A review by ashylibrarian
Puzzled: A Memoir about Growing Up with OCD by Pan Cooke

4.0

Puzzled is a graphic memoir that is likely to speak to readers of all ages, but especially younger readers who are experiencing anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and OCD traits. The author takes readers through their journey of self-exploration and discovery of their OCD. While this has the potential to be an extremely heavy topic, the author approaches it in a way that makes it feel accessible while sharing the reality of struggling with mental health. While we all know that mental health journeys don’t look the same person to person, stories like Puzzled are bound to make some readers feel seen and not alone. At the end of the book, Cooke has a scene where he is talking with a therapist about the different ways in which OCD can manifest and how it does not look the same for everyone. This is a book that will hopefully help readers (1) see and understand themselves a bit better, (2) see and understand someone they know, and (3) see the world with a more compassionate lens.