Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Release Date: May 12th, 2015
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 5/8/15 to 5/10/15
352 pages
Rating: ✰✰✰✰
When Apple's mother returns after eleven years of absence, Apple feels almost whole again. In order to heal completely, her mother will have to answer one burning question: Why did she abandon her? But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother's homecoming is bittersweet. It's only when Apple meets her younger sister, Rain-someone more lost than she is- that she begins to see things for how they really are, allowing Apple to discover something that might help her to feel truly whole again.
From the author of the acclaimed The Weight of Water comes a beautifully-crafted, moving novel about family, betrayal, and the ultimate path to healing.
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I've been wanting to read Apple and Rain since it came out in the UK/AUS or somewhere that wasn't in the US, so when I was approved for it (Thanks Netgalley) I was very, very excited to read it. And I'm glad that it lived up to all the amazing reviews I read earlier, because this was such a realistic read.
Apple's real name is Apollina, and her last name is even crazy (I'm not even sure I got her first name right!). Her mom left her for her dream of Broadway in the US, and Apple doesn't stop wishing for her to come back. And then one day out of the blue, years later, her mom does come back. She pleads with Nana, asking for another chance to be a mother, that she's ready now after all those years.
So right, ok. Apple goes home with her mom because she believes her mom is invincible. But once she moves in, she finds that she has a sister that no one knows about, Rain. Rain believes that her toy baby is real, and that "she" needs real food, real milk, a real doctor check up. This would be fine with a little kid, but Rain is already 10 years old. And her mom doesn't know what to do with her. Or Apple for that matter. The mom is a sucky mom, and I may not be an expert at parenting, but I'm sure the author's intention was to show how bad of a mom Apple's mom actually is.
This lies on the more realistic end of contemporary, where even though there is some romance, it gradually develops throughout the story. And we also get to see Apple and Rain's relationship slowly grow from hate (on Rain's end, honestly), to caring. However, the most important part is seeing how Apple slowly realizes how her mom isn't the mom she dreamed about, but yet forgives her because she has good intentions. It's just really sad to see her mom just leave both of them at home to travel to London for job opportunities, and asking Apple to skip weeks of school to take care of Rain, because Rain doesn't want to go to school.
Apple and Rain was such a beautiful, realistic read, and I felt so much for Apple. I'm just surprised she was able to forgive her mom so many times, because there were a lot of things that happened that I would have raged about, if I had her as a mother. The fact that the author created her as a cool mom in the beginning deceived me as well, which led me to think that Apple living with her mom was better than living with her strict Nana. But as the story went on, I saw the truth. AND IT WAS SO REALISTIC AND I WAS DECEIVED.
So yes, I loved Apple and Rain. It's a nice, painful read, haha. Well not too painful, but definitely on the sad side.
