Wednesday, October 30, 2013

OCD Love Story by: Corey Ann Haydu

Title: OCD Love Story
Author: Corey Ann Haydu
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Shelves: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Recommended for Fans Of: Jessica Verdi, Mindy Raf

Synopsis: Sixteen year old Bea is not your average high school girl. Bea has been diagnosed with OCD, and is forced to attend therapy group meetings with an bunch of equally "messed up" teens. Bea's mind is not a pretty place to be, and she just can't help the obsessions that grow there and stay. In group therapy, Bea meets a boy who has bigger problems than she does, and she is instantly drawn to him. Sweet and self conscious, Beck seems like the perfect guy to complement Bea's obsessive nature. But when even Beck's problems can't overtake the demons in Bea's mind, she will have to learn to either sink or swim, and figure out on her own, how far too far truly is. 

Review: OCD Love Story is (very obviously) not your typical love story. Bea and Beck both have their own issues, and outside of their compulsions disorder, they were still a bit whiny and annoying. I found Bea to be very dramatic, and she went overboard on everything way too much. There were a couple of times in the novel that I just wanted to scream at her that she needed help! It bothered me a little bit that Bea just did not seem to have common sense sometimes. However, Mrs. Haydu writes a really deep story about two teenagers who find love even in the face of their internal adversities. It was a sweet story, and Beck and Bea truly did make a good couple. I also had a few quirks with Bea's "so-called best friend." Lisha was probably, and this is so subtly written that it is hard to tell, the most vapid and insipid character in the novel. While she was criticizing and condemning Bea, Lisha had problems of her own, and in my interpretation of this novel, Lisha was the character with the real issues. She really bothered me with her presence throughout the novel, as annoying as a pesky bug flying around you. Lish was unnecessary and made a lot of bad decisions that really made me question her morals and character. I was satisfied, however, that Bea seemed to realize that and grew up over the course of the novel.

Conclusion: OCD Love Story is a sweet and bittersweet new contemporary from author Corey Ann Haydu that tells the story of two teens, that despite their flaws, find love and comfort in their imperfections and each other. This book was original, and I would recommend it for anyone willing to overlook a few internal characteristic flaws.


"...The human mind is a complicated place... We hold on to things, images, words, ideas, histories that we don't even know we're holding on to."
-Corey Ann Haydu OCD Love Story
xoxo,
Fiction_TheNewReality

4 comments:

  1. Sounds rather interesting! Chuffed there more love stories with diversity in that it's not all typical. I guess I really like books when the characters are not OK, which sounds silly but The Fault in Our Stars, it made the characters stick together when they each had similar problems, like them against the world. I like that.
    Fab review, wish they'd played up to the OCD part on the cover though :/

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    1. Thank you! I really appreciate when people read and comment on my reviews<3 I do love the "a few against the world" theme too, and I agree with you. While the cover has a cutesy, look, I think there could have been a better way of representing the OCD aspect. Thanks for stopping by! xoxo

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  2. This does sound like a really well done realistic fiction. I always enjoy reading these every now and then. A great genre to read to break up the monotony.

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  3. I would really ready some 'normal' fiction for change. This one has future!

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