Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control - even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn't care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he'll turn eighteen and then he'll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will's exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn't feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

This was my second buddy read, and I read this with Becky @beckithebookworm. We both really enjoyed it. 

I had seen the movie quite a while ago so I kind of knew what to expect, but I had also heard that the movie ended differently to the book so I was quite looking forward to seeing the difference. 

I really liked this book, I loved the characters Will and Stella, and I really loved Poe. I liked Will’s confidence, which sometimes comes off as cocky, but he’s great. Stella seems like a good girl, kind natured which you can’t tell throughout the book, and I love her vlogs. Poe is just so happy. I loved the friendship between him and Stella.

Reading about how difficult it is living with CF made me realise how hard it must be for everyone who has this condition. We find out in the book that Will has a bacterial infection known as B Cepacia on top of his CF, and he’s there doing a new trial to try to get rid of it. This is how the 2 meet.

I did not know that two people with CF shouldn’t touch, or you should never be within six-foot of each other, or anyone with a cold or flu, but it makes sense. As we’ve learned during the pandemic, water droplets from coughs and sneezes can travel six feet in the air. 

The book makes you feel happy and sad, love and a lot of happy. Fab YA book and I’d definitely read more from this author.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My parents didn’t raise me to fear the police, just to be smart around them. They told me it’s not smart to move whilst a cop has his back to you.

Khalil does.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful, gripping and piercingly relevant YA novel about inequality, police violence, 21st century prejudice and one girl’s struggle for justice.

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer.

Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

This was the Tsundoku Squads July read, and I had ben looking forward to this one for ages. And boy was it good! I can’t believe I waited so long to read it. 

So the first thing to say about this book is the strength and courage by the main character Starr is amazing. Reading the scenes with her and Khalil in the car being stopped by police were heartbreaking and shocking. I can’t imagine being in a situation like that. 

The very real situations in the story are f from easy reading sometimes, but I fully agree with my other book group gals that this should be on the school curriculum, its so important. I woul love my daughter who is coming up to 13 to read this.

The love in the book shines through massively. Starr’s family are amazing and the bond between her and her uncle is lovely. But hw I loved most was the relationship between Star’s mam and dad. There is a one scene which warmed my heart and it was a simple scene, but showed the true love between the couple. If you read it or have read it, I’m sure you’ll know which bit I mean.

All in all this was an amazing book and I gave it a huge 5 stars. The group also collectively gave 5 stars, which I think was our first 5 star group read! I bought Angie Thomas other book too as soon as I finished THUG, Concrete Rose which centres on Big Mav’s youth, so I’m looking forward to that one.

Check out Em’s collective group review here: https://emandherbooks.com/2021/08/01/the-hate-u-give-angie-thomas-spoliers/