In short, it is pure torture for the person experiencing it, even though it may just look a bit quirky to outsiders. Reading this story written from Bea's perspective and experiences (and as she observes Beck's own issues) was fascinating and made this disease come alive to me, as it affects real people. I realized that, like Bea, I actually knew very little about OCD and its many variations.

I was completely engrossed in this unique novel from beginning to end. Pat, Beck, and Lisha, Bea can face up to her fears. His support helps as Bea's compulsions grow and she has more and more trouble keeping them secret, until things finally come to a head in a series of crises. Despite their differences, though, Beck gets Bea in a way that no one else ever has. Beck has the kind of compulsions Bea thinks of as common in OCD: hand-washing, counting, and working out all the time. Bea is nothing like them she just likes to take a lot of notes, talks too much, and sometimes, maybe, gets a little overly interested in a random guy. Those other kids, though-wow, they are seriously messed up. In person, he's really good-looking, if a little bit overly muscled, and the two of them start to get to know each other better, both in group and out. Pat, tells her she has OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and suggests group therapy, but when she goes to her first session, she immediately recognizes Beck's voice from the dance. He leaves, in the dark, before she can even see what he looks like, but they've made a connection. There she discovers a boy named Beck and ascertains that this is his first panic attack, so she helps to calm him and talk him through it. But Bea hears a familiar sound-short, shallow gasping for breath-and makes her way to the sound in the dark. Bea is at a school dance when the power goes out, resulting in the kind of noise and chaos you'd expect from a group of teens suddenly plunged into darkness. Thank goodness for her best friend, Lisha, who has stuck with her through everything and still loves her just the way she is. Teenaged Bea has some issues that she tries to hide, but she knows that other kids think she is a little weird. I'm glad I finally got to it it is so much more than a teen romance, filled with humor and emotional depth, delving into the details of mental health. I chose OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu, a teen/YA novel that caught my interest when it was first released back in 2013. After reading a couple of serious nonfiction books last month and in the midst of too much coronavirus news, I needed a lighter fictional escape, so I turned to my over-full shelf of middle grade and YA books waiting to be read.