Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Five Feet Apart

Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Five Feet Apart by Tobias Iaconis, Rachael Lippincott, Mikki Daughtry

17 reviews

readyforit's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

3⭐️0🌶️2💧
Okay so I mostly liked the book but in order to enjoy it I REALLY had to suspend disbelief. I was expecting something along the lines of TFIOS, and we got it, but with a ton more medical content, like only medical content, since the whole story takes place in and around the hospital. It was a pretty slow read because of the medical content and medication names. And sue me but I feel like if you’re writing a sick lit book or making a disease your main plot point, it should be medically accurate. Barb is one big walking HIPAA violation, children are administering their own medications, CFers are near each other constantly, wandering around the hospital unaccompanied. I’ve also read some critiques that say this story only picks and chooses the “best” or most convenient parts of the disease to highlight. These characters seem to be end-stage but they can be up and running through the hospital daily, no GI symptoms are mentioned, etc. However, I learned that this is a book based on the screenplay for the movie, and it started to make sense. Movies are NEVER medically accurate.

Now I don’t have CF but I am chronically ill and I have an entire life and personality and hobbies that don’t relate to my illnesses. These characters do not. They are constantly thinking about their next meds, how their illness affects their loved ones, contemplating death. They rarely get to just be teenagers. The most care-free we see them is when Stella and Will go on their dates. Stella and Will both kind of serve as each other’s manic pixie dream girl, and they completely change their outlook on life. I’m not a huge fan of instant love, I’m more of a slow burn person. And it just didn’t make sense to me that Stella would

throw away her shot at a long-awaited lung transplant just to hang around Will for a bit longer, still 5 feet apart.

I did enjoy the friendships between the characters and how much effort they went through to make each other happy.

I was very wary of when Poe, the only gay and POC character, was introduced. If you’re against the

bury your gays trope,

I’d skip this one. I’m not a fan and generally don’t read books that exist to make you cry, and it seems like the author was just throwing trauma after trauma on the MCs.

Lastly, I’m just not a fan of the inspiration porn that happens in every sick lit book I’ve ever read. Often, people with chronic illnesses are just normal people and have hobbies, relationships, and desires that are outside the realm of their illness. I have yet to find a book where there is a disabled or chronically ill character who isn’t dying or thinking about their condition constantly. I won’t be rereading but I think I’ll try to stream the movie.

Content Warnings