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A review by ranniewhitlock
Pure by Rose Cartwright
3.0
I started this after watching the tv show that it’s based on, which I loved so much for being one of the only accurate portrayals of OCD in the media. I was so excited to read this, and expected to devour it in a few days, but halfway through, I ended up putting it aside for several months.
The show left me in tears multiple times for how absolutely real it felt, and the relief that something like it exists in the world as a piece of art. Even after being diagnosed for several years, the show opened up several new conversations and ways to help my husband understand what it’s like in my head all the time. So I expected the book to be similar - maybe even something I could give to my parents to read (something a little tamer than the necessary but still graphic show.)
But there’s a distance in the book that I can’t quite figure out. We get lots of detail of Rose’s thoughts, and the way it affected her, but it still feels a little bit…intellectualized, maybe? The time skips (which I usually don’t mind) didn’t seem to serve the story as much as everything being laid out chronologically would have, since it requires a lot of knowledge/remember of Rose’s personal history. Overall, I found the show more relatable, and easier to use as a conversation starter, and I’m usually a book person all the way.
All in all, I’m so grateful for Rose, for the work she does, and for her bravery in sharing her story. And the show wouldn’t exist without this book. So any personal nitpicks aside, I’m glad I read this, and I’m so glad it exists.
The show left me in tears multiple times for how absolutely real it felt, and the relief that something like it exists in the world as a piece of art. Even after being diagnosed for several years, the show opened up several new conversations and ways to help my husband understand what it’s like in my head all the time. So I expected the book to be similar - maybe even something I could give to my parents to read (something a little tamer than the necessary but still graphic show.)
But there’s a distance in the book that I can’t quite figure out. We get lots of detail of Rose’s thoughts, and the way it affected her, but it still feels a little bit…intellectualized, maybe? The time skips (which I usually don’t mind) didn’t seem to serve the story as much as everything being laid out chronologically would have, since it requires a lot of knowledge/remember of Rose’s personal history. Overall, I found the show more relatable, and easier to use as a conversation starter, and I’m usually a book person all the way.
All in all, I’m so grateful for Rose, for the work she does, and for her bravery in sharing her story. And the show wouldn’t exist without this book. So any personal nitpicks aside, I’m glad I read this, and I’m so glad it exists.