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skdonnelly11's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
21andreea11's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
roglows's review against another edition
4.0
More of a 4.5.
This book really resonated with me, in ways I never expected. I learned things about myself - specific, insightful things - and saw situations in the story that have recently played out in my life over the last few years. (And it all seems so strange and uncanny, because I'm about 20 years older than the MC...)
The writing was clear and straightforward; while
I'm a sucker for a good turn of phrase, this benefited from a simpler prose. I enjoyed it. This book really kind of grabbed a hold of my heart and made me fall in love with the main character. I liked that the characters, give or take a few, felt real and non-cliche. I did figure out one of the twists early on, but it didn't detract from the story.
I truly loved this.
This book really resonated with me, in ways I never expected. I learned things about myself - specific, insightful things - and saw situations in the story that have recently played out in my life over the last few years. (And it all seems so strange and uncanny, because I'm about 20 years older than the MC...)
The writing was clear and straightforward; while
I'm a sucker for a good turn of phrase, this benefited from a simpler prose. I enjoyed it. This book really kind of grabbed a hold of my heart and made me fall in love with the main character. I liked that the characters, give or take a few, felt real and non-cliche. I did figure out one of the twists early on, but it didn't detract from the story.
I truly loved this.
leafblade's review against another edition
5.0
REVIEW IN ENGLISH BELOW
///ESPAÑOL///
Escribir en una tablet a la una y media de la mañana es difícil, ok? Puede que mañana le agregue cosas.
Nunca había leído sobre TOC. Durante un largo rato en mi vida pensé que podría tener un principio de este trastorno, así que el tema me interesó desde el primer momento. La protagonista es más obsesiva que compulsiva, y eso nos hace dar cuenta de que este trastorno no se manifiesta igual en todas las personas, y que vivir con él no es joda.
Me encantó la forma en la que nos metemos en la mente de la protagonista, con TOC y todo. Fue un punto de vista nuevo e interesante.
Quiero dedicar un párrafo para hablar de las amigas de la protagonista, porque es un tema que me toca muy de cerca. Me pareció genial que ella les esconda su enfermedad y que sienta que, al mismo tiempo, no puede escapar de ellas porque no tiene ningún otro lugar adonde ir. En serio. Me llegó muchísimo las escenas que tienen que ver con el spa, porque esas cosas pasan y todos tenemos días donde no le importamos a nadir, con TOC o sin él. El hecho de que se muestre una amistad toxica de forma tan genuina, que hasta las mismas chicas se dan cuenta de que están haciendo algo mal pero no les importa del todo, o no prestan atención, me pareció totalmente genial, porque así es como pasa la mayoría del tiempo. Hailey también me pareció un personaje muy real, con los mismos problemas de amistades que la protagonista pero sin el suficiente valor o las oportunidades necesarias como para dejarse ir, al menos de momento.
Algo rápido sobre la protagonista que se me olvidó decir antes: me gusta que forme parte del grupito popular y no sea una loba solitaria, no sólo porque eso traía mas presión social al asunto, sino también porque es algo nuevo que leí tan poco que no me acuerdo de ningún otro ejemplo.
No tengo ni la mas pálida idea de cómo poner spoilers acá, así que SPOILER SOBRE CAROLINE EN TODO EL PÁRRAFO QUE SIGUE. Caroline me pareció un personaje súper autentico, me !a re trague igual que Sam. Pero tengo sentimientos encontrados en cuanto a ella. Por un lado me sorprendió muchísimo su historia, no la veía venir y sufrí durante lo que quedó del libro con Sam. Pero por otra parte, apenas dejé de leer después de conocer su identidad, el pensamiento de "obvio que la chica con depresión no iba a quedar viva" cruzó mi mente y me duele. Conozco gente con depresión que la sobrelleva súper bien, y me pareció una ofensa a toda esta gente con pensamientos suicidas que luchan día a día con ellos que la representación que tengan en esta historia sea la de una chica que sucumbió. Este libro es sobre superación, sobre saber vivir con uno mismo, y me parece que todos los chicos depresivos s los que llegue este libro tienen derecho a no verse ahogados en un estereotipo. Sé que un sólo libro no puede tener todo, pero me parece que este, que lidia con enfermedades mentales, debería haber tenido eso en cuenta. FIN DEL SPOILER.
Con AJ estoy como que eeeehhhhh... ok. No me convenció mucho al principio la manera en la que llegó a amar a Sam después de lo que ella le había hecho. Yo pasé por eso y si me encuentro a esa gente hoy por la calle la escupo y la tiro abajo de un auto. Pero también me pareció que era la forma de ser de él. Como mientras era víctima no pudo defenderse, como se refugió en la música, tampoco podía cerrarle la puerta a Sam. La escena del club me pareció bellísima, y no tuve más problemas demasiado grandes con AJ. Me parece que es mucho mas buena gente que ese lado sassy que salta s las vista cuando está con Sam, pero también me gusta cómo es con ella y lo veo justificado. Y me pareció muy tierno que haya hablado con Colleen al final. Me terminó gustando mucho.
El final me pareció perfecto, como que cierra todos los hilos que tiene que cerrar, cuenta lo que tiene que contar y ya está. Nos da un par de pistas a que Sam está mejorando su lado compulsivo, y eso me gusta. También me gusta que esta cura no venga mágicamente de AJ, porque esa seria la salida fácil. Me gusta que Nox muestren que hay un proceso, un trabajo y un esfuerzo que hay que hacer para lograr las victorias sobre este trastorno.
En fin, un libro que me encantó desde el momento en el que lo empecé, y que me gusta mucho más ahora que lo terminé.
///ENGLISH///
I had never read anything about OCD before. At one point I thouth I could have some kind of it, so the topic interested me from the beginning. The main character is more obsessive than compulsive, and that makes us realize that this disorder doesn't show up the same in everyone that has it, and that living with it is no joke.
I liked the way we dive into Sam's mind, OCD and all. It was a new and interesting POV.
I want to spend a paragraph talking about the main character's friends, because it's a topic that hit home to me. It was great that she hid her disorder, and that she feels that she can't run away from her friends because she has nowhere else to go. Really. I related a lot with the spa scenes, because those things happen and we all have days when nobody cares about us, with or withouh OCD. The fact that a toxic friendship is shown so genuinely, that even the girls realize that they're doing something wrong but they don't care, or don't pay attention to it, was great; because that's how it happens most of the time. Hailey was a really real (ok) character, with the same friendship problems as Sam but with not enough courage or the necessary opportunities to let go, not at that time.
Something quick about the main character I had forgotten: I like she's with the popular kids and not in the nerdy side, not because that brought up a lot more of social pressure, but because it's something new that I've read so little of I don't remember any example right now.
SPOILERS OF CAROLINE ON THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH. Caroline was a really auhentic character, I believed in her as blindly as Sam did. But I have some mixed feelings about her. On one hand her story surprised me, I didn't see it coming and I suffered with Sam in what was left of the book. But on the other hand, as soon as I stopped reading after finding out her identity, a thought like "obviously the depressive girl wasn't going to come up alive" crossed my mind and it hurts. I know people with depression that can "get over it", and I felt it was an offense to all this people with suicidal thoughts that fight day after day with them that the representation they have in this story is one of a girl that couldn't make it. This books is one about self-improvement, about knowing how to live with yourself, and I think that none of the depressive kids this books gets to deserve to be drowned on an stereotype. I know that a single book can't have everything, but I feel like this one, that deals with disorders, should have. END OF SPOILERS.
With AJ I'm like eeeehhhhh... ok. It didn't convince me at all the wat she loved Sam at the beginning, after all that she'd done to him. I went through that and if I see those people on the street I spit them and throw them under a car. But it also felt like it was his way of being. Like when he was a victim and couldn't defend himself, when he refugeed on music, well, he couldn't close the door to Sam. The club scene was beautiful, and I didn't have any more problems with AJ. I think he's much better as a person than that sassy side that comes up when he's with Sam, but I also like the way he is when he is when he's with her. And it was really cute that he talked to Colleen at the end. I ended up liking him a lot.
The ending was perfect, it binded up all the things it needed to, tells the things it has to and nothing else. It gives some hints that Sam's progressing on her compulsive side, and I like it. I also like that this cure doesn't come up magically from AJ, because that'd be the easy way out. I like that it shows us that there's a process, a work and an effort it has to be done in order to get healthier.
Anyways, a book that I love since the moment I started it, and that I love a lot more now that I finished it.
///ESPAÑOL///
Escribir en una tablet a la una y media de la mañana es difícil, ok? Puede que mañana le agregue cosas.
Nunca había leído sobre TOC. Durante un largo rato en mi vida pensé que podría tener un principio de este trastorno, así que el tema me interesó desde el primer momento. La protagonista es más obsesiva que compulsiva, y eso nos hace dar cuenta de que este trastorno no se manifiesta igual en todas las personas, y que vivir con él no es joda.
Me encantó la forma en la que nos metemos en la mente de la protagonista, con TOC y todo. Fue un punto de vista nuevo e interesante.
Quiero dedicar un párrafo para hablar de las amigas de la protagonista, porque es un tema que me toca muy de cerca. Me pareció genial que ella les esconda su enfermedad y que sienta que, al mismo tiempo, no puede escapar de ellas porque no tiene ningún otro lugar adonde ir. En serio. Me llegó muchísimo las escenas que tienen que ver con el spa, porque esas cosas pasan y todos tenemos días donde no le importamos a nadir, con TOC o sin él. El hecho de que se muestre una amistad toxica de forma tan genuina, que hasta las mismas chicas se dan cuenta de que están haciendo algo mal pero no les importa del todo, o no prestan atención, me pareció totalmente genial, porque así es como pasa la mayoría del tiempo. Hailey también me pareció un personaje muy real, con los mismos problemas de amistades que la protagonista pero sin el suficiente valor o las oportunidades necesarias como para dejarse ir, al menos de momento.
Algo rápido sobre la protagonista que se me olvidó decir antes: me gusta que forme parte del grupito popular y no sea una loba solitaria, no sólo porque eso traía mas presión social al asunto, sino también porque es algo nuevo que leí tan poco que no me acuerdo de ningún otro ejemplo.
No tengo ni la mas pálida idea de cómo poner spoilers acá, así que SPOILER SOBRE CAROLINE EN TODO EL PÁRRAFO QUE SIGUE. Caroline me pareció un personaje súper autentico, me !a re trague igual que Sam. Pero tengo sentimientos encontrados en cuanto a ella. Por un lado me sorprendió muchísimo su historia, no la veía venir y sufrí durante lo que quedó del libro con Sam. Pero por otra parte, apenas dejé de leer después de conocer su identidad, el pensamiento de "obvio que la chica con depresión no iba a quedar viva" cruzó mi mente y me duele. Conozco gente con depresión que la sobrelleva súper bien, y me pareció una ofensa a toda esta gente con pensamientos suicidas que luchan día a día con ellos que la representación que tengan en esta historia sea la de una chica que sucumbió. Este libro es sobre superación, sobre saber vivir con uno mismo, y me parece que todos los chicos depresivos s los que llegue este libro tienen derecho a no verse ahogados en un estereotipo. Sé que un sólo libro no puede tener todo, pero me parece que este, que lidia con enfermedades mentales, debería haber tenido eso en cuenta. FIN DEL SPOILER.
Con AJ estoy como que eeeehhhhh... ok. No me convenció mucho al principio la manera en la que llegó a amar a Sam después de lo que ella le había hecho. Yo pasé por eso y si me encuentro a esa gente hoy por la calle la escupo y la tiro abajo de un auto. Pero también me pareció que era la forma de ser de él. Como mientras era víctima no pudo defenderse, como se refugió en la música, tampoco podía cerrarle la puerta a Sam. La escena del club me pareció bellísima, y no tuve más problemas demasiado grandes con AJ. Me parece que es mucho mas buena gente que ese lado sassy que salta s las vista cuando está con Sam, pero también me gusta cómo es con ella y lo veo justificado. Y me pareció muy tierno que haya hablado con Colleen al final. Me terminó gustando mucho.
El final me pareció perfecto, como que cierra todos los hilos que tiene que cerrar, cuenta lo que tiene que contar y ya está. Nos da un par de pistas a que Sam está mejorando su lado compulsivo, y eso me gusta. También me gusta que esta cura no venga mágicamente de AJ, porque esa seria la salida fácil. Me gusta que Nox muestren que hay un proceso, un trabajo y un esfuerzo que hay que hacer para lograr las victorias sobre este trastorno.
En fin, un libro que me encantó desde el momento en el que lo empecé, y que me gusta mucho más ahora que lo terminé.
///ENGLISH///
I had never read anything about OCD before. At one point I thouth I could have some kind of it, so the topic interested me from the beginning. The main character is more obsessive than compulsive, and that makes us realize that this disorder doesn't show up the same in everyone that has it, and that living with it is no joke.
I liked the way we dive into Sam's mind, OCD and all. It was a new and interesting POV.
I want to spend a paragraph talking about the main character's friends, because it's a topic that hit home to me. It was great that she hid her disorder, and that she feels that she can't run away from her friends because she has nowhere else to go. Really. I related a lot with the spa scenes, because those things happen and we all have days when nobody cares about us, with or withouh OCD. The fact that a toxic friendship is shown so genuinely, that even the girls realize that they're doing something wrong but they don't care, or don't pay attention to it, was great; because that's how it happens most of the time. Hailey was a really real (ok) character, with the same friendship problems as Sam but with not enough courage or the necessary opportunities to let go, not at that time.
Something quick about the main character I had forgotten: I like she's with the popular kids and not in the nerdy side, not because that brought up a lot more of social pressure, but because it's something new that I've read so little of I don't remember any example right now.
SPOILERS OF CAROLINE ON THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH. Caroline was a really auhentic character, I believed in her as blindly as Sam did. But I have some mixed feelings about her. On one hand her story surprised me, I didn't see it coming and I suffered with Sam in what was left of the book. But on the other hand, as soon as I stopped reading after finding out her identity, a thought like "obviously the depressive girl wasn't going to come up alive" crossed my mind and it hurts. I know people with depression that can "get over it", and I felt it was an offense to all this people with suicidal thoughts that fight day after day with them that the representation they have in this story is one of a girl that couldn't make it. This books is one about self-improvement, about knowing how to live with yourself, and I think that none of the depressive kids this books gets to deserve to be drowned on an stereotype. I know that a single book can't have everything, but I feel like this one, that deals with disorders, should have. END OF SPOILERS.
With AJ I'm like eeeehhhhh... ok. It didn't convince me at all the wat she loved Sam at the beginning, after all that she'd done to him. I went through that and if I see those people on the street I spit them and throw them under a car. But it also felt like it was his way of being. Like when he was a victim and couldn't defend himself, when he refugeed on music, well, he couldn't close the door to Sam. The club scene was beautiful, and I didn't have any more problems with AJ. I think he's much better as a person than that sassy side that comes up when he's with Sam, but I also like the way he is when he is when he's with her. And it was really cute that he talked to Colleen at the end. I ended up liking him a lot.
The ending was perfect, it binded up all the things it needed to, tells the things it has to and nothing else. It gives some hints that Sam's progressing on her compulsive side, and I like it. I also like that this cure doesn't come up magically from AJ, because that'd be the easy way out. I like that it shows us that there's a process, a work and an effort it has to be done in order to get healthier.
Anyways, a book that I love since the moment I started it, and that I love a lot more now that I finished it.
ireadbooks_10's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tishywishy's review against another edition
3.0
Intriguing start to the book and parts of the plot became obvious about midway through the book. Although I felt like there could have been more discussions about her disorder, the book was ok.
sheborrowsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I was bit unsure what to rate this book because on one hand I did enjoy reading it and I found it dealt with challenging issues which I appreciate. On the other hand I'm not sure it always hit the level of depth it needed to with the heavier issues of mental illness and bullying. The book focuses on a teen with OCD and I felt that it was well portrayed, especially for an oft misrepresented illness. In saying that, I will acknowledge it will not represent everyone's experiences with the illness as like most mental illnesse it is not identical for all.
I did feel like I gained a greater understanding of OCD but even as Sam faces big challenges things seem to always work out very smoothly for her. I don't feel like this is true to most people's experiences. That is why I dropped it to 3.5 but I still very much recommend this book especially for teenagers or just for those looking for insight about OCD.
I did feel like I gained a greater understanding of OCD but even as Sam faces big challenges things seem to always work out very smoothly for her. I don't feel like this is true to most people's experiences. That is why I dropped it to 3.5 but I still very much recommend this book especially for teenagers or just for those looking for insight about OCD.
trishki's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
antonija_markulin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0