I was totally drawn in to Sarah Crossan’s One by the buzz. I’m not going to lie: I was hearing about
this book everywhere: on twitter, on instagram, on
booktube, in the blogosphere, and I’m a bit like that really: I kind of like to
know what all the fuss is about. I don’t stay away from books that get a lot of
hype because I have this need to break free from the crowd and ‘those books are
never any good anyway’ – I go after them with grabby hands because what if they
are that good and I am missing out. I don’t
like to miss out.
So, One, the story
of teenaged conjoined twins Tippi and Grace was everywhere and there were
whispers of a Wonder like magic and I loved Wonder so freaking hard and I wanted in. I WANTED IN. &
soooooo I read it (thanks Netgalley, for that) and here I am SO MUCH LATER
BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW I HAVE SUCKED THIS SUMMER and I am ready to talk at you
about it.
S’a good book.
Don’t worry, that’s not the end (hello, have you met me? Of course that’s not the end.)
That’s the starting point though: it’s a good book.
The ending is predictable (and I feel like such a little
rebel starting at the end) and possibly a little bit too much,
probably the only time actually when I felt that emotions were being shoved in
may face: this is how you should be feeling Josephine so go
ahead and feel it, but Wonder was the
same at the end and I suspect that might have more to do with my not being the
target demographic than anything else you know? & honestly? I did feel that
way, all of those things that I think Crossan wanted me to feel. I totally felt
them.
Really, the whole thing could totally have been overly
sentimental and teeth-rottingly sweet and just too much
but it wasn’t. This is actually a pretty beautiful book.
It’s very cleverly written which as always gives me all the
love/hate feelings (how do you words I love you. how do you words I hate you)
and it’s poignant and powerful and lovely. It’s written in verse which is awesome and unusual and I love and so sometimes there’s only
a handful of words on the page so you know, no overly flowery descriptions
here, but that’s what makes it so clever: every word feels like it counts for
something, like it holds a message, like it matters.
It’s such a refreshing change too, to read something that’s
different to most other things. You don’t get that many books written in free
verse, unless you’re hanging out in the poetry section obvs (and perhaps I
ought to do that more. Jen, send me some recs please *heads over to Jen’sbooktube*) I mean, what is this book? Poetry collection? Novel? Both?
Whatever it is, I bloody loved it. It’s what made it for me
I think. I mean the story is excellent and the characters are gorgeous and it’s
a book about issues – not just Tippi and Grace and what their lives look like,
but anorexia and HIV and alcoholism all feature – and it’s a book about life
and it’s a book that makes you think and question and feel; it’s relevant and
it’s important but more than that it’s so beautiful. SEDUCE
ME WITH PRETTY WORDS. I’m not going to lie: I’m a bit of a smitten kitten and I
want some more Sarah Crossan in my life please.
You should read it peeps: this has been a recommendation.
