When We Collided

Author: Emery Lord

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction  

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Year: 2016

Ranking: 3,5/ 5

 

 Synopsis

We are seventeen and shattered and still dancing. We have messy, throbbing hearts, and we are stronger than anyone could ever know…

Jonah never thought a girl like Vivi would come along.

Vivi didn’t know Jonah would light up her world.

Neither of them expected a summer like this…a summer that would rewrite their futures.

In an unflinching story about new love, old wounds, and forces beyond our control, two teens find that when you collide with the right person at just the right time, it will change you forever.

The Author

Emery Lord is a 20-something Midwestern girl who writes stories about high school and best friends and weird families and the crushes fluttery and so painfully awkward you could implode.  

She lives in Cincinnati in a 100-year-old pink row house with a scientist, a one-eyed beagle, and a dog named Winston Churchill. Her first and second books, OPEN ROAD SUMMER and THE START OF ME & YOU, are out now with Bloomsbury. Her third, WHEN WE COLLIDED, is out this year 2016.

Personal Experience with This Book

This is another one of those books that were on my bookshelf for some time now and I saw it and said, "Why do not you read it now?” I did not remember what it was about so, instead of seeking the synopsis I just started reading the first chapter. When We collided is a quick read that treats serious issues in a smooth way without letting these issues not to take their importance and generally it will entertain and teach a little more of something that is not widely spoken and is highly stigmatized in society, mental illness.

We have our two protagonists Vivi and Jonah. Both have certain situations that are struggling and both want to run away from everything around them. However, as a reader we do not know exactly what happened to Vivi and why she wants to run. We see her as a cheerful character, wanting to live and take over the world for herself. Vivi's character is one of those characters a little crazy and with such charm that makes one like them. She is a girl with a very different idea of ​​common life and she wants to feel every sensation that gets her body.

Johan, on the other hand, is a person who has ceased to be young in order to become a “dad”. His life changed 180 degrees the day his father died. His mom is in bed with a very large depression over the loss and her 3 older children are taking care of her youngest ones. Jonah has a very difficult position because his older sister is concentrating on studying and while his older brother helps him in what he can; Jonah is the one who spends the most time with the children. Feeling trapped and without many options, Jonah lives day to day thinking what will happen when his older brother should go to college and he cannot get his mother out of bed.

When Vivi comes to the life of the Daniels, she illuminates their world. Vivi gives them something they did not have before she arrived; the possibility of an adventure every day. Vivi's personality makes these guys see the light at the end of the tunnel, that every day is different, to smile and be kids again. As for Jonah, the arrival of Vivi is the possibility to be understood, to open his heart to someone, be honest with himself and look forward.

I really liked the Daniels relationship with Vivi. I think this group of brothers is a beautiful family; you end up in love with their relationship as a family, how they support each other and their interactions with Vivi. I really liked that part of the book focus much more of their history as a family. It is not just a book of romance or mental illness. This book is about family, how our family influences what we are as a person, how your friends are your family too and how a family like this one deals with something as big as is the loss of a loved one.

As for the relationship between Jonah Vivi and I can say that I understand why everyone sees it as something super-fast. I understand why many say that this is an insta-love. However, I did not mind at any time the relationship between Vivi and Jonah. I must say that even I found a very nice and cute relationship. I think it is understandable how Jonah likes Vivi when he sees her for the first time; he never said at that moment he is in love. I also think the relationship progressed fast because of Vivi’s personality. The relationship she has with Jonah fits perfectly with her way of doing things, so the "insta-love" that everyone talks did not seem a bad thing.

Another thing I should note is the way in which the author addresses the issue of Vivi's disease. I personally do not know much of mental diseases but I do know that theses diseases are frowned upon in society and are stigmatized in some way, usually negative. It was interesting to get inside the thoughts of a person with a disease like this and see what happens to that person from within. Although I am not 100% that has been so successful for sure, it was an interesting experience.

Now, you would ask why I gave it a 3.5 to 5 to this book. I had some problems when I read it. Vivi's personality as vibrant and overwhelming as it is, it also is exhausting. Although I quickly finished the book, I felt as if I had worn to read; I do not know if I can make myself understood. I read it in two sittings and the truth was that I felt like I had been reading a really heavy book, one those that go super-fast and you get a lot of information which gives you mental fatigue. I think it had a lot to do with Vivi’s personality. This girl’s mind goes really fast and made me see the story overwhelming. As if, I was reading other thing and not a summer contemporary. Which had not happened before. This is the main reason why I read the book in two seatings; because I could not stand it anymore and I stopped to calm down a bit and resume the reading about two days later. Maybe I am the only person reading this who has happened this but that is the reason why I gave it a 3.5, the feeling that left me.