Now a major motion picture starring Cole Sprouse and Haley Lu Richardson!
In this #1 New York Times bestselling novel that's perfect for fans of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, two teens fall in love with just one minor complication-they can't get within a few feet of each other without risking their lives.
Can you love someone you can never touch?
Stella Grant likes to be in control-even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.
The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn't care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he'll turn eighteen and then he'll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.
Will's exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn't feel like safety. It feels like punishment.
What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?
Initial thoughts: Admittedly, Five Feet Apart wasn't on my radar. When it first published last year, I read the synopsis and move it. The reason I went back on that decision not to read it was that one of the Popsugar Reading Challenge 2019 prompts is to read a book coming out as a movie this year. Then when the audiobook was available for loan on Overdrive, I decided to give it a go anyway.
While I thought the characters were sweet, I'm always wary about the capitalisation of terminally ill teens. Yes, it's important to give them a voice, for them to be visible in literature. But there's a fine line between careful representation and irresponsible misrepresentation.
The flippancy about cystic fibrosis starts with the title itself, as I found out. It is mentioned in the book that cystic fibrosis patients should keep a minimum of six feet between them, the title already alludes to callous attitudes. Given how dangerous cross-contamination is between patients, I found that a bit hard to swallow.
I get that it's easier to relate to people who are faced with the same circumstances. In that regard, it makes sense that patients are inclined to form deep friendships and form romantic attachments. Still, I found Five Feet Apart concerning at times, what with the romance throwing caution to the wind, and some very reckless behaviours. That's why I had mixed feelings about the book.
