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cvsuthie's review against another edition
4.0
It's around 1 am and I'm too tired to write a proper review, but this book was a lovely read. It was cute and tragic and emotional and beautifully written, with complex characters and interesting familial relationships that intrigued me more than the romance, although that was great too. It's also an important look at mental illness and bipolar disorder. Overall it was a great book, and it would be a 5 star except for the fact that the writing sometimes felt very disconnecting and distant to me as a reader - I didn't feel like I was part of the story and that kind of turned me off of the book because it felt weird reading something I felt so unconnected with. Anyway, I do still definitely recommend this to anyone who loves YA contemporaries, especially those featuring romance and mental illness.
emillly_b's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the first half, however Vivi began to piss me off and I found the second half boring and predictable. I didn't like Vivi much but I liked reading about bipolar disorder and understanding its effects.
kdl_gadzella's review against another edition
I have never felt so compelled to write a review, and I am literally sitting down to write this immediately after finishing this book so I want to preface it with four facts:
1) I can’t talk about this in the way I want to without Spoilers, so THERE BE SPOILERS COMING UP
2) I have no experience with bipolar disorder. I have briefly studied in in school but have never experienced it, nor anything similar so I feel strangely unqualified to comment on it.
3) I have also never lost a parent, so I similarly unqualified to speak to that grief. That being said, I have lost people close to me, and watched my entire family grieve and so I have a little bit more of a handle on what that looks like. Well, at least what it looked like to us.
4) I am a big old ball of emotions as I am writing this but it felt right to sit down and spew it out now, so I am going to apologize in advance for my rambling.
I feel like I need to start this with the piece that I might get a little bit of flak for. I was not as head over heels for this book as so many people seemed to be. In my opinion my favorite is still The Start of Me and You but I think that was because I connected so very much with Paige and as I have said I had a harder time connected with Vivi. That being said, I think it was a book with a story that needed to be told, and just because it wasn’t my favorite doesn’t mean that it wasn’t wonderful in its own right.
I had a hard time connecting with her, but I do feel as though this book was written in such a way that I understand her. However I just had a hard time backing so many of the decisions that she made in the book. Yes, I understand that this in turn stems from her bipolar disorder but I like in a constant state of hyper rationality. I am in such a field that I have to be able to make decisions without leaning on my emotions.
This is where my one major issue with this book comes into play. I absolutely hate the whole jealous girlfriend angle. Specifically when it comes to a girl who has been friends with her boyfriend for a long time. This hits so close to home because one of my best friends is male. We are both lucky enough to be in relationships with people who understand that it is just a friendship, and realise that if we wanted to date each other, we would have. This is why the whole issue with Ellie just bugs me. Again, I realise that this jealously stems from other things going on with Vivi, but I just think this is something that could have been avoided.
Okay, so lets move onto Jonah. Oh Jonah. His family just hit me so directly in the feels. I think that Emery Lord did a fantastic job of putting together this group of kids. I fell in love with each and every single one of them. I felt the grief from each and every one of them in their own ways, and the display of the different ways a family can deal with death. And the way sometimes a new presence can help to heal in different ways.
Jonah and Vivi were good for each other, and they were what each other needed at the time. I was not sad about the ending. You can be right for a person for a time, but not forever which I think was the case with these two. The needed each other to learn more about themselves, and to grow into the adults you could see them becoming. In my head, I don’t think that they end up together, I honestly don’t know if they ever see each other again, but they will never forget each other, and they will remember that summer as an anchor into reality.
I feel as though I had so much more to say but I cannot for coherent sentences to explain my love-hate relationship with this book. I’ll end with one final thought
I don’t think I can give this book a star rating, there are too many important things and it is an important book, but I felt a major disconnect from it just because of the life I have lived. I have tried to figure out a score out of five and I just can’t do it. I find ratings to be such a personal thing anyways, and its just even more so with this one.
I would love to hear anyones thought on this book! If you have oppinions hit me up on twitter <3
1) I can’t talk about this in the way I want to without Spoilers, so THERE BE SPOILERS COMING UP
2) I have no experience with bipolar disorder. I have briefly studied in in school but have never experienced it, nor anything similar so I feel strangely unqualified to comment on it.
3) I have also never lost a parent, so I similarly unqualified to speak to that grief. That being said, I have lost people close to me, and watched my entire family grieve and so I have a little bit more of a handle on what that looks like. Well, at least what it looked like to us.
4) I am a big old ball of emotions as I am writing this but it felt right to sit down and spew it out now, so I am going to apologize in advance for my rambling.
I feel like I need to start this with the piece that I might get a little bit of flak for. I was not as head over heels for this book as so many people seemed to be. In my opinion my favorite is still The Start of Me and You but I think that was because I connected so very much with Paige and as I have said I had a harder time connected with Vivi. That being said, I think it was a book with a story that needed to be told, and just because it wasn’t my favorite doesn’t mean that it wasn’t wonderful in its own right.
I had a hard time connecting with her, but I do feel as though this book was written in such a way that I understand her. However I just had a hard time backing so many of the decisions that she made in the book. Yes, I understand that this in turn stems from her bipolar disorder but I like in a constant state of hyper rationality. I am in such a field that I have to be able to make decisions without leaning on my emotions.
This is where my one major issue with this book comes into play. I absolutely hate the whole jealous girlfriend angle. Specifically when it comes to a girl who has been friends with her boyfriend for a long time. This hits so close to home because one of my best friends is male. We are both lucky enough to be in relationships with people who understand that it is just a friendship, and realise that if we wanted to date each other, we would have. This is why the whole issue with Ellie just bugs me. Again, I realise that this jealously stems from other things going on with Vivi, but I just think this is something that could have been avoided.
Okay, so lets move onto Jonah. Oh Jonah. His family just hit me so directly in the feels. I think that Emery Lord did a fantastic job of putting together this group of kids. I fell in love with each and every single one of them. I felt the grief from each and every one of them in their own ways, and the display of the different ways a family can deal with death. And the way sometimes a new presence can help to heal in different ways.
Jonah and Vivi were good for each other, and they were what each other needed at the time. I was not sad about the ending. You can be right for a person for a time, but not forever which I think was the case with these two. The needed each other to learn more about themselves, and to grow into the adults you could see them becoming. In my head, I don’t think that they end up together, I honestly don’t know if they ever see each other again, but they will never forget each other, and they will remember that summer as an anchor into reality.
I feel as though I had so much more to say but I cannot for coherent sentences to explain my love-hate relationship with this book. I’ll end with one final thought
I don’t think I can give this book a star rating, there are too many important things and it is an important book, but I felt a major disconnect from it just because of the life I have lived. I have tried to figure out a score out of five and I just can’t do it. I find ratings to be such a personal thing anyways, and its just even more so with this one.
I would love to hear anyones thought on this book! If you have oppinions hit me up on twitter <3
befsk's review against another edition
3.0
Simply put, this was a book that featured a manic pixie dream girl who had an excuse for her MPDG-ness in the form of bipolar disorder. That she had an excuse to act the way she did didn't make her any less obnoxious though.
Otherwise this book was kinda forgettable. I'm writing this review less than a fortnight later and I barely remember it. I have some bulletpoint notes that I jotted down at the time and they're the only reason I'm remembering the plot at all:
- I love big families in books, and that's probably why I gave this one a decent rating. The big family in question did fade into being background noise towards the mid-to-end of the book though.
- Considering Vivi was supposed to be so confident and self-assured in her attitudes otherwise, I was utterly baffled at her inability to talk about mental health problems. I know it's difficult to talk about, but she never shied away from talking about literally anything else.
- Why was her mother not more strict? Why did she leave Vivi to her own devices constantly? It felt very unrealistic after all the shit Vivi had pulled in the past, and her increasingly obvious manic behaviour as the book progressed.
- Jonah felt a little too uptight to ever hang out with someone like Vivi, but I suppose that's the usual flip side to the MPDG trope: a shy guy who gets drawn out of his shell. For a book that had the capability and means to say so much about the manic pixie dream girl trope, we didn't even allude to it. That's perhaps what's most galling. The author had the decency to at least come up with a reason for the trope, but didn't go on to say anything meaningful - or anything at all - about it.
- The small side plot with Vivi's father was picked up and forgotten too fast, in my opinion.
Otherwise this book was kinda forgettable. I'm writing this review less than a fortnight later and I barely remember it. I have some bulletpoint notes that I jotted down at the time and they're the only reason I'm remembering the plot at all:
- I love big families in books, and that's probably why I gave this one a decent rating. The big family in question did fade into being background noise towards the mid-to-end of the book though.
- Considering Vivi was supposed to be so confident and self-assured in her attitudes otherwise, I was utterly baffled at her inability to talk about mental health problems. I know it's difficult to talk about, but she never shied away from talking about literally anything else.
- Why was her mother not more strict? Why did she leave Vivi to her own devices constantly? It felt very unrealistic after all the shit Vivi had pulled in the past, and her increasingly obvious manic behaviour as the book progressed.
- Jonah felt a little too uptight to ever hang out with someone like Vivi, but I suppose that's the usual flip side to the MPDG trope: a shy guy who gets drawn out of his shell. For a book that had the capability and means to say so much about the manic pixie dream girl trope, we didn't even allude to it. That's perhaps what's most galling. The author had the decency to at least come up with a reason for the trope, but didn't go on to say anything meaningful - or anything at all - about it.
- The small side plot with Vivi's father was picked up and forgotten too fast, in my opinion.
linersharpasknives_'s review against another edition
3.0
My memory of this book is a little sketch, but I remember enough. I thought it was a very interesting read, it was the first book I read with a real theme of mental illness. I enjoyed the chaos of the story and was very engaging, most of the way through. I think at some points I got a bit bored, but not for the majority of it. I think the alternating point of views added lots to the story. I would recommend When We Collided by Emery Lord.
aclairerium's review against another edition
5.0
First off, the cover is just amazing. Has to be said.
I knew I had to get this book, it was definitely a 'my kind of book' to read. It did not fail to disappoint, it's wonderful. If you are a big fan of books like 'All the Bright Places' I highly recommend this novel. It deals with loss, grief, mental health and has funny elements to it.
I knew I had to get this book, it was definitely a 'my kind of book' to read. It did not fail to disappoint, it's wonderful. If you are a big fan of books like 'All the Bright Places' I highly recommend this novel. It deals with loss, grief, mental health and has funny elements to it.
dodsonvd's review against another edition
5.0
"I've always loved The Wizard of Oz, you know? Every girl wants to be Dorothy Gale or maybe Glinda. I never wanted to be the tornado."
Excellent story. Emotional, fun & poignant to the last page.
Excellent story. Emotional, fun & poignant to the last page.
luci_b's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm
amyhungerford's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
So..... I was wrong.I did not love this book. I am normally a giant fan of contemporary! BRING ON THE EMOTION!
It started out so strong. I really wanted to love this book, but then it just - fizzled out.
So..... I was wrong.I did not love this book. I am normally a giant fan of contemporary! BRING ON THE EMOTION!
It started out so strong. I really wanted to love this book, but then it just - fizzled out.