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A review by nyx89
The Notations of Cooper Cameron by Jane O'Reilly
4.0
*I received an advance copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a very heartfelt, poignant novel about a young boy struggling with OCD after the death of his grandfather. Believing his grandfather's death to be his fault, Cooper invents rituals he must complete in order to prevent the rest of his family from dying. These same rituals end up causing a rift in Cooper's family; his father just can't understand or accept him. But with the help of his sister who is "becoming more and more believable every day" and some new friends he makes along the way, Cooper gradually begins to understand that he can't control everything, and that he wasn't responsible for his grandfather's death.
At times this novel got quite heavy. It deals with some mature themes, such as death, grief, mental illness and the stigma that comes with it. Cooper is wise beyond his years, always scribbling down words of wisdom in his notebook. I'm tempted to recommend this book only to older readers, but the prose isn't that difficult, and I think the author does a really good job of portraying a highly misunderstood mental illness. So while I'm not sure that every reader will enjoy this story, I think it definitely deserves to be read far and wide.
This was a very heartfelt, poignant novel about a young boy struggling with OCD after the death of his grandfather. Believing his grandfather's death to be his fault, Cooper invents rituals he must complete in order to prevent the rest of his family from dying. These same rituals end up causing a rift in Cooper's family; his father just can't understand or accept him. But with the help of his sister who is "becoming more and more believable every day" and some new friends he makes along the way, Cooper gradually begins to understand that he can't control everything, and that he wasn't responsible for his grandfather's death.
At times this novel got quite heavy. It deals with some mature themes, such as death, grief, mental illness and the stigma that comes with it. Cooper is wise beyond his years, always scribbling down words of wisdom in his notebook. I'm tempted to recommend this book only to older readers, but the prose isn't that difficult, and I think the author does a really good job of portraying a highly misunderstood mental illness. So while I'm not sure that every reader will enjoy this story, I think it definitely deserves to be read far and wide.