The Skinny
(aka Back of the Book Summary in a Sentence)
Sam is part of the popular clique in school, but she suffers from OCD and will do everything in her power to keep her friends from finding out.
Nutritional Value
(aka What’s Good)
Sam has a breakdown within the first couple of pages of the chapter. It’s fantastic when authors jump right into the action from the very beginning of the book. Since the perspective is first-person present, the reader has an OCD thought spiral right along with Sam.
Freezer Burn
(aka What’s Bad)
These popular girls who are Sam’s friends are the stereotypical mean girls who wear perfect makeup and make fun of everyone else at school. So many books use this stereotype when describing the popular girls in school and it’s getting a little old. Why can’t the popular group be both extremely popular and extremely kind?
Lingering Aftertaste
(aka My Prediction)
The back of the book says that Sam eventually makes friends with the misfits of the school and has to keep these new friendships a secret. She also ends up falling for one of these misfits. I’m predicting that one of her popular friends finds out, and she has to choose between her old life as part of the popular group and her secret life with the misfits. She’ll probably choose the misfits.
Taste Test Verdict
(aka Would I Read More?)
I’m extremely interested in exploring these OCD thought spirals that plague Sam’s daily life. But I’m not too keen about this secret romance between Sam and one of the misfits. Why does every single YA need a romantic element? If I can skip through the romantic parts, then yes, I would definitely give this book a second scoop.
Memorable Morsel
(aka Quotable Quote)
If your friends can’t accept you for who you are, good parts and bad, then they’re not your friends.
My friends can’t know about my OCD or the debilitating, uncontrollable thoughts, because my friends are normal. And perfect. They pride themselves on normalcy and perfection, and they can’t ever find out how far I am from those two things.
Do you guys keep secrets from your friends? Sound off in the comments below!
Get Every Last Word
Gwen thinks that it’s as close to magic as humans can get when a blank Word document is filled with groups of letters, and those groups of letters turn into lines, and those lines turn into a whole new world.
When Gwen isn’t reading or writing, she’s drinking boba milk tea and singing along to Steven Universe. You should sing along with her.