Do you know that feeling when you open a book and you think “wow, this is so recognizable”? Amplify that feeling by ten and you get what I felt when reading the first chapter of The Opposite of Falling Apart by Micah Good. Things I had never told anyone, fears, thoughts, dreams, the similarity with both main characters nearly freaked me out. Nearly. Because in its essence, this is a true feel good Young Adult. A book that will motivate you, inspired you, and will leave you with a silly grin on your face.

The girl whose best friend always had a better best friend

The Opposite of Falling Apart tells the story of two teenagers who are on the brink of a huge step in their lives: university. This will be the first stop on their path towards their future medical careers: she wants to be a physical therapist, he wants to be a doctor. Life should be great, as is expected right? Young students are supposed to be filled with enthusiasm, an appetite for parties, and blind faith in the future, aren’t they? Unfortunately, that is not exactly the case for Brennan Davis and Jonas Avery.

Brennan is a talented writer (although that doesn’t lead to anything according to her mum) and passionate about Harry Potter. She’s known to be quite a loner, who prefers to be in her room or lunch on her own in her car. Everyone thinks she’s just shy, but that’s not really the case. Brennan has been struggling with anxiety for years: a little voice in her head keeps telling her she’s worthless, that she’s never going to have friends, and that’s she’s only weighing down the people around her. Because of this, it’s incredibly hard for her to make herself show up at her student job in the supermarket every day. Things get even more difficult when a boy hits her car.

Jonas Avery: the boy with 1,5 legs and a ridiculous fear to even sit in the driver’s seat of his car. That’s how Jonas would introduce himself anyway, ever since the car crash now nearly two years ago that cost him one of his lower legs and left him with PTSD. His big dream had always been to become a doctor, but he’s convinced that that is no longer on the table: his leg has been replaced with a prothesis, so everything else in his life should become different too. Right? But what exactly does that mean, “different”? The only thing Jonas is sure about is that he doesn’t want to be “that poor boy” who is nothing but a bother to his friends and family. Because of this, Jonas locks himself in his room, watching Star Wars movies. When his mother asks him to do something urgent for his sister, he doesn’t have an option but to face his fear and get behind the steering wheel. To be fair, it went quite well too. Until the truck passed by and Jonas’ panic attack sends him right into the car in front of him.

All three and a half good legs of us

What follows is a moving and recognisable tale of two young people who are “different” and who help each other come to terms with that. They are definitely “different”, but why would that mean they were any less?

The book reads like a train and will not let you go until the end, thanks to the short chapters that are alternately told from the perspective of Jonas and Brennan. If there were some minor plot issues, I didn’t mind overlooking them. Without a doubt one of my favourite books of 2020. I cannot wait for Micah Good to publish a next novel. We want more, we want more! Without a doubt: five out of five gemstones.

Age category: Young Adult

Representation: PTSD and anxiety

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Hardcover edition

Amazon.nl: Paperback edition

Amazon.nl: eBook edition

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Did you also adore this book? Then I would certainly recommend that you’d read Life After by Genalea Barker. The main character of this novel is also a teenager on the brink of university, but she’s trying to balance grief and the scars of her past at the same time. This is truly a beautiful story. The book will be published on February 7th, 2023. My review can be found here.

Next, I would love to recommend Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes, by Holly Bourne, one of my favourite YA contemporary authors. This is a beautiful story about a girl at a holiday camp for young people with mental health issues. Without a doubt, one of my favourite books in this genre. A short  review can be found on my Goodreads (four gemstones).