When You Called My Name Young Adult, Romance
Independent
April 3, 2024
Kindle
244
Amazon
Bullied mercilessly for years, Logan Smith is on the brink of committing suicide. But when the new girl in school—Andrea Goldstein—enters his life, she helps him realize the beauty of being himself.
Their friendship escalates to romance, and they become a couple. Soon, however, a dramatic, earth-shattering family secret is revealed, and Logan’s personal problems pale in comparison to the grand scheme of events. In the end, he grasps the meaning of life and learns to embrace the value of his existence.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Sixteen-year-old Logan Smith has been a victim of constant bullying and the scars on his wrist are witness to the times he tried to take his own life. It was only the pain that kept him from following through on each attempt. Now he decided to steal his mother’s sleeping pills that he would take in school, convinced that when he was gone those who hated him would miss and like him.
Logan was diagnosed with autism, depression and anxiety all of which his mother believed would stop without therapy. She never showed him love or attention never asked him how school was and if he mentioned the bullying her answer was man up. As usual his entrance to school was met with a beating and verbal berating until a voice spoke up telling the bullies to stop.
The girl who stopped the beating and stood up was Andrea Goldstein, a new kid in school. Like Logan she was bullied, being called fat and ugly and unlike Logan she didn’t let the comments bother her. When Logan went to the bathroom, pills in hand ready to end it, it was Andrea’s words that convinced him to throw the pills into the toilet.
From that first meeting Andrea and Logan were friends, something Logan didn’t have; she became his light in a dark tunnel accepting him for who he was. Whenever he was bullied it was Andrea that stood up for him trying to make him see that their hateful words did not mean anything, they were just words, but after years of bullying he had a hard time manning up like his mother said.
Bullying can be deadly and in Logan’s case it almost was. For some reason the popular kids get their kicks out of hurting the kids that are different from them, and Andrea and Logan are different. Their friendship takes a turn for Logan, and he realizes he loves Andrea but is afraid that confessing his feelings could end their friendship. Finally getting up courage he writes her a letter and slides it in the crack of his locker and when he finds a letter from Andrea revealing her feelings for him, he is astounded to discover it was her locker he slipped his letter into. His mistake turned out to be anything but. They are now boyfriend and girlfriend and would walk to each other’s home only after leaving Andrea when he heard her parents calling him a monster and a psychopath and that she should stop seeing him. She refused and discovered it was the school counselor who had warned her parents about him.
This was a wonderful story filled with sadness and joy, two young people who were bulled not only by students but by teachers and a so-called counselor. The people who are supposed to offer encouragement and support don’t seem to be available to those in need but shower the popular kids with attention they don’t need.
Logan begins to grow with Andrea’s support and a family situation arises that changes both of their lives. This is a book about suicide, depression, mental illness and bullying and might be hard for some to read but with all the darkness there is light.