Every Last Word

My TBR pile and wheel has several YA novels leftover from my career as a school librarian. Oddly, my first spins yielded two titles from those selections. Perhaps fate’s way of easing me into reading post-teaching?

The novel I read yesterday was Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. This novel explored a myriad of topics: OCD, depression, anxiety, friendship, and forgiveness. Samantha/Sam is a fringe member of her high school's “popular” crowd, but hides a near crippling OCD condition fearing that this will cause her to lose her friends. We see Sam through the lens of her swimming, appointments with her therapist, and interacting with her friends. At the beginning of the school year Sam meets a fellow student, completely different from her friends, who introduces her to a secret poetry group. Through this group, Sam begins to explore who she is and what truly matters to her. 

There are several twists and turns in this story, a few of which I did not anticipate. The characters were the archetypical high school students, and it did feel as though some of the plot turns were a little too pat. A good read for those who enjoy high school angsty romance.