One

January 26, 2017

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Author: Sarah Crossan

Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Poetry

Blurb: Grace and Tippi don't like being stared and sneered at, but they're used to it. They're conjoined twins - united in blood and bone.

What they want is to be looked at in turn, like they truly are two people. They want real friends. And what about love?

But a heart-wrenching decision lies ahead for Tippi and Grace. One that could change their lives more than they ever asked for...


This poem was written in free verse in Grace's point of view. I'm not accustomed to reading in free verse but it was a pleasantly different experience.Though each page had a few words, those words carried so much meaning in them. 

Grace and Tippi are complete opposites. Grace is a lot more quiet, sweet and gentle than her blunt, stubborn twin. Even though Tippi could be incredibly rude, I never really disliked her, though I could understand Grace's frustration towards Tippi.

                   I shake my head but before I can object,
                             Tippi has the smouldering cancer stick
                      between two fingers and is
                      inhaling great gulps
                      of tobacco and tar

                          She stops
                           and coughs
                                      So hard I think she might throw up

                              And I gently pat my sister
                              on the back
                              when what I really want to do is
                       let her choke

 But (she starts to smoke and drink later on in the novel *sighs and rolls eyes*)

 I liked Yasmeen and Jon. Though it was difficult to know a crazy amount of things about them, they felt real. And their squad (Tippi + Grace + Yasmeen + Jon) was intriguing.

 There is a strong theme of family and the complexity of relationships (Grace, Tippi and Dragon and the awkwardness sometimes, their Dad who would often get drunk and argue with their mum and Grace and Jon. They kissed but were they officially together?)

 I'll admit that though this novel made me feel sad, I did not cry. You should not feel obligated to cry but you should reflect on life a couple of times while reading this.

 Recommendation: Everyone that wants to explore a completely different perspective.

 Content: Swearing, smoking, drinking, nudity, kissing

four stars out of five

                              
                             
                           


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4 comments

  1. Unknown28 January 2017 at 03:56

    I really liked this story, but I kind of didn't appreciate the free verse, I think. Like, I felt like it could have been fine as normal sentences? Maybe this was just me. As a twin, I'm infinitely glad I'm not conjoined, and I though One really captured the awkwardness of being attached to another person all the time. And the ending was sad but realistic :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown29 January 2017 at 09:25

      I can see how you feel this way because I'd like to know more about the characters.

      Yeah it was quite sad.

      Honestly, I wasn't that certain about giving it four stars. I mainly gave it four stars because I thought it was so well written, fast paced and so diverse. Basically.

      Delete
  2. Victoria Jackson29 January 2017 at 15:30

    Ooh, I'd LOVE to read this!! I've never heard of anything like it, plus, you know, diversity. I'll have to get my dirty paws on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown3 February 2017 at 02:06

      Haha, hopefully you'll like this a lot! xD

      Delete

Keep it all clean, man. Well, if you really wanna curse, use minor swear words. And I mean the minorest of minor ones.

"Or what?" you ask in indignation.

"Or else."