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A review by ashction
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
5.0
Wow... I'm absolutely stunned by how fantastic this book was! I was pretty intrigued by it last year; it received so much buzz on BookTube and though I definitely shouldn't have judged a book by it's cover, it totally drew me in. This book was a phenomenal contemporary (realistic? I'm not too sure on the differences, if any?) YA novel and I highly recommend it!
I was really pleased to find out this book had to deal with poetry, and I was even more pleased reading it and seeing simple poetry. I think I often forget that poetry is incredibly individual and not always mad elaborate, and though I know the characters in the story didn't actually write these poems, there was such a uniqueness in each person's style that I truly believed it was real. This novel was extremely poignant and put OCD in a new light (though, admitted by both myself and the protag/author, Sam's OCD was much more mild than some cases, so it's important not to romanticize or belittle OCD just because of how it was portrayed), and it also attacked self-esteem issues that are relatable to everyone regardless of mental or physical disorders.
I think the most thrilling thing about this novel is the surprise twist, which I absolutely GUARANTEE you will not see coming! I was blown away by the entire thing, which hasn't happened in a while with a good YA contemporary/realistic novel, so props to Stone! I don't think I'd ever buy this book now that I've read it once; the surprise is a one-time thing, but I highly recommend picking it up and reading it. Maybe someday I'll own it if I find it discounted, because it truly was fantastic and I could easily see myself picking it up again someday. If you're even remotely interested, I highly suggest you pick this one up - I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I was really pleased to find out this book had to deal with poetry, and I was even more pleased reading it and seeing simple poetry. I think I often forget that poetry is incredibly individual and not always mad elaborate, and though I know the characters in the story didn't actually write these poems, there was such a uniqueness in each person's style that I truly believed it was real. This novel was extremely poignant and put OCD in a new light (though, admitted by both myself and the protag/author, Sam's OCD was much more mild than some cases, so it's important not to romanticize or belittle OCD just because of how it was portrayed), and it also attacked self-esteem issues that are relatable to everyone regardless of mental or physical disorders.
I think the most thrilling thing about this novel is the surprise twist, which I absolutely GUARANTEE you will not see coming! I was blown away by the entire thing, which hasn't happened in a while with a good YA contemporary/realistic novel, so props to Stone! I don't think I'd ever buy this book now that I've read it once; the surprise is a one-time thing, but I highly recommend picking it up and reading it. Maybe someday I'll own it if I find it discounted, because it truly was fantastic and I could easily see myself picking it up again someday. If you're even remotely interested, I highly suggest you pick this one up - I don't think you'll be disappointed.