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I’ve read all of Sarah Crossan’s novels now, and in my opinion, Apple and Rain is her best work so far. This book is filled with emotions, and is bound to make anyone feel. A tale of coming of age, learning what real love is and different forms of love, Apple and Rain transcended my high expectations.

On Christmas Eve eleven years ago, Apple’s mother left Apple. Apple has always hoped that one day, she would come back to save her from her overbearing Nan that still picks her up from school, despite the fact that she’s 13. And so one day during school, Apple’s wish is granted. Her actress mother has come back from America for her and now, wants her to live with her. Apple ignores her Nan’s protests and happily obliges, but what Apple doesn’t know is that she isn’t her mother’s only child. When they get to her mother’s flat, she meets Rain, her half-sister; a ten year old girl who deems that her doll, Jenny, is a real baby that never leaves her side. Rain is lost, but Apple’s mother just thinks it’s a phase Rain is going through. Soon, Apple begins to realise that what she thought was the best thing ever, might not truly be what it seems.

I want to give Apple a long long hug. Personally, I found it very easy to click with this girl, perhaps it’s because we are about the same age. She’s very perceptive and witty, but also someone who is longing for her mother and trying to fit in with her peers at school. She has one friend, Pilar, but the distance between them begins to widen, and Apple is no longer sure about their friendship. At her Nan’s house, Apple felt she was being babied, but when she enter’s her mother’s life, Apple finds herself looking after Rain and her mother. She buys the food, keeps and eye out on Rain because her mother is rarely home and has to manage the meals. She’s missing out on school now, too. She then finds out that her crush that kissed her, doesn’t even her. Apple has a tough life, and when she met her mum, it only became tougher. I love Apple because of her bravery and how she dealt with her situation. She was falling apart, but she wasn’t being melodramatic about it. Apple is also pretty sassy. At her step-mother and father’s wedding, she pulled funny faces in every one of the wedding photos, taken by an expensively paid photographer. Way to ruin a wedding!

This story is a very bleak one. It does have it’s happy moments, especially those with Del, Apple’s next door neighbour. But, don’t let the bleakness make you run away. What I mean by this book being bleak, is how truthfully Crossan tells Apple’s story. It does no sugar-coating and is very up front–it just made me just want to cry for Apple and her sister, Rain. Apple’s mother isn’t as wonderful and invincible as Apple had forethought, her mother has parties weekly and gets drunk, smokes and runs after dreams that are clearly never going to become reality. Most days, Apple has to fend for herself. And she starts to wonder whether her mother truly loves her, or if it’s all just an illusion.

If you loved The Weight of Water for it’s beautiful verse, then you must pick this one up. The only thing Apple can find comfort in throughout this book, is her English class; they’re writing poetry. Poetry about love, about fear, about solitude. Poetry is where Apple can feel she isn’t falling into a dark hole, falling into a hole for the lost. This book isn’t told in verse, but there’s a lot of verse in this book. It’s absolutely beautiful, and while I didn’t cry reading it, I was so very close. The language is simple and direct, but Crossan chooses the perfect words to make the perfect sentences; therefore making this near to perfect novel.

I haven’t give a book 5 stars in a long time, and I rarely do. So to give this a full 5 stars, this is saying a lot. This book was written, brimming with palpable emotions and wonderful and relatable characters. Everyone needs to give this book a go. I mean it. Everyone.

~Thank you Bloomsbury Australia for sending me this copy!~
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This deserves all the stars. arc books-i-own contemporary ...more33 s jelly frogs192 98

This is a beautiful story about family, love, the bitter sweet things life has to offer and the value of hope.

This being my first Sarah Crossan novel, I didn't have many ideas as to what to expect. However, this one time, I let my expectations reach a higher peak, and needless to say, Apple and Rain did not disappoint.

I think we're all familiar with the concept that beauty is simplicity, and I certainly think that this book right here, fits the description perfectly. Apple and Rain does not have a complex premise full of twists, turns and unpredictable sequences. The writing was poetic, but not overly so. It was simple, but pleasant, seamless and fully capable of guiding the reader towards the core of the story.

What lies within are elements with much depth, and emotion. The characters, especially Apple, and the events unfolding were often a little too realistic, and I found myself relating to Apple much more than I expected to. At one point, I decided that if anyone has ever been thirteen, they will find it incredibly easy to connect with Apple. (But if you couldn't and you HAVE been thirteen, please don't ruin the hogwash also known as my conclusions).

Apple is thirteen, but her narrative voice definitely did not sound thirteen. That didn't bother me as much as it should have, mainly because she learnt a lot of things along the way. She developed a lot as a character, and it was really an amazing thing to witness.

One of the key factors of the story is the family dynamic. Apple's family was messed up and even that is a bit of an understatement. I, for one, do not know how I would feel if one day I suddenly find out that I have a little sister I had not a single idea about.

All of them made mistakes, but there's one other thing they had in common: what they wanted was love. Love that, in the end, they were giving each other, just in ways unique to their own self.

Apple was easy to connect to, and my admiration for her grew every time she crossed the line, to save the relationship between the mother who abandoned her, the sister she never knew of, and the Nana she believed despised her. It was clear all she wanted was for things to be okay, and I just wanted to give Apple a big hug because she had so many things to deal with.

On her journey, Apple meets someone who could only be described as a ray of sunshine. A boy named Del, practically bursting with optimism. Their friendship and the bond that formed between the two was just as fantastic as everything else.

There's one thing that is always lingering in the far corner of this story, and that is hope, perhaps that one thing that can save us when it feels life has shut down on all the choices. Apple and Rain will show you how a little bit of hope can get you a long way.


With realistic characters, a beautiful yet simple writing and bits of poetry, Apple and Rain is a book that was both emotional and undeniably remarkable. One you must read to experience.

This will definitely not be the last of the author's books I read.

Ah, excuse me. I fear I feel the emotions.chicklit hold-me i-judge-covers-fight-me ...more15 s teach_book356 636

Rodzinne relacje, m?odzie?cze zauroczenie, sens poezji i marze? - wszystko to znalaz?am i podoba?o mi si?! Autorka znów mnie zachwyci?a. Nie tak mocno, jak przy Tippi, ale jednak zachwyci?a.15 s Zoe415 1,180



I read Sarah Crossan's Breathe two years ago, and remember feeling a bit mediocre about it. I went into Apple and Rain hoping to feel a bit less ambivalent about it than I did Breathe, but unfortunately I find myself finishing the book with similar feelings.

The story itself is simple, yet haunting. Eleven years ago, Apple's mother left her. Ever since then, Apple has dreamed about her mother returning her and rescuing her from the strict care of her grandmother. And one day she does - although her mother turns out to be nothing Apple expected...

Sometimes simplicity is what makes a story really shine, and I think Apple and Rain is one of those cases. The plot is straightforward, as are the writing and characters. And this simplicity really helps pack a powerful punch of emotions into you, emotions that will linger with you for days.

However (I know this sounds a bit contradictory), despite being filled to the brim with emotions, for some reason I didn't feel as emotionally connected to the story as I wish I could have been.

Apple is a character who is really easy to sympathize for. The things that she has experienced in her thirteen years are things no person should have to witness, and yet even through the darkest days she manages to always find something to keep her grounded and optimistic. Her fears, her hopes, her desperation all become yours; something that really demonstrates Crossan's prowess as a writer.

Apple and Rain is the type of story that reminds you what you should be thankful for, and how much you have. It showcases the power of family and love, and how fortunate we are to have two such powerful bonds.contemporary9 s Clara CortésAuthor 25 books836

Infinitos corazones para este libro really-loved-them9 s Rhea349 180

Even though this book was the complete opposite of what I thought it would be when I picked it up—I found myself completely unsurprised. I thought Apple and Rain was a YA Romance about a girl with abandonment issues, thanks to her mother. Apparently, the physical ARCs came with tissues. And tissues from the publisher can totally mean sad, broken girl with mommy issues, who meets an even sadder boy/girl with double the mommy issues, right?

The story is quite simple. Appolinia Apostopoulou (Apple), has lived for eleven years with her strict Nana, (whom I loved, by the way) who often treats her a child, much to Apple’s chagrin. When one day, Apple’s estranged mother who had left in hopes of becoming an actress turns up, Apple, wants to move in with the flighty woman.  

So when Apple, desperate for her mother’s approval actually does move in with her mother, and meets Rain, her sister, I was confused. And then I had my oh, okay moment when I realised that I wasn’t completely wrong in my initial assumption. Sad Apple does indeed meet sadder Rain with double mommy issues. I knew then that I’d found myself a MG coming-of-age read.  

Now remember, that my cold chest does indeed possess a cold heart. So while I wasn’t completely unaffected by this book, I also wouldn’t say that this book wrecked me. Which, after the uproar over this book, is what I had expected. The book is written from the POV of a fourteen year old who is struggling and confused. It was simple in its writing and precisely knew what chords to strike in its reader’s heart. That’s what made the book what it was. And while I am an occasional MG reader, the more I read of the genre, the more it seems to elude me. More of a it’s not you, it’s me kind of thing, getit? 

I love books entered around family and family issues. But this one, obviously, was the complete extreme. It had a flighty mother who cared about no one or nothing, two young girls who struggled to make their mother happy, and a grandmother who could do nothing but helplessly watch all the drama unfold. Name every bad thing for your fourteen/ten year old child and it’s in there—drinking, smoking, leering men, cutting school for weeks on end, even paranoia. And not to mention, Rain, who carries around her doll Jenny, thinking that she is a real baby. I said, this book has quite a lot of the sad. And while our world is absolutely filled with worse lives for children, I cannot say reading this book was easy. Lots of cringing and wincing and anger on my end. 

The entire story is set in Britain, and I loved that aspect. We hardly ever see books that are 100% British, and that was amazing to see! Chips instead of fries, sauce instead of ketchup—delightful! Plenty of food references for the food lovers and I think, overall, the British aspect was one of my favourite parts about the book! And poetry! If there’s one thing—only one—that made me teary-eyed it was the poetry. Brilliant and just amazing <3

I think I’d recommend this book to people who have the patience and the empathy to be able to stick with a character who slowly, but surely grows and learns and comes of age. Because truly, any learning and growing that Apple did was at the very end. It’s sad, it has a few clichés (see: understanding, fun English teacher), a quirky “love interest” and it’s hopeful. But more importantly, it’s beautifully written so if nothing else appeals to you, believe me, the writing surely will.



*I was provided a free ecopy of this book in exchange of an honest review. This did not in any way, however, influence the content of this review.*

arc-august-2015 hbt- netgalley8 s Jeann (Happy Indulgence) 1,018 5,221

This review appears on Happy Indulgence - check it out for more !

This is the first YA book that has literally taken me back to school – and not in a good way.

Reading Apple & Rain feels you’re back in English class again. From the class discussions, to the method of teaching, to their homework and what Apple writes as drafts, it’s all there. Yes I enjoyed the English subject back in the day – but I don’t want to relive it, much less read about it and in this much detail. I couldn’t imagine what it would be for current high school students.

Aside from the long verses of poems and drafts of English homework, I actually felt the writing was quite simplistic and young. The subject matter is also quite disturbing, about a terrible parent who abandons her child for an acting career, and then returns and takes advantage of her need for approval. I appreciated the focus on a parent’s behaviour in a genre filled with absent parents, but Apple’s mother was a sorry excuse for one. Abandonment, irresponsible behaviour, expecting your child to skip school and be a babysitter/maid and letting them drink, it’s all here.

The other sad and disturbing part of Apple & Rain was about Rain’s psychological issues and how she treats a baby doll a real person. She carries Jenny around and feeds her, talks to her a real child, and you could pretty much see affects of abandonment on Rain at 10 years old. Other from that, there’s also bullying and how Apple deals with it at school. Is there anything to be happy about in this book?

Well, there is Del, but the only thing memorable about him is how he spies on his neighbours with his binoculars, and how he helps Apple out especially with Rain. It was cute, but it wasn’t enough to detract from the rest of the horrible things in the story. Apple’s Nanna is probably the nicest character in the book who really cares for her enough – and I hated seeing her being cast aside.

Yes this was a sad and emotionally draining book, but I wish there was a satisfactory conclusion to it or a lesson behind it all. It seemed everything was sad, serious and dreary, and there wasn’t enough light at the end of the tunnel for me. I don’t always need a happy ending, but I need a story to be told for a reason. And the reason here, seemed to be to showcase Mr Gaydon’s wonderful English lessons.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Australia for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review. bloomsbury contemporary review-copy ...more8 s Sibel Gandy998 69

E?lencelik, romantik kitap modunda oldu?um için bu kitab? kenara b?rakm??t?m. ?stedi?im gibi kitap bulamay?nca 'dur ?unun bir kaç sayfas?na bakay?m' dedim ve son sayfas?n? çevirene kadar elimden b?rakamad?m
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