YA Buddy Readers' Corner ♥ discussion

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.

Thanks for sorting the thread Sarah :) looking forward to reading this!

Thanks, Sarah! Excited for this one. :)

6% (view spoiler)[Her friends seem like a lot of her problem. It looks like she's too invested in the group and not herself. And she can't even be herself around them.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

2% (view spoiler)[ I can't believe she manages to hide her OCD from her friends! (hide spoiler)]

5% (view spoiler)[ poor girl. what a waste of petrol. (hide spoiler)]

7% (view spoiler)[ so Sam is not invited now? that sucks! and why won't they call her Sam? (hide spoiler)]

Courtney wrote: "6% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ She isn't herself at all around them. They won't even call her Sam when she asked them to! (hide spoiler)]

10% (view spoiler)[ Ooh. i wonder what they do on thursdays? Caroline could be nice. (hide spoiler)]

Sarah wrote: "10% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[It could be interesting. And Caroline seems like an improvement over her friends. I just hope she doesn't try to turn her into one of them.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

11% (view spoiler)[I like Sue. And the thing with threes reminds me of a friend who was similar with eights. Not to that extent though.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

16% (view spoiler)[ poets corner? (hide spoiler)]

17% (view spoiler)[ did she even really want to go to the spa? (hide spoiler)]

20% (view spoiler)[ well that spa day didn't go well. (hide spoiler)]

22% (view spoiler)[ how did she hurt him? I'm confused by that. (hide spoiler)]

I'm kind of bored.

Ugh, don't tell me that! Now I won't feel driven to get to that point. Haha

up to 74% (view spoiler)[ it's sad that she doesn't feel like she can tell her friends that she has some new friends, or that she is dating AJ.
I mean she loves him enough to have sex with him, but she can't tell her oldest friends?! And she still hasn't told him she has OCD! (hide spoiler)]

Courtney wrote: "Ugh, don't tell me that! Now I won't feel driven to get to that point. Haha"

I lose interest if the pace is too slow. I'm picky!

I know what you mean. Sometimes I'm ok with it, others not so much.

exactly. If the story is really good I don't mind a slow pace so much.

17% (view spoiler)[I like the poetry group. Kind of a creepy meeting place, but it's definitely out of the way. And who is AJ? Also, maybe this is just me, but is Caroline real?<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

Sarah wrote: "16% [spoilers removed]

17% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[It didn't seem like she was really that interested.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

24% (view spoiler)[They were such mean little bullies. No wonder he doesn't want her there. And her friends obviously haven't changed much, so why would anyone think she had? At least she kind of wants to now.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

78% (view spoiler)[ I had no idea that Caroline was dead?! (hide spoiler)]

83% (view spoiler)[ no wonder the poor girl thinks she's going nuts! (hide spoiler)]

Courtney wrote: "24% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ Really not nice! (hide spoiler)]

45% (view spoiler)[I like AJ. And I'm glad that Sam seems to finally be standing up to her friends a bit. Calling the one a mime might not have been nice, but it's better than just going along with what they want.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

23% (view spoiler)[ i really don't like sam's friends! Its crazy how she's kept her ocd a secret from her friends. I wonder wgat she did to upset AJ? (hide spoiler)]

Rachel wrote: "23% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[They are horrible. And obviously don't know her well if they can't tell that she starts to have these panic attacks. (hide spoiler)]

Courtney wrote: "17% [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ yeah i wondered about that,i don't think you actually see caroline talking to people. (hide spoiler)]

50% (view spoiler)[ ok its a bit creepy that she is staying up into the night to research AJ's ex!! (hide spoiler)]

54% (view spoiler)[ i defintely think Caroline isnt real! (hide spoiler)]

74% (view spoiler)[ she really needs to tell AJ about thr ocd (hide spoiler)]

Just finished. I really enjoyed it overall. (view spoiler)[I like how the Caroline thing was handled. How she developed this person based on something she'd read. And how she handled it. It was a good conclusion.<\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

Finished (view spoiler)[ I really enjoyed this book, I thought the OCD and the stuff with Caroline was really well handled, I also liked how the author didn't just cure Sam because she had a boyfriend. (hide spoiler)]

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Date Changed. Restarting February 20th 2016. Happy Reading ☺

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I might start this tomorrow, haven't decided yet :-)

Definitely starting this later today :-)

Started and I can tell I'm going to really be able to relate to this book, I mean who doesn't have a touch of OCD???
10%(view spoiler)[ i'm going to totally be able to relate to Sam and this book, because my daughter is sam. I mean she has a little OCD and a little anxiety, nothing like sam. It is the being trapped with your popular friends and not knowing how to escape, she is a senior and is thinking it's not even worth it at this point. They all share together and are on ASB, so I can totally identify with Sam's position in this book for this reason I think I'm going to definitely like it, although I don't think a poetry corner would be my daughters is Gabe mechanism, LOL! Also she is been with the same boyfriend since her sophomore year, so that's kind of a non-issue. (hide spoiler)]

Going to start in around an hour!

Up to melt with me (view spoiler)[ proud of her for reading her poem, don't think I could do that, or want to do that, I really like Sam, and really hope she and AJ get together, wonder what her friends reaction will be??? I have a thing about the number 8 and also like everything to be in even numbers, but I'm not quite as LCD as she is (hide spoiler)]

Just finished Melt with me. Im really enjoying this so far!

(view spoiler)[ I can definitely relate to the panic attacks and feeling like you've got to stay friends with people because you dont have anyone else. I would not have been able to read the poem and im also so proud of her for doing it. AJ and Sam would make such a cute couple. Not a huge fan of the 8s, remind me of the typical bitchy girls at school! (hide spoiler)]

It is really good! Makes me want to write some poetry, although I probably suck at it :p

It's all about me (view spoiler)[ what is up with Caroline??? (hide spoiler)]

Still reading it's all about me, did NOT see that coming!!!
(view spoiler)[ maybe she is crazy??? (hide spoiler)]

Just finished all about me (view spoiler)[ its so crazy that Caroline is dead! Didn't see it coming at all. I'm glad that Sam and AJ have told everyone about the relationship (hide spoiler)] so excited to see where this is going to lead now!

Just finished the book and I absolutely loved it!

(view spoiler)[ I'm glad that Sam left the Crazy Eights eventually but i also like that some of them turned out to be okay. AJ and her relationship is adorable and I'm happy they got together. I liked Caroline so much so having her make an appearance at the end was good, it was nice seeing that Sam can manage without her and get her life a bit more on track. (hide spoiler)]

Agreed! I thought it was really really good!

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Date Changed. Restarting April 6th 2016. Happy Reading ☺

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Character Thoughts:
(view spoiler)[I liked the characters in this book, and how not only were they not perfect, but they learned from those flaws. (hide spoiler)]

Plot Thoughts:
(view spoiler)[The plot of this book, and the major twist with Caroline, surprised me, and I kept expecting it to go more wrong, or Sam would make a mistake and hurt the Poets (like a stereotypical realistic fiction book), but I'm happy to say that the book was not predictable, and pleasantly surprised me! (hide spoiler)]

Mental Health Portrayal Thoughts:
(view spoiler)[It is not exactly my place to fully comment on the application of mental health in this book, as I've never truly had those issues myself, but I do like the portrayal of it in this book. No one sees it as wrong except for Sam herself, and she learns to come to terms with it, and adjust to it better. It doesn't suddenly disappear near the end or anything, which I sometimes see some mental health books doing, portraying the issues as a conflict to be resolved and fixed. (hide spoiler)]

Overall Thoughts:
(view spoiler)[I expected a kinda simple and short realistic fiction book about a girl who doesn't fit in with the crowd she hangs out with, but remains with them because she doesn't want to be made fun of, and I've read a book almost exactly like that description (except her "issue" was the fact she liked superheroes, but treated it as if it were an illness). However, that was not what I got at all from this book, and I absolutely loved every page of this one instead. I'll have to see if the author has written any more like this, because then I'll definitely have to pick those up! (hide spoiler)]