos nor Chappell presume to solve their characters’ problems, nor do they preach or sugar-coat. They do not push any particular treatments. What they do is to skillfully offer the reader a glimpse into the minds of young people as they learn that, maybe, they’re not crazy--and that they aren’t alone. Total Constant Order is a worthy addition to any young adult collection.
Chappell does for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) what Jack Gantos and his character, Joey Pigza, do for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Neither Gantos nor Chappell presume to solve their characters’ problems, nor do they preach or sugar-coat. They do not push any particular treatments. What they do is to skillfully offer the reader a glimpse into the minds of young people as they learn that, maybe, they’re not crazy--and that they aren’t alone. Total Constant Order is a worthy addition to any young adult collection.
November 9, 2007
Refreshing to see this kind of poetic prose in YA literature. It's something that's sorely lacking, especially these days.
However, the book tries too hard to be "cool" and to hit an emotional chord with the reader.
From the review I wrote of the ARC in 2007:
With her first novel, Crissa-Jean Chappell joins a long tradition of young adult novelists writing about the experience of growing up with OCD. In my opinion, she handles it well. The language is wonderfully poetic and a delight to see in any YA novel, the narrative structured in chapters that often seem as if they could stand on their own. I especially liked this free flow of ideas as they counterbalanced the rigidity that is often associated with OCD.
Fin (I love the significance of her name throughout the novel) is a fully realized character who I felt I could connect to on a number of levels. However, at times, I felt Chappell was trying too hard to reach the teen audience. I found Thayer, Fin's new friend, to be somewhat two-dimensional. His character was inconsistent at times, not in an unpredictable way that I would expect of ADDers, but in an unbelievable way. Fin's mother presented a different problem. I often felt that Fin's scenes with her mother were overreaching for an emotional impact that was already there in Fin's narration, in the metaphors that were created. No more was needed.
Ultimately, the novel is less about a young girl growing up with OCD than about a young girl growing up, period. For me, that is the most successful part. It is true that Chappell doesn't really experiment enough to set herself apart from previous clusters of OCD novels, but that doesn't matter here. Despite some problems with the execution, there is truth to Fin's story, truth that I think many people could recognize and relate to. At the end of the novel, Fin realizes that "counting stars was like wishing on nothing [...] I could never count them all." I could never count all the lines in this novel that resonated with me. They are the beauty of this book.
However, the book tries too hard to be "cool" and to hit an emotional chord with the reader.
From the review I wrote of the ARC in 2007:
With her first novel, Crissa-Jean Chappell joins a long tradition of young adult novelists writing about the experience of growing up with OCD. In my opinion, she handles it well. The language is wonderfully poetic and a delight to see in any YA novel, the narrative structured in chapters that often seem as if they could stand on their own. I especially liked this free flow of ideas as they counterbalanced the rigidity that is often associated with OCD.
Fin (I love the significance of her name throughout the novel) is a fully realized character who I felt I could connect to on a number of levels. However, at times, I felt Chappell was trying too hard to reach the teen audience. I found Thayer, Fin's new friend, to be somewhat two-dimensional. His character was inconsistent at times, not in an unpredictable way that I would expect of ADDers, but in an unbelievable way. Fin's mother presented a different problem. I often felt that Fin's scenes with her mother were overreaching for an emotional impact that was already there in Fin's narration, in the metaphors that were created. No more was needed.
Ultimately, the novel is less about a young girl growing up with OCD than about a young girl growing up, period. For me, that is the most successful part. It is true that Chappell doesn't really experiment enough to set herself apart from previous clusters of OCD novels, but that doesn't matter here. Despite some problems with the execution, there is truth to Fin's story, truth that I think many people could recognize and relate to. At the end of the novel, Fin realizes that "counting stars was like wishing on nothing [...] I could never count them all." I could never count all the lines in this novel that resonated with me. They are the beauty of this book.
November 7, 2012
Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com
Rhythm is the pulse of life. Everything has rhythm. The waves in the ocean, cars buzzing down the highway, the drip of the rain after a spring shower, the pencil scraping across our paper, even our own pulse in our ears, late at night when all should be quiet.
Fin doesn't know quiet. For her, the rhythm has become more than a beat. It's an obsession. It's good luck to turn a light on three times -- the wrong number could be deadly. The roar of numbers in her head blocks the outside chaos. They offer comfort. Stability. She taps her seat three times. Someone touches her shoulder. She touches the opposite one. It's about keeping life in balance. Control.
Control is something Fin lost when her parents uttered those devastating words, "...this doesn't mean we're abandoning you or that we don't love you anymore." The D-word. Moving from a place she loves, to a place she doesn't. Her mother copes by excessive cleaning. Fin copes by counting.
Soon, Fin's mother has her visiting Dr. Calaban. Fin meets Thayer, who is also being treated by Dr. Calaban, but for ADD. Fin discovers there's a name for what she's feeling: OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She wonders if it's hereditary as her mother rewashes the jeep Fin's just finished washing. With the help of Thayer and Dr. Calaban, Fin rediscovers her love of something she'd lost along the way, something that will help calm the need for total constant order.
TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER is a riveting first novel by debut author Crissa-Jean Chappell. I was sad to end the book because I wanted to spend more time with the characters. I kept trying to slow down as I read, to linger and enjoy, but it was impossible. Each chapter drove me forward to the next and the next until the final page. The characters were fresh and real. I know you'll enjoy them as much as I did!
Rhythm is the pulse of life. Everything has rhythm. The waves in the ocean, cars buzzing down the highway, the drip of the rain after a spring shower, the pencil scraping across our paper, even our own pulse in our ears, late at night when all should be quiet.
Fin doesn't know quiet. For her, the rhythm has become more than a beat. It's an obsession. It's good luck to turn a light on three times -- the wrong number could be deadly. The roar of numbers in her head blocks the outside chaos. They offer comfort. Stability. She taps her seat three times. Someone touches her shoulder. She touches the opposite one. It's about keeping life in balance. Control.
Control is something Fin lost when her parents uttered those devastating words, "...this doesn't mean we're abandoning you or that we don't love you anymore." The D-word. Moving from a place she loves, to a place she doesn't. Her mother copes by excessive cleaning. Fin copes by counting.
Soon, Fin's mother has her visiting Dr. Calaban. Fin meets Thayer, who is also being treated by Dr. Calaban, but for ADD. Fin discovers there's a name for what she's feeling: OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She wonders if it's hereditary as her mother rewashes the jeep Fin's just finished washing. With the help of Thayer and Dr. Calaban, Fin rediscovers her love of something she'd lost along the way, something that will help calm the need for total constant order.
TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER is a riveting first novel by debut author Crissa-Jean Chappell. I was sad to end the book because I wanted to spend more time with the characters. I kept trying to slow down as I read, to linger and enjoy, but it was impossible. Each chapter drove me forward to the next and the next until the final page. The characters were fresh and real. I know you'll enjoy them as much as I did!
January 3, 2010
Rhythm is the pulse of life. Everything has rhythm. The waves in the ocean, cars buzzing down the highway, the drip of the rain after a spring shower, the pencil scraping across our paper, even our own pulse in our ears, late at night when all should be quiet.
Fin doesn’t know quiet. For her, the rhythm has become more than a beat, it’s an obsession. It’s good luck to turn a light on three times, the wrong number could be deadly. The roar of numbers in her head blocks the outside chaos. They offer comfort. Stability. She taps her seat three times. Someone touches her shoulder. She touches the opposite one. It’s about keeping life in balance. Control.
Control is something Fin lost when her parents uttered those devastating words, “…this doesn’t mean we’re abandoning you or that we don’t love you anymore.” The D-word. Moving from a place she loves, to a place she doesn’t. Her mother copes by excessive cleaning. Fin copes by counting.
Soon, Fin’s mother has her visiting Dr. Calaban. Fin meets Thayer who is also being treated by Dr. Calaban, but for ADD. Fin discovers there’s a name for what she’s feeling, OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She wonders if it’s hereditary as her mother rewashes the jeep Fin’s just finished washing. With the help of Thayer and Dr. Calaban, Fin rediscovers her love of something she’d lost along the way, something that will help calm the need for total constant order.
TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER is a riveting first novel by debut author Crissa-Jean Chappell. I was sad to end the book because I wanted to spend more time with the characters. I kept trying to slow down as I read, to linger and enjoy, but it was impossible. Each chapter drove me forward to the next and the next until the final page. The characters were fresh and real. I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I did!
Fin doesn’t know quiet. For her, the rhythm has become more than a beat, it’s an obsession. It’s good luck to turn a light on three times, the wrong number could be deadly. The roar of numbers in her head blocks the outside chaos. They offer comfort. Stability. She taps her seat three times. Someone touches her shoulder. She touches the opposite one. It’s about keeping life in balance. Control.
Control is something Fin lost when her parents uttered those devastating words, “…this doesn’t mean we’re abandoning you or that we don’t love you anymore.” The D-word. Moving from a place she loves, to a place she doesn’t. Her mother copes by excessive cleaning. Fin copes by counting.
Soon, Fin’s mother has her visiting Dr. Calaban. Fin meets Thayer who is also being treated by Dr. Calaban, but for ADD. Fin discovers there’s a name for what she’s feeling, OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She wonders if it’s hereditary as her mother rewashes the jeep Fin’s just finished washing. With the help of Thayer and Dr. Calaban, Fin rediscovers her love of something she’d lost along the way, something that will help calm the need for total constant order.
TOTAL CONSTANT ORDER is a riveting first novel by debut author Crissa-Jean Chappell. I was sad to end the book because I wanted to spend more time with the characters. I kept trying to slow down as I read, to linger and enjoy, but it was impossible. Each chapter drove me forward to the next and the next until the final page. The characters were fresh and real. I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I did!
August 8, 2009
Fin is the teen who is struggling with her need to constantly count and/or wash her hands. When she asks her parents about it, they don't get it. Fin is an outcast at her school with a group of girls tormenting her and a guy, Thayer, who acts out in school all the time with rants and shouts. When Fin sees a psychiatrist she finds out alot more about herself, her counting, her hand washing, and why she can now understand and cope with this behavior. Thayer also goes to the same doctor and they begin to hang out. Fin realizes she doesn't need to count with Thayer, but she is getting more and more angry with her mother. It is only through her anger and confronting her mother that Fin can help herself and Thayer. I loved the way the author really nailed Fin's agony, resentment and defiance in the face of her mother's controlling behavior. I also liked the way Fin gets Thayer and his differences. A must read for "different" teens, they have a voice and place in school and everyone should accept them for who they are.
January 5, 2009
Fin is a high schooler with problems - beyond the fact that school is a drag and her parents' divorce means an estrangement with her father, Fin has come to recognize that her rituals and requirements for daily life are actually signs of OCD. It doesn't help that her mother (and grandmother, as we discover) also display symptoms of this condition. While at school Fin meets a guy named Thayer, a skater into tagging and pot (not necessarily in that order). But is he someone she can really trust? This is a great story about teens who are marginalized in multiple ways by society, family, and illness. It's a good read for teens that contrasts with Harrar's Not As Crazy as I Seem (which I think of as more of a middle school pick) in its treatment of teen OCD.
July 8, 2009
Total Constant Order allows the reader inside the life of Fin, an outcast teen whose head is not working quite right. Fin ends up seeing a psychiatrist is diagnosed with OCD and put on Paxil. Ironically it's another 'crazy' who helps her find her way. I found the authors descriptions of Fin's compulsions, mental musings and struggles very real. I feel like I have better understanding of what a person suffering from ODC might feel like, what an uncontrollable life might feel like after reading this beautifully written novel. I will highly recommend!
July 13, 2009
this was a great book! i loved that it did have information on her disease but it was in perspective on the info and how she took it she meets a good friend and lover and he understands her more than herslef this was an amazing book it really showed character
November 27, 2013
The protagonist is nicely-drawn and she tells an engrossing story as the reader follows her struggles and successes as she figures out how to be more comfortable in her mind, in her life, with her friends and family.
April 6, 2010
Fin can't stop counting. Voices in her head tell her if she doesn't, something terrible will happen. Although counting didn't stop her parents from getting a divorce. Now her dad has a new girlfriend and Fin is stuck with her mom, who seems to have some OCD tendencies as well. To top it all off, Fin is forced to go to therapy. But her life starts to change when she befriends Thayer, a boy in her class who sees the same therapist. Soon she is able to calm the voices and ignore teh need to count.
March 11, 2008
The narrator, Finn, struggles with OCD after her family moves from Vermont to Florida and her parents divorce.
May 4, 2008
I learned that I have my own version of OCD. This book pretty cool. Thayer brings out the best of Fin. the only thing i was disappointed in was how it ends. Otherwise it was cool
July 1, 2017
I liked this more then I expected to :D
October 30, 2011
I could question the accuracy of the depiction of emerging OCD, but that would distract from my actual opinion of the book. Which is that it's a good one.
September 30, 2008
Fin, a girl who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Thayer, a boy who has Attention Deficit Disorder. Fin can’t stop counting and trying to keep things in order, in her control. Thayer can’t stop paying attention to one thing. Shunned by normal society, Fin finds solace in Thayer, who finds nothing wrong with her.
The writing is bearable, but mostly terrible. Just take a look at the sentence structures. The male protagonist gets on my nerves just because he’s not the kind of guy who does things that I’ll agree with, ADD or not. (I.E. smoking, ditching school, and getting hooked on Ritalin. Not exactly a role model, is he?) The only things worth semi-praising over are the topics and the itsy-bitsy depth. I’m glad authors are really choosing to put themselves out there by writing about above-the-norm subjects. It’s really showing that they would rather educate others than get famous overnight. Now, depth. Here’s a girl who’s actually looking at the world like the other half of teenagers, the ones who couldn’t care less about popularity. Who thinks that what adults tell you about high school is complete bull. Take this passage, for instance:
“'Of course not,’ I said. ‘It’s like people at school. Everybody’s so fake.’
‘How so?’ She asked.
‘From the minute you start school, you’re fed a bunch of lies: Be yourself. Don’t follow the crowd, blah blah. What they really mean is: Follow the crowd. Just make sure that it’s the right one.’
‘And if you don’t?’ Dr. Calaban raised her eyebrows at me.
‘Suffer the consequences,’ I said” (Chappell 208).
Sure, you could get this kind of internal thinking in just about any other book (like Alyson Noel, who’s a pro at catching teen angst and trying to fit in) so that’s why I labeled it as “itsy-bitsy depth”.
So, in general, not a brilliant book, but it’s kind of serious. This certainly doesn’t fit my to re-read criteria, but it’ll at least teach you about OCD and its struggles.
The writing is bearable, but mostly terrible. Just take a look at the sentence structures. The male protagonist gets on my nerves just because he’s not the kind of guy who does things that I’ll agree with, ADD or not. (I.E. smoking, ditching school, and getting hooked on Ritalin. Not exactly a role model, is he?) The only things worth semi-praising over are the topics and the itsy-bitsy depth. I’m glad authors are really choosing to put themselves out there by writing about above-the-norm subjects. It’s really showing that they would rather educate others than get famous overnight. Now, depth. Here’s a girl who’s actually looking at the world like the other half of teenagers, the ones who couldn’t care less about popularity. Who thinks that what adults tell you about high school is complete bull. Take this passage, for instance:
“'Of course not,’ I said. ‘It’s like people at school. Everybody’s so fake.’
‘How so?’ She asked.
‘From the minute you start school, you’re fed a bunch of lies: Be yourself. Don’t follow the crowd, blah blah. What they really mean is: Follow the crowd. Just make sure that it’s the right one.’
‘And if you don’t?’ Dr. Calaban raised her eyebrows at me.
‘Suffer the consequences,’ I said” (Chappell 208).
Sure, you could get this kind of internal thinking in just about any other book (like Alyson Noel, who’s a pro at catching teen angst and trying to fit in) so that’s why I labeled it as “itsy-bitsy depth”.
So, in general, not a brilliant book, but it’s kind of serious. This certainly doesn’t fit my to re-read criteria, but it’ll at least teach you about OCD and its struggles.
July 22, 2011
Fin knows that something is wrong, she just doesn't know what. She can't stop counting. Some of the teachers at her new school think she just isn't paying attention, but Fin knows that maybe she's paying too much attention—to everything. Her dad wants her to be buddies with his new girlfriend. Her mother wants her to go to counseling. Her counselor wants her to take Paxil, but her mother doesn't want her to take meds at all, so what's the point of counseling? Fin feels like she's all alone—until she begins a "conversation" with a tagger on the stall wall of one of the girls' bathrooms. Maybe she's not so alone after all, but will she ever be able to stop counting everything? Will she take the meds? Will she meet this tagger?
This book was fairly realistic, I think. I'm pretty OCD myself, but this girl was WAY out in left field. Just reading about it made me want to hyperventilate... But the story made me really frustrated. Her mom! GAAHHH!! I was like, "YOUR DAUGHTER IS TRYING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT!! SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR OWN ISSUES AND LISTEN TO HER!!" And the mom is totally OCD too. I'm so glad my mom is more supportive than that... especially since I get it from her! :)
And the ending. Like.... WHAT?? Something fairly traumatic happens, and suddenly she's in total control of everything? Suddenly it's simple mind over matter? WAAAAY too neat-and-tidy. 2.5 stars.
This book was fairly realistic, I think. I'm pretty OCD myself, but this girl was WAY out in left field. Just reading about it made me want to hyperventilate... But the story made me really frustrated. Her mom! GAAHHH!! I was like, "YOUR DAUGHTER IS TRYING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT!! SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR OWN ISSUES AND LISTEN TO HER!!" And the mom is totally OCD too. I'm so glad my mom is more supportive than that... especially since I get it from her! :)
And the ending. Like.... WHAT?? Something fairly traumatic happens, and suddenly she's in total control of everything? Suddenly it's simple mind over matter? WAAAAY too neat-and-tidy. 2.5 stars.
September 18, 2008
I read this book to understand more about OCD. It's a fictional book about a girl who has OCD and what she thinks/feels. I left feeling like I understood people with OCD a lot more and I also felt more sympathy for people who suffer from mental illness. I feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me in this area.
That said I didn't like the story at all. The one that saves her is a boy that has ADD and is always out there. He teaches her how to do graffiti and introduces her to pot to help her. I however recognize the teenagers at our high school as being so much like the characters in this book. I just think that it is so sad that kids live their lives like that and the parents don't care or are unable to help them.
So many issues are raised. So many things to talk about.
The only reason I didn't give it one star was because I did feel educated about OCD.
That said I didn't like the story at all. The one that saves her is a boy that has ADD and is always out there. He teaches her how to do graffiti and introduces her to pot to help her. I however recognize the teenagers at our high school as being so much like the characters in this book. I just think that it is so sad that kids live their lives like that and the parents don't care or are unable to help them.
So many issues are raised. So many things to talk about.
The only reason I didn't give it one star was because I did feel educated about OCD.
September 9, 2008
I initially heard about this book from the author via Myspace. (Good marketing technique!) The subject matter piqued my interest, though the novel itself did not sustain my curiosity. I found Chappell's writing to be rushed and both teenage and adult characters to be inauthentic. (The dialogue between Fin and her mother bothered me, and Thayer's too-cool-for-school lingo grated on my nerves.) Even the chapter titles, I thought were forced. As for the resolution, it wasn't believable. Deep issues were hurried which I felt added to the overall insincerity of the characters and their situations.
May 4, 2014
I think I only finished out of some weird completist urge; it had been on my "currently reading" list for so long that I felt obliged to get through it.
I feel like I just read 300 pages of random sentences thrown together. Maybe no single line of thought lasting longer than a paragraph was done on purpose. Maybe the conversations wherein the two parties keep talking about totally different things are supposed to be meaningful in showing how ~disconnected~ the people are. Maybe the (few and far between) breakthrough moments were supposed to be ~poignant~. Maybe. I didn't feel any of it.
Also, the ending was way too convenient to be plausible. Not that I cared by that point. :/
I feel like I just read 300 pages of random sentences thrown together. Maybe no single line of thought lasting longer than a paragraph was done on purpose. Maybe the conversations wherein the two parties keep talking about totally different things are supposed to be meaningful in showing how ~disconnected~ the people are. Maybe the (few and far between) breakthrough moments were supposed to be ~poignant~. Maybe. I didn't feel any of it.
Also, the ending was way too convenient to be plausible. Not that I cared by that point. :/
January 28, 2008
This ya novel takes you right into the mind of a teen girl with OCD as she struggles to ignore the compulsions that drive her and survive the halls of her unforgiving high school.
I found the details of Frances' disorder both fascinating and tedious...a fitting description of OCD itself. Worth reading if you like the "odd girl out" type of story as I also liked the fact that her friendship with an equally strange and afflicted classmate, Thayer, blossomed into a deep friendship and not a romantic relationship as I expected it would.
I found the details of Frances' disorder both fascinating and tedious...a fitting description of OCD itself. Worth reading if you like the "odd girl out" type of story as I also liked the fact that her friendship with an equally strange and afflicted classmate, Thayer, blossomed into a deep friendship and not a romantic relationship as I expected it would.
October 31, 2008
Why do so many YA authors feel the need to be clever. Crissa-Jean Chappell shoves so much cleverness down the readers throat, seemingly for no reason because her character isn't clever at all. I was so excited to see a book about on OCD teen and how that would make an already rough time rougher. Instead I got Wah! Wah! Wah! People don't like me cause I'm wierd. I found a boy a like. Swoon! Wah! Gag! I can't believe I acutally finished it. Jesus. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
May 31, 2016
Complete review available: Total Constant Order
I don't know if I just missed the point with this novel. A scary event doesn't just happen and cure OCD. I couldn't resonate with protagonist Fin, and Mom was also an erratic character. Furthermore, to me, it was as if the main plotline was missing and the rest were just sub-plots. I was a little disappointed, if I'm honest - I was looking forward to reading this!
I don't know if I just missed the point with this novel. A scary event doesn't just happen and cure OCD. I couldn't resonate with protagonist Fin, and Mom was also an erratic character. Furthermore, to me, it was as if the main plotline was missing and the rest were just sub-plots. I was a little disappointed, if I'm honest - I was looking forward to reading this!
December 1, 2007
Meh. I felt underwhelmed by this book, especially reading it in conjunction with Not as Crazy as I Seem (by George Harrar). The stories were far too similar. Total Constant Order does differentiate itself by inserting a pointed message about Paxil and other pharmacological outcomes.
For anyone seeking similar YA books about compulsive behavior, I recommend Multiple Choice (Janet Tashjian) or Kissing Doorknobs (Terry Spencer Hesser).
For anyone seeking similar YA books about compulsive behavior, I recommend Multiple Choice (Janet Tashjian) or Kissing Doorknobs (Terry Spencer Hesser).
January 25, 2008
I enjoyed reading this book and getting a look into the mind of a girl with OCD. I liked her journey and felt sympathetic to her. I had a harder time with Thayer, as he seemed to distant, and I never really got attached to him. But I loved the main character, who is the most important anyway. A solid debut!
April 30, 2008
Ooooo, I really like this one. At first I couldn't decide if the author was writing a disjointed, flighty thing, or if she was being sort of brilliant by making the actual book OCD-like. By the end, I'm convinced that author was intentionally invoking the discomfort and awkwardness of OCD, so that it's affecting on lots of different levels. Very well done.
May 26, 2010
Fin has OCD - she can't stop counting, it's the only thing that keeps her calm. Her parents have separated and she's moved to Florida from Vermont. Then she meets Thayer - a rule-bending boy who might help Fin as much as the therapist she starts to see.
Authentic voice. Somewhat tidy ending, but pretty realistic.
Authentic voice. Somewhat tidy ending, but pretty realistic.
July 15, 2014
A really solid story about a girl working through OCD. There's a sweet romance between Fin and Thayer but it doesn't feel forced nor does it come off as cheesy/easy.
This came out a few years ago and still feels perfectly fresh and contemporary. It would pair really well with Heidi Ayarbe's Compulsion.
This came out a few years ago and still feels perfectly fresh and contemporary. It would pair really well with Heidi Ayarbe's Compulsion.
October 5, 2011
Really stupid book. Highly unlikable main character, drug-addict and basically delinquent love interest, and supporting characters who are little more than caricatures. I find it unlikely that the author has any first-hand knowledge of mental illness.
February 26, 2008
Main character is a misfit due to OCD and depression. The story is a bit choppy and the resolution is not really believable. I enjoyed "Not as crazy as I seem" better.
July 29, 2008
Interesting (fictional) look into what it’s like to be a teen and have OCD.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews