NOT SURE WHAT I WASS EXPECTING THIS BOOK TO BE BUT I WAS PLESENTLY SUPRISED, IT WAS REALLY INTERESTNG TO READ I LOVE THE PARTS REGARDING THE NEURODIVERGENT BRAIN BECAUSE THAT STUFF GRIPS ME TIGHT AND I LOED LEARNING MORE ABOUT THAT.

THE BOOKS LOOKS AT HER OWN STRUGGLES WITH OCD AS WELL AS HER FEAR OF DEATH HOUSE FIRES AND FEAR OF THE OCEAN, ITS WRITTEN WELL AND EXPLAINS HER OCD REALLY CLEARLY AND I REALLY LIKED THAT, WAS NICE IT WASNT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM AND SHE SEEMS HAPY TO SHARE EVEN THE DARKER SIDES OF HER WHICH A LOT OF PEOPLE TRY NOT TO FOCUS ON AT ALL BUT PROFOUNDLY I LOVED THE WAY SHE SPOKE ABOUT HOW HER OBSESSIONS MAKE HER ANXIOUS BECASUE I FEEL LIKE I RELALY CONNECTED SOMEWHERE IN MY HEART WITH THAT.

GREAT BOOK

This book really was a pleasant surprise.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did.
Marianne Eloise's writing style was just great, and it was clear that she grew up at a similar time to me, so I really enjoyed her pop culture references. I connected to the book through these references.
I didn't expect this book to be so funny too.

I'd love to read more by Eloise.

This was an interesting read. I found a lot of things to relate but mostly what struck me is how different neurodivergent brains manifest and how the way we grow up shapes the experience again. Fascinating, especially in a world which wants us neurodivergent women to have only one of two types of experiences. Either devastation or conquering.

This is a funny and engaging collection of essays exploring what it is like to have OCD and to be a neurodivergent living in the modern world. It helped me to better understand the mind of friends with similar experiences. A worthwhile read.

I really appreciate the authors honestly and vulnerability though out the book. I
I am not sure this is book I would recommended to people only because it made me feel anxious at times and I wouldn't want to do that to anyone else. However I think for many it will be a book they connect with and enjoy.
Having a more linear timeline would have helped with the flow but overall an okay read!

As some one who suffers from OCD, I was keen to read this memoir. However it doesn’t seem right for me for me. I found it a bit repetitive and confusing. It made me uncomfortable reading it because my anxiety levels are high at the moment. I will retry again when things are calmer.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this memoir, because I am interested in the ways that obsession and neurodiversity interact, but I had not heard of the author before. I really enjoyed parts of the book where the author considered the positives of neurodiversity and it would have been great to read more of these.

While this is a book of essays, I felt some were not particularly distinct from others and the different sections did not feel very separate at times. I related to some parts more than others, but this is one person with a unique combination of experiences and I think it's important to remember that.

The cover drew me in immediately. Kudos to the graphic designer! It's really eye-catching and beautiful.
The memoir itself deals with the author's compulsive and obsessive behaviors and how she grew up, handles relationships and what things helped her along the way.
There are some content warnings regarding sexual assault, eating disorders, depression and more.

The writing felt convoluted and pieced together. I didn't like the structure of the book at all. The time jumping back and forth made it hard to keep track of when what happened and when things overlapped. It would have been easier for the reader if the author would've chosen a linear timeline instead of the topical structure.
While the memoir was interesting I felt I had a lot of questions that weren't answered fully and I would have liked to know more like the relationship to her parents and friends.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Marianne Eloise is a journalist who is most well known for her commentary on music, TV and popular culture. I won't lie, I was originally drawn in by the title of this book. I enjoy memoir type reads and this book posed as an interesting look into the mind of a successful young adult with ADHD and ASD, and her experiences with her intrusive and compulsive thoughts throughout life. This book follows the fixations she has had throughout her life, stemming from a love for Disney and the whimsy a day at Disneyland can bring to an intense fear of death, tales of Medusa and the ocean. This collection of essays is split into three sections, following the author across the world, in and out of relationships and into different impacts her autism, ASD and chronic pain has had upon her life. This book is raw, vulnerable and even poetic in places. It's well written but it doesn't flow as well as I would have liked it to. Whether it is just how I understand a story, I enjoy a chronology or an identifiable order of some kind, but even with the essays being separated into three sections, I felt like it overlapped a lot in different places. The author has an incredibly engaging writing style, which I enjoyed, but I found myself feeling like the story was cyclical. Despite this however, I will say this book is so open. It definitely would be a comfort for people with similar experiences and it does eventually end on a hopeful note, not dismissing the difficult experiences the author had through their life, but ending on a note that those experiencing these thoughts are not alone in their experiences.

Marianne Eloise's debut novel "Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking" is a series of essays about being neurodivergent and living with OCD.

As someone who grew up in the same generation with the same interests as Marianne, I felt a real kinship with her throughout the book - from the pop culture references to incidental things that happened during her childhood growing up in a small English town. While I couldn't relate to every one of her experiences, it was moving to read a deeply honest account of how it feels when your brain and body feels like it's working against you.

The first essay in particular, 'I am old now, but I wasn't then,' is a work of art, but in general, I loved going down the rabbit hole of Marianne's obsessions, her observations on pop culture and the tales of her travels as each essay unfolded. (As an aside, can we talk about the casual hangout with Joel Madden from GOOD CHARLOTTE? This blew my mind as an aging pop punk kid).

I would have loved a more linear timeline through some of the essays as it was hard to keep track of where and when Marianne was and what events had preceded certain essays at times, but as this isn't a memoir, the format worked.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for this review!

Marianne's story is one many can relate to but might not be so brave to share. Her neuro atypical traits make her who she is and she is okay with that. I found the book a bit repetitive and hard to follow but nevertheless I found lots to relate to.

I received this ARC free in exchange for an honest review.

if books were my people, this book would be my people. it's very freeing to find a book that gets everything you've been thinking - that you overthink, disturbing things can filch in your head, loops, paranoia, all eventually cause everyone to get up at the lunch table you've sat at and leave you by yourself. it's like a conversation, a therapy session, something that opens your eyes to others that felt the same.

Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking is a non-fiction book about being neurodivergent and having OCD. The book is split into three different sections and each section has a handful of essays in it. These essays are incredibly raw, honest and vulnerable and as a reader I really appreciated that. I have so much respect for author being able to open herself up in such a way and I think that this book will be so helpful for so many people because it can show them they are not alone and are deserving of help. The style of the writing was great. I really enjoyed a lot of the metaphors and deep descriptive language. The style of writing was definitely my favourite thing about this book. Although, there were quite a few phrases that I felt were very 'internet' terms that I wasn't a huge fan of. Purely because when I read I want to get lost in the world of the book and not be reminded of real life, which is my own personal preferences! I also found it quite hard to connect the author. I'm not sure why this was because I'm definitely not of the opinion that you need to relate to something in order to connect and understand it, and I obviously do not have the same experiences as the author, so I wouldn't expect to connect on that level. I just didn't feel any particular way for a lot of them. Overall I would say this is a great book that is pleasantly honest about mental health and being neurodivergent. I think it will great for many people to pick this up and hopefully feel less alone.

“it is not a crime to live so quietly”

This sweet memoir is so comforting and hopeful. Many aspects of Marianne’s story resonated with me: late autism diagnosis, obsessive nature, feeling held back by anxiety and yearning for a fresh start. There is a common thread throughout the essays of embracing who you are, learning to be gentle with yourself, and pursuing what brings you peace. Lots of interesting topics are explored along the way - I have a new found interest in Disney and a desire to research the Initiation Well at Quinta da Regaleira. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.

This was an interesting read but not for me. Well written with occasional moments of brilliance, but slightly claustrophobic, which I guess is the point.

This is a beautifully written book, it is colourful and witty. The author is relatable for anyone who finds themselves tangling with anxiety or OCD. The book reads like reflections on the authors private journals which is intimate and cosy. I felt like her friend and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style. The images are so vivid and clear, it is truly an escape to read.

As someone who has OCD, I was excited about reading a non-fiction book that I could relate to. I was not disappointed, I was immersed in everything. Having a fear of death, and performing compulsions to try and control it is a huge problem for me, so this was extremely comforting for me to read and realise I'm not alone. Also, I had a fear of Medusa when I was a child too, the whole concept terrified me. The only thing I have to say is that some of the stories were out of order, which was confusing at times, but apart from that I loved it!

"When I was seeking diagnosis, I met with a different, thoughtless psychiatrist who told me: ‘a diagnosis isn’t a cure, you know’. I felt crushed that she would think I wanted a cure for the person that I had always understood myself as. Would I sometimes like to soften my sensory processing issues, wear anything other than cotton without having a screaming fit? Sure. Would I like to feel more restful, or be able to try new foods or deviate from my strict routine without a meltdown? Maybe. I’m not a fan of a lot of the physical problems , like issues with my joints or stomach , that come with being autistic, either. But there is so much in being neurodivergent that is who I am, and to cure the bad, the things that make life harder, would be to pull out the person I am at the root."

First things first: the opening chapter of this book was phenomenal. Marianne Eloise has a lighthearted, easily readable tone that is present all throughout the book and works really well when talking about mental health and neurodivergence. As a neurodivergent person myself, I found myself relating to the author a lot of the time - and when I didn't, her sense of humour and snide observations about the world around her made up for it.

However, as is the nature of essay collections/memoirs, varying topics brought with them varying levels of interest on my part - and as a result the reading experience had peaks and troughs for me. I also felt that at times the essays felt somewhat disjointed when viewed as a whole - for instance, cultural references that showed up time and time again were sometimes reintroduced from scratch.

Those two points aside, I really enjoyed this book and intend to buy a physical copy when it is officially released!

Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking by Marianne Eloise

This collection of essays gives the reader great insight into the author's experience of autism and OCD. At the same time it is extremely entertaining - I particularly loved the descriptions of her travels and experiences in LA. I read it in one go and would highly recommend it to everyone, not only to those with autism/OCD or those trying to understand these conditions. I hadn't come across Marianne Eloise before but I'm now going to look for everything else she has written.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Having followed Marianne Eloise on Twitter for years now, I was delighted to hear she’d written a book, and it did not disappoint. I feel like I’ve ~been there~ (in a weird sense) for a lot of her life’s pivotal moments. It was
great to read about these moments in more depth, particularly as Marianne is now able to reflect on them slightly differently now that she has a label for a lot of her feelings and behaviours. The way Marianne writes about her various loves is dreamlike and heartening; she writes eloquently about such a wide range of topics and it was a total pleasure to be along for the ride.