9 September 2015

One (ARC Review)

One | Sarah Crossan
Published by: Greenwillow BooksSeptember 15th 2015
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Poetry
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook
Source: Greenwillow Books, via Edelweiss

Tippi and Grace share everything—clothes, friends . . . even their body. Writing in free verse, Sarah Crossan tells the sensitive and moving story of conjoined twin sisters, which will find fans in readers of Gayle Forman, Jodi Picoult, and Jandy Nelson.

Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it’s normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. The two sixteen-year-old girls have two heads, two hearts, and each has two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery.

But the girls’ body is beginning to fight against them. And soon they will have to face the impossible choice they have avoided for their entire lives.




Everything you will hear about this will be true. One is poignant and moving and unflinching. It is just, unfortunately, not the greatest book for me. I could go on about how I connected with the characters but never cared much, about how the story was important but I wasn't all that interested, how the romance felt depth-less, but let me tell you about the writing instead. Because that is where I fell in love with this book.

Sarah Crossan writes free verse like a master. Seriously. Her way with words is astounding, and sometimes left me a little speechless. I have huge parts of this highlighted, and more than ten poems bookmarked, because I just fell in love with how it was written and I know I will go back and read those parts again and again. So while I didn't love everything about this, I can find no regret that I read it, and I will always remember One.

This story didn't resonate with me as much as it should have done, as much as it will with you, but for the writing alone I have to own and cherish this book forever. Read this book - you won't regret it! (Well, you might, at the end, when you're crying...)

Characters ★
Setting/world building ★
Writing ★★★+

1 comment:

  1. How interesting that you LOVED so much of the writing, but the story itself didn't work for you. Now I'm really curious about this one - I think I'll have to read it!!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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