Review: We'll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean

We’ll Never Be Apart

Author: Emiko Jean
Series: Standalone
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA Contemporary Thriller
Format: ARC
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher at BEA
Rating: 3 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Murder.

Fire.

Revenge.

That’s all seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe thinks about. Committed to a mental ward at Savage Isle, Alice is haunted by memories of the fire that killed her boyfriend, Jason. A blaze her twin sister Cellie set. But when Chase, a mysterious, charismatic patient, agrees to help her seek vengeance, Alice begins to rethink everything. Writing out the story of her troubled past in a journal, she must confront hidden truths.

Is the one person she trusts only telling her half the story? Nothing is as it seems in this edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from the debut author Emiko Jean.

My Review:

First thing I want to say is that I love the cover of this book. I love the black and white and then the slight color of purple in the font with the title. And the trees seeming to bleed the words out. It looks so creepy.

This book kept me entertained and it was a quick and easy read. I wanted to learn more about the main character and her sister. It was darker than I expected. Alice is in a mental hospital after a fire took the life of her boyfriend. A fire that her twin sister Cellie set. Cellie is a sociopath. She likes to burn bugs in the sunlight and drown kittens. Seriously that happens in the book. It was honestly hard to read about her at times because she was so fucked up in the head.

Alice is an interesting character too as you see her struggle with the love she has for her sister and the knowledge that Cellie is crazy and dangerous. She loves her sister and doesn’t want her to be alone, but she also hates her for what she did to Jason and to her for all the years. Cellie isn’t nice and she does some crazy mean things to Alice throughout the book.

My problem with this book was the predictability. I figured out the twist at about the halfway point and from there on out, it just wasn’t as entertaining. It felt familiar and like I had read it before. The characters were different, but the plot just felt too similar to other books I’ve read.

The romance felt a little out of place as well and I kind of wish that it was taken out altogether. I wish Alice had focused more on her recovery than on sneaking around with Chase.

The story did give some insight into the corruptness of the foster system and that aspect I appreciated. It broke my heart to see these kids just moved around from place to place. And the families they are moved in with are horrible. The state doesn’t care enough to really check into the families and these poor, displaced kids are shoved into abusive homes with no one to stick up for them. I really liked Alice’s social worker. She was a breath of fresh air in the corrupt world of foster care and it was clear that she really cared about Alice.

If you don’t mind a predictable story and want to read a creepy, twisted psychological thriller, then you may enjoy this book. It was just too predictable for me with characters that I couldn’t fall in love with or root for. But the plotline does move quickly and kept me hooked until the end. 

Have you read this book yet? What did you think? Did you find it to be predictable?