Review: Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe(Blog Tour)

Compulsion by Heidi Ayarbe

Publication Date: May 1st, 2011

Published By: Balzer&Bray(HarperCollins Imprint)

Hardcover, 304 Pages

Source: ARC, Teen Book Scene Blog Tour

Summary:

"Today has to be perfect.

Magic.

I look at the clock.

10:14 am.

Ten fourteen. One plus one is two plus four is six plus ten is sixteen minus one is fifteen minus two is thirteen. OK.

I turn from the clock and walk into the hallway. "Ready.”

Saturday will be the third state soccer championship in a row for Jake Martin. Three. A good number. Prime. With Jake on the field, Carson City High can’t lose, because Jake has the magic: a self-created protection generated by his obsession with prime numbers. It’s the magic that has every top soccer university recruiting Jake, the magic that keeps his family safe, and the magic that suppresses his anxiety attacks. But the magic is Jake’s prison, because getting it means his compulsions take over nearly every aspect of his life.

Jake’s convinced the magic will be permanent after Saturday, the perfect day, when every prime has converged. Once the game is over, he won’t have to rely on his sister, Kasey, to concoct excuses for his odd rituals. His dad will stop treating him like he is some freak. Maybe he’ll even make a friend other than Luc.

But what if it doesn’t work?

What if the numbers never go away?

Acclaimed author Heidi Ayarbe has created an honest and riveting portrait of a teen struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder in this courageous and breathtaking novel."

My Review: *** 1/2 = 3.5 Stars

I'll start off this review by telling you all that this has got to be one of the most unique books I have ever read. Reading about a topic that you have no familiarity with is quite a different experience but possibly more enjoyable than books that repeat the same ideas over and over again. I don't suffer with OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and I don't know anyone that does. I have also never read anything about it, so I have nothing really to compare this to. I imagine that what the author has written is pretty close to how this disorder actually is for some people.

Jake Martin is a star soccer player that also suffers with OCD. In his mind, he is constantly using math on different sets of numbers(i.e the time) in hopes of getting a prime number. Times when primes aren't found, find Jake getting anxious and sick. Everything in his life is related to these numbers (at least that is how he feels). His continous winning on the soccer field, and especially, his family's safety.

While the book was good, parts of it were definitely confusing and at times, seemed irrational, but to people with OCD, it's not irrational at all. That's how everyday life is for them. It's actually quite amazing to get a glimpse into a persons life who suffers from it. That said, it was kind of distracting to constantly read about the numbers. I know that's what the book is about, but I felt like everytime I had to stop and read about adding this and subtracting this and so on that when it got back to the story I had to think back to where I was before everything went all mathematical.

I did enjoy how the story went into the family dynamics. We get to see the relationships with his parents (his mom is also Obsessive Compulsive) and his younger sister. There is also a really strong relationship throughout the book with Jake's best friend Luc.

Overall, this is something I recommend to anyone. People who have never had any experience with OCD, it will be eye-opening(it was for me), of for those of you who do, it might be interesting to escape into somebody elses OCD. There is some adult language so if you have a problem with the F work.. be warned it is used throughout the book.

To learn more about Heidi, check out her webpage.

Special thanks to Teen Book Scene for hosting this blog tour!



Sherry<3