Scan barcode
carriesouthard's review
3.0
This book was pretty good but I expected it to be more of a love story than a story of triumph so I was a bit disappointed. But still touches on some tough subjects and could possibly give those without mental disorders a picture of that kind of life.
morganrondo's review
5.0
This book represents OCD very well. It shows many different ways the disorder can present itself and even includes ERP (exposure and response prevention therapy), the recommended treatment for OCD.
squirrelsohno's review
4.0
I read OCD LOVE STORY on pretty much a whim. After picking it up at the ALA Annual Convention in Chicago, also pretty much on a whim, I pulled it out one day and began to read without a second thought. Having never experienced OCD, nor having experienced any real mental concerns outside your standard teenage therapy for “issues” as my mother referred to them, I’m not sure if Corey Anne Haydu got the experience correct in her young adult debut, but what I did find was a sweet story about a girl struggling to fix herself while being exceptionally creepy.
I mean it. Seriously. I got so much second-hand embarrassment from this book that it barely gets four stars. Bea, you creepy, creepy girl. Rooting for you was hard when you were seriously stalking people and going over the edge of what was illegal.
SWEET CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
At its heart, it’s hard to remember sometimes that OCD LOVE STORY is just that – the story of two teens with OCD who are falling in love, albeit in a very strange way. They meet at a dance where the power goes off and Bea helps Beck through a panic attack and kisses him before he bolts into the darkness. When they meet again in group therapy, they both know, but both realize that they have some big issues to work past. Like Bea being an obsessive note-taking stalker afraid of driving and weapons, and Beck being compelled to work out constantly and wash his hands.
It’s a match made in OCD heaven. Except for the fact Bea is stalking a rock star and his wife after overhearing them at therapy, and her compulsions are getting worse.
But it’s a romance! And it’s sweet! And it has a definite sexy side. I mean, there is naughtiness in the woods. How often do you see that in YA? Bea and Beck might have issues, but I really did like them together. What I didn’t like was Bea’s recollections of her past boyfriends, which never did thoroughly explain what happened to them. We’re given vague details about why one is in prison and one she can never speak to again, but never any concrete details. It’s frustrating.
WITH A SIDE OF SECOND-HAND EMBARRASSMENT
But my biggest problem with OCD LOVE STORY, the problem that earns this book more of a 3.5 instead of a 4 in my book, is the fact that I had to skip pages after Bea’s compulsions made me very, very embarrassed for her. This was a girl ruled by her compulsions, except sometimes what she did was not just illegal but very awkward.
Bea is a stalker, but how she goes about it just creeped me out. I didn’t mind the details about her other compulsions, like note-taking about crashes and serial killers and what not. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never spent hours on Wikipedia late at night doing the same thing. Luckily I don’t have OCD. I really don’t think I could handle it, especially not washing hands constantly, and ESPECIALLY not working out until I fell over and had to have someone pick me up before I ended up in the hospital.
All in all, would I suggest OCD LOVE STORY? Definitely, especially if you are into lighter contemporary romances for teens. While it certainly has its faults, from focusing too much on miniscule, unimportant details to forgetting others entirely, Haydu’s debut is an approachable, warming story about one girl getting over her faults and learning to live – and love – again.
VERDICT: While suffering some faults, most importantly making the reader feel embarrassed for the character, OCD LOVE STORY is a heartwarming, cute romantic comedy for teens. Recommended with a few reservations.
I mean it. Seriously. I got so much second-hand embarrassment from this book that it barely gets four stars. Bea, you creepy, creepy girl. Rooting for you was hard when you were seriously stalking people and going over the edge of what was illegal.
SWEET CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
At its heart, it’s hard to remember sometimes that OCD LOVE STORY is just that – the story of two teens with OCD who are falling in love, albeit in a very strange way. They meet at a dance where the power goes off and Bea helps Beck through a panic attack and kisses him before he bolts into the darkness. When they meet again in group therapy, they both know, but both realize that they have some big issues to work past. Like Bea being an obsessive note-taking stalker afraid of driving and weapons, and Beck being compelled to work out constantly and wash his hands.
It’s a match made in OCD heaven. Except for the fact Bea is stalking a rock star and his wife after overhearing them at therapy, and her compulsions are getting worse.
But it’s a romance! And it’s sweet! And it has a definite sexy side. I mean, there is naughtiness in the woods. How often do you see that in YA? Bea and Beck might have issues, but I really did like them together. What I didn’t like was Bea’s recollections of her past boyfriends, which never did thoroughly explain what happened to them. We’re given vague details about why one is in prison and one she can never speak to again, but never any concrete details. It’s frustrating.
WITH A SIDE OF SECOND-HAND EMBARRASSMENT
But my biggest problem with OCD LOVE STORY, the problem that earns this book more of a 3.5 instead of a 4 in my book, is the fact that I had to skip pages after Bea’s compulsions made me very, very embarrassed for her. This was a girl ruled by her compulsions, except sometimes what she did was not just illegal but very awkward.
Bea is a stalker, but how she goes about it just creeped me out. I didn’t mind the details about her other compulsions, like note-taking about crashes and serial killers and what not. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never spent hours on Wikipedia late at night doing the same thing. Luckily I don’t have OCD. I really don’t think I could handle it, especially not washing hands constantly, and ESPECIALLY not working out until I fell over and had to have someone pick me up before I ended up in the hospital.
All in all, would I suggest OCD LOVE STORY? Definitely, especially if you are into lighter contemporary romances for teens. While it certainly has its faults, from focusing too much on miniscule, unimportant details to forgetting others entirely, Haydu’s debut is an approachable, warming story about one girl getting over her faults and learning to live – and love – again.
VERDICT: While suffering some faults, most importantly making the reader feel embarrassed for the character, OCD LOVE STORY is a heartwarming, cute romantic comedy for teens. Recommended with a few reservations.
mischief_in_the_library's review
4.0
Such is the limitation to my knowledge of OCD (even though I'm halfway to being an actual psychologist) I didn't even connect the OCD in the title to Bea's OCD until it was actually diagnosed a few chapters in. I held off judging whether this was a good book until I read some reviews to determine whether people found this an accurate portrayal of OCD or not - and it seems like they do.
In which case, I think this is an amazing book. Firstly, how it didn't caricature Bea into the sort of person everyone thinks of when they think of OCD - obsessive cleanliness, counting actions, order - and so it was a great insight into what it's actually like to live with this sort of thing. Some of the other reviewers hit it right on the head - reading this raises your own anxiety levels significantly. It's a hard read, at times, but very worth it.
In which case, I think this is an amazing book. Firstly, how it didn't caricature Bea into the sort of person everyone thinks of when they think of OCD - obsessive cleanliness, counting actions, order - and so it was a great insight into what it's actually like to live with this sort of thing. Some of the other reviewers hit it right on the head - reading this raises your own anxiety levels significantly. It's a hard read, at times, but very worth it.
ajmarrs's review
4.0
This was a charming, oddly captivating read. The main character stressed me out a bit because her OCD just IS stressful, but it made for an intriguing, unique story (a word I don't throw around loosely). I enjoyed the pacing and the slow reveals throughout the book that helped explain the compulsions. But can I just say that Lish is the worst friend ever, and I wish she would've got what was coming to her? Oh, I also completely empathized with Bea's total terror of driving. I always feel that panic.
goosemixtapes's review
3.0
i will admit i have some conflicting feelings about this one, which is inevitable, because OCD is one of those topics i'm incapable of shutting the fuck up about. my tl;dr is that i'd give this 3.5 stars and i agree with basically everything said in this review. my other scattered thoughts are as follows:
>i was never sure how much i actually liked bea. i could empathize with her, of course, but every once in a while she'd say or do something that had me squinting. i don't even mean the stalking, because that's clearly a compulsion, or the internalized ableism, because that's to some degree deconstructed; i mean, like, kissing a guy right after he has a panic attack, or saying that it's sexy to see him drugged up on anxiety meds.
>i say the internalized ableism is deconstructed to some degree. not fully. and, IMO, that goes hand-in-hand with the fact that lisha does not feel nearly held responsible for her ableism. i do think she did the right thing in the end by, and i'm not even blaming her for being exhausted by her friendship with bea, because dealing with OCD is exhausting for the sufferer and the people around them! i also understand that i'm predisposed to fucking hate lisha because i'm very sensitive about the way neurotypical people perceive OCD! but ohhhh my fucking god. this girl really called beck a freak repeatedly and continuously antagonized him and also talked about wanting to make "normal" friends at college and then we BARELY EVER CAME BACK TO THAT and . on god i've never wanted to beat up a YA best friend character this bad
>beck... i like beck. i have very soft feelings toward beck. i think that's in part because he and i have some of the same compulsions; it was very strange and tender to read about him because it was sort of like reading about myself in the third-person, and the fact that the narrative treats him with clear empathy meant a lot.
>this book never had me in a stranglehold the way turtles all the way down did (i think it's impressive that i've gone this long in this review without mentioning that book because it's the only other book i've ever read about OCD that actually worked for me), but it definitely does Get It. (i was never fully triggered, but some of this was exhausting to read; my brain got a little skittery.) which i was kind of pleasantly surprised about! honestly, i'm not sure the summary sells this book very well - even the cover is full of repetitions of "i will not stalk that boy," but there's no love triangle here and bea arguably never has romantic/sexual feelings for the object of her stalking, which is very clearly a compulsion and driven by runaway anxiety. + the romance, while it exists, is definitely backseat to the mental health aspect.
>and yet... i honestly just wish this book had gone FURTHER with the mental health stuff. not even, necessarily, in representation of bea's symptoms (in the beginning it felt much more focused on her external compulsions instead of the thought processes driving them, but that evened out as we went on), but in the recovery process. i'm very iffy about how this book presents exposure therapy; i know my experience isn't 1:1 with everyone else's, but bea's exposure therapy seems... rather too sudden and too fast. rather than easing her into anything, her therapist really kind of just... shoves her right at the problem. and it works! very fast! faster than maybe it should! the last chapter of the book in particular felt like a strange time-skip to bea being Abruptly Much Better, which was cheering to see, but i wasn't entirely sure the book had earned it. also, like, let's get into some of the other stuff glossed over! let's get into lisha's drinking issues! let's get into rudy and fawn and jenny! let's take it a little further and get a little deeper and grittier!
overall, though, despite my gripes, i think this is a pretty good book, both in general and about OCD. like, if i met a neurotypical person whose main exposure to actual non-sensationalized OCD was this book, i'd be able to work with that, i think. that would be just fine. also, i read this in four days and would have finished it faster if not for school, so that's a point in its favor, i'd say.
>i was never sure how much i actually liked bea. i could empathize with her, of course, but every once in a while she'd say or do something that had me squinting. i don't even mean the stalking, because that's clearly a compulsion, or the internalized ableism, because that's to some degree deconstructed; i mean, like, kissing a guy right after he has a panic attack, or saying that it's sexy to see him drugged up on anxiety meds.
>i say the internalized ableism is deconstructed to some degree. not fully. and, IMO, that goes hand-in-hand with the fact that lisha does not feel nearly held responsible for her ableism. i do think she did the right thing in the end by
Spoiler
handing in bea's journalSpoiler
the very last chapter saw bea and lisha friends again after the world's most half-assed apology>beck... i like beck. i have very soft feelings toward beck. i think that's in part because he and i have some of the same compulsions; it was very strange and tender to read about him because it was sort of like reading about myself in the third-person, and the fact that the narrative treats him with clear empathy meant a lot.
>this book never had me in a stranglehold the way turtles all the way down did (i think it's impressive that i've gone this long in this review without mentioning that book because it's the only other book i've ever read about OCD that actually worked for me), but it definitely does Get It. (i was never fully triggered, but some of this was exhausting to read; my brain got a little skittery.) which i was kind of pleasantly surprised about! honestly, i'm not sure the summary sells this book very well - even the cover is full of repetitions of "i will not stalk that boy," but there's no love triangle here and bea arguably never has romantic/sexual feelings for the object of her stalking, which is very clearly a compulsion and driven by runaway anxiety. + the romance, while it exists, is definitely backseat to the mental health aspect.
>and yet... i honestly just wish this book had gone FURTHER with the mental health stuff. not even, necessarily, in representation of bea's symptoms (in the beginning it felt much more focused on her external compulsions instead of the thought processes driving them, but that evened out as we went on), but in the recovery process. i'm very iffy about how this book presents exposure therapy; i know my experience isn't 1:1 with everyone else's, but bea's exposure therapy seems... rather too sudden and too fast. rather than easing her into anything, her therapist really kind of just... shoves her right at the problem. and it works! very fast! faster than maybe it should! the last chapter of the book in particular felt like a strange time-skip to bea being Abruptly Much Better, which was cheering to see, but i wasn't entirely sure the book had earned it. also, like, let's get into some of the other stuff glossed over! let's get into lisha's drinking issues! let's get into rudy and fawn and jenny! let's take it a little further and get a little deeper and grittier!
overall, though, despite my gripes, i think this is a pretty good book, both in general and about OCD. like, if i met a neurotypical person whose main exposure to actual non-sensationalized OCD was this book, i'd be able to work with that, i think. that would be just fine. also, i read this in four days and would have finished it faster if not for school, so that's a point in its favor, i'd say.
rdyourbookcase's review
4.0
I was just expecting a quirky, cute love story. I got so much more from this book. If you liked the show Go On, you'll enjoy this book. Bea learns she has OCD and is working to fix it. Easier said than done, for sure. Beck is in her group and he's working on fixing his illness, too. It has the potential for heartbreak and creates stressful situations for the reader - but there were plenty of cute, romantic moments, too. You really root for these characters both individually and as a couple. Definitely worth reading.
casshole3's review
5.0
4.5 ⭐️ •
I really really enjoyed this! Mental health/anxiety/OCD isn't a light topic but the author made it moving and hilarious all at once.
I really really enjoyed this! Mental health/anxiety/OCD isn't a light topic but the author made it moving and hilarious all at once.
emilyholladay's review
4.0
It's been so long since I've read a book that hooked me from the first line and wouldn't let me go. OCD Love Story isn't an easy read by any means, and it'll probably make you think twice before you flippantly say, "I'm so OCD," but it was so good. This 300 page novel perfectly captures the awkwardness of teenage relationships, exacerbated by mental illness. I've heard that reading fiction makes people more compassionate, and this book brings a lot of truth to that statement.
sidneyellwood's review
5.0
i thought this book did a very good portrayal of what it might be like to live with ocd. i don't have ocd, but i do have anxiety and i had a period where it was drifting off into ocd-like symptoms, and i related strongly to bea. both of the characters were very likable, and the romance wasn't nauseating like it is in most young adult novels.