Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone conveys the story of a teenage girl named Samantha and her struggle to find her place in life. She grapples with the secrecy of hiding her mental health issues from everyone around her, deals with an immense amount of friendship drama, and finds love in the most unexpected place during her Junior year of high school. Samantha puts on an air of the stereotypical teenage girl - one that is obsessed with glitter, makeup, and the most glamorous hairstyles - but the reader soon discovers that this is far from the real Sam. As she explores the true depth of her character through her invitation to a secret poetry club, she is presented with a chance to find herself, a new passion, and even love. The plot of this story is beautifully written to provide a teenage reader with glimpses into their own life, and leaves us feeling a remarkable sense of self-fulfillment and a myriad of bittersweet emotions that accompany the end of a compelling novel.
I found this book to be a work of art because of the combined simplicity and subtle significance of each page and the message behind it. Despite my busy schedule, I relished each chance I had to read a chapter or two of Every Last Word. This book combined aspects that I find are mediocre separately, but when put together, they made this book a masterpiece. While I would acknowledge that this book appeals to a feminine audience, it certainly has a message that every reader could gain insight from. There is a fair share of romance and “girl talk” involved, but beneath the surface, there is a paramount takeaway for the reader. This book teaches the importance of following your passions, and helps the reader understand firsthand the effects that changing one’s outside character can have on them. Every Last Word puts the reader in an empathetic perspective, and I would go so far to say that it even helps one see their peers in a new light.
Although the overarching theme of following your instincts and passions is an ideal that appears throughout thousands of literary works, I have never seen it presented in quite the same format - one that young readers can truly relate with and apply to their own lives. Through a storyline that flawlessly weaves together the relatable struggles of life as a young woman in high school and that of someone attempting to defeat a seemingly insurmountable battle against mental illness, this novel becomes a book that you quite literally can’t put down. Every Last Word is just as it is titled - a literary work that leaves you hanging on every last word.
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