Apple and Rain

Apple and Rain started off so simple, about a young girl living with her grandmother, feeling a bit smothered by her rigid rules and wishing for some freedom, and then progresses to be an emotional story about growing up, recognizing the true family you have, and seeing the world with enlightened eyes. When Apple’s mother returns after abandoning her for 11 years, Apple is happy and ready to have a life with her, despite the small seed of doubt that she was abandoned to her grandmother’s care. But she gets lost in the freedom, of her mother treating her as a grown-up, and even if she has an irritating half-sister that she never knew about, she thinks she can make it work. Seeing Apple getting disillusioned by her new life is heart-breaking and it enrages you to see her mother treat her like a ready-made nanny, but even more messed up is Rain’s way of dealing with the situation and how she has tried to grow up to counter her mother’s flightiness. Eventually, it takes Apple realizing that she can’t hide and unwittingly enable her mother’s behaviour anymore to cause a honest communication and a reconciliation. The story also has another subplot about Apple losing her best friend, navigating a school that doesn’t feel safe for her anymore, except for an English class where she has a brilliant teacher who cares for her. The addition of poems was also delightful – I am not a poetry person, but I do love Crossan’s style from The One, as well as in this one, brilliantly exposing Apple’s depth of feelings and her reluctance to share them. And finally, while it didn’t exactly make me cry (I heard they sent tissues along with ARCs?) it was still a book that gave me a lot of feels.

This book is such a great read. I think the reason why I love it is because us teenagers can realte to some of the things that happen in it. It is full of twists and turns throughout the story and I never get bored of reading it 100% RECOMMEND

I read The Weight of Water a while ago and I've gotta say, it only gets better. I basically read this in a day, give or take a few pages I read at school before I got the book on here. Just.. Stop reading this comment and buy it, goddamnit. ♥