Young Adult Book Review - One - Sarah Crossan
Recommended for literally everyone ever. Babies? Yeah, why not.
You know how sometimes you start a book and almost
immediately you think, ‘this is going to win awards’?
Well, this is
going to win awards. This should win
awards. This should win all the
awards. It’s a stunning, emotional journey in the lives (or is it life?) of teenage
conjoined twins starting school for the first time, and if it doesn’t have you
weeping at the end then there must be something wrong with you.
Told from Grace’s point of view, we see into the life that
she shares with twin Tippi, and the way that what is so alien to everyone else
is so normal to them. Where everyone gives them sympathy or is certain that
they were be broken apart if given the opportunity, this special bond and connection
is all the twins have known, and it would be like cutting out one of their
vital organs if they lost the other.
Their family and newfound friends all react in different
ways to the challenges of the twins’ condition, from their father’s drinking
and unworthiness of the title ‘father’, to the friendships they strike up
immediately upon starting school with two outcasts, and the emotional and
romantic bonds that begin to form following that. You can’t help but feel the
pain that goes with the knowledge that, though they wouldn’t change who they
are for a second, it means that they can’t do everything that a ‘normal’ person
does, at least without huge challenges. A romantic relationship, for example.
I’ve already mentioned how emotional the story is, and it
only gets increasingly so as the story goes on. No spoilers, but use your
imagination for the issues that might arise for conjoined twins, and you’ll be
on the right tracks.
Underpinning all this is the beautiful poetical and lyrics
prose that Sarah Crossan uses to tell the story. It’s essentially one long poem
broken into smaller chapters, occasionally broken up with the odd POV from
another character, and is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Would I feel
differently about the story if it was written traditionally? I doubt it. Does
it make it stand out and feel utterly special because of it? A million times
yes.
If I had to place a bet now, I would put this above all
others as the main contender for the Carnegie Medal 2016. It’s an emotional
powerhouse, beautifully written in it’s own unique style (as far as I’ve ever
come across), and does a great job of highlighting an unbelievable difficult
situation for people to live in, whilst highlighting how it’s simply the norm
for those involved.
I was recommending this even before I’d finished reading it.
It’s not just for young adults; it deserves to be read by everyone. The only
book that comes close to this on an emotional level for me is A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, and I’m
guessing you know all about that.
If you only read one book this year, it should be One.
5/5