Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

13 reviews

autumnrh's review against another edition

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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.

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menglert's review against another edition

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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.

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marie_reads_again's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

WOW WOW WOW 
Just finished it but I am SPEECHLESS. It was a great book, nothing I expected. I was able to read it very quickly, as it was very intruiging the whole time. Gonna have to think about it for some time to settle my thoughts and add some aspects to the review. 

Can recommend this book a lot, though! 

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