Book Review: OCD Love Story

OCD Love Story

By: Corey Ann Haydu

Published by: Simon Pulse

Release date: July 23, 2013

Genre: YA contemporary

352 pages

Buy it at Amazon, IndieBound or Barnes & Noble

Source: ARC kindly provided by publisher

As the title states, this is a love story, wherein the main character has OCD. She also dates a boy with OCD, and learns to love him with his compulsions- then learns to love him as he fights them- then learns to love herself enough to try to fight her own. This was the best part of the novel for me: it was about the hope of finding a better way, without having to compromise who you are.


This book is a study in how discovery process should be done, with an excellent cast of characters and a perfectly realistic contemporary plotline.  At the beginning of the book, the main character, Bea, seems to be the girl who has it all together. She does a pretty good job of keeping up that facade, but as you get to know her, it starts peeling  away. I love that the author finds a way, through other characters, for us to see Bea as she sees herself, and contrast that with how others see her. 

Bea's love interest is Beck, the mysterious prep school boy from the blackout at the dance. Beck is battling his own demons, and paves the way for Bea's journey. His courage and kind spirit are as inspiring as his gorgeous eyes and rock-solid muscles are attractive. 

The other characters that one would expect are all there: the mostly-absent parents, the irritating therapist, the quirky best friend. Even the messed-up ex-boyfriend makes appearances. These characters all take on a new dimension, however, through the lense of this unique heroine. 

I am rating this book a 4.5 instead of a 5 only because I didn't get quite as much detail about the origin of Bea's OCD as I was hoping for. I was looking for things to be tied up in a tidy bow by the last page. Looking back on that, I realize that the book is much more meaningful because it isn't. As we leave Bea at the end of the book, she is still very much in the process of healing- in the process of becoming. In hindsight, I find that a much more hopeful message than I think it would be if her life ended up perfectly, because that's not real. I appreciate that Bea still isn't "fixed" by the end- she is, instead, "getting there." This is what we all hope for, isn't it?

Summary from Goodreads:

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 ton 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.