Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

48 reviews

myynverse's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

As someone with OCD, this book definitely hits close to home. The depth of the characters is beautiful and you definitely build a connection, however, I feel like the book is very lighthearted in a sense. It seems a little more idealistic but it doesn't romanticize mental illnesses. There is not a single "cure" to her behavior and she is instead motivated to navigate how to seek help. The plot twist is also written so well that I still feel impacted by it 6 years later. Definitely a good read but I think people without similar mental conditions should do some research to help fill the gaps.

Content Warnings

jamespotterluv's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

honestly. wow. everyone needs to read this. it's a book, yet so much more. there's times where i laughed, smiled, cried. i saw the plot twist coming, but seconds before it came. kind of like when you hit a wall and then realise it's a wall. it's fiction, but it's not. i don't completely relate to the character, but in different ways i do. it was really moving and could probably help a lot of people. it's realistic. it portrays ocd in a way i haven't seen ocd portrayed (yet) and it's an ACCURATE portrayal. it's not only the "addicted to cleaning" misconception. every word added something. it's not a light book. there are light moments, funny moments, but it's not a light book. i think that's important. it approaches topics that need to be approached. i won't spoil the ending, but the ending did the mc justice. i loved this book. i hate odd numbers and not using a half/quarter star rating, but i can't give it anything else. i can't find a flaw. even when the words weren't the poetry that surrounds the plot, the words were poetry. if that makes sense. i was expecting a good book but it's honestly incredible.

Content Warnings

tbs250's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

josefinemartensson's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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? Yes

3.75

Inspiring story!

I loved the main character. Even though I couldn't relate to her on the OCD side, I could relate to her in many other ways. I really appreciated that the mc felt like a teenager. Even though she had big problems in her life, like her OCD, other problems that teens go trough wasn't neglected. My favorite part of the book was the therapy sessions!

This book just made me feel safe:))

Content Warnings

sydneys_bookshelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

it’s always gonna be my favorite book. it may not be perfect but i will always hold it close to my chest.

Content Warnings

autumnrh's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

3.0

I wouldn’t say it was my favorite but it definitely wasn’t too bad. I didn’t like the writing at first, it just wasn’t my preferred style but it really grew on me by the end. There are a couple things I didn’t like about it. The main thing was that the bigger girl always wrote on food wrappers or always wrote about food. I don’t know this just seemed a bit distasteful considering it made up most of her personality that we perceived. I do understand that she was a confident and funny character but it just didn’t sit too well with me. The writing of the romance is done pretty well I would say I loved the tension. It was a pretty decent read.

Content Warnings

obsessively's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

4.5

Content Warnings

menglert's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Wooooof. I very nearly DNFed this book, but I finished it in hopes of seeing it improve. First a few disclaimers from me:

I am a 21 year old adult with diagnosed OCD. I know that every case of OCD is different, but I have had a lot of experience.
I am reading this seven years after it was published, having a lot more knowledge about diversity and mental health issues than most people had in 2015.
I know this is a YA book.

I went into this expecting a story that was pretty emotional and real (at least in the realm of YA books). By the end, I was so frustrated at the lack of any depth for some of the characters.

Sydney, a "plus-size" girl, writes all of her poetry on fast-food wrappers (and guess what, almost all of it is about food). Beyond food, we know her for being nice.
Jessica, "the African American girl with long black braids," is the only character in the book described to be any race other than White. We know nothing about her other than she's really confident, has a "booming voice," and "waves her arms animatedly" while telling a story. This feels like a microaggression..
Pretty much every man in this story who isn't over the age of 21 (with the exception of one of the Poets) is described as "sexy." Literally the word "sexy." It was painful.
First half of book spoiler
AJ was relentlessly bullied by the Crazy Eights for having a stutter. Of course, his stutter fixed itself before Sam started thinking he was attractive...

Now, onto the OCD things.

This is a nitpick, but the odometer reading thing was so stupid. I looked it up, and 62% of students in California (where I'm assuming this takes place because of multiple buildings and outdoor lunches) live within TWO MILES of their school. And you're trying to tell me she drives around the school parking lot until the full trip took 10 miles??? What is that?
Obsessing over conversations and others' perception of you was pretty accurately portrayed here. Frequently seeking reassurance, thoughts snowballing until you can't stop them, all good.
I don't really understand the weird romantic zone-outs she has with her swim coach and then AJ. Is this supposed to be a part of her OCD? In some ways, it's written like it is, but also there's no frustration or other consequences that come from it.
End of book spoiler
While I'm happy for Sam and glad that getting good friends has helped relax her OCD, but it very much felt like her psychiatrist was like, "What if you stop obsessing over the number 3?" and then poof everything is fine.
The only time we see Sam's OCD have any directly negative effects on her is during the very first scene. The things she does out of her obsessive thoughts and treated more like inconveniences than sources of frustration and anger. Even when she stops taking her sleeping medication, nothing bad happens because of it. This made her disorder feel more like a character quirk than a debilitating mental illness.

Overall, yikes. Don't give this to any young, impressionable minds.

Content Warnings

ayomallama's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was an amazing book. I did see the twist coming though, but other than that, I really enjoyed this read.

Content Warnings

amiyaabrown's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-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

4.5

really interesting book! i like the idea of writing about a disorder that heavily effects many people (and especially seeing the effects on someone young and in school). the book felt very adolescent though… (idk a better wording😭). it wasnt a bad book it was very interesting it’s just very kiddy. i like the romance aspect and i like how everything came full circle but i don’t see myself reading this again. i wasnt into the story enough and it’s VERY slow paced and i don’t like those😭.

Content Warnings

More...