OCDaniel by Wesley King

Daniel suffers from OCD and has to perform certain tasks and rituals before bed and during the day all the time which take over his mind, especially number based tasks.

Raya is the girl Daniel likes but feels he can't get until he gets paired with her on a school project with his friend Max, but as he gets to know her he also gets to know why and quiet Sara whom he finds himself helping as she investigates her mum and her mum's boyfriend murdering her father...

It was an involved and intriguing plot nothing like I expected as a lot of the time to me the OCD became a back pedal storyline and the investigation seemed to take over more in all. However it was a good book and Daniel certainly struggles with OCD just not as much as I expected is it raised.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Willow loves Dolly Parton, her best friend Ellen also shares that love as well as for her boyfriend Tim, of course.

Willow is jealous of their love as she wants that for herself, however being 'fat' she feels it's harder. Queue Bo, he works with her and never makes her feel uncomfortable in her skin even if she dates someone else briefly when they call off, Bo is still in her mind constantly.

Her mum suffers with missing her sister after she passed away and thrives off pageant hosting after being a former winner. Dumplin' as she nicknames her daughter is her opposite completely as she is stereotypical in believing that slimmer is prettier and you shouldn't be proud if your bigger.

Willow shows her though as she enters into the pageant running herself to prove she can win it for her aunt and herself.

All about being yourself and not caring what others think in the face of discrimination we see a determined teen that's prepared to try her best. It was fun, sassy and celebrates all sizes and shapes of beauty.

Behind Closed Doors by Miriam Halahmy

Josie lives with her mum in their house full of her mum's so called treasure, which is just charity shop buys hoarded so much they can't use hardly any rooms of their house and all their money funds the collection.

Tash lives with her mum and at times her mum's creepy boyfriend who seems to fancy Tash and make creepy advances towards her touching and striking her as well as trying to get into her room late at night.

When Josie's mum forgets to pay the council tax, she ends up in prison and Tash finds solace in the secret hoarder house after Josie confides in her about her mum and meets Tash stay as she isn't safe at home.

Throughout the novel we are the girls struggle to cope on hardly any money and having to plan showers, washing and food, as well as deal with serious criminals and getting boyfriends. It's light and dark, mixed in moods as they face better and worse times as they fight to survive together and not get taken into care. It was a remarkable read, fighting to survive and being made homeless aren't seen enough in YA books and this sets the standard.

Read Me Like A Book by Liz Kessler

In this book, in her final run up to her last A level exams, Ash finds herself dealing with her parents divorce, falling out with her best friend and discovering her sexuality whilst keeping up here school work.

After having sex with Dylan, a guy she tries dating only it never feels right, she finds herself in a worse state and relies on talking to her English teacher Miss Murray and soon falls deep into an unrequited crush developing into love.

Doubting herself and whom she likes as her parents separate for good filing for divorce and her dad getting a new girlfriend her best friend and her heal their friendship and hit up the gay bar helping Ash decide once and for all her true sexuality and forget the stresses of her A levels coming up.

This is the book everyone doubting their sexuality should read. It was gripping, truthful, shocking and of course relatable as Ash is a normal teen struggling with growing up whilst her parents arguing all the time then divorcing of course affect her. All the issues made the book hook me in especially as she falls for her female teacher which added a while other dynamic to the book. You should totally read this ya book, no matter your age you'll be hooked.

A Seven Letter Word by Kim Slater

Finlay is a young teen with a stammer and a talent for playing scrabble. It was him and his mum's thing to do but as his mum disappeared two years ago from him and his dad's lives and hasn't made contact since.

So when online playing scrabble, Alex, a stranger, starts talking to Finlay and coincidentally mentions they have had a new stepmum for the past two years and she walked out on her family, Finlay wants to investigate believing she could be his mum.

Meanwhile, he has to contend with the school bully Oliver whom is a part of the school scrabble team Finlay ends up joining where he befriends Maryam, a refugee girl whom has to put up with bullying from Oliver also.

Then Finlays house gets broken in to, clues on his mum's things become apparent and suddenly, Finlay finds out his mum wasn't as perfect as he first believed...

The book deals with a lot of serious topics from racial bullying to the pressure of making friends and of course the book's main topic, of stammering. It's ironic Finlay is so good with written words as he can't articulate himself clearly verbally. It was great combining a mystery with a medical/life problem and stammers are rarely written about in children's fiction too which makes it even better and hopefully if anyone reads it whom had a stammer will feel at ease with a relatable character written about.

Aftercare Instructions by Bonnie Pipkin

When Gen gets together with Peter neither of them could've been prepared for what happened next and now Gen is left with the consequences all alone after Peter abandoned her at the abortion clinic she had to go to.

We see from a split perspective of past and present events, from her meeting Peter a religious guy supposedly and now after the abortion struggling to understand how and why he won't get in touch.

After care sees her friend Rose looking out for her especially as word gets out Peter is now with his best friend Vanessa. It just so happens Vanessa used to be Gens old best friend. Struggling to move on, she suddenly meets  Seth at a party held at her cousin Delilah and a spark is instant between them, only the next day
Gen and Seth's lives collide once again when he introduces her to the idea of auditioning in New York as he is also a theatre lover and urges her to perform again as her dad would want her to.
We also see everything come full circle for Gen when Peter suddenly shows up out of the blue once again and a family tragedy reunited the cousins after a fall out.

In Gen's life we see her lack of parenting for her or her sister as her dad does from a heroin overdose due to a life long battle with drugs in the scene of him being a playwright and their Mum suffers with her mental health and isn't always reliable to be around. The themes of abortion, pregnancy and suicide/mental health are dealt with in a way we see how it causes pain for each involved and those around them and just how much a support network can help as well as a good shoulder to cry on as Rose is a strong and supporting friend of Gen's. I also loved how each chapter started with a title from the list of after abortion care and how it plays a part in the story.

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

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Aza deals everyday with intrusive anxiety thoughts often relating to medical conditions and especially c diff in particular, due to OCD and anxiety. Her best friend Daisy is obsessed with Star Wars and fan fiction writing of which she's very popular online from partaking in.

The main premise of the story is that her old camp friend and billionaire's son, Davis's father goes missing. While he may be rich money wise their father's will leaves everything to his pet Tuatura and nothing for his son's if and when he's found or turns up, dead or alive.

Throughout the novel after Daisy and her come into some of Davis's money, they still pursue Davis's friendship as they all know if their own way how it feels to be struggling and lonely in one way or another with their own issues.

Their other friend Mychel and Daisy soon start dating which doesn't make thing awkward but seems completely natural as Davis and Aza soon start sort of dating too.

I wasn't pulled in by the plot but enjoyed the story, there were lots more I wanted answering in the end which I won't discuss as it may ruin aspects of the final chapters, but I felt the main mystery never got proper answers. I would also have liked more time with Aza and her history with Davis as we are only told they went to Camp but not many flashback memories for two people who were friends or at least friendly with each other while there. Over all, I did like the book and would recommend it but it was a bit random and unfulfilling to me.

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.

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

Nick and Charlie are a young couple, two guys who have been together two years but now Nick is off to university and Charlie can't comprehend him not being there always.

One night at a party, Charlie gets drunk and finds out another strong couple have broken up before university and in a drunken fit of emotion breaks up with Nick regrettably for both of them.

After a break in communication, Charlie approaches Nick and they reconcile but can they get back together knowing the future?

It was a great little story and I did thoroughly enjoy it. Nick and Charlie seem like a great couple being together from I think, fifteen especially shows their connection was always there and not going to be easily broken!