Review – When We Collided by Emery Lord

When We Collided by Emery Lord
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK (7th April 2016)

Blurb:
Meet Vivi and Jonah: A girl and a boy whose love has the power save or destroy them.

Vivi and Jonah couldn’t be more different. Vivi craves anything joyful or beautiful that life can offer. Jonah has been burdened by responsibility for his family ever since his father died. As summer begins, Jonah resigns himself to another season of getting by. Then Vivi arrives, and suddenly life seems brighter and better. Jonah is the perfect project for Vivi, and things finally feel right for Jonah. Their love is the answer to everything. But soon Vivi’s zest for life falters, as her adventurousness becomes true danger-seeking. Jonah tries to keep her safe, but there’s something important Vivi hasn’t told him.

Everyone who loves contemporary YA would recommend Emery Lord’s books and since I’m a relatively new to the YA scene, I had to check her out. When We Collided was my first book by Emery Lord and true to everyone’s words, it’s just contemporary YA perfection – I loved it!

The book follows the story of a girl who is bursting to the seams with life and she’s the epitome of a blonde bombshell and a guy who has taken the reins of handling his family after his father died. Guys, this is the beginning of a love story, I’m telling you. As Vivi enters Jonah’s life, she brings along a whirlwind of fresh air and adds blobs of colour on his mundane life, but despite the cheery, full of life and love for the world, Vivi has demons of her own that need fighting.

I can’t begin to tell you how much love I have for this book right now. I might even start gushing like the fanboy I am, but isn’t this the best feeling in the world? When you finish a book and all you want to do is shout to the world and proclaim your love for it? When We Collided is set in this beautiful town on the coast called Verona Cove and it’s the perfect, quintessential setting for a contemporary YA that promises swoony romance.

When We Collided is like nothing I’ve read before because the characters, especially Vivi, just come to life and burst out of the pages, taking the form of an ethereal being, narrating the story and drawing you in. Vivi is definitely one of the most unforgettable YA heroines I’ve ever read and she is just so vibrant and wild and carefree!

“Even the constellations can see us now: we are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know.”

The romance is cute and I really shipped Vivi and Jonah because their differences balanced each other nicely. Vivi is artistic and creative and she’s the perfect embodiment of an artsy character and I loved reading about her surrounding through her eyes as Emery Lord captures the true essence and beauty of Verona Cove with beautiful, luscious descriptions. AND reading When We Collided was pretty much like a mouthgasm waiting to happen because Jonah is amazing chef and the descriptions of food. Dear God and all the tiny kangaroos in Australia, I was so close to salivating and letting my book drenched in drool.

I guessed it might have been hinted from the blurb and my short synopsis of the book that Vivi has bipolar disorder? Well, I am sorry if it’s a spoiler, but When We Collided features characters with mental illnesses and I liked how Emery Lord dealt with them. It made reading When We Collided more raw and there’s nothing more heartwarming than reading about characters that had had a few hiccups in life.

If you’re in the mood for a contemporary YA book that is different and swoonworthy, I highly recommend you to try When We Collided. It’s a beautifully written book that is a love story with sweet romance and a complex plot and the feels will definitely warm your heart. Perfect for fans of Huntley Fitzpatrick’s My Life Next Door!

When We Collided is out now. I’d like to thank Bloomsbury Children’s Books UK for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.