Adam Ross is a bit compulsive. And not just in your typical, slightly-more-than-average neurotically eccentric way; he, like many others, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. His obsessions rule his existence – counting, ordering, tapping, rituals for crossing thresholds – but he becomes fixated on conquering them when Robyn, a girl he’s fallen hard and fast for, enters the picture. Adam promises himself he will get better so he can help her overcome her own compulsions. He professes early on that he “would slay a dragon for her,” and the love story doesn’t stop there!
Adam is a strong, extremely likeable character, who has to deal not only with his own struggles, but also divorced parents, a mother who hoards and is receiving threatening letters, and all of the regular heartache and angst that comes with being a teenaged boy. He genuinely wants the best for everyone that he loves, and is oftentimes more preoccupied with his mother’s crises and helping Robyn than he is with his own troubles.
Written by novelist Teresa Toten, the narrative charts Adam’s life through a whirlwind of up and downs; as his stress level increases with the problems at home, his OCD tendencies follow suit. Eventually things begin to spiral out of control, and Adam is forced to come face to face with his demons – ALL of them.
The book is peppered with excerpts from lists he’s written at Group Therapy and comic-esque drawings, keeping the tone light in between the periods of more emotional drama. Toten provides a beautifully intimate look at the life often hidden behind a mental disorder, and treats the subject with respect and dignity. Sidestepping nothing, the novel touches on other tough-to-swallow subjects, offering readers a brazenly realistic, poignant account of a boy who is trying to find his way out of the darkness of his own mind.