OCD Love Story is a stand alone book. Before I get into the review, I am going to get this over with now. Mental illness of any sort is not something to be taken lightly. I know this is a touchy subject for some and I will not hold it against you if you do not want to read my review. I will try not to offend anyone but we all know that isn't always possible. If I at any time offend you, please know I did not intentionally mean to do it. I do not tolerate people making fun of others with mental illnesses, and just in general making fun of others. With that being said, please enjoy.
Bea doesn't look like a girl with problems on the outside. When Beck comes into her life she knows immediately that he is in her boat, more or less. He's strong, sweet, and he understands her like no one else, and he makes her feel almost normal. Maybe falling in love could be possible again because of Beck. Unfortunately Bea can't stop thinking about another guy. He doesn't know she exists, but Bea thinks he walks on water. She knows more than she should about this other guy, she watches him a lot. Bea even has a notebook full of little notes about him, anyone who knows about the journal thinks she's obsessed. Bea thinks she has it all under control, it's her choice, right? No. It's a compulsion, it is getting worse, and Bea is about to burst.
All of my previous reviews have some sort of supernatural part to it. OCD Love Story is 100% humans from the first page to the last and it was refreshing. I love the names for the main characters, especially Bea and Beck. It reminded me of Darren Shan's Demonata book Bec. Both have the two main characters names start with B. I liked that though this subject is taboo for some and Haydu wrote about it anyways. I don't feel as though she played anything up or down, because each individual is different. I like that for Bea one on one and group therapy didn't help until Dr. Pat knew what was going on fully. Bea is a beautiful character and it goes to show that sometimes even the beautiful are "flawed" in a way, but can get better when taking the correct path. I also like that Haydu indirectly shows that everything you do will come back to you in some way or another, be it good or bad. Like for Bea, not opening up in her group sessions prolongs her getting better and makes the compulsions and other things that she does worse. With everything that I did like there was almost an equal amount of things I wasn't too keen on.
Soon after the story starts you know that Bea has a mental illness that was brought on by a really tough time in her life. Being young and going through and seeing the things she did, made her little OCD skyrocket. That being said when she starts seeing Dr. Pat, she knows Bea's past and knows that she has a tendency to stalk. People should have been on the look out for the signs that she might be doing it again. With any illness be it mental, or addiction, people have a chance to relapse. Catching these relapses can save someone. Another thing is that, as much as I enjoyed reading OCD Love Story I found myself easily distracted, which made getting through this book a little longer. Bea's backstory is strewn throughout the book and you get it in snippets, but for me it wasn't enough. I kept getting confused about who was who is Bea's past and what exactly they did to trigger Bea's OCD, and anxiety. Now that isn't because this is a human based story, I have read plenty of human based stories and had no problems. Like people, books are different from one another unless specified. One other thing is that Bea didn't start to get better until the very end.
Bea and Beck are a cute couple and they work together to get better. Don't get me wrong with the things that I complained about, this book was a good book. I don't know if I would necessarily go out and buy it, but if I were to stumble upon it and it was at a cheap price I might grab it up. I would reread this book, just at a much later date. I recommend this book to those who want to read something that is more down to earth, it is a "teen" book, there is a little bit of sexual talk but nothing super serious.
Rating: lower 4 out of 5.
Page Count: 341 pages (hardcover)
Price: $17.99
Next Book: Hell's Horizon by Darren Shan
Stay tuned for my ~late~ May book haul! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
~Jade
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