Review: Inseparable

Inseparable by Siobhan Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Siobhan Davis quickly won me over with her Saven series, and since then I’ve always been excited to pick up more of her work. She is one of the few authors I’m willing to step outside of my comfort zone with. When she moved from writings young adult science fiction to new adult contemporary, I was worried. Fortunately, I had no reason to fear. Thus, I told myself I was more than happy to embark upon a journey of her first standalone novel. I know some will argue the later Kennedy Boys novels are standalones, but I believe they work best if you’ve worked your way through all the books in the series – thus, Inseparable, being one hundred percent a standalone novel, is what I consider her first true standalone novel. You do not need to have read any of her other work to enjoy this one.

As I said, Siobhan Davis is an author whose development I’m more than happy to follow, even when things step outside of what I tend to enjoy. I’m not the biggest lover of short stories and novellas, but I find myself excited by news of those kinds of stories when Siobhan Davis promises us such a read. I’ve not been the biggest lover of some of her characters, and yet she’s won me over through telling their individual stories (Saving Brad being a prime example of such a change). I’m not the biggest lover of high school drama in stories, but I enjoyed such elements more than I expected when they appeared in the early Kennedy Boy books. Thus, even though there were certain things I knew about Inseparable that did not appeal to me, I was willing to take the dive.

You see, love triangles… I’m not a fan. Not at all. A part of me threatens to shrivel up and die at the prospect. They appear so often in romance, and I really don’t understand why. The ratio of love triangles in novels is so much higher than what I believe it to be in real life. I admit to being slightly jaded – being the unattractive person I am, I cannot grab the attention of a single male let alone two (but such is a self-pitying tangent nobody wishes to hear more about) – but I prefer straightforward romance. I love some good drama, but I often find I enjoy regular drama (or the crazy exaggerated kind) over drama related to multiple love interests. I’ll accept it more in paranormal romance (where reverse harem appears quite often) than contemporary, but I’m not big on such tales. Yet, this was the first standalone novel by Siobhan Davis and I needed to know more, I needed to read it.

The prologue of this one instantly grabbed my attention. It demonstrates how wonderful Siobhan is as a writer. The writing was beautiful, the information enough to leave me wanting more, and I was instantly pulled into the story. Without a doubt, it was one of my favourite introductions to a book in a long time. It was such a beautifully written piece, making it impossible to drag me away from the book.

Then the book is split into three parts. In part one we face one of the things I’m not overly crazy about, having already mentioned it – the high school drama. It was interesting, it was a great set up for the story, but I wasn’t crazy about it. I accepted it in the Kyler arc of the Kennedy Boys because there was a lot of other stuff going on, yet I feel as though it was even stronger in this one. Those who love high school drama will really enjoy part one of this story, but it wasn’t quite for me. Therefore, whilst I was intrigued, I wasn’t won over. Such a thing really saddened me. As I’ve said, I’m a big fan of Siobhan’s work. I wanted to love this one, and part one left me with the fear I would not be enjoying this book as much as I would have liked. It would be a nice solid three-star rating, but it would not be the high I have experienced with her other books.

Along came part two. This is where my feelings towards the story started to change. It moved from being a story I was interested in but not really loving, to being a book I was addicted to. Things started to build up a lot more in the second part of the story, and by the end of it my view had changed from it being a three-star rating to a three-point-five or possibly four-star rating. The latter half of this part of the book really won me over. I was lost to the story, needing more. I could not wait to dive into part three to see how everything came together.

Fortunately, I was happy to devour this book in a single sitting. I dove straight into part three to see how all the elements came together. Without a doubt, the third part of the book was my favourite. Everything came together so well. There were big reveals for all the characters, and even though I had worked every one of them out, I loved the way in which they came out and played together. The third part of the book was so emotionally charged, completely winning me over. Thus, the book became a solid four-star rating. I may have tentative at first, I may have been worried in the early parts of the book, but it won me over in the end. I honestly feared we had reached a literary device Siobhan Davis would not be able to win me over with, and yet she managed it.

I know for a fact that many people will enjoy this book even more than I did. My prejudice against love triangles is to blame for the initial difficulty I had with this story. In fact, I fear my dislike of love triangles clouded my view more than it should have – to the point where I was making parallels with other Siobhan Davis books and thinking it was too close to what has been written before, even though this book stands strong on its own. It is due to this that I did not fall in love with the characters in the way I usually do in a Siobhan Davis read, but I know many people will fangirl like crazy over this one. In fact, I have a feeling there will be many broken hearts and damp eyes by the time some people finish this story.

Because, honestly, this book does deal with many heavy topics. I could list them all, but to do such would be to give spoilers. Just know this book deals with a lot of sensitive issues and I challenge any person not to be affected by something in this story. It is hard hitting, the different aspects will speak to many people, and you’ll soon be lost in the story. As always, Siobhan Davis has done a wonderful job of bringing to light real-life issue and making them known – giving them the respect they deserve, making people stop and think, and leaving us with a heavy heart at the end.

I’m positive many people will go on to call this book their favourite Siobhan Davis read, and I can easily see why people will feel such a way. This is gripping read, one that takes you on an emotional journey. However, sadly, I cannot label this my favourite Siobhan Davis read. I feel as though I’m going to be in the minority with this view, I just do not want people to mistake my statement for a dislike of this book. I did enjoy the story, I’m so glad I read it, as can be seen by my four-star rating, it simply is not my favourite Siobhan Davis read.

There’s no doubt, however, that I will continue to read Siobhan Davis. She won me over in the end when I did not think I would be, proving how wonderful she is as a writer. If you have yet to pick up a Siobhan Davis book, then picking up Inseparable is something you should do. As her first real standalone novel, it stands up so well – making it the perfect introduction to anyone new to her work and serving as a reminder of all she is capable of to her fans.

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