“My friends can’t know about my OCD or the debilitating uncontrollable thoughts, because my friends are normal. And perfect. They pride themselves on normalcy and perfection and they can’t ever find out how far I am from those two things.”

The stigma of OCD prevents Samantha from sharing her diagnosis with her friends, who are considered the elite group—the “popular” kids—in her school. The idea of two selves, Samantha’s “true” self and the one she presents to the Crazy Eights, is immediately apparent in the book. 

“As my friends close in, all the people around us stop what they’re doing to gather in a little tighter. Because that’s what happens when the Crazy Eights do anything. People watch.”

Samantha is part of the popular kids in high school, which adds an additional layer of stress to her managing her OCD. With an eye toward how mental illness affects social standing, teenage hierarchies and politics are examined throughout the book.

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this sensation outside the pool, but I feel it now, deep in my bones. My shoulders drop. My heart’s no longer racing. I can’t see a toxic, negative thought for miles.”

Samantha discovering Poet’s Corner is a pivotal moment in Every Last Word. Samantha is immediately at home in the Poet’s Corner and up until that moment, the only other place she felt truly at ease was while swimming in the pool.