In this inspiring story, two teenagers fall in love, Stella and Will. Only, they can’t cross withing 6 feet of each other, due to their debilitating cystic fibrosis. Stella is a routine, rule-following individual, while Will doesn’t want to be limited by us CF, accepting his life and wanting to live it to the fullest.

Life or love?

Five Feet Apart, by Rachael Lippincott, Tobias Iaconis, Mikki Daughtry

Romance, especially YA romance is a genre that I barely read, because of the terrible cliches, and seemingly endless love stories.

There’s a song by Benson Boone, named “In The Stars”. This book might just be the written representation of the song. And this book is heartbreaking, so much so that after reading it, I left it on my online loans shelf because I had to review it.

• The book revolves around two teenagers, Stella and Will, both living with cystic fibrosis, a deadly genetic disorder. Stella wants to avoid danger because she’s just days away from a pair of new lungs. She doesn’t want to let anything jeopardise her chances. Will wants to leave the hospital the moment he turns 18, and experience the world, resigning that if he’s doomed to a short life, he might as well live it to the fullest. Additionally, Will has b. cepacia, which is deadly to both him and Stella. It’s also incurable, destroying his chances for new lungs, and any chance at life.

• Stella is a control freak, through and through. Will is reckless and a dream taker. So, you look at the two of them and go, “oh, they’ll end up together, everything’s going to be fine and dandy, the end, yada yada yada yada”. I thought so too, and then I read the book and realised I was very, very wrong. There was bawling involved.

• There’s a caveat. The two of them gradually fall in love, which is obvious. Except, Will can’t get within six feet of Stella because of his b. cepacia, or she could die. Both of them could.
• The dual perspectives were a perfect insight into both of their thoughts and their emotions. It was easy to follow, and to read, and the plot was built up well. It’s definitely a page turner, and you slowly grow attached to the characters, hoping against hope that they wouldn’t die, that they’d get their happy ending.

• Stella is a firecracker, despite her illness. She built herself an app and runs a YouTube channel for people like her out there. That in itself is an extremely important quality, the ability to not give up. It teaches so many people to have hope, to look for a silver lining. And the fact that she acts happy on camera, then leaves and cries in her hospital room just shows you that sometimes, you have to look, and understand a little deeper to truly empathize with what an individual is truly going through.

• Poe is the friend we all don’t deserve. Funny, supportive and loyal, and says the deepest things we all need without even meaning to.

• Will can be extremely pessimistic, but he finally learns from Stella. He slowly grows to become a loveable character, and somehow bittersweet as you gradually understand why he’s given up so quick, and yell at him at the same time for his many problems.

• Five Feet Apart also conveys a critical moral, especially in today’s day and age, that any relationship or friendship doesn’t have to be based on physicality. It is also a wake-up call to appreciate what and who you have around you.

• The awareness of cystic fibrosis was put across so beautifully. At points, I felt like I was experiencing what they were going through. I cannot act like I understand what people with CF go through, and I have no place to judge its representation in the book. However, the authors have done an amazing job spreading knowledge and the acknowledgement of an illness like this. I learnt so much about the procedures, treatments, emotional impacts and environments experienced, through the writing.

• It teaches us how so many people face so many different hardships every day. How the knowing that they could pass away at any point impacts their life and how they deal with it. Out there, someone’s always facing worse. Sometimes, you just have to grab a moment, an opportunity and live.

My favourite quotes were:

“If I’m going to die, I’d like to actually live first.”

“…Don’t think about what you’ve lost. Think of how much you must gain. Live, Stella.”

“I know in that moment, even though it could not be more ridiculous, that if I die in there, I won’t die without falling in love.”

“She’s bossy.” “Nah, she’s a boss”

My rating: 5/5

Signing off…