Vivi and Jonah come from two very different families. She has never met her father and has an artist mom who parents in a more unconventional, hands-off way. Jonah’s father has recently died of a sudden heart attack leaving he and his five other siblings trying to continue life without their patriarch and while their mother grieves the loss of her life partner. They both love Verona Cove, a tiny dreamlike ocean community on the coast of California.
Vivi floats into town for the summer while her mother is working on some pieces and makes friends with anyone she comes into contact with. The old lady running the cafe, the grumpy policeman eating alone, and the art gallery owner looking for a little help running her business during the busy season. It is here that Vivi finds a job opening the studio in the mornings and where she first encounters Jonah who is there following through with a promise to his little sister.
Told in alternating chapters from each of their perspectives, When We Collided epitomizes how Vivi enters the Daniels’ lives just when they needed her to. While the majority of the story is about Vivi and Jonah’s relationship, the interactions of each of the supporting characters is also integral to understanding the whole dynamic. Will they ever be able to tell each other the truth? Are their interactions all based on lust and desire? Will Vivi be able to help Jonah see his true potential and find happiness again? Will Jonah help Vivi accept herself and recognize the results of her actions?
I have heard this book compared to Spinelli’s Stargirl (2002), but with a more contemporary, teenager feel. I would agree with that comparison, but the mental illness diagnosis and behaviors kick it up a notch. The mania and obsession presents some foreshadowing of what’s to come, but I never would have predicted the ending. Admittedly, I teared up and readers might need some tissues to get through the final chapters.
This is for readers who enjoy Amy Reed’s books, Challenger Deep, and Made You Up.