Review: Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan

Apple and Rain - Sarah Crossan

A copy of this novel was provided by Bloomsbury Australia for review.

 

I read Apple and Rain in one sitting. It was incredibly addictive, and it drew me in from the first sentence.

 

I must admit that I was expecting this book to be about a teenage girl going through a tough time who finds a boy who is also going through a tough time and then they bond and fall in love.

 

If you think this is what the story of Apple and Rain is, you are mistaken. I most definitely was.

 

Apple and Rain is the story of a thirteen year old girl who finds out she has a sister.

 

Even though this story was pretty much the opposite of what I expected when I opened up Apple and Rain, I was still interested in it. Even though it is not really a book I would have picked up, because I tend to find it hard to relate to younger protagonists, this novel was written more like a YA novel than a MG, and I was intrigued by the story.

 

Our main character, Apple, was mature in some ways, but she was incredibly naïve and irresponsible in others. She hurts people with her careless attitude and does some pretty stupid things to impress her long-lost mother. But I guess this had me hoping that she would learn from the mistakes she made, and grow because of them.

 

There weren't a lot of charcaters in Apple and Rain, which I am always a fan of. This way, I really got to know the characters that were integral to the storyline, like Apple and Rain and their mother and their grandmother. Apple's best friend, and Del. The interactions between them all are so important in a story like this one, and with not a lot of peripheral characters, those interactions are clearer and relationships are more easily identified.

 

My favourite character in this book was Del. He was adorable and a little weird (but I always like them a little weird), and he didn’t let Apple’s flippant and standoffish façade drive him away. I have a heap of respect for him for that, because most people run away when someone requires you to persevere with no guaranteed outcome of friendship (or something more).

 

I liked how Apple and Rain was divided into parts according to what Apple was studying in her English class. I think they all had significant meaning to the story, and also gave me a bit of a hint as to what would happen in that part of the story, as well.

 

Whilst Apple and Rain was not a favourite of mine, I’m quite glad I read it because it’s a little different to the books I usually read, and it made me step outside of my reading comfort zone.

 

© 2014, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

Source: http://delicateeternity.com/2014/09/apple-and-rain-by-sarah-crossan