When We Collided is the story of Jonah and Vivi and how they meet one summer and their lives kind of ... collide. Jonah and his older siblings are acting as surrogate parents to their younger siblings after the death of their father left their mum in a spiral of depression. And Vivi has problems ofher own, however much she might try to sweep them under the carpet.
When We Collided is, on the face of it, quite a sweet summer book, but it has deeper undertones than a lot of the flim-flam summer books out there. It deals a lot with mental health issues - grief, depression and bipolar disorder - in a way that feels very real, sympathetic and sensitive.
Vivi and Jonah's romance was a complicated one for me. There were aspects that I really liked - they could be really sweet - but a lot of the time they didn't really mesh very well together. Jonah was so stressed-out and straight-laced and Vivi was so out-there that their whole relationship seemed just to be based on physical attraction. Which is fine and everything, except that they were also declaring their instalove for each other and I just didn't see what they were basing it on. There were swoony moments and I did root for them but I felt the ending the author gave them was fitting.
As for Jonah and Vivi as individual characters, I much preferred Jonah to Vivi. I felt he had a lot more depth to him than Vivi did, what with trying to balance caring for his younger siblings (who were hilarious and adorable) as well as trying to save his dad's restaurant from financial ruin. Vivi, for all she had a fairly chequered past, came across as part Manic Pixie Dream Girl, part bland porridge.
I think I'd recommend this book - it was a nice enough readfor when you're kicking back by the pool on your summer holiday.
3.5 stars