I received this for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
When We Collided by Emery Lord Published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA on April 5th 2016
Pages: 380
Amazon-Indiebound
Goodreads
"We are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know…"
Jonah never thought a girl like Vivi would come along.
Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world.
Neither of them expected a summer like this…a summer that would rewrite their futures.
In an unflinching story about new love, old wounds, and forces beyond our control, two teens find that when you collide with the right person at just the right time, it will change you forever.
My Thoughts:
This book. Oh, this book, this book, this book. I’m feeling anxious writing this review because I love When We Collided so very much and I know I won’t do it justice. This book is just everything and it has honestly influenced my life and my thinking since I read it. One of my all time favorite books.
Thoughts while I was reading:
Basically I just kept nodding my head and thinking, “Preach it, Sister Emery. Preach.” the whole time I was reading. I flagged so many places and jotted down so many notes (a delightful amount of them about the food mentioned in the book!) I loved the phrasing and Emery Lord’s storytelling style. The characters she creates are stellar. They are messy and imperfect and authentic and everything I wanted to see in a book. I fell for this story and the characters so hard and so fast. My quick review on goodreads sums up my thoughts while reading:
Thoughts since reading:
There are so many truths from this book that have stuck with me since reading it. I copied a number of quotations on notecards and have them hanging around my house, in my planner, and on my desk at school… everywhere! I honestly can’t stop thinking about this book. Two main thoughts I keep coming back to over and over:
* At one point Vivi thinks, “Most of the things I do in life are for flavor, not necessity.” I keep coming back to this idea. I really need to find a balance of this in my life. I feel like I’m either doing things all for “flavor” and neglecting the necessities or drowning in the necessities and missing the “flavor” of life. I’ve been working on being more intentional with how I use my time and making sure I cover the necessities but include “flavor!”
* Vivi notes, “A cherry pie isn’t a failure just because you eat it all. It’s perfect for what it is and then it’s gone.” I cannot even count how many times I’ve talked about this concept with other people since reading the book. Too often we see endings as failures but that isn’t necessarily the case. Sometimes something ending can be the best possible thing that happens and I need to be able to embrace that! Change is hard. But it is so very important.
Oh stars. Now I want to re-read this book. It’s just such a beautiful book. Emery Lord is brilliant and brave and honest and you really, really need to read When We Collided.
Kristin @ Simply Bookish Things
YAY I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this book! I’ve been seeing so many positive reviews for this book so I can’t wait to read it! Lovely review 🙂
Alexa S.
I loved When We Collided. It’s seriously such a powerful young adult novel, and I was completely consumed by it when I read it. So glad you loved it too!