Review: One by Sarah Crossan

One
by Sarah Crossan
Published by Bloomsbury
Paperback (purchased)
YA, contemporary

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... 

One is a unique novel for a few reasons; it's written in verse and it's about conjoined twins. What drew me in, was a recommendation from a friend and the verse factor. In fact, I do think that this novel worked as well as it did because it was written in verse. One was not the best novel written in verse that I read, but I liked it still. However, the story had a few problems.

A story with such diverse cast, especially when it comes to disabilities and illnesses, demands characters with strong voices. One was a little bit hit and miss on that matter. Grace, the main character, and Jon, her love interest, didn't really have strong voices. I couldn't get into their heads and care for them, and because of that I didn't enjoy the story as much as I could have. However, Tippi, Dragon, and Yasmeen had strong voices and they were all vivid characters, which is why I enjoyed their storylines. Also, the ending came a little too fast compared to all the build up. It felt like the ending just came out of nowhere.

One is emotional read, although it depends a lot of how much you care for the characters when the story hits the emotional points. Either way, it is an important story to tell because of the diversity and because it shows how different really isn't that different. I'd probably liked it a lot more if the main character would have had stronger voice or if I'd just cared more for her. Still, it is a good and important story and written in verse, it just wasn't as amazing as I hoped it would be. I do recommend to read it if you're after something different, and don't be scared by the verse factor as it works really well for the story.

3 of 5 stars.

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