OCD Love story
7/31/2016
Bea knows she's crazy. She'll admit that much, as she stands around at a school dance, helping the mysterious Beck through a panic attack. If she were normal, she wouldn't be visiting a therapist every week or recording the lives of two fabulous strangers, Austin and Sylvia, in an ugly notebook every chance she gets. She wouldn't have a scrapbook of articles devoted to horrible accidents and deaths either. But talking to a guy at a dance, even a possibly crazy one, must at least be a good sign, right?
She thought she was getting just a little better, that she wasn't a complete weirdo. So when her therapist moves her into group therapy, it all comes as a slap in the face. On the good side, she finds herself face to face with Beck. The bad side? She's been given a handful of OCD pamphlets to read through.
Even as she struggles with her OCD diagnosis, Bea slowly begins to fall in love with Beck and comes to think that at least with that, she isn't all that crazy. But will her stalker compulsions towards another guy she's never even talked to rip away her one piece of normalcy?
What I loved about OCD LOVE STORY was its honesty. Page after page, Corey Ann Haydu creates a character who lays out the situation as it is --- no flowers, no beating around the bush and no hiding from the ugly truth of the matter. Through Bea's lighthearted, pleading voice, Haydu creates a story that takes itself, and the issues it brings up, seriously. I fell in love with Bea's character right away for that honesty and voice. Though Bea played up the idea of stereotypes, she never was one. Her character was unique and interesting. The voice was very real, and I instantly began to sympathize with her and connect with her. Coupled with the excellent writing, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the pages.
Admittedly, when I first cracked open the pages, I expected to delve into a romance. Instead, I was given a heartbreaking story about a girl trying to figure herself out and keep herself together all at the same time. OCD LOVE STORY weaves together a fantastic story of struggle and triumph as it asks readers to understand, even if it's just a little, what the characters are going through. The combination of character development, story, voice and writing made this a must-read story for the summer.
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