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The Opposite of Falling Apart

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
To get back up sometimes you have to fall down, hard . . .

What's the point of pretending nothing has changed when everything has? It's the last summer before college, and Jonas Avery knows he should be excited. Instead, he hides out at home, avoiding his friends, his family, and everything that resembles his old life. Because nothing will be normal again—because of The Accident, when everything started falling apart.

Brennan Davis knows she needs to stand up and face her anxiety—the deep, dark, debilitating dread that rules her everyday life. Because what stops her from going out into the world and just living is going to get a whole lot worse. She's leaving for college in the fall, where she'll be confronted with even more to worry about.

When Jonas crashes into Brennan—in a harmless, albeit embarrassing fender bender—the two teens connect in ways they never expected. As friends, they help each other overcome their biggest falls and faults, and soon discover that while love can't fix everything, it's sometimes a place to start.

Sensitive, wry, and unabashedly authentic, The Opposite of Falling Apart isn't about finding perfection in another person or fixing the things we think are broken. Instead, Micah Good has penned an enchantingly honest novel about accepting the very pieces of ourselves that make us unique, whole, and undeniably human.

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    • School Library Journal

      January 1, 2020

      Gr 8 Up-When Brennan meets Jonas during a minor fender bender, she has no idea that it is one of his first times driving after a traumatic car accident in which he lost his leg, and Jonas doesn't know about Brennan's struggles with anxiety. But they both know that the other is intriguing. After that, their lives keep intersecting and the two of them are drawn to each other though they are both working through their own issues, which often makes their connection difficult to sustain. The romance, a slow burn with an occasionally contrived feel, is not the focal point of the story. Rather, the heart of this novel is the emotional development of the characters and how they are learning to live with their disabilities. Brennan's life with an anxiety disorder is particularly well-drawn, and Jonas's experience as an amputee is well researched, if stereotyped. The deliberate pace of the story may deter some readers while others will appreciate the realistically slow course of the eventual romance. VERDICT An emotional and ultimately sweet story that explores college life through the lens of disability.-Mindy Rhiger, Hennepin County Library, MN

      Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      December 15, 2019
      Two teens must face their fears to save their relationship. After losing his left leg in a car accident, Jonas wants a fresh start in college, away from pitying looks and his mom's protectiveness. But he can't bear to talk about his leg, and driving triggers post-traumatic flashbacks. Brennan knows about panic; she'd rather be writing than exposing her severe anxiety to college's unpredictability. The teens' paths collide, sparking a prickly friendship, but as their intimacy deepens, their insecurities threaten to drive them apart. Much of the tension unfolds in the protagonists' heads; the author meticulously describes their respective struggles as they learn to trust themselves and each other. Their gradual romance is touching, albeit predictable. The emotional toll of Jonas' disability and trauma on his family--particularly his older brother, who was driving--is believable, as is Brennan's dad's insensitivity toward her anxiety. Unfortunately, copious and often extraneous exposition bogs down the pacing and dilutes the emotional impact. Though Brennan's ambivalent, inconsistent use of anti-anxiety medication is a realistic plot point, its lack of resolution is frustrating. The book situates whiteness as the default; Jonas' mother is described simply as half Vietnamese--the family's background otherwise is not specified--and her portrayal lacks nuance. Brennan appears to be white; and Brennan's college roommate from India has an Urdu given name and Sikh or Punjabi surname, a circumstance which is not explained. A realistic, but wordy, portrayal of coping with anxiety and trauma. (Romance. 14-18)

      COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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