For Your TBR Pile - LIKE NO OTHER

Like No Other
By Una LaMarche

Published: July 24th, Razorbill

From GoodReads: Fate brought them together. Will life tear them apart? Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing. Jaxon is a fun-loving, book-smart nerd who has never been comfortable around girls (unless you count his four younger sisters). They've spent their entire lives in Brooklyn, on opposite sides of the same street. Their paths never crossed . . . until one day, they did.

When a hurricane strikes the Northeast, the pair becomes stranded in an elevator together, where fate leaves them no choice but to make an otherwise risky connection.

Though their relation is strictly forbidden, Devorah and Jax arrange secret meetings and risk everything to be together. But how far can they go? Just how much are they willing to give up?

My Thoughts:

Why do we need more diverse books? Because I, an ex-Catholic white girl (with awesome hair) raised in the Baltimore suburbs and now living in the blue-collared neighborhoods of Philly, would've never had my eyes opened to the Hasidic Jewish world of Brooklyn. Seriously, why are there not more stories about all different types of religious communities? I want to read them!

What really hooks me into stories is the desire to know everything about the character from the first moment I spend with them on the page. Devorah was so brave and strong, fierce and loyal and I loved her immediately. Her romance with Jaxon (spelled with an X) was sweet and seemed perfect...if only they didn't come from different sides of the street.

It's hard to say much about this book because I felt the ending was so perfect and poignant. I don't want to give anything away.

Read this one--IMMEDIATELY. Consider it the new Eleanor & Park, but in Brooklyn. This book questions our faith, our fates, how we define love and accept the consequences for our choices. It celebrates tradition and family. And it examines what makes us settle and what makes us stand up for what is right for our communities, for our families, and for us as individuals. This book was amazing. A favorite for sure.