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A review by lawbooks600
Five Feet Apart by Tobias Iaconis, Rachael Lippincott, Mikki Daughtry
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Representation: Side Latino character
Score: Seven points out of ten.
I wanted to read this for a while after I read The Fault in Our Stars (a book similar to this one) and not long after, I finally read it. When I finished it, I had a lot of thoughts on the story, for one it left me feeling what I would best describe as gutted, but simultaneously I felt a disconnect from the characters and I could never fully relate to them. Now with that out of the way, the novel starts with the main characters Stella Grant, or Stella (wait a minute, I've heard of that name) and Will Newman, or Will, living in the hospital for their entire lives since they have a terminal illness. The first aspect that irked me was the instant love. Come on. They only met each other for a little while and then suddenly they start a relationship (That reminds me of The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon.) Really? The dialogue was also unrealistic since I felt like I was listening to a conversation between two philosophers instead of teenagers, which is a shame since if that was fixed the story would've been slightly better. This novel also talks a lot about cystic fibrosis but here's the catch: I don't have CF. It's not clear on whether the narrative is an accurate portrayal or a misrepresentation, but I'd suggest reading reviews from people who have this condition. Did I mention the emotional manipulation is off the charts? There's so much talk about death, like how Stella lost her sister in a cliff diving accident, and another character died. I get that Stella was sick and tired of being controlled all the time but that doesn't mean she can be as reckless with her life (to the point where she almost died) as she wants. The ending is a somewhat high note and I enjoyed reading that. Wow.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
I wanted to read this for a while after I read The Fault in Our Stars (a book similar to this one) and not long after, I finally read it. When I finished it, I had a lot of thoughts on the story, for one it left me feeling what I would best describe as gutted, but simultaneously I felt a disconnect from the characters and I could never fully relate to them. Now with that out of the way, the novel starts with the main characters Stella Grant, or Stella (wait a minute, I've heard of that name) and Will Newman, or Will, living in the hospital for their entire lives since they have a terminal illness. The first aspect that irked me was the instant love. Come on. They only met each other for a little while and then suddenly they start a relationship (That reminds me of The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon.) Really? The dialogue was also unrealistic since I felt like I was listening to a conversation between two philosophers instead of teenagers, which is a shame since if that was fixed the story would've been slightly better. This novel also talks a lot about cystic fibrosis but here's the catch: I don't have CF. It's not clear on whether the narrative is an accurate portrayal or a misrepresentation, but I'd suggest reading reviews from people who have this condition. Did I mention the emotional manipulation is off the charts? There's so much talk about death, like how Stella lost her sister in a cliff diving accident, and another character died. I get that Stella was sick and tired of being controlled all the time but that doesn't mean she can be as reckless with her life (to the point where she almost died) as she wants. The ending is a somewhat high note and I enjoyed reading that. Wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Chronic illness, Grief, and Terminal illness
Full trigger warnings: Chronic and terminal illness (cystic fibrosis), near-death experience, hospitalisation, hypothermia, death of a sister and child from a fall in the past and another child, grief and loss depiction