Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is an emotional, empowering story that follows Sam, a girl with OCD who discovers a hidden poetry club that helps her open up and find her true voice. The book explores mental health, friendship, and self-acceptance with compassion and authenticity. Perfect for fans of heartfelt YA that tackles real-life issues.

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Good story that tackled topical subjects. I felt it lost sight of them in the middle of the story to focus more on the romantic element. However, it all came full circle with an interesting twist.

I want to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.
I'm always thrilled when a book about mental health is put out on the market. There are so many stigmas that go along with mental health issues, especially in the teen population, and I like to see authors delving into those subjects to shed light on the fact they exist.
Samantha has OCD. She has thoughts that invade her mind and a hard time controlling them and not acting on impulse. She has learned to deal with the thoughts through behavioral therapy but sometimes that does not seem to be enough.
Sam's group of friends do not know about her condition. And she wants to keep it that way as she feels they would not understand and may cast her out for it. Sam spends much of this book under the stress of trying to appear "perfect" because she feels without The Eights would be more harmful to her. So she keeps her secrets.
Until one day she finds an outlet: poetry.
This book had a Colleen Hoover Slammed vibe to me. The poetry group Sam finds helps her to find words to deal with her condition. This, along with her therapy she has been having for years, and her swimming, awaken in her a feeling of power and control.
Of course a YA book would not be a true contemporary without a hint of romance. Sam meets AJ through poets corner. But they have a past she can't seem to remember. When it is revealed, she is set on apologizing and winning back his trust. Of course she does more than that. I will be honest, I didn't truly need the romance in this book. I think it would have worked as a great friendship and have had the same effect. I liked AJ, but I do think he was quick to forgive and then fall for the girl that hurt him.
Overall, this was a quick read with a lot of growth and development that happened with Sam. She learns how to become her true self and also how to have more of a balance in her life not always needing to show only her perfect side to the friends she's had for years.
I will say the pace was a bit slow. I feel like Sam spent a lot of time brooding which did not lend well to show us how her condition was truly affecting her life.
My favorite relationship was with her and her therapist. I did love how the author made that a forefront in the book and how the connection she had with is represented in a healthy light (rather than the stigma so many seem to think it is).
Coming from a healthcare background, I'm happy to see this author delve into such an issue and show the true nature of what it is like to live with a mental health disorder and how hard it is to deal with, especially as a teenager.

OCD is a difficult topic to tackle, but Stone did it exceptionally well. I felt everything that the main character was feeling as she was feeling it. Her emotion and descriptions shined through the page. I liked that the romance never took the spotlight away from her mental-illness, and it all felt very appropriately proportioned.
I also love books with good plot-twist, and although this one was a tiny bit predictable, I appreciated it nonetheless.
A great book with a lot of heart, and one I would definitely recommend reading.

Great rep of a flawed character who learns, grows, makes mistakes, and becomes someone I'm really cheering for. Also an excellent story about mental illness and what it's like on a day to day basis dealing with it for some people.

I was in a bit of a reading slump when I started this book and it ended up taking me 2 weeks to read. I enjoyed it though...for the most part. It suffered from the symptom of having too many topics in it. I'm all for the realistic touch of too many things, but unfortunately in novel format some things just end up seeming extra and superfluous.

Samantha McAllister seems from the outside just like every other high school junior. She belongs to the little clique of the most popular girls in school. But no one knows she suffers from the inside: she has anxiety and OCD: obsessive compulsive dissorder, which in her case are a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. She has treatment for this in the form of a therapist and medication,

But then one day during lunch, she meets Caroline.Caroline is very different then Samantha's friends, who are serious about fashion, make up and dating, and have to approve every step one of the other friends make in these topics. Caroline dresses differently, doesn't wear make up and is just herself. She tells Samantha one day to meet her the next day when lunch starts, because she wants to show her something. She takes Samantha to the basement below the school stage where a secret poetry club, Poet's Corner seems to hide. The group is formed of other teens who don't fit who have been ignored by the school at large. She has to keep this a secret from her best friends though, which she also start doubting about: are these health friends for her?

She get's to know a guy from the poetry club: A.J. and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. She can be who she is with A.J. But later on, when A.J. asks Samantha how she found out about Poet's Corner and she answers that Caroline introduced her, something strange happens. A/ J doesn't know Caroline and it seems like Caroline doesn't exist anymore. Caroline was a girl who committed suicide years back. But how can it be then that Samantha met her almost daily? Was it because of her OCD, her medication? Was it Samantha's ghost? Samantha's new and safe world is turned upside down and she starts to question everything, especially her mental health again. And starts to research what happened to her with her therapist.

I was completely blown away by the gripping and impressive story of Every Last Word. Especially when that big plot twist happens somewhere near the end, when Samantha finds out that Caroline doesn't exist. That is something I truly didn't expect to happen, and it was just an amazing plot twist, because you start to question everything you've read before. Samantha is a very interesting main character, she really makes discovers her talent for poetry through the story, It was also very interesting to read about a teen character suffering from OCD, What started between Samantha and AJ was very cute. I liked that Samantha slowly walked away from her former best friens, who wheren't very good friends at all, they where just very judgmental and snobby.

I was very excited to read Every Last Word as I loved Tamara Ireland Stone's previous books , and it again blew me away. Thanks to the author for writing such brilliant books!. Highlt recommend reading Every Last Word!

This is, by now, a very old book that I did not manage to download in time to review. I have heard excellent things, though.

This is a well written and realistic book that teens love. I have since ordered several copies for a literature circles unit.

This is an excellent read that had me bawling my eyes out for a good few hours after finishing the book. It's a wonderful read that I recommend for all ages.

Sorry, requested but did not find the time to review.

Samantha McCalester leads a dual life. In the summer, she is Sam a competitive swimmer who spends her time training at the pool at a private swim club. During the school year, she is Samantha a member of the popular crowd who spends her time trying to meet their expectations for perfection while trying to hide her Purely Obsessional OCD. Unexpectedly, she meets Caroline and is introduced to the Poet's Corner, a secret group that meets in the school theater. As Samantha becomes more involved with the poets of Poet's Corner, she begins to learn how she can be summer Sam even during the school year and falls for AJ, a musician and poet. A good read for those interested in mental health issues, fans of Sara Dessen style romances and fans of Cilyn Busby's Blink Once or E. Lockhart's We Were Liars