The independent reading book that I just finished reading was "Every Last Word" by Tamara Ireland Stone. The protagonist in this story is named Samatha McAllister. Samantha, or "Sam," which she prefers to be called, has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.) The disorder forces Sam to always feel the need to count in threes, to always be perfect, and, in this story, to form ideal versions of reality. Sam is in high school in the book, and she just happens to be a part of the popular group "The Eights." The Eights are a goup of self-centered and egotistical girls that care about nothing other than gossip and social status. The pressure to fit in with them also has a negative affect on Sam's well being. For a while, she is able to hide her disorder from them, as she feels that they would not accept her flaws. However, as the story goes on, it becomes harder and harder to do this. Very shortly into the story, Sam meets Caroline, a girl who seems to understand every asppect of Sam's life, and throughtout the story is always there for Sam whenever she needs her to be. Caroline brings her to Poet's Corner, a small hidden room underneath the school's theater where a small group of teenagers gathered to share and read their poetry. Sam feels welcomed here and meets a new group of people, including one in particular; AJ. AJ is a teenage boy who instantly connects with Sam, despite their past. When they first meet, Sam learns that AJ was the boy that "The Eights," and her tormented in fifth grade for having a stutter. However, her forgives her rather quickly, and they form a very close relationship. He encourages her to keep writing poetry and she does, with all of her feelings that she writes down. This becomes slightly detrimentral to her health later on, as she stops taking her sleeping pills in order to have more time to write poetry at night. When she reveals this to her therapist Sue however, Sue greatly discourages this and makes Sam reflect on the negative consequences that her actions could have. Despite this, as the story goes on, Sam's confidence level is greatly heightened, and she is even able to confront "The Eights" when she disagrees with their actions. However, the shocking discovery that Sam makes in the end might change her life forever.
Overall, I would give this book a 3.5 out of five stars. While it was a good read, it was definitely lacking in certain areas. For one, the author tended to drag out passages to be much longer than necessary. This made the book somewhat boring, as there was never any new action or excitement for the most part. I also felt that they might have exaggerated Sam's disorder, or confused her symptoms with that of a different one. Another thing that I noticed was that the author kind of brushed off the topic of bullying, and did not really touch on it. For example, when AJ forgave Sam for everything that she and her friends did to him, it did not seem extremely realistic. However, I do not regret choosing to read this book, as I do think that it had some good messages intertwined into it.
Overall, I would give this book a 3.5 out of five stars. While it was a good read, it was definitely lacking in certain areas. For one, the author tended to drag out passages to be much longer than necessary. This made the book somewhat boring, as there was never any new action or excitement for the most part. I also felt that they might have exaggerated Sam's disorder, or confused her symptoms with that of a different one. Another thing that I noticed was that the author kind of brushed off the topic of bullying, and did not really touch on it. For example, when AJ forgave Sam for everything that she and her friends did to him, it did not seem extremely realistic. However, I do not regret choosing to read this book, as I do think that it had some good messages intertwined into it.