Headlines:
Hits hard in the heart and gut
Manunian grit
Real, emotional and beautiful

When Our Worlds Collided was a read that revealed it's title meaning after the first chapter...and what a chapter that was. This trio of black teens, found themselves together after a tragedy and naviagated it both together and alone. Chantelle, Jackson and Marc all had their own difficulties to live with but Shaq brought them together.

This threesome of new friendship in Manchester all faced different inequalities whether that was walking down the street, just being in class or trying to live in the care system. Some of the things that happened in this book made me rage. Ms Edwards was a complete tool and as an educator myself, I hated her with a passion but I know people like her exist which is, I guess, why I hated her so much. But then we had Gran, Mrs Cohen and Dry Eileen who frankly was a hug in human form; I adored her.

This story gripped me from the first few pages and while there is nothing easy about the themes in this book, the writing made it easy. Danielle Jawando has a way of not just bringing these characters to life, but also of revealing their hearts and minds. The mancunian narrative, the places and the locations, brought the city and culture to life. The grief journeys these teens and adults walked were relatable even if the exact experiences were theirs only.

I cannot say how emotional (across the range) this book got me at times. The injustices, the sadness, the love, the beauty, the connections and more than anything, the potential and possibilities were everything. This book was another triumph from Danielle Jawando who has securely placed herself as superb writer of black UK contemporary YA.

Pack your tissues, folks.

There are lots of content warnings for this book, feel free to DM me for details.

Thank you to Simon YA for the early review copy.

A fantastic book about growing up black in the UK, this novel explores topics of racism, friendship and living in care with humour and sensitivity. This is definitely one I’m going to buy for the school library.

A very emotive and thought provoking book, with powerful themes and I enjoyed reading it. This ya book is set in Manchester and follows the lives of 3 teens whos relationship grows around the witnessing of a 14 year old death. Each character has their own story and its interesting how they all blend and have a place with each other.
It's quite a powerful read and not your average ya book but I do think you should read it, if only the once.

Powerful read.
This addresses some of the issues young adults have to deal with still in society.
This is a great read and thought provoking, will make a good book club read.

Danielle Jawando has done it again. Another hard hitting but brilliant book that will stay with you long after you finish. Danielle has a way of writing realistic and gripping stories that evoke empathy and make you re-evaluate the way you look at the world. And The Stars Were Burning Brightly was an exceptional debut and When Our Worlds Collided is every bit as good. A much-needed honest commentary on racism and society in the UK. All three protagonists pull at your heart strings and you can’t help but be sucked in and emotionally connected to each of their stories. This book deserves to be in every school library up and down the country and is one I’ll certainly be recommending to staff alongside students.

When Our Worlds Collided is a powerful, emotive YA novel that deserves to be on the shelves of every high school in the UK. Set in Manchester, the novel revolves around the lives of three teenagers who begin a friendship after being witnesses to the murder of a 14 year old boy on the streets of the city they live in. Jackson attends an elite private school and his sheltered life is shattered as he begins to awaken to the racism around him. Chantelle is strong and intelligent but finds that her upbringing in Moss Side causes her to face prejudice no matter how hard she tries and Marc, who finds it difficult to trust others after being brought up in the care system.

I found I was quickly absorbed in the stories of each of the main characters and shared their frustrations and anger with the injustices and prejudice they face daily. It was such a well written, thought provoking book that highlights how Black people are forced to behave and speak just to avoid the prejudice they face from the systematic racism of the media, justice system and society in general. There are some lovely light moments that the three teenagers share that help balance the harsh theme of the book.

This such a wonderful book that provides insight into the reasons why we still need to highlight the issue of racism, especially in the post BLM world we live in. I really enjoyed this novel and I've also bought a copy so my own teenage daughter can enjoy it too.

Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for providing me with an arc of this wonderful novel in return for an honest review.

Absolutely brilliant story of three teens who witness the fatal stabbing of a young black teen, Shaq. When the media inaccurately portray Shaq as a troublesome gang member from Moss Side they form a bond as they question the inequalities they see around them. The police attack Shaq's vigil, hurting his family and community members. Jackson is attacked and fights to survive, later he is arrested for assault, he is found guilty for using unreasonable force. Marc is offered a permanent place at his latest foster home and shares that he is the graphic artist who created Shaq's mural.. Chantelle is accused of cheating by her teacher, when she makes an effort for her English assessment, eventually the teacher apologies when Chantelle writes a second, even better, essay. She decides to stop shoplifting to make ends meet and to study law in the hope of getting fair representation and justice for black and poor people.

Another outstanding Young Adult book, I would recommend this book to any fan of The Hate U Give book. It deals with the issues raised sensitively and well, and the characters are fully fleshed out. This deals with how racism affects everyone, both individually and collectively.

All the books I have read lately have made me absolutely sob and this one was no exception. One horrific moment ends the life of an innocent, young boy but at the same time brings three teenagers together that really need one another. The situations that those teenagers are put through were hard to read and undeniably awful but there was still hope sewn through the book with their friendship.

I loved it just as much as All The Stars Were Burning Brightly and Cannot wait to see what Danielle Jawando does next!

When Our Worlds Collided is another striking book from a powerful voice within YA.

I absolutely loved And The Stars Were Burning Brightly when I read it two years ago. That was an intense, moving and thought-provoking read that I have never forgotten. Jawando maintains that emotional potency here, with a sensitive and beautifully caring story. She really proves that she has this wonderful, innate ability to completely capture the audience emotionally and compel them to keep reading.

When Our Worlds Collided takes on several heavy topics, but always with Jawando’s characteristic sensitivity and nuance. It particularly talks about being Black in Britain today and the intersections of this with class. The way Shaq’s stabbing gets reported, sensationalised and miscommunicated is horrific, but all too realistic considering recent headlines. This is repeated and reflected on further throughout the book and this makes for essential reading. Jawando’s writing burns with the sense of a fury simmering and boiling over at this broken system and society.

The emotional impact of this book hinges on your ability to connect with the three central characters: Chantelle, Jackson and Marc. We switch between their perspectives, allowing for a three-dimensional and nuanced conversation about events between their headspaces. Obviously I loved all three of them and rooted for their hopes and dreams. They’re all facing their own struggles and battles that exemplify aspects of this corrupt, racist system. Jawando takes you on an emotional rollercoaster alongside them, feeling the anger, frustration, sadness and threads of hope and joy right alongside them. I think it is this exceptional character work that really defines and shapes her work. Only through this connection can the book have quite the same devastating impact.

When Our Worlds Collided is a fierce, thought-provoking book that shines brightest in its incredible characterisation and development.

This is a fantastic book about three young people who would not ordinarily meet. Chantelle has been abandoned by her mother & lives with her Gran, Marc has been brought up in care and Jackson’ s parents money can shield him from many of the problems of growing up black. However the stabbing of a local teenager brings their worlds together and they have to battle against the inherent prejudice & racism of the police, the media and society. There worlds are turned upside down & they are changed forever. Another deep hitting YA novel which shines a light on the prejudices in our society.

Prejudice and injustice because of being black.
Chantelle is fighting poverty and abandonment by the Mother who was supposed to care about her.
Marc is in care having survived his parents’ abusive relationship.
Jackson, however, has parents who care about him and the money to provide him with safety, a good education and prospects of a future where he can expect the same.
Until the day when another boy is stabbed and these three are the only people who stop to offer help these young people do not know one another. This shocking incident brings them together as they experience first-hand the prejudice against the victim as the media report only what they want and what will sell, lying about gang culture and making out the victim had no future.
At school Chantelle is studying Great Expectations, but the expectations of all three friends depend not just on their own behaviour and efforts, but on others who hold lesser expectations of those without money or who are black.
Life’s injuries become more personal when Chantelle is wrongly accused of cheating as a judgemental teacher does not believe she is capable of good work, and for Jackson an incident on the way home one evening lands him in even further trouble.
Those sitting in judgement are white, privileged and simply unable to envisage living in fear because of the colour of their skin.

I read #WhenOurWorldsCollided on #NetGalley & Could. Not. Put. It. Down. The 3 teens are brought to life so well, & believably thrown together. The whole story is *so* real that I was anxious (& angry) for them right to the last page & beyond...but they made me smile too! #UKYA https://t.co/hVC2xeyS3w

I finished this book two days ago, and normally I jump right onto NetGalley to give my feedback while the novel is still fresh in my mind, however with When Our Worlds Collided, I felt I needed to just wait a while and let my thoughts about the story process.

Following a stabbing in the city centre, three young people, who would never have met or spoken to each other before, are pulled together in the aftermath. This book is a sensitive, yet hard-hitting exploration of knife crime and its impact on communities, racism and the everyday microaggressions faced by young black people, and what a family is. I have read a lot of YA fiction lately which revolves around racism, the Black Lives Matter movement, and disparity and inequality in society, however it was a refreshing change to read such a story set in a major UK city, and not London either! It felt more real to me, because I genuinely believed the setting and places that the author was describing. I felt as if I could go to Manchester, step off a train and go to some of these places, they were that convincing.

When I first started reading, I was a bit sceptical about the multi-voice narrative, as I have had issues with this in the past in other books - indistinct voices, loss of story, strange tangents. In When Our Worlds Collided, because all three characters are so unique and distinct in their voices, I knew instantly who was who, without even needing to read the name at the start of the chapter. These three strong, yet vulnerable, young people from different walks of life were outstandingly characterised. They each had their own strengths, weaknesses, hopes, dreams and fears, exactly like all the young people that I know, and it was really nice to see an author who could represent what seemed like a genuine teenage experience on the pages of a book.

As one of the characters himself states, there is a perception within the UK that there is no systemic racism, which is a complete nonsense, and this book shows in minute detail the everyday racism that people of colour experience, from microaggressions to overt racism, from all parts of society - school, police, the justice system and the media. The author used her characters to expose and show the flaws in all these elements, even down to the books that pupils are asked to study at GCSE level.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, would recommend it to any and everyone, and feel that it is a fantastic follow-up to And The Stars Were Burning Brightly.

A great book, one for fans of The Hate U Give. It deals with the issues raised sensitively and well, and the characters are fully fleshed out. This deals with how racism affects everyone, both individually and collectively.

Firstly thank you to Danielle & Amina at Simon Schuster Children’s for my gifted copy of the book!

This book blew me away!! I went from crying laughing to being filled with such rage! Heartbroken to so proud! I moved through so many emotions reading this book that sometimes it felt like I knew Chantelle, Jackson & Marc personally. I wanted to scoop them up and protect them from the goings on around them.

The book starts off so innocuously in the Arndale, with Jackson waiting for his date. But just a few pages in, things take a turn for the worst! All hell breaks loose and you are sucked in to a point of no return.

Three teens from very different walks of life are pulled together by a single violent event.

The language and phrases used by the white characters in this book are all too familiar for many of the POC who I know. Some of the phrases have been said to me personally.

This books needs to be in schools but not only to be read by the students, but by the teachers aswell. It may give an insight to some of how what they say and how the langue they use has such a massive impact on the young minds around them.

I feel like this book would make an EPIC 3 part series (Channel 4 I’m looking at you right now 🤨!) because this is just the type of thing that would open so many eyes to the biased perceptions we have of people and how the media writes particular ways about people from particular backgrounds or ethnicities.

Beautifully and emotionally written, Danielle does not let you down with this immense story. A story, that it would seem, is becoming more and more frequent in this day and age.

When Our Worlds Collided hits the stores in March 2022 and it is NOT a book you want to miss!

Beautiful. Poignant. Phenomenal.
This was a beautify read and I learnt so much. I cried and I smiled and there was nothing more that I wanted from this book. Truly a gem.

The first thing that I need to say about this book is that everyone should read it, it deals with such raw, emotive and real topics so sensitively and effectively. Issues that in this times when it seems like you can't watch a movie, drama or see the news without another young person being stabbed, this deals with that and the aftermath for everyone involved, as well as dealing with racism as well.
I couldnt put this book down I was gripped and I didnt want it to end, I cant describe how I felt reading it or after I had finished and I still think about it now, I loved it.

Before I start I should mention that there’s content warnings and potential spoilers - that some readers might want to know about, so check at the end if you want to know more.

Right, now to the main event. Wow. I don’t know how Jawando does it. She’s not shy of tackling heavy topics and her newest offering is no exception. In short summary, When Our Worlds Collided is all about the impact of the stabbing of a young boy on three teens who witness it and offer their help. The young boy is black. The three teens are also black.

These are three very different teens, but they’ve all been exposed to their own trauma or struggles, they’re all at a key moment in their lives as they prepare for their GCSEs, and most importantly, they’ve all been affected by racism. Passing comments, treatment by police, expectations at school and that’s only a few. But things come to ahead following the stabbing.

This was so immersive and engaging - I was desperate to learn the fate of the three main characters. And I was so angry for them - at the injustice and unfairness they’ve been subject to. The disparity between how the world views and respond to white people and Blake people. She’s also managed to create such wonderful characters with their own difficult backstories.

This is such a powerful read - and I urge every young person (and even the adults out there) to read this.

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Simon & Schuster Kids and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.


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⚠️Content warning/potential spoilers: there’s references to and detail of racism, domestic abuse, murder, gang violence ⚠️