“…I can hear this one thought hiding in the dark corners of my mind. It doesn’t attack like the others, but it’s frightening in a totally different way. Because it’s the one that never leaves. And it’s the one that scares me the most. What if I’m crazy?”
Protagonist Samantha, or ‘Sam’ McAllister, is a junior in high school who struggles with purely-obsessional obsessive-compulsive disorder in Tamara Ireland Stone’s “Every Last Word.”
To protect her social status, she hides her dark and consuming thoughts from her toxic friend group, “the Crazy Eights.” But when she meets Caroline, who introduces her to Poets Corner, a small group of misfits who share poetry in a hidden room in the school, Sam finds new people to connect with, beginning a journey of mental health recovery and self discovery.
Many popular young adult novels display emotional depth tied with romance and a solid plot. Likewise, “Every Last Word” provides a moving story with Sam navigating her mental health, finding love in the process and uncovering a shocking plot twist.
“Every Last Word” gave a different perspective to consider. Since Sam is a part of a stereotypical popular friend group who bully and are toxic, I would think all of them are like that inside and out. However, having a perspective of someone on the inside made me realize that not everyone’s actions are the true representation of their real selves.
A Goodreads reviewer, Destiny Sidwell, adds on to this, feeling that the emotional elements were balanced well with the book’s good messages.
“It was so refreshing to see a book talk about mental ‘illnesses’ in such a light that can be understood from people on the outside,” Sidwell said. “I loved the way it represents how people deal with different versions of their mental illness and how the popular crowd doesn’t mean everything, and even the people who seem like they have it all have their own issues. I love the poetry club and all the personalities that are in it! Also love the twist of the book it was so unexpected!”
While many aspects of the book are appreciated by many people, some don’t see it being a strong book, missing what OCD is truly like.
One Goodreads reviewer, ‘Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies’, believes the story was not realistic and overlooked major problems.
“This book is a saccharine sweet fairy tale version of a very real mental illness, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), as well as the very serious issue of bullying, without true emotional depth,” Khanh said. “It is unrealistic, it is a Disney-fied version of real life, complete with a happy ending.”
I do see how the bullying wasn’t taken as seriously as it is in real life. Sam and her friends bullied constantly and did not do enough to make up for the immense amount of bullying. However, the bullying was an opportunity for Sam to grow and change in spite of the toxicity her friends surround her with. Nonetheless, there could have been a better way to address the bullying and not gloss over it as much. The book did have a happy ending, but it is a young adult novel focusing on growth. Throughout it, there was emotional depth with lots of obstacles characters had to go through to get to their resolution, which made it feel fitting.
“Every Last Word” is a balanced but emotionally deep book that had a lasting impact on me, and I would read it again. This book would be most enjoyed by readers that appreciate mental health awareness, self discovery and romance.
Overall, I give this book a 4/5 feather rating.
