Search This Blog







2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (6)
- Colorado (3)
- Connecticut
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (3)
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine (3)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico
- New York (7)
- North Carolina (3)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (3)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (1)
- Washington, D.C.* (1)
International:
- Australia (3)
- Canada (3)
- England (14)
- France (2)
- Italy (1)
- Japan (1)
- Norway (1)
- Puerto Rico (1)
- Scotland (1)


2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge



2025 Build Your Library Reading Challenge









Friday, June 14, 2013
I Was Totally Loving It Until ...
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Danielle Levine's used to feeling like an outcast, even at her special school for "high-potential kids with learning disabilities." Even there, her OCD makes her a total freak. How does the 18-year-old with the unruly red hair deal? By chronicling everything she thinks and feels in exhaustive detail. She collects her writings—school essays, e-mails, letters, personal "me-moir" entries, etc.—in a perfectly organized, color-coded binder she hides under her bed.
Since Danielle doesn't have much of a life in the first place, she's not expecting anything different from her senior year of high school. She'll do what she always does—blend into the scenery, lust after gorgeous Jacob Kingston from afar, and, above all, keep her weird, obsessive rituals to herself. The one place she can't seem to restrain herself, though, is in the essays she writes for English class. That's how she ends up in an off-campus social skills class with kids who are even less communicative than her. Her last year of high school cannot possibly get any worse, can it?
It can.
Danielle has a place to vent all her anger, humiliation, self-loathing and fear, not to mention a cool aunt who always gives excellent advice. But, Danielle still longs for a real friend, someone her age who understands her. Jacob would do very nicely. Too bad that option's about as likely as Danielle fitting into a pair of size 2 jeans. Fortunately, friendship is closer than it seems. So is happiness. Even for a chubby ginger with a major case of OCD.
The first thing that drew me into OCD, The Dude, and Me, a debut novel by Lauren Roedy Vaughn, is the voice. Vaughn's a high school teacher English teacher, who's definitely got the lingo down. Danielle feels authentic, like a real teenager struggling with all the problems with which real teenagers struggle every day. But, it's her painfully distorted view of herself that makes her so sympathetic. Because I found Danielle such a compelling heroine, I enjoyed all her jottings about life, love and The Big Lebowski. In fact, I was loving everything about the novel—until Daniel came along. Not only does he embody one of the biggest clichés in contemporary YA lit, but he also has some disturbing quirks and illegal hobbies. Why those things needed to be mentioned is beyond me, since honestly, they contributed nothing to the story and made me think less of both Daniel and Danielle. Call me a prude, but there you go. Overall, I found OCD, The Dude, and Me engrossing, but the Daniel thing really derailed my enjoyment of the book. Which is a real bummer.
(Readalikes: Reminds me a little bit of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green)
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for strong language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder invectives), sexual innuendo/content and depictions of illegal drug use
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of OCD, The Dude, and Me from the generous folks at Dial (an imprint of Penguin Books) via those at Pump Up Your Book Promotion. Thank you!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)


Reading
Rabbit Rabbit by Dori Hillestad Butler and Sunshine Bacon

Listening
The Morning House by Maureen Johnson


Followin' with Bloglovin'

-
Happy Friday! Positivity Wave!3 hours ago
-
-
-
Hayley Hope is Gone by Michele Dominguez Greene12 hours ago
-
-
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir13 hours ago
-
-
Book Quotes17 hours ago
-
-
The Unselected Journals Vol 418 hours ago
-
-
-
Audiobook: America’s Best Idea1 day ago
-
A Review of The Merlin1 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Beach House Murders by Peter Boland5 days ago
-
Clean teen books for Summer1 week ago
-
Books read in June1 week ago
-
-
-
-
No Roundup this month2 months ago
-
-
Sunday Post #5682 months ago
-
-
February 2025 Reading Wrap Up4 months ago
-
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery4 months ago
-
-
-
I'm Still Reading - This Was My October7 months ago
-
Review: The Duke and I10 months ago
-
Girl Plus Books: On Hiatus11 months ago
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?1 year ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!


Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ▼ 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)


2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
