It’s hard to say much about Never Apart for reasons I can’t describe without giving everything away. I’ll do my best.

The premise is simpler than it seems: Ander and Grace are in love and somehow got uprooted from their lives to be thrown into the lives of who they are in parallel universes. In one, Ander’s family is rich; in another, Grace is in a single-parent home instead of having her mom, dad, and twin brother Jem. But three things are constants: Ander and Grace have each other, their former friend Finn always Falls with them as someone who hunts them down, and there are five days between Falling into a new life and when Finn kills Ander, which sends the three hurtling into new lives.

Fall 42 is different. Jen exists again, Ander doesn’t recognize Grace, Finn isn’t hunting the couple down like usual, and things are just plain Wrong.

The slow unraveling of Grace, Ander, and Finn’s original life alongside the events of Fall 42 makes for a compelling narrative that keeps readers turning the pages. Never Apart is 400 pages long, but it never feels that lengthy due to the excellent pacing and developing mystery. Finn is supposed to be bad since he’s killed Ander 41 times now, but the novel’s “then” chapters show us a Finn who’s new to town and friends with Grace, Jem, and Ander. Who draws socially anxious Grace out of her shell and matches her valedictorian-track intellect. Who has good chemistry with her and pretty clearly likes her even though she’s dating Ander. What happened?

I won’t give away that particular answer, but something else happens: an ending that killed my enthusiasm for the book. It’s one perceptive readers will see coming. If you make a list of the worst types of endings, one of your first two guesses will likely be this book’s type. Yeah, it makes sense and underscores the book’s major themes, but it makes things feel a bit worthless. I’d take an “everyone dies” tragedy ending over this.

Romily Bernard’s Find Me trilogy is a delight and you should read them if those tech thriller YA novels sound like they’re up your alley. I wish I had that kind of enthusiasm for Never Apart. If you enjoyed novels like And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich and The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood, then this novel will almost certainly be a hit for you. Those two books cover similar ground and happened to come out around the same time as Never Apart.

AWESOME! Just awesome. I loved everything about this book. It was unique, interesting, addictive, and the writing was just my speed. I whipped through it, unable to put it down. I loved the way it had me guessing, but not in an annoying "tell me already!!!" type of way. It was really a fantastic read. I highly recommend this one!!

Never Apart was such a beautifully written and enjoyable book. The story was unique and really pulled me in while I was reading, and the characters were really top notch when it comes to development. I highly recommend this book to pretty much anyone who needs a romantic and unique read!

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: It starts off confusing and stays that way in alternating flashbacks.

Check out author's other books or related books? No, I don't think I will give her other titles a go. This is the second one that I have DNFed.

Recommend this book? If you loved Before I Fall then you might like this one as well.

Notes and Opinions: I really wanted to love this one but it just wasn't for me. If you like clueless main characters try this one out for yourself. I felt very confused early on and that pretty much-kept pace with how I felt through the entire thing. I couldn't connect to the characters and I just felt like the main character took forever to figure things out when it was right in front of her face.

Go Into This One Knowing: Well paced but confusing

Rating: 1.5 stars.

I really did not like this book very much. I just got very frustrated with the main character, Grace, who was very clueless. I had to stop reading at times because her relationships with some characters made me super uncomfortable. Grace's boyfriend Ander just rubbed me the wrong way. And then there was a love triangle and that just frustrated me more. It was very obvious who she wanted to be with once we reached a certain point in the book so watching the MC VERY slowly figure it out was quite annoying.

I kind of liked trying to figure out why this loop kept happening but this book was really about Grace's journey and the fact that I didn't really like Grace kind of ruined my enjoyment.

If you liked Before I Fall and want to read something fairly similar to its plot, pick up Never Apart. Like the clueless MC trope? Give this book a try.

I have to say right away I love the cover its so bright and it grabs your attention with the color alone and I think if I saw this in the bookstore I would more then likely pick it up based on the cover.
I pretty much devoured this book with two days or so because I was hooked right away but this mystery/thriller aspect of the book. I love reading books that you just can’t put down because you need to know what happens next and this was the case. I was I was capable of staying up all night to read but those days are long gone.
When I was reading this I kept getting that Groundhog Day movie in my head because this is basically that kind of storyline.
Our main character Grace is a typical seventeen year old. Grace is in love with Ander her best friendwho just happens to be her twin brother’s best friend. Grace and Ander have always felt this connection so its just logical they are together. Grace is living in an alternate reality where she keeps on reliving the same five days over and over again. She is completely clueless on how this actually happened and she just wants to stop reliving those five days over and over again especially since she can’t see to change things to fix it.
So basically Grace and Ander are in a rush to find each other and try to escape from Finn who is going to kill Ander. This keeps repeating and they don’t know how to change it until the last time. In the last fall Ander doesn’t know who Grace is (unlike all the previous ones he knew who she was) and Grace is completely baffled to what happened this time and is trying to figure it all out before its too late.
This is told in Grace’s point of view and it alternate between her life before the first fall to the current one. I wasn’t sure about this but within a few chapters I enjoyed it and it did make sense.

As soon as I knew Romily Bernard had a new book coming out I put it on my TBR list. In all honesty, she could probably write down her grocery list and publish it and I would want to read it. Regardless, Never Apart is one of those books that will have you guessing from page one what the heck is going on.

Grace lives the same five days over and over again and every time she has to watch her boyfriend die. She can’t figure out why this is happening, but she is willing to try anything to get out of this loop and stop jumping around. When we meet her, she has done this over 40 times and until she can figure out what it was that got them in this situation, things won’t change.

I loved how Bernard set this up with the now and then chapters. We get to see Grace as things are now in her current fall, but we also slowly get the backstory of what happened to put her, Ander, and Finn in the situation they are currently in. Because of this structure, it is a slow reveal. We learn more about each of them along the way and there are quite a few twists and turns throughout.

Grace is a solid character and I loved reading her then chapters and then watching her navigate the now chapters trying to figure out what was going to happen. I can’t really say too much about what is going on and how things move forward as I don’t want to ruin any bit of the story for you. I will tell you that you will experience all kinds of feelings reading this book and that is a testament to Bernard’s writing. She pulled me into these character’s lives and I couldn’t help myself from experiencing everything right alongside them.

Trust me when I say that Bernard knows how to write a story that will have you turning the pages to figure out what is really happening. I was unable to put it down and when I got to the end, I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters. I had the same experience with her Find Me series and can’t tell you how much I continue to look forward to books by her. If you are looking for a suspenseful young adult book that has great characters, an engrossing story, and some romance, look no further. Check this book out and thank me for the recommendation later!

J’ai été littéralement bluffée par la complexité des personnages et par ce qu’ils me réservaient.

J’ai adoré découvrir progressivement la personnalité de chacun et en particulier de Finn. J’ai adoré cheminer vers une grosse révélation que je n’aurais jamais pu deviner. J’ai été surprise et c’est tellement bienvenu!

J’ai été émue par le sort de Grace et de ses comparses. Je vivais les flashbacks au présent comme si j’y étais. La dualité opérée avec la nouvelle vie des personnages ne m’a pas fait l’effet d’un dépaysement car instinctivement, je comprenais leur évolution. L’auteure a vraiment su retranscrire comment une personne peut vivre encore et encore le même drame.

En conclusion, Never apart m’a conquise. J’en ai dévoré chaque page avec avidité, toujours impatiente d’en lire plus. C’est un coup de coeur. J’ai adoré ce roman.

Never Apart was an interesting story. I didn’t have any expectation on the outcome, I just knew I would enjoy it. Grace the main character was a strong girl, who had to live her life over and over every 5 days. Her memory told her that she and Ander will always find each other at every fall, no matter what life they had to live in the next fall. Ander and Grace were sweet, childhood friends becoming lovers. They had a great story to tell, but everything in this story is not what they seem. This book kept me guessing till the end. At times I even got lost, just life the Grace wondering what a part of the story they were living or if she even fell yet. Then the story started to come together when things started happening fast. I can’t say too much about the story, without spoiling it to any reader. All I can say is this book totally surprised me of what it was about and where it went. This story will completely break your heart over and over, but by the end it will put it back together and give readers a great feeling of completeness. I could really see this as a movie, I would definitely watch it.

What the what???

What I loved most about this book was the way it made me feel the words. Bernard has a way of shaping sounds to make them stick to you, and I fell hard into it. It reminded me of the way I read Done Dirt Cheap and The Last of August - like they were drugs, pulling me under. I'll read this one again, just for the words.

The characters were frustrating, but that was part of the story. I didn't feel like I knew what was going on in the plot half the time, but because I could feel the feelings, I didn't care. But the ending... oof. I was so disappointed. I wanted magic, I wanted something different. I didn't want Grace to be in a coma at the end. I didn't want it all to be a dream. I wanted it to be real, and I wanted to figure out why that 42nd Ander didn't remember her. Instead, she woke up. I hated that.

My absolute favorite thing, though? The evolution of Finn. That's all I'll say though, so I doing spoil anything else.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. The full review will go up on my blog today!

'Never Apart' was everything I hoped it could be and more. I've read all of the author's other books and absolutely loved them, so when I read the description for this novel - I knew I had to read it. I admit I had high hopes and expectations for it going in - and I wasn't disappointed at all. If anything, I was happily surprised. This could easily turn into a rambling review where I try to explain all of the reasons I adored this book, but I don't want to do that. I'll attempt to keep myself in line. I just want to say that this is one of my favorite books this year and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Firstly, I have to say that there was nothing that I didn't love about this book. Every single aspect was incredibly well done - from the plot to the characters to the romance. Grace is a fantastic main character. She has lots of great traits - she's a loving sister and daughter, works hard in school, determined, and down to earth. She also has some flaws, like her shyness and feeling awkward all the time. It all made her feel very realistic and easy to connect with. I loved getting to know her on a personal level throughout the book. It made me feel like I was right alongside her as everything happened. The secondary characters - namely Jem, Ander, and Finn - were all rounded and realistic as well. I enjoyed watching their relationships with one another change and grow throughout the story. The relationships between these four characters are very complex and layered, and the author does a great job of showing that. Of course, there's the romance aspect of the book - kind of what is at the center of the plot. But I don't do spoilers in my reviews, so I sadly can't go into any of that without giving something away.

The plot was amazing. It was unique and original and definitely kept me guessing. I loved how it was a thriller/mystery mixed in with romance and some sort of supernatural element. It kept me guessing as to what was really happening and why, and when it's all revealed - I was stunned. I never saw it coming, which is something that doesn't happen very often for me - so I love it when it does. The last thing I want to mention is the author's use of the first person point of view. It's by far my favorite writing style, and I think it fit this novel perfectly. The story is told from Grace's perspective, so we get to be inside her head for the entire book. We learn her hopes, fears, dreams, emotions, memories, and everything in between - which I think made her all the more realistic and easy to identify with. Needless to say, I very highly recommend this book to everyone who's looking for something different - especially fans of young adult, mystery, thrillers, supernatural, fantasy, contemporary and romance.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Oh wow! WOW!!!! Seriously I have no words. I sat down to read Never Apart by Romily Bernard and wound up devouring it in one sitting. The characters, their plight….all of it sucked me. The book begins with Grace and her boyfriend Ander running from their mutual friend Finn who is going to kill them. How does she know he’s going to kill her? Because this will be the 41st time he’s done. Yep you read that right. Grace has lived the same fate 41 times. I knew I was in for a good book when the suspense and tension of those first few pages had me on the edge of my seat!

Grace is an interesting character. She’s a bit lost, what with the 41 deaths and all. But she’s tried to remain true to herself. She remembers her original life in bits and pieces and this story unfolds with chapters alternating between the “now” of her present life and the “then” of her first life. I loved seeing how the story unfolded and what Grace learns about herself in the process. She’s a strong girl, who has been far too reliant on her twin brother Jem and his best friend Ander. She’s shy, incredibly smart, and a social outcast (not because she couldn’t be popular, but because she’s so shy). It isn’t until the Falls, as she calls them, that she finds herself.

The other two main characters in this book are Finn and Ander. Throughout the Falls, they are the only two who remember who they originally were. Ander is Grace’s and Jem’s best friend. They’ve known each other since they were six and life was continually thrown Grace and Ander together. Their relationship, according to Grace, was inevitable. It developed naturally and she loved him. He understood her better than anyone, and yet he is also the one who seems to hurt her the most. Finn is new in town but bonds with Grace in a way that neither her twin or best friend could. He understands her desire for more than the small town offers her.

But something happened and now he hunts her and Ander. He finds them on the 5th day and he kills Ander and they Fall. Never Apart centers on the “what happened” as Grace cannot remember what caused her friendship with Finn and Ander to unravel. All Grace knows is it was something bad. I loved how the author was able to convey the tension and heartbreak and nerve-wracking fear Grace felt through the pages. I found myself holding my breath, my own heart racing, and even tearing up as Grace fought to uncover the truth. The alternating chapters between the now and then helped the story flow and I lived for the “then” chapters as I knew they were important to Grace’s current situation.

Overall I loved this story! I loved Grace, my heart ached for Ander, and I was drawn to the mysterious Finn. I missed Jem with Grace, and I related to the small town of Boone. If you enjoy paranormal, science fiction, and a little romance dosed with a dash of thrill, I highly recommend you grab a copy of this book. It does not disappoint!

Last night I finished Never Apart and I ending up enjoying it. When I started reading it, I found it quite boring. It was at about 60% that I started thinking it was good. I was quite lost at the beginning but Grace, our lead protagonist is lost so I think we're meant to feel as she does.

I'm not going to quote any of the story because this review would go on for too long, if I did, I feel.

Spoilers below...

We meet Grace when she's on the run from someone. Although, the person is revealed in the book I don't want to as it's a pretty major spoiler, I think. Grace is special. She can hop into different timelines. She doesn't like being able to do this, though. I don't want to reveal anything about the time hopping as that is again a pretty big spoiler.

Grace has a boyfriend, Ander and there's another boy, Finn in the story. This sort of plays out as a love triangle but it wasn't annoying. Grace has clear boundaries throughout.

What did I like about Never Apart?

I liked how the story was told from Grace's POV. It made some of the aspects of the story more relatable.

I liked how Grace's parents were featured a lot. Often in YA stories, the parents are either dead or absent in some way. Here, they actually had a role to play, as well.

I liked how this story was fantasy or magical but also set in the real world.

I liked how the story just focused on 4 main characters. I could see the development of these characters as the story progressed. There were other minor characters but they didn't mess up the flow of the story.

What didn't I like about Never Apart?

I didn't like how it was slow to get to the romance. With a title like Never Apart, I thought that it would be far more romantic than it actually was.

I didn't like how boring Never Apart seemed to be. While I was reading I was always thinking, "when will something exciting happen?" But it didn't until right at the end.

Overall then, I liked Never Apart. I didn't love it because it was missing my favourite trope for the majority but even with the kind of love triangle it wasn't too bad. I'm therefore giving it 3 stars!

Stand by for my next review. Coming soon...

COME THROUGH, ROMILY BERNARD. COME THROUGH!

What a stunning read. I mean wow. I wasn't expecting to feel so strongly about this book.

THE ABOUT:Grace is stuck in a time warp. Every five days--she relives a single moment--the moment where her boyfriend dies and she has to watch, over and over again.

Every single time she tries to stop it and every single time she fails.

THE FEELINGS:I have to be honest I didn't read the blurb before today.

I seen that the book was written by Romily Bernard, and I picked it up. That's it.

I am oh so glad I did.

Stunning. Did I say stunning?

It's so beautifully written, that I was completely enraptured by the story. The twists, the turns, the thrills--the mysteries.

All of it was done so well.

I loved the whole parallel universe deal. It was then and now, and then, and then now. All of it was effortless. Not once did I find myself lost or confused--that sometimes happens when stories are being told this way. But, no, no Romily came through--with that good writing and made it happen!

And I just have a lot of feelings, okay?

The story is told in only one perspective--but I felt like I knew how every single character felt--from page to page.

What's funny about this book is that it reads as multiple genres--and it felt right. It was like a sci-fi, contemporary, thriller romance. Can all books be like this?

Anyway, the characters are solid in this one--you won't be left with any what if's, there's no unanswered questions. Nothing to agonize you with--nothing but beautiful writing here folks.

Now some of you may disagree--I won't understand it but, some of you will. You'll be wrong--but you're entitled to your opinion. :P

I think for some it may be a bit overwhelming but it was just enough for me. I was awash with emotion and avid anticipation for everything that happened here.

As mentioned, this book is a parallel universe sort of deal--and I think that's what makes it so good. You get the what if, without even having to wonder. What if she chose this or that? What if she didn't go down that road, kind of thing? You'll find it all out. I mean what reader wouldn't love that?

I feel like a discombobulated, inarticulate ball of emotions. I just really love this book. And I don't feel that way often, you guys know that.

Let me wrap this up, because well, I'm doing this piss poorly.

Just get the book it's so good.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"His smile turned the words to butter, made the vowels slide." (That is so clever, come on now!)

"I would do anything to be your everything..."

"..If I hadn't come to Boone, I would have never met you and I know I would've missed that--missed you. I would never have known your name or your face, but I would've known the absence of you, the gap that was left in me because you were never there."

*SWOON*

"Everyone thinks grief is this thing you can get away from, and it isn't. One minute you're fine, then you'll hear a laugh like theirs--and" he shakes his head--"grief isn't a thing you live with. It's a thing that lives in you."


FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

Grace and Ander have been “Falling” over and over again, entering an alternate universe of their lives where they have 3 days to find each other and two days to get away. But they can never get away from Finn, the boy that Grace once thought was a friend, but now is hunting Grace and Ander down to kill them and restart the cycle. But something is a little different about this Fall, something Grace can’t figure out. But one thing she knows for certain is that she will do all that she can to stop another Fall.

I loved every minute of this story and was instantly engaged in the world the author created. Can I just say that this had twists and turns I never could have anticipated and the ending swept my feet right out from under me. I am going to leave this review pretty vague because I refuse to spoil anything and the ride was so well done by the author everyone should experience how the story unfolds. Where the book began was nowhere near where it ended and I was completely surprised by the journey. The emotions the author was able to drag out of me were so unexpected as well, I had no idea this was going to be a book I fought tears for. Sure, I knew based on the synopsis that the story was about repeating death, but I had no idea that I was going to feel Grace's sorrow, anxiety, weariness and anguish right along with her.​ Also another interesting aspect of the book was how important relationships are, and not just in the romantic sense, but the love between siblings, the bond of friendship and family as well as loving yourself.

​The book is told in alternating chapters from Now and Then, so the reader is dropped into the middle of the situation, literally watching as Grace and Ander battle for their lives with Finn and then vanish to somewhere new. But the “Then” chapters slowly fill in the story blanks and help the plot to fully bloom. I am not actually sure which parts I liked more, I think both were equally interesting to me but for different ways. The Now stuff made me connect to the struggle Grace is going through and root for her as a person. The Then chapters allowed me to get to know all the characters and find reasons for actions and how the Falls began. The longer the story progressed, the more I doubted Grace's feelings and ideas, questioning what I thought I knew. And Finn (the evil murderer!), he challenged her, accepted her for exactly who she was, didn't want to change her, and I adored him. My favorite line in the book just happened to described him perfectly-"Finn was an ass. He was freaking Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice down here to judge all us rednecks."

Overall, I just have to say that I loved this book and there is not a single thing I would change about how Romily delivered the words. ​I have no idea what this book would be classified as, maybe a mystery, but I think everyone should read it regardless of genre. ​I am really excited to see what​ ​Romily​ ​wants to write about next because she made a fan for certain.

I received this title for reviewing purposes. Come visit me at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ for more book fun!

Grace and Ander are stuck in a never-ending loop of alternate realities in which they run from Finn, Grace watches Ander die, and all three once again Fall. Now, in her forty-second Fall, things are very much like Grace's own life. Her twin brother Jem is there, as is her dog Visa. But she's popular (not her usual shy self), Finn is her friend, and this Ander is not her Ander - he doesn't know about what's been happening to them. Grace decides she's had enough, and it's time to change the course of events.

The story begins at a cracking pace and never lets up. Grace's current day accounts of her Falls are interspersed with glimpses of her original life. We see how every decision she has made impacts her life and the lives of those around her. The tension builds, as we slowly piece together what happened in the past to put all of their futures on hold.

Absolutely riveting.

Warnings: alcohol abuse, violence.

Grace and her boyfriend, Ander, are on the run. Every five days, Finn hunts them down, kills them, and then they all wake up in a parallel universe to do it over again. When will it end? Can Grace and Ander ever get to Finn before he catches them or find a way out of the loop?

Never Apart was a pretty good book. It started with a fascinating premise - Grace, Ander, and Finn running through parallel worlds trying to survive and figure out why. The story is told in the present with frequent flashbacks telling how the characters came to the point in which they started the cycle. The ending took a twist I was not expecting, but I loved it. I can't tell you much about the story for fear of revealing it, though!

The story asks the question: "How many times would you die for love?" It is a compelling question, but is not exactly what the story is about. The romance takes center stage, yes, but the conclusion of the romance does not answer the question. The conclusion shows characters who decide to make the best choices to grow themselves and move forward in life rather than to do what is expected. The message was a good one, definitely coming-of-age. But it didn't go the direction I thought it would because of the question.

My biggest critique was that I wished the author had taken more time to develop some of the less important characters. There was so much focus on the main two that most of the others seemed a bit two-dimensional.

I enjoyed Never Apart and look forward to reading others from Romily Bernard. I recommend it to fans of YA romance.

I received a complementary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Grace felt like she was going to die. Again as she and Ander run to get away from Finn but he always seems to catch them. Ander promises he will find Grace if they Fall again. as he always does. It’s always the three of them, they always find each. In every lifetime Ander had died and Grace watched. This time Grace tells Ander “you promised”. Grace repeats it louder as that will bring Finn closer and Ander will have to keep his word. Every other time Ander had fought Finn and lost. This time Grace will fight and Ander will watch and maybe the pattern will break. Grace doesn’t fight very well but is good at being a lure for Finn. He’s given her lots of practice. Grace waits and waits and Fin studies her and studies her. Then Finn says Grace and she charges him. Hitting him low, ramming her shoulder into his chest as his nails dig into her arm. Finn plows her into the mud and grace jams the knife deep, deeper but then Grace slips and as Finn and Grace grapple in the mud Ander yanks Grace to her feet and tells her to run but Grace says she can’t. Grace and Ander had done this over forty times with always the same ending. Grace understands how it works, how it ends, how much she loved the boy that she was about to watch die. Once upon a time they were all friends but now…. Ander tells Grace to run but she can’t. She can’t do it anymore, she can’t watch it anymore. Finn was barely past seventeen as was Grace. She says to Finn “ why does this keep happening, why did Finn keep doing thi. They had been friends”. Finn said : “we have to pay for what we did”. It takes Finn five days to find them every time. Grace came to in someone’s house that has a party going on. There are other rules Ander and Grace knw: 1- get your stuff, 2- get oriented, 3- get going because they only have five days before Finn finds them again. A s far as Ander and Grace can tell every time they Fall they surface with different lives it’s like they end up in parallel universes, timelines that belong to other versions of themselves. Grace doesn’t know why her name is always the same, she doesn’t know why Finn always hurts her. This time though things are different. Ander didn’t find Grace, this time Grace’s family is together again including her twin who had been missing in all her other jumps. How can she solve this puzzle alone. Ander and her twin brother are best friends. This time Ander didn’t remember finding Grace and before he always had. From the time Grace was six she felt connected to Ander. The three had issues- Ander’s was drinking, Grace was extremely shy and had social anxiety. And Finn just wanted to be accepted for who he is.
I liked this book a lot. I wish I could rate this a 4.5. I loved the twists and turns. I didn’t want to put this down once I started reading this book, it had my interest all the way from the beginning until the end. This had a good plot and pace. This book draws you in right from the beginning. This was also well written. I don’t usually like going back and forth in a book but it just wasn’t that bad although I liked being in the past less as for me it dragged some. This is a fantasy thriller and a very good one. I felt this was a sad romance though. I loved the characters and the twists and turns and I recommend. Once again I wish I could rate it a 4.5.

Beautifully written with compelling characters and a great premise. This was executed perfectly. Such a great read. 4/5