We'll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on October 6th 2015
Genres: Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Murder. Fire. Revenge. That’s all seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe thinks about. Committed to a mental ward at Savage Isle, Alice is haunted by memories of the fire that killed her boyfriend, Jason. A blaze her twin sister Cellie set. But when Chase, a mysterious, charismatic patient, agrees to help her seek vengeance, Alice begins to rethink everything. Writing out the story of her troubled past in a journal, she must confront hidden truths. Is the one person she trusts only telling her half the story? Nothing is as it seems in this edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from the debut author Emiko Jean.
We’ll Never Be Apart was a great story despite the fact that I figured out what was really going on about 2% into the story. I really did enjoy the characters and being a twin, I find myself drawn to stories about twins…is that weird?
Once I started this book I didn’t want to put it down and this is probably one of the first times that through the course of the story, even though I had an idea of what was happening, I completely changed my mind on the characters. I won’t say too much here because I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone but in the prologue I immediately felt for Cellie and admittedly thought Alice was in the wrong. As the story progressed, Jean changed my mind.
In my opinion, Alice is the perfect level of sarcastic which I love and her interactions with Chase made me smile. When they first meet and then she tries to win him over to help her out, are some of my favorite interactions between them. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing their friendship change along the way too.
Outside of the prologue, the story begins with Alice coming to in a mental ward and recuperating from the burns she received in her attempted escape from the hospital with her boyfriend Jason and her twin sister Cellie. For reasons we find out as the story moves forward, Cellie started a fire and not only was Alice injured, but Jason died and now Alice wants revenge. When she realizes that Cellie is in a different ward at the hospital, Alice makes it her mission to find a way to get to her and make her pay.
A piece of Alice’s plan just happens to be a boy she meets in her ward, Chase. He has some demons of his own and as he and Alice become closer, his story is revealed a bit more and he happens to be more than just the cocky troublemaker he presents himself as.
As Alice begins treatment with her doctor, she is provided with a journal to write down the things she won’t talk about and that is where most of her story is revealed. I enjoyed these pieces because it was great to understand how Alice and Cellie ended up in the situation they are in. And then as the pieces are revealed and everything comes out, I loved how it all came together.
Despite the fact that I figured out what was really going on pretty early on, I still found myself turning the pages to find out what was going on. I thought the overall story was great and I liked way Jean presented mental illness. If you are looking for a story with a bit of a mystery and some great characters, definitely check this one out when you can.
Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy!
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