I Am Definitely Probably Enough by Tori Press

In this quick mini book, Tori packs in her story of life with depression, anxiety and struggling with her so called imperfections which really, make us all unique and different in our own way!

We see how Tori's self love journey has been for her as she went through therapy with lovely hand drawn illustrations and simple but effective captions too.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Waiting For Fitz by Spencer Hyde

Addie suffers with OCD while Fitz suffers with schizophrenia.

Meeting as they now live on the psych ward, the pair become close after both become involved in group therapy where they have to open up, obviously about their separate issues they deal with.

After Fitz tells Addie his plan to escape she become wrapped up in it too and the pair hatch their plan along with fellow ward stayers and as the pair plan ahead neither of them is prepared for just what happens and how much they rely on each other and can't always control their conditions especially without their medication...

This book started slowly but as soon as the action came it was full force we see the characters at their worst and best as they try to help and rely on each other to be free in the world again however when things didn't go to plan i didn't expect the drama that ensues at all. It was a great young adult mental health read and one that raises awareness of a lesser written about condition too.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

The Unlikely Hero Of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

Set in room 13B primarily, this novel is all about Adam and his sudden crush, love and infatuation with Robyn, the new girl to his OCD therapy group.

In group, they are all assigned a superhero which they are addressed as by each other and group leader. It's inevitable that Robin and Batman are Robyn and Adam.

We see each one's struggle with their own rituals and past issues as they slowly open up in group with a lot of coinciding mental health issues not just OCD discussed from self harm, eating disorders, etc.

Adam has to write lists for his individual therapy sessions and through those we see his struggles and wishes along with his dosage of meds as the novel goes on, Robyn is getting better while Adam is sinking back into more rituals and habits.

Robyn also has a lot in her past from her mother's suicide to self harm and purging which show up as a surprise for Adam as he doesn't expect it but then again, he never expected Robyn until she walked into group one day.

Adam's home life is also poor as his mum is an extreme boarder and also starts to receive threatening letters in the post which turn out to be from a surprising person and a deep complex issue dealt with.

A lot of complex issues collide in this book which could possibly trigger sensitive people out there with frequent references made throughout to counting obsessively and being unable to enter your own house because of needing to follow rituals. However it is an open and raw look into the life of suffering with OCD day to day and was eye opening at how it can be so detrimental on day to day life and relationships. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the religious aspect as Adam introduces Robyn to Catholicism which I have no issue with but it didn't manifest into a hard-core plot involving Catholicism, Robyn was just opened to the idea and joined as did the group visiting the cathedral with Adam many a time.

Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Solomon is a unique sixteen year old who suffers with agoraphobia and severe panic attacks. He can't leave his house and fears dying yet water makes him calm. He hasn't left his house in three years until events unfold in the book.

Lisa takes an interest in Solomon after her dentist is actually his mum and she asks after him as well as writing him a letter as feels she could help him get better, she too has suffered with her mental health, she also wants to study to be a therapist in college and so uses real technique's she's looked up to try and help Solomon fear the outside less.

Lisa gets her boyfriend on side to her helping him as he shares Solomon's love of Star Trek Next Generation and he finds out that Solomon is actually an ok guy.

Solomon and Lisa grow a friendship after she visits his house and he even comes out as gay to her before anyone else.
However, I saw what was coming ahead despite never having read any blurb online about the book and I took a guess that Lisa's boyfriend would start hanging round Solomon more and more until suddenly the trio end up threatened from their own closeness.

I did enjoy the book but unfortunately, being predictable to me left it just short of what I would call stellar, that being said, it is still worth a read!

By The Time You Read This I'll Be Dead by Julie Ann Peters

Set over twenty three days, we learn of how suicidal Daelyn signs up to Through The Light, a website where people discuss their trauma's leading them to their suicide attempts. She also gets graphic into a list of ways to suicide she creates during the count down till her next attempt at the end of the twenty three days.

For Daelyn, we learn of the bullying from school for her size as she was classed as obese and so the girls made fun of and excluded her. She was also physically assaulted by a gang of boys at her last school. She also remains mute and tells the woes of going away to fat camp.

Now, at a new school, very quiet and withdrawn she hangs around or is followed a lot of the time by Santana a goth/alternative guy who has a pet rat who is persistent in getting to talk with her. He also confides in her about his own battle - cancer. He's also preparing a memoir video which he asks her to watch.

I thought this book was very intriguing and keeps you guessing obviously as to if she's going to commit suicide or not, get with the guy, or not as well as just what led her to this point in time. Sometimes it did seem a big dragging but it is a short read over all.

Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot

Pea meets Ben at Jae's sixteenth birthday party and they get texting after Jae, her best friend gives him Pea's number and they arrange to go cinema. They go on a series of dates and he understands her eating disorder as well as his parents being understanding too.

Pea lives with her mum, dad and older brother Todd although the household is strained, her dad is more invested in sport, Todd isn't interested in the family much and her mum drinks too much wine, their house is stressed and uneasy.

Last spring Pea had a boyfriend, Alex, who didn't get her eating disorder and dumped her when she loved him and became severely depressed needing to take medication, Zoloft to be able to function again it wasn't helped that her ARFID causes depression, anxiety and also makes her feel like she's missing out on life.

Her mum makes her attend therapy with a therapist called Shauna who never reveals what she's in recovery for herself but she does better with Pea than the psych ward does, even allowing Pea to try new foods when she can but not pressuring her like her parents had done.

Then she starts to self harm with a safety pin scratching away at her wrists after a rocky patch with Ben. This lands her on a psych ward after a tip off from a later revealed source that surprised me at first but made sense.

Personally, I can and can't relate to Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. I have had EDNOS but on a spectrum alike this since I was around four, and anorexia around age fourteen. Eating disorders are hard to categorize because there's usually an element of cross over and in this book ARFID is a unique one as unlike some eating disorders, you look normal and weight a normal weight and do eat some foods just select ones which often wouldn't sound like a problem but the depression and anxiety with it shows more issues. It was a great book to sahow the role of relationships and how they can help or harm, her parents pushing her didn't help but Ben encouraging her allowed her to relax and challenge herself to try.

I commend Stephanie and her daughter, for raising awareness of this disorder and I hope it helps others to realise they can get better or reach out for help.

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Carolyn is therapist to fifteen year old self harmer and psychosis sufferer Kendra. We learn that she was assaulted five months ago if not for a long period beforehand too.

In school, Mrs Archer her art teacher encourages her talent, which she gets from her mum who is struggling to cope with Kendra after telling of her abuse. Their family also faces worrying times as finances start to crumble and they may need to move away as a result.

Sarah was Kendra's friend until feelings got in the way and so when a girl, Meghan, sticks up for her and they grow closer, convincing their deepest secrets with each other their bond grows and love blossoms in the wake of traumatic events and despite Kendra's mum not understanding her daughters sexuality, doesn't stop Meghan supporting her and being around.

Yet as weird things keep happening to Kendra, convinced her abuser is following and watching her through her life as she tries to stay alive, a promise she made her abuser plagues her mind as she realises maybe ending things is the only way to stop him getting her first...

A raw deep account of how trauma can effect a person in many mental and physical ways as well as showing how crucial a support system and regularity is.

The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson

Confined to his room, Matthew suffers with severe OCD and is scared of being contaminated with germs and passing it on to his family to him he believes will get sick and die if he didn't keep up with his cleaning routine he has. He also notes every movement of the neighbours as he watches behind his glass windows confined to his house like a fish in a tank.

When his neighbours grandson, fifteen months old too, goes missing suddenly Matthew finds himself along with other residents shocked. Only Matthew knows he can bring young Teddy home from his notes made hopefully. Along with some help from fellow neighbours Jake and Melody in investigating, they come to find out just how close to them the root cause of the kidnapping was.

We also learn as the novel progresses and Matthew battles his OCD, his baby brother never made it home from being born and it happened when Matthew had thrown up on his mum and he had chicken pox, therefore contaminating her and the baby.

This book was a brilliantly crafted piece of work and so great to read and not guessing who done it and be right as there were so many conflicting twists and turns to make it a read straight through in one sitting book for me and I loved it.

An OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Bea suffers with severe OCD and this book is based around her falling in love with another OCD sufferer.

She has a lot of issues in terms of her OCD, she follows a famous male, Austin and his wife, Sylvia at she has the appointment after them at therapy with Dr Pat. She also has a phobia of driving fast and hitting someone and not realizing when really she's driving at thirty five miles an hour or less. She also feels unsafe around sharp objects as she feels she may accidentally harm someone.

At Dr Pat's group therapy sessions, she meets Beck. He becomes her boyfriend but suffers his own phobia's, counting and doing things in eights. He's a gym and cleaning addict as he feels he could've saved his eight year old sister that way by being stronger we later learn.

We see how complex and individual each case of OCD is and how it differs in form from person to person. I really liked the book although I felt the storyline could've been stronger around the stalking as I know I wouldn't enjoy being stalked yet Austin and Sylvia seem to more embrace it. Maybe it's because they're famous and are used to fans!

Definitions Of Indefinable Things by Whitney Taylor

A chemist's is never usually exciting, but these two characters spark up talking to each other after both realising they have similar medications, for clinical depression.

Reggie, real name Regina, lives with her religious mum and her dad who goes with what her mum says. Her mum doesn't seem to understand fully the concept of Reggie's depression which we learn is down to two close people in her life leaving her.

Snake, a young guy who's so relaxed about every situation normally isn't now in the best situation at all. He's just met Reggie and yet his ex girlfriend Clara and school queen bee is seven months pregnant with his baby and yet it was down to a drunken accident and not a loving relationship unlike he feels for Reggie.

I loved the way that Reggie and Snake interacted by using teasing insults towards each other and because they both have an alternative style and different family make up's. I liked the fact that having two mum's was brought up as so far this is their first book I have read with this particular part of the storyline. I also appreciated that in this teen pregnancy story, the teens aren't breaking down or arguing but are accepting of the situation they have been dealt with. It was a refreshing and yet humorous read which made me want to keep on reading.

Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book!