OCD Love Story Review.

When Bea meets Beck, she knows instantly that he’s her kind of crazy. Sweet, strong, kinda-messed-up Beck understands her like no one else can. He makes her feel almost normal. He makes her feel like she could fall in love again.

But despite her feelings for Beck, Bea can’t stop thinking about someone else: a guy who is gorgeous and magnetic… and has no idea Bea even exists. But Bea knows a lot about him. She spends a lot of time watching him. She has a journal full of notes. Some might even say she’s obsessed.

Bea tells herself she’s got it all under control. But this isn’t a choice, it’s a compulsion. The truth is, she’s breaking down…and she might end up breaking her own heart.I’ll start out by saying that before I wrote my review, I checked out what other people had to say about this book… and I literally wanted to scream. Some people are just so extra and got on every last nerve that I have. Now, I know that everyone has their own opinion and not everyone is going to feel the same way about this book as I do and that is completely fair, but some of these people were reaching to the Gods with this one. I notice that when it comes to mental health, people have this very competitive “holier-than-thou” attitude. You know, the elitist my-mental-illness-is-greater-than-yours? In this case, it is OCD. They think that just because someone does not display OCD in the exact same way that they do, that it is invalid. First off, take your head out of your ass, this isn’t a competition. I REPEAT: THIS ISN’T A COMPETITION. Second, mental illness isn’t black and white. OCD isn’t just a stereotype (I think you know the one I am talking about) and this book is a great example of that.

I am sure you guessed it based on the title, the main character of the story, Bea, has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder although, she has been dubbed by local Goodreads OCD experts “an obsessed stalker who just likes to follow hot guys who catch her eye.” Other experts have said that she doesn’t even have OCD, that she didn’t even start displaying the signs until she was diagnosed (That makes a lot of sense.) Never mind the fact that the girl was driving around in circles, the same routes over and over, to make sure she didn’t run over a child or a puppy THAT WASN’T EVEN THERE TO BEGIN WITH! Never mind the fact that when she actually did see people walking their dogs, or a woman pushing a stroller down the sidewalk, she would feel so anxious and paranoid that she somehow jumped the curb without realizing it and killed someone, that she would circle back around to check and make sure there wasn’t a body lying in the road. Never mind the fact that the reason she “stalked” these people was because she felt that if she didn’t go by their houses every day to check in on them, that something bad would happen to them. No, you’re right, that doesn’t seem like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder at all…

People have this idea that there is only one way that OCD presents itself, that having OCD means just one thing: being excessively clean and organized. This is a tired ass stereotype. I mean yeah, for a lot of people with the disorder, that is exactly what it means. But for a lot of people, it can mean something different. Here is an accurate definition:

obsessive-compulsive disorder

 ob·ses·sive-com·pul·sive disorder

noun

1. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is defined as a psychiatric disorder where people have unwanted thoughts or the need to repeat words or actions to the point that it interferes with their normal lives.

I think that the reason that so many people dislike the book or want to invalidate Bea’s mental illness is because they don’t see themselves in her or  don’t see enough of themselves, which is understandable to a certain extent. Everyone likes to see themselves in a story, especially when the subject is something close to them. I found this story to be not only entertaining (there were so many LOL and cringe worthy moments… I LOVED IT), but also very informative. In Bea’s therapy group, there was a variety of patients, all with OCD, but the disorder manifested itself in different ways in each of the people. That was such an important aspect of the story, because as I said before, people are steady going on with the same tired ass OCD stereotypes . There was a boy with Dermatillomania, he compulsively picks at his skin, and there was also a girl with Trichotillomania, where she barely had hair because she compulsively picked it out of her scalp. Beck, Bea’s love interest, had counting and cleanliness compulsions. Speaking of Beck, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. When his ass took that 88 minute shower, I almost fell out. As someone with OCD, I have no problem making fun of myself so I definitely get the humor in it and trust me, there was a lot of that.

I give this book 5 stars and I recommend everyone check it out. It had the right amount of seriousness, humor (mostly humor in my opinion) and even a little education thrown in.