Every Last Word

Tamara Ireland Stone

Jun 2015 · Sold by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

The New York Times bestselling, BookTok sensation, deeply moving novel of friendship, first love, mental health, and belonging, perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces and The Summer of Broken Rules

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear.

Ratings and reviews

This is a really great book. I would label it as mature YA because it does have a sex scene and curse words. It's honest about how teens act, think and feel I believe. Every Last Word has parts everyone can relate to about life, but it focuses on a girl with mental health issues. I think it does an excellent job of putting the reader in the character's place. It has several wonderful messages for adults and teens. I absolutely recommend.

If you're second guessing to buy this book or not than consider this a sign that you should without a doubt get it. This book has so much to it, its about being okay with who you are and truly embracing all of yourself. Sam has OCD and shes determined to keep it a secret from her friends to keep up her "normal" image. But when she stops worrying about the opinions of others and embraces all of herself she discovers that you dont have to hide who you are. It shows the depth and struggles of acting like you're someone you're not. I'd definitely recommend it 10/10. It is literary perfection! Intriguing, captivating, the kind of book that demands your attention. That once it captures you, will leave you wanting more!

I own a hard copy of this book and have read it several times over. This is a book that makes you think HARD about life and what goes on in people's head. Highly recommend if you're interested in a good read and have time to sit and go through the entire thing (I didn't want to put it down until I was done with it!).

About the author

Tamara Ireland Stone is the New York Times bestselling author of Every Last Word, Little Do We Know, Time and Time Again (a collection of her novels Time Between Us and Time After Time), and the Click’d series. A former Silicon Valley marketing executive, she enjoys running, mountain biking, and spending time with her family. She lives just outside of San Francisco and invites you to visit her online at TamaraIrelandStone.com.