What we get in ‘ Every Last Word’ is a brilliant first person experience of a young girl experiencing OCD, her triggers, her coping mechanisms, and how she grows and adapts throughout high school and friendships. Though, Stone addresses this in the novel brilliantly. Plus, some of the attitudes reflected from Sam’s high school friends feels very mean-girl-esque, and I simply have no time, and low tolerance, for this type of behaviour. I have OCD, and much of the descriptions of Sam’s attacks I’ve had to deal with in the past, so ‘ Every Last Word’ may have a stronger negative emotional impact on me than another reader. Maybe pose a great juxtaposition for what Sam has to suffer through?Īdditionally this was a triggering story for me personally. It’s hard to talk about a serious ailment without it feeling heavy or depressing, but I would have liked some more levity to break up the narrative and offer some respite. But it was the tone of ‘ Every Last Word’ that is holding me back. I feel accurate representation is paramount, and Tamara Ireland Stone deals with this topic sensitively through the experiences of our protagonist Samantha ‘Sam’ McAllister. The way it deals with mental illness, primarily OCD is masterful. I am tossing up whether to award this a higher rating. until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear. Slowly, she begins to feel more “normal” than she ever has as part of the popular crowd. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself.
So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam’s weekly visits to her psychiatrist.Ĭaroline introduces Sam to Poet’s Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off.
Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. If you could read my mind, you wouldn’t be smiling.
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