The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B
Ratings8
Average rating3.4
Two-time Governor General's Award nominee Teresa Toten is back with a compulsively readable new book for teens! When Adam meets Robyn at a support group for kids coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he is drawn to her almost before he can take a breath. He's determined to protect and defend her--to play Batman to her Robyn--whatever the cost. But when you're fourteen and the everyday problems of dealing with divorced parents and step-siblings are supplemented by the challenges of OCD, it's hard to imagine yourself falling in love. How can you have a "normal" relationship when your life is so fraught with problems? And that's not even to mention the small matter of those threatening letters Adam's mother has started to receive . . . Teresa Toten sets some tough and topical issues against the backdrop of a traditional whodunit in this engaging new novel that readers will find hard to put down.
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The main character and group therapy sessions seemed a realistic portrayal of teens with OCD, with pandering or over-dramatizing. Not many teen books have realistically rendered and authentically meant explorations of Catholic faith as a subplot, so it was nice to have that variance. The issues with the mother were the sole drama and plot propulsion other than the romantic relationship, but they felt both overwrought and underdeveloped at the same time. A relatively sweet book with some new angles but a bit boring overall.
This book was incredible. I listened to the audiobook on my commute and I can fully recommend it. I really ran across this by accident and had no idea it was going to be an instant favorite. It is easily in my top 5 books now. It is a beautiful depiction of the psychology of anxiety, group therapy, and families. It was hard to ever put down. Absolutely loved and fully fully recommend. Go read it. Go read it now.
Kénytelen voltam arra a következtetésre jutni 38%-nyi olvasás után, hogy ez a könyv inkább katolikus hittérítés, semmint szórakoztató irodalomba burkolt ismeretterjesztés az ocd-ről. Utóbbinak frankó lett volna, mert jól ábrázolta, de oldalakon át arról olvasni, hogyan kell helyesen keresztet vetni meg a tököm tudja mit csinálni marhára nem szórakoztató. Persze a tartalomban egy szóval sem említik, hogy erre kell készülni. Engem ugyan nem zavar, ha valaki vallásos, csak éppenséggel leszarom.
Mindehhez még a stílus is száraz, a karakterek rém unalmasak, a cselekmény pedig értékelhetetlen. Lehet, hogy később jobbá válik, de már ezt a egyharmad hossznyi bizalmat is sajnálom, amit rááldoztam.
