Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

I’m a sucker for books on chronic illness most likely because I have one myself. I was once a teen struggling with chronic illness, so I really resonate with these kind of stories.

Thank you Simon Teen for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review.

Stella has been suffering from cystic fibrosis her whole life. She’s been in and out of the hospital multiple times, documenting her adventures on youtube along the way. She’s in the hospital this time to prep for getting a new pair of lungs. During her time spent there, she gets to catch up with her long time hospital friend and meet a new one along the way. This new friend, Will, is stubborn as can be, and is also fighting for his life with cystic fibrosis. Can their different personalities mesh together? Can they be friends? or more? Remember, two people with cystic fibrosis always have to stay six feet apart….

From my understanding, this book is actually written from the screenplay of the movie, so essentially the movie came first. I felt like this book was really rushed. I feel like people are really trying to live up to the “Fault In Our Stars” hype and it doesn’t actually have to be a thing. On the flip-side, they really nailed the emotions and feelings that CF patients go through. It’s something I could relate to. I felt like Will started off as this stern “I don’t care” kind of person and he was SOO quick to change to something completely opposite. For example, in the beginning of the book, you learn that Will lets his friends stay in his hospital bed to hookup (something I was completely turned off by – like really?). Towards the end of the book, nothing like that would’ve happend. It’s just totally unrealistic. The ending? There are many things I would like to say about it, but I want to keep this spoiler-free. The motivation of some people after a certain event happens was a little disheartening. I would love to chat more with those of you that do read it.

Also, I was trying to find out why this movie came about in the first place, let alone the book afterwards. Were people motivated by real-life CF patients? Was it just a spin-off of the other chronic-illness books out there? I couldn’t find any information on that, but I am very curious to know!

3/5 Stars