Book Review: Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

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

I definitely liked this book more than I was expecting to. I don’t always enjoy YA romance books because of the seemingly inevitable instalove and cringey, pseudo-deep dialogue. But Five Feet Apart was a pleasant surprise: it had two intelligent, well-developed protagonists and a really sweet (and really sad) story. Yes, there was some element of instalove. But I still liked it.

The two protagonists, Stella and Will, both have cystic fibrosis, which is a chronic and often fatal lung disease. They spend most of their lives in the hospital, and live with the knowledge that they will probably die young. It is inside a hospital where the two first meet, and automatically dislike each other. Stella is responsible, down-to-earth, and more than a little bit of a control freak. She reminded me a little bit of myself, honestly, and she also likes computer science (which is my intended major!) so I related to her character. Will, on the other hand, is reckless, a risk-taker and a dreamer. He wants to live life to the fullest and not be limited by his CF.

After their first meeting, the two start crossing paths more often and slowly begin to fall for each other. There’s only one problem: Will has a bacterial infection in his lungs and if he gets closer than six feet from Stella, she could die.

This book made me cry, and I don’t cry reading books all that often. Definitely read this if you like sad books and/or love stories; you won’t regret it.