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Like No Other

Una LaMarche (Goodreads Author)

3.70 · Rating details · 2,523 ratings · 469 reviews

Fate brought them together. Will life tear them apart?

Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing.

Jaxon is a fun-loving, book-smart nerd who has never been comfortable around girls (unless you count his four younger sisters).

They've spent their entire lives in Brooklyn, on opposite sides of the same street. Their ...more

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Hardcover, 368 pages

Published July 24th 2014 by Razorbill

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Lists with This Book

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2014 Contemporary YA

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Interracial young adult novels

286 books — 192 voters

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3.70 ·

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· 2,523 ratings · 469 reviews

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Dec 18, 2013 Gaby rated it really liked it

Review originally posted on Queen Ella Bee Reads

BEFORE we get started...
I think I should clarify what I'm going to cover in this review with a list.

1. The Jewish Stuff: I went to Jewish Private School for 14 years, did a gap year at a midrasha (all-girl's school for Jewish studies) in Israel, and served on the Hillel board at my university for two years. Frum from birth, as Devorah so frankly puts it early on in this story. (Yes, that is a thing and yes, I laughed when I read it.) So, technicali ...more

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Dec 01, 2014 Becky rated it liked it

Shelves: ya, new-york, religion-or-lack-thereof, multiple-narrators

I mostly liked this book, but ended up being disappointed by the end. It left me with the sense that, despite the dual narration, Jaxon isn't there to have his own story. At the end I felt like his whole character, who I had liked and been invested in, was just a plot device for Devorah's coming-of-age or whatever.

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Aug 02, 2014 Talia added it

This book was annoying. I grew up in a Lubavitch community, even though my family isn't Hasidic. I frequent Crown Heights. I've spent Shabbat and holidays with my friends in their homes there, gone to concerts and galleries and open mics there, eaten in amazing restaurants there. But would you know any of that exists in Crown Heights from this book? No. Crown Heights is a hub of Jewish creativity, but the impression you get from this book is that it's a glorified prison.

This is a ridiculous por ...more

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Mar 30, 2016 Odette Knappers rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, inbezit

OMG this book is amazing.

Can I rate this 6*? No? Hmm.

If you love Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, you should really read this! This is also about diversity, but about religion and race. The religion-thing is really well explained, which is really unique to this book. I love that extra about this book.

I've read this book because my local bookstore is organizing a YA evening (Yes how cool is that!) and this is one of the two books we are going to talk about (the other one is Simon, it is about ...more

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Jul 23, 2014 Wendy Darling rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014-publication, penguin, july, young-adult, realistic-fiction, own-dtb-tbr, poc, read-2014, huge-disappointments

2.5 stars Is this a romance or a coming of age/coming into belief story? Sure, it can be both, but I'm afraid this book ultimately did not convince me of either. Like No Other started out so strong, and I loved the Rainbow Rowell-like narrative voice, as well as the "meet cute" thing and awkward flirting.

Romantically, things move way, way too fast after that for my taste, however. First date, first kiss, first grope...past the first few initial conversations, those didn't feel earned, either th 2.5 stars Is this a romance or a coming of age/coming into belief story? Sure, it can be both, but I'm afraid this book ultimately did not convince me of either. Like No Other started out so strong, and I loved the Rainbow Rowell-like narrative voice, as well as the "meet cute" thing and awkward flirting.

Romantically, things move way, way too fast after that for my taste, however. First date, first kiss, first grope...past the first few initial conversations, those didn't feel earned, either through what we saw our what the characters told/showed us. While I totally subscribe to the belief that we can suddenly be inspired to behave in ways we never have before because our eyes have been opened or inspired by another person, it's still hard to believe that a girl this innocent and literally untouched would progress that far that fast. It's hard not to be a tiny bit skeeved by some of Jaxon's behavior as well (view spoiler); though it's all well-meaning, he's such a self-professed odd duck and there are so many obstacles to their relationship and he knows her so little that it's hard not to think that it's a case of "this is the first girl that's interested in me" fixation.

I also wish this story of a Hasidic girl and West Indian boy had talked more seriously about what the coming together of these two faiths meant, though. While we get some really nice scenes in the beginning with Devorah's family, once the sneaking around begins, it becomes a pretty stereotypical romance until it then suddenly becomes something different towards the end--more of what I would've wanted, for sure, except there wasn't nearly enough thought or emotion or even action shown to us. Portraying this branch of Orthodox Judaism is also a very tricky thing, particularly in showing the the more polarizing aspects of these beliefs. I knew about most of the practices going into this book and yet I still had pretty strong reactions to some of them--and I really wish this story had taken the opportunity to show us why these beliefs came to be and why these practices are still observed, both historically and emotionally.

I want nothing more when I read a book like this than to have my heart and mind opened up to ideas and feelings I had never before considered...and unfortunately, despite a few great opening chapters, this one didn't do either. Would definitely try another book by this author, though.

An advance copy was provided by the publisher for this review. ...more

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Jun 14, 2014 Munro's Kids rated it did not like it

Shelves: kelsey, type-young-adult

Warning: Possible spoilers ahead.

I did not finish this book. Regardless, I am rating it one star out of five because what I read just made me so very angry. This book is marketed as a modern-day West Side Story, featuring a romance between a traditional Hasidic Jew (Devorah) and a Caribbean boy (Jaxon) living in New York. The two teenagers become trapped on an elevator together when the power goes out at a local hospital. They instantly connect and can't stop thinking about each other. Devorah i Warning: Possible spoilers ahead.

I did not finish this book. Regardless, I am rating it one star out of five because what I read just made me so very angry. This book is marketed as a modern-day West Side Story, featuring a romance between a traditional Hasidic Jew (Devorah) and a Caribbean boy (Jaxon) living in New York. The two teenagers become trapped on an elevator together when the power goes out at a local hospital. They instantly connect and can't stop thinking about each other. Devorah is the obedient child in her family who, while she dreams beyond living life as a housewife, is still devoutly religious and committed to her faith and her family. Jaxon is a wacky, awkward, half-cool half-geek who is more of a free spirit.

That all sounds good, but the relationship between the two is frustrating and not believable. The author tries to play Jaxon off as zany and head-over-heels in love, but he comes across as clingy and nearly stalker-ish. He doesn't respect Devorah's family situation at all, and at one point basically forces her to tell him she loves him (keep in mind they had seen each other a total of three times before this happened). When she tells him they should take a break from meetin up because her family is getting suspicious, Jaxon's reply is literally "No." Umm... excuse me?! He then tells her that they need to not only continue to see each other, but they should run away and spend a night together in his friend's cabin. WHAT.

/beginrant
Okay, first of all, you are the only one who should decide if and when you are comfortable with breaking from family tradition or your religion. Do it, don't do it, whatever. But it has to be your choice, not someone else's.
Second, Jaxon's attitude wouldn't bother me so much if he was being portrayed as a negative or conflicting influence on her by not listening to her and telling her what to do instead. BUT THIS BEHAVIOUR IS SUPPOSED TO BE SEEN AS SWEET AND ROMANTIC. Arrrggghhhh!! That bothers me to no end. The author is basically saying, "You know what, you don't need to listen to your partner, because clearly you know best."

And that is why I didn't finish this book.
/endrant

-Kelsey ...more

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Mar 04, 2017 Rowie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

To me the greatest love story of all time is not really a love story at all. It's a story about teenage lust and naivity. When I became a teenager myself I started to question if Romeo and Juliet were ever really in love at all. Was it just lust? Love at first sight seems so unbelievable...

But it's Like No Other that made me understand how a person can fall so hard in just a few minutes. In the beginning of the book I believed they had fallen in love. Never did I question why that happened. To D To me the greatest love story of all time is not really a love story at all. It's a story about teenage lust and naivity. When I became a teenager myself I started to question if Romeo and Juliet were ever really in love at all. Was it just lust? Love at first sight seems so unbelievable...

But it's Like No Other that made me understand how a person can fall so hard in just a few minutes. In the beginning of the book I believed they had fallen in love. Never did I question why that happened. To Devorah, Jaxon is the opening to a whole new world. He is the prince that unlocks the door to her tower. She's on guard yet floored by love and while they're stuck in an elevator something is set in motion. I like the insight that people who fall head over heels might be looking for more than just love. Perhaps they're looking for a way out, for a new world to explore. One that's filled with acceptance, music and yes, love.

Una LaMarche did her research. It's almost as if she was brought up in a Jewish community herself. I can only applaud the amount of work that must have cost her. I'm not familair with the specific branch of the Jewish religion but after reading this I feel like I've learned a lot. It's really fascinating to read about two completely different worlds, both unfamiliar to me. Devorah's was really well done in terms of immersion, but Jaxon's is also worth noting. I like how she wrote about his awareness of being a minority, from the conversations with his white friend Ryan to feeling like he needs to work hard so people won't view him as a thief only because of his skin color. The foundations for the worlds that LaMarche let us peek into were sublime.

Devorah's world was really fascinating, but as a character I'm not a huge fan of her. She's a little too quick to throw the world she knows (which is everything she knows) overboard. I get the feeling the writer was going for the when you've done one bad thing it just becomes easier and easier to break those habits situation, but in this case it feels fake. What I wanted to see is Devorah try to break the rules at first, but then stop halfway and have a panic attack. She would then pray very hard and lay in bed, crying for forgiveness. Later on she would find the courage to follow her own heart. At least, that's how I would have written it.

For the longest time I thought it was only Devorah's issue that she would throw away her beliefs, motivations and reasoning all of a sudden. But near the end there's other characters who do too. This goes completely against what we've learned in the rest of the book. They've gone to such lengths to change the situation and then all of a sudden they agree to a compromise. I don't feel like the writer takes me seriously as a reader. Nor herself as a writer. It's like she got sorry for her main character so she made up this ending. And the decision that Devorah made before that just made me raise my eyebrow. After that I couldn't care for her anymore.

I do care for Jaxon. He makes a fine prince that goes on the quest to save the damsel in distress. At times he does stupid things, but for his upbringing and character it makes sense (for Devorah it did not). I like his kind and spontaneous nature. Most of the time when he thinks about his crush he's being ridiculous, but that's what a teenage boy falling freely in love is. I like how he outshines other characters by being normal. He's easily my favorite in this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I love the way you just know Una LaMarche has completely devoted herself to portraying accurate versions of Jaxon's and Devorah's world. I have a lot of respect for that. Especially the Jewish community must not have been an easy thing to write about and never in the story do you question that part of the book. Then there's Jaxon who's just a blast to read about. He may be as naive as Romeo was, but deep down we all want someone to fight for us the way Jaxon did. But I can't ignore that throughout reading this book I was wondering if the writing style suffered because of the translation (I read this in Dutch). Sometimes I wondered if sentences were grammatically incorrect (happened about three times), but even if they weren't I still thought it wasn't a nice sentence. Overall it's not bad, but there's not the beautiful poetrylike prose I think a beautiful story like this deserves. I felt like this fascinating plot needed a bit more of a literary touch to better carry the story. But in the last half of the book there's a lot of story and character choices I didn't like. The ending being the most obvious one. I think I demand too much of some books. I had such high hopes for this, maybe I set the bar too high. ...more

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May 21, 2016 Marieke rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Wauw, wat een boek! Soms kwam ik er een beetje moeilijk door, maar wat een goed verhaal! De hoofdpersonen waren echt ontzettend leuk en hun ontwikkeling vond ik heel speciaal. Vooral Devorah vond ik een sterk karakter hebben. Zij was echt heel erg goed beschreven.

Odette, ik weet dat je deze review waarschijnlijk leest: super bedankt voor het aanraden! Dit boek is inderdaad super goed :) Als jij niet zo enthousiast was, had ik dit boek nooit opgepakt.

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Mar 29, 2017 Kels rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, contemporary, religious-undertones, dual-povs, romeo-and-juliet-love-stories, realistic-fiction, romance, big-sigh, all-the-feels, awesome-ending

She looks back down at me, and I open my mouth to say what I came to say, but she raises a finger to her lips and shakes her head urgently. So I do the only thing I can, the only thing I feel, which is to raise one hand to my heart like I’m about to say the Pledge of Allegiance, only not to any flag but to Devorah. And I just stare up at her and think, I love you I love you I love you.
The light is getting hazy, that soft orangey glow that will soon give way to purple dusk, but it’s bright enough

She looks back down at me, and I open my mouth to say what I came to say, but she raises a finger to her lips and shakes her head urgently. So I do the only thing I can, the only thing I feel, which is to raise one hand to my heart like I’m about to say the Pledge of Allegiance, only not to any flag but to Devorah. And I just stare up at her and think, I love you I love you I love you.
The light is getting hazy, that soft orangey glow that will soon give way to purple dusk, but it’s bright enough still that I can see her features perfectly crumple, her chin quivering, her eyes folding into little winks. I was a little afraid she’d be angry that I showed up at her house, but I never thought she’d cry. I start to feel awful, until she breaks into the most heartbreaking smile, laughing and crying at the same time, and puts her hand up to her chest, too, so that we’re just standing, staring at each other, knowing we’re both thinking the same thing.

BIG SIGH.

This novel was like no other (sorry, couldn't help it). Una LaMarche can write her ass off and I fell deeply in love with her writing style. So frigging beautiful! I'm so impressed at how well she did the voices of her characters, it's almost like she wrote Devorah's POV and someone else wrote Jaxon's. But there were times where, despite having A+ writing, the story line itself bored me and I found it hard to pick this book up and finish it off (which explains why it took me forever to read). I think what--or should I say who?--really got on my nerves was Jaxon. He was such a lovesick puppy with no restraint--or rationale, for that matter--and his antics wore on me. And yes, there were other flaws too; this isn't a perfect story. Honestly, it isn't even really a unique one, either, but LaMarche adds a flair to it that makes it feel new and bold and refreshing. Her writing is captivating and amazingly emotive, and she gives depth and personality to all of her characters in such a skilled fashion. I especially appreciated her writing a character rooted in such a traditional Hasidic background (a religion I admittedly had little knowledge of) and I feel like after reading this I've come out more knowledgeable in that aspect. And my g-d (inside joke, haha), that ending was damn near perfection! I mean, it wasn't at all what I expected, and it did leave the story feeling slightly unfinished, but it was the perfect (and realistic) ending for Devorah and was so well done.

I debated giving this three stars, but anything less than four just didn't feel right.

...more

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Aug 08, 2014 Tony rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I dove into Like No Other after Eleanor & Park because I felt like my heart hadn’t quite been ripped out of my chest and I wanted to finish the job.

The story perfectly captures what it is like to be a teenager balancing the religion you were born into with what you know to be true. It also re-enforces the fact that religion largely benefits straight men. The sections where Devorah describes what life is like for Hasidic women reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale. What makes her struggle intere I dove into Like No Other after Eleanor & Park because I felt like my heart hadn’t quite been ripped out of my chest and I wanted to finish the job.

The story perfectly captures what it is like to be a teenager balancing the religion you were born into with what you know to be true. It also re-enforces the fact that religion largely benefits straight men. The sections where Devorah describes what life is like for Hasidic women reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale. What makes her struggle interesting and true, is that though Devorah can’t stand the more misogynist traditions of her religion, there are certain aspects of it that make sense to her.

Going into the book, I assumed, “There is no way this is going to end well,” and prepared myself to get bummed out by the end. There are some really intense scenes between Devorah and her Orthodox brother-in-law, Jacob, but they aren’t so uncomfortable I had to put the book down.

The sense of doom that overshadows the story is made bearable with some wonderful writing and internal monologues that are sombre, sensitive, and humorous. Devorah and Jax argue with themselves more than they do with each other, questioning their motives, actions, and what they hope to achieve. They both know their situation is hopeless but they charge ahead hoping the meaning of their internal struggles will reveal themselves in the end. And they do.

I loved how the author kept using Rucha, the girl who is expelled from her community, as a compass for Devorah’s decisions. I also loved how the opening anecdote keeps resurfacing until it’s secret is finally revealed in the closing chapters of the book.

I was really impressed with how the author created two distinct and authentic voices (authentic to me at least) for Devorah and Jax. I knew nothing about the author before I read the book and kept wondering if she was Hasidic or African American since she seemed to be speaking from personal experience. One of my best friends in high school was East Indian, and much of Jax’s narrative reminded me our conversations about subtle forms of racism.

If I had a teenage daughter, I would recommend Like No Other to her. Definitely a mature book for mature readers. The subject matter might be controversial for some households, but it’s well-researched and doesn’t go out of its way to condemn religion. Adults will enjoy it too.

If you liked this book, you might also like Sag Harbor. ...more

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Sep 04, 2014 Andrea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I just love this book so much (although I wasn't really satisfied with the ending but a good one anyway). This book also taught me a lot about religion specifically the practice of Hasidic. Still wish that Jaxon and Devorah might end up together even in my dreams.... Urghh!! This book broke my heart :(((

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Aug 05, 2016 Femke added it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-den-haag

Waarschijnlijk 7/10 (ik denk dat ik ga afronden naar 4 sterren, not sure, maar recensie volgt)

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May 22, 2016 Marie the Librarian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A sweet and sad love story a la West side story! I did not like the ending though, but I get it:)

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Dec 11, 2014 Elizabeth rated it liked it

Shelves: smells-like-teen-spirit

Sweet but sad story about a young 16 year old girl trapped by her circumstances. But she makes the best of it, I guess.

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Feb 28, 2017 Katherine rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, instalove-express, i-knew-it, romance, young-adult

”I run all the way home, half a mile, my feet barely touching the pavement, my heartbeat flooding my ears again and again like a bass line that sings. Devorah, Devorah, Devorah.”

Somebody’s been watching too much West Side Story, apparently!!!

photo tumblr_lldlciXJ861qclvq3_zpsgh55wlwy.gif

Jaxon and Devorah were never supposed to meet. Nice Jewish Hasidic girls don’t mingle with outsiders, especially when said outsider is a young, black teenager. But that’s exactly what happens when Devorah gets stuck in an elevator during a freak hurricane ”I run all the way home, half a mile, my feet barely touching the pavement, my heartbeat flooding my ears again and again like a bass line that sings. Devorah, Devorah, Devorah.”

Somebody’s been watching too much West Side Story, apparently!!!

Jaxon and Devorah were never supposed to meet. Nice Jewish Hasidic girls don’t mingle with outsiders, especially when said outsider is a young, black teenager. But that’s exactly what happens when Devorah gets stuck in an elevator during a freak hurricane while visiting her sister and newborn niece. Jaxon happens to be in said elevator along with her, and try as she might, sparks begin to fly. But since Hasidic Jews aren’t meant to even talk to outsiders, let alone fall in love with them, their relationship is strictly forbidden.

”I do want a fairy-tale ending to my story. But I know that if the boy in my story is Jaxon, I’m never going to get it.”

But when have cultural differences let young lovers stand in the way of what they want? Not if these two have any say in the matter.

Like No Other is basically West Side Story.

No, not just basically; it is.

There just isn’t any other way to put it. Being a fan of West Side Story, it was fun to basically read a retelling of it set in modern New York. I mean, when you have a line like the one at the beginning of this review, how can you not compare the two? Not that that’s a bad thing. However, I would consider this a much more mediocre version of the classic musical and movie. It wasn’t bad, but it was nowhere near what I expected it to be.

I liked how the author not only explored the concept of racial identity, but spiritual identity as well. I think authors (and people in general) tend to forget or won’t acknowledge that teenagers can have a spiritual life as well. It’s something I rarely see in YA fiction, so it was refreshing to see. We have Jaxon made all too aware of his racial identity, even in such a diverse place as New York.

”It’s funny; I forget sometimes how I might look to other people. I could be reading The Great Gatsby on the 2 train, or walking down the street listening to a podcast on my phone, or coming out of my orthodontist’s office with Invisilign braces feeling like the biggest nerd on the planet, but some people don’t notice anything but an almost-six-foot-tall black man. After Trayvon Martin got shot in Florida, Mom wouldn’t let me wear a hoodie for six months.”

And we have Devorah, the consummate Hasidic ‘good girl’ who attends synagogue, follows tradition, and is unfailingly obedient.

”The life of a good girl, of a doting wife and mother, is a cloudless blue sky stretching across a flat horizon. And as it rages outside I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be in the eye of the storm.”

Jaxon was sweet, sarcastic and had killer one-liners, though I thought he acted too much with his heart and not with his head. Devorah was also fun to read about, especially her spiritual crisis and coming to realize that maybe her religion isn’t all it was made out to be.

The main problem I had with it was, ironically, the romance (and some of the Jewish aspects, which I discuss more below). When Devorah and Jaxon fall, they fall hard and fast.

”I know my father says that only G-d can know when two souls are meant to be together, but my feelings for Jaxon have developed into something deep and profound that I don’t know what else it could be but fate.”

And yet despite that, and all their interactions, I couldn’t connect with them as a couple. Their romance felt very flat to me, for some reason. I don’t know if it was at the speed they were taking things, or if I didn’t think that they were a good fit as a couple. Or maybe I knew they were doomed from the start. Either way, I wasn’t rooting for them the way I rooted for Maria and Tony. I was more rooting for Devorah to escape her family and start new, to be perfectly honest.

As far as the Jewish aspects go, I know absolute didely-squat about Hasidic Judaism. I have one Jewish relative, but she doesn’t belong to that branch of Judaism. So I’m at a total loss if someone asks me whether or not this book accurately or positively represents Hasidic Jews. I’m going to assume it does, but I can’t say for certain. From what I read, it did seem that the author did her research, and I was able to look up some of the characteristics and facts I read about them in the book and verify that they were in fact accurate. It was nice to read about a faith different than my own. I can’t say that the portrayal was in a positive light, however.She made them out to be pretty much ‘evil Jews’, so to speak. Women are oppressed and basically Play-Dough in the hands of the more superior Jewish men in the community, with them having the leave school and be subjected to arranged marriages.

”Forget that my grades are better than either of my older brothers’ ever were. Forget that I study English and math and science, much more well-rounded than their almost entirely religious education. It is simply expected that my education will end when I am married.”

I’m not entirely sure if this is how it is in the real world, but I certainly hope the author didn’t embellish the potentially negative aspects to make for a more dramatic story. Particularly in the instance of Jacob, Devorah’s brother-in-law, who was the absolute worst character in the book. The worst part was, the author portrayed all the Hasidic Jewish men like this. And I’m not sure that was a good thing.

If you like forbidden romance books, this might be one to add to your collection. And if you like West Side Story, you might want to check it out. However for me, this book, while strong in exploring racial and spiritual identities, fell flat on the romance and portrayed Hasidic Jews in a questionable and disturbing light.

As for me, I’ll just stick to the musical (and movie!) ...more

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Jun 10, 2014 Emily added it

Shelves: pla14, favorites

Like No Other appears to be a book based on clear, solid divides. Jaxon’s ancestors are West Indian; Devorah’s mostly-covered skin is pale. Jaxon comes from an average happy family; Devorah has been raised with restrictive regulations. Even the setting physically separates these characters, placing a street between them and confining them to their own neighborhoods—and that is not the only thing keeping them apart. Devorah and Jaxon can never be together; their cultures are simply too different Like No Other appears to be a book based on clear, solid divides. Jaxon’s ancestors are West Indian; Devorah’s mostly-covered skin is pale. Jaxon comes from an average happy family; Devorah has been raised with restrictive regulations. Even the setting physically separates these characters, placing a street between them and confining them to their own neighborhoods—and that is not the only thing keeping them apart. Devorah and Jaxon can never be together; their cultures are simply too different and the rules of Devorah’s religion are too restraining. However, while this book’s premise may be based on a strict dichotomy of cultures and a strict set of religious guidelines, its story is all about the gray space between the groups and the rules.

Raised in a Hasidic family that keeps her from watching television, going out without a long skirt and tights, and most of all having any romantic feelings before an arranged marriage, Devorah thinks she knows the difference between right and wrong. However, in Like No Other, she begins to question the truths that have been instilled in her for her whole life, learning that being a good person is not as black and white as she thought. I loved watching her moral grappling as she debates whether or not to pursue her relationship with Jaxon and questions each lie she tells her parents. Devorah’s decision to finally consider that there might be some room for deviation in the laws she knows so well causes her to grow immensely. Most importantly, her conflict poses a question—what is morality, and how strict should its rules be?

Devorah does not denounce her religion completely after meeting Jaxon, though, which creates another mass of unclear questions in her life. Not only does Like No Other raise questions about morality in general, but it encourages readers to consider Hasidism in particular. Despite sharing her growing dread at the life her religion ensures, Devorah admits that she loves several things about her culture, saying her family is everything to her and clutching to religious traditions and beliefs as much as she can. LaMarche creates a vibrant and educational picture of the religion, both the good and the bad, and lets her protagonist discover the extent of her faith and decide which aspects she agrees with. As someone who could never be part of a culture with as little freedom as Hasidism offers, I could not help mentally urging Devorah to make the decision I would make in her position—Go! Go! Get out while you have the chance and find a way to somehow go to college and make a life for yourself that does not include marriage and babies at 18!—but more than that, I enjoyed watching with fascination as Devorah decides whether or not Hasidism is right—or what parts of it are right—for her.

Most of all, LaMarche explores the bridging of cultures. Her characters repeatedly reference race and culture-related stereotypes, from society’s assumptions about people of Jaxon’s skin color to Hasids’ scorning of “goys,” people outside their religion. However, neither Devorah nor Jaxon fits neatly into his or her stereotype, and they spend much of the novel sampling each other’s lifestyles. Obviously, Devorah tests Jaxon’s culture by breaking her rules against romance. Jaxon also looks into Devorah’s life in smaller ways like like planning a Shabbat date that does not require any of the activities that Hasidism forbids its members to complete on Saturdays. Not only does their willingness to experience each other’s cultures strengthen their own relationship, but proves that culture divides in general are not impossible to overcome.

I have not even come close to capturing this book’s captivating complexity, but as much as I would love to ramble about the rest of this book’s facets, I will stop myself here for fear of spoilers or an excessively long review. Through complicated relationships and knotted thoughts about their own beliefs, both Devorah and Jaxon grow into new, more mature and self-aware people, creating a stunning tale about shaping yourself and your future. Like No Other is at once about staying true to yourself and exploring new ideas, finding love and learning when to let it go. It is a book that any fan of love stories, multicultural tales, or novels about the shaping of self needs to read and one I will continue to recommend long into the future.

This review originally appeared at www.litup-review.com. ...more

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Apr 18, 2014 Estelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014-new-releases, young-adult, new-york, dual-pov, favorites, own

Review originally posted on: Rather Be Reading Blog

This is the thing about forbidden love. We root for it to work, iron out its creases and prosper so we can believe in the impossible too.

Even though Devorah and Jaxon’s connection is a bit instantaneous, I was immediately hooked by their intersecting stories, hoping they could get their happily ever after. In alternating chapters, we learn of Devorah’s devotion to her Hasidic upbringing and the immense love she feels for her family while we see Review originally posted on: Rather Be Reading Blog

This is the thing about forbidden love. We root for it to work, iron out its creases and prosper so we can believe in the impossible too.

Even though Devorah and Jaxon’s connection is a bit instantaneous, I was immediately hooked by their intersecting stories, hoping they could get their happily ever after. In alternating chapters, we learn of Devorah’s devotion to her Hasidic upbringing and the immense love she feels for her family while we see Jaxon work his tail off to obtain the higher education his father never had, and goofing off with his friends. Despite living so closely to each other in a neighborhood in Brooklyn, Devorah and Jaxon are worlds apart until they meet in a hospital elevator during a storm.

Devorah is not allowed to be alone with a male who is not a family member but in this elevator she has no other choice to converse with Jaxon and it comes so easily. She’s straightforward and honest, and he’s a dorky kind of charming and sweet. Pretty quickly, the two realize they have found someone in one another they haven’t found before and, in the time ahead, are willing to risk quite a bit to see what this chance meeting could mean for the both of them.

While Devorah is known to be a goodie-two-shoes, she’s already begun to question her male-dominated religion, watching her older sister (who she always idolized) grow more and more submissive in her marriage to the overpowering Jacob. Unlike her sister, Devorah isn’t sure she wants to be a mother at 18 and dreams about the possibility of college instead. Why does everyone in her family have to live life the same way? Can happiness and acceptance be achieved if she chose another path?

You would think Like No Other was a thriller because I was on the edge of my couch, wondering what was going to happen to Devorah and Jaxon. I’ve been 16 before. I know there’s only so much that I could get away with before I got caught, and these two were pulling out the stops. It broke my heart but Jaxon so earnestly believed they could work through these differences, and make their families understand how real their feelings were for each other. It’s true that Jaxon may be one of my top YA male characters; he is just such a good guy and it’s not surprising either because his family, while strict, is supportive and wonderful. (His mother made me cry.)

In ways, Like No Other felt like a love letter to the diversity of New York City. There are so many of us from different backgrounds, religions, towns, and families constantly jumbled together on the busy streets or crowded subways, hitting the same coffee shops and working at the same office buildings. Most of the time we walk by each other without even acknowledging the other or truly learning about them. But we manage to coexist. Devorah and Jaxon are just two pieces of the puzzle, but I loved how Jaxon took the time to learn about her traditions and took them into account and I adored how much of their love blossomed all over New York City.

While I enjoyed reading Five Summers last year, Una LaMarche has catapulted herself into my “must buy” category with Like No Other. The intricacy of her research, the authentic look at young love, and testing her characters in a way that will make them braver, stronger human beings? It’s so impressive. Yes, young love is about romance and sex and chemistry but it’s also about self-discovery and LaMarche hits that nail on the head.

I rarely sit in one place and read in a book in a single day but I couldn’t get anything done until I finished this one. (Seriously, I was gasping, yelling, crying, and swooning!) Like No Other is one of those books that makes me proud to be a young adult lit fan. ...more

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Dec 19, 2014 Kym rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen, ya-mg-diversity

Man, there was a lot going on in this book. We have Devorah, she's Hasidic and basically perfect. She follows all the rules and questions nothing in her community. While in the hospital after her sister has her baby Devorah get's stuck in an elevator with a black boy. She's obviously freaked out because she can't even be alone with guys from her own faith, let alone random black dudes. While stuck in this elevator for about half hour, Devorah and Jaxon form a kind of bond, they like each other a ...more

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Jun 30, 2014 Riley rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014, book-club, young-adult

3.5 stars, really. The writing and characterization were strong; my problem was that I just didn't buy that these two characters would fall in love so quickly.

If I put that aside, though, then I really enjoyed the themes and conflicts. Devorah's struggle to reconcile her individuality, and her desire for freedom, with the faith and culture she was raised in, is very compelling and relatable. It would be easy to paint the Hasidic world as backwards and repressive, but I think the author does a go ...more

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Feb 25, 2016 E. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gelezen-in-2016, in-mijn-kast, ter-recensie

Niet makkelijk om te beoordelen.. Ik heb er lang over gedaan, maar ben wel van de karakters gaan houden

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Jul 20, 2014 Jen (Pop! Goes The Reader) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary, favorites, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, romance, young-adult

Did you find this review helpful? Find more of my reviews at Pop! Goes The Reader!

“Where do I begin? I’m here because the night of the hurricane, my parents were just three miles from here, sitting around my Aunt Varda’s kitchen table having instant coffee instead of sitting in the waiting room of Interfaith Medical Centre. I’m here because I got thirsty, and the stairs seemed like too much work. I’m here because I let myself talk to a stranger, whose kind eyes managed to light a flame in a hear ...more

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Feb 20, 2016 Lisa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Het verhaal is me tegengevallen, maar het einde is wel fan-tas-tisch.

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Mar 27, 2014 ALPHAreader rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

There’s a storm raging across New York, and at a Brooklyn hospital two teenagers from vastly different worlds are about to collide.

Jaxon is sixteen-years-old and currently sitting by his best friend’s bedside, after Ryan attempted to jump a fallen tree branch with his skateboard and got a broken arm in the process.

Devorah is also sixteen, sitting in a waiting room with her pious brother-in-law, Jacob, awaiting the premature birth of her first niece. As the generators power on, Devorah becomes i ...more

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Oct 06, 2017 Thea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: really-liked

I really loved this book! It was such a page turner, and I loved the way it provided insight into Devorah's Hasidic Jewish culture. That is a culture I know almost nothing about, so it was fascinating to me to learn more about it through this story. The New York City setting was really cool too. The characters were so real and well-crafted and it was easy to love & get invested in their storylines. But...even though this book is dual POV with both Devorah and Jaxon telling sections of the st ...more

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Apr 23, 2014 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, favorites-contemps, diversity-yay, right-in-the-feels, favorites-audio, oh-hai-instalove, interracial-romance

4.5 stars

Like No Other didn’t immediately call to me, which isn’t surprising since forbidden romance is one of the tropes that doesn’t really get my shippy heart beating. Still, when Dahlia (Behind the Scenes/Under the Lights/Just Visiting) and Gaby (Bookish Broads) recommended it very highly, I added it to my to-read list. Then, my TBR pile being what it is, I sort of forgot about it. Then, however, I finally decided it was time to get into audiobooks again. One of the audiobook review emails I 4.5 stars

Like No Other didn’t immediately call to me, which isn’t surprising since forbidden romance is one of the tropes that doesn’t really get my shippy heart beating. Still, when Dahlia (Behind the Scenes/Under the Lights/Just Visiting) and Gaby (Bookish Broads) recommended it very highly, I added it to my to-read list. Then, my TBR pile being what it is, I sort of forgot about it. Then, however, I finally decided it was time to get into audiobooks again. One of the audiobook review emails I’d received included the works of Una LaMarche, and Like No Other had dual narration, which I love, so the time had come. As anticipated, with anything that those two would push that hard, Like No Other was fantastic.

Like No Other deals with the forbidden romance between a Hasidic girl and a black boy. Now, what I tend not to like about forbidden romances is how melodramatic they are, but Like No Other doesn’t fall into that tendency. There’s drama, yes, but I don’t find any of it to be over the top, and I think the way everything resolves is completely perfect, though obviously I won’t tell you what that is. I also think that, though the romance element is key, the central part of the novel is actually Devorah’s internal struggles, so do not be concerned that a sappy romance overtakes plot.

The romance is kind of sappy. It’s instalove to the max too. BUT that is actually a wonderful thing. I’ve said before, and will no doubt say again, that instalove can work and be perfect if it’s clearly how the teens feel because they may have an inaccurate view of love. Like No Other captures that sixteen-year-old all-encompassing passion flawlessly. I think the fact that I was listening to it on the audiobook really aided me with this. Odom and Stole did wonderful voice acting to completely sell me on their feelings. It was also evident, though, by how they thought about certain things how young and idealistic they were.

Jaxon, actually, does have a lot of the Romeo to him. Until he meets Devorah, when they get stuck on an elevator together during a blackout, he had a huge crush on another girl. Then, the moment he meets Devorah BOOM OBSESSION. He’s immediately obsessed with her and, in almost no time, convinced he’s in love (whether he actually is up to personal interpretation). I like Jaxon a lot, but he’s very desperate for connection and clearly wanted to be in love, so that very much colored his interactions. He really wanted a relationship and this pretty girl showed up and seemed kind of interested, which, let’s be real, is about all it takes at sixteen. I know when I was that age, I developed crushes on a few guys solely because I thought maybe they might like me.

Devorah, on the other hand, was very much not looking for love or romance; actually, she was fearing the not too far in the future time when she would get married and start a family. In Like No Other, it would be easy to say that meeting Jaxon was what caused Devorah to engage in rebellious behaviours against her Hasidic culture, but there’s more than just that going on. The novel opens with Devorah’s eighteen-year-old sister Rose giving birth to her first daughter prematurely during a blackout. Despite being incredibly moved by the actual birth (*gags a bit*), Devorah’s terrified at the thought that in two years she could be married to someone like Jacob (her sister’s controlling husband) and having a baby. She’s not ready yet and doesn’t think she will be then; she wants to receive a real education and have a job, but that’s not a normal desire for a Hasidic girl.

Thus far, I’ve been trying to sort of skirt the religious elements, because I don’t entirely feel comfortable talking about them from my privileged position as an agnostic white girl. Still, I don’t really think it’s possible to review this book without mentioning that aspect at all, so bear with me.

Going into this book, I was aware that I didn’t have much knowledge about Judaism, but Like No Other really drove home how much I don’t know. I learned a lot just from Like No Other, and even more from Dahlia and Gaby, who were kind enough to answer my questions when I finished. I actually really like learning about what drives faith and different beliefs, even if I don’t feel an impulse towards god (be it God, gods, or G-d) or religion myself, so I really loved getting a window into a culture I knew almost nothing about. Thanks to Gaby and Dahlia, I’m a little bit clearer on what was specifically Hasidic and what wasn’t.

Based on the book, being Hasidic comes off a bit like fundamental Judaism. There are very strict rules and antiquated gender roles. Obviously, from my point of view, there are things that I don’t personally like, but it’s not my life. With a heroine like Devorah, who loves her faith but also feels a yearning for something outside, it’s hard not to chafe against some of the restrictions. What’s important to me, with any religious belief (be it atheism or a faith), is that people be allowed to make their own choice to participate in that belief and that they be respectful of the beliefs of others. Though there are tough moments, I do think Like No Other succeeds in portraying both the good and bad sides of Hasidic culture, just like there are good and bad sides to any culture. This is how I like my diverse books to be, because often I find that they almost seem to condemn that other culture, which has always made me really uncomfortable.

Like No Other is poignant and touching. There’s some forbidden romance and a whole lot of family and soul-searching. It’s also very much Devorah’s story, not really Jaxon’s; he’s a player in her tale. ...more

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Oct 29, 2017 Megan May rated it liked it · review of another edition

I liked the idea of this book. The author had a great idea and I think she captures the way Devorah sneaks around and struggles with her faith in a very raw way. This is the only reason I liked this book. The love story woven into it seemed forced, I thought it was too cliche. Don’t get me wrong I love a good romance but this book was written so well when it came to get faith I thought it lacked something in the romance aspect.

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Aug 22, 2017 Bettina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Mooi verhaal, over liefde van twee mensen met een zeer verschillende achtergrond.
De leefwereld van het meisje vond ik zeer beklemmend.
Maar het wordt mooi beschreven.
Het einde vond ik ook goed.
Niet eind goed al goed.
Maar realistisch.

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Apr 24, 2017 Alison rated it really liked it

Whoa. This book is a lot. Great to learn more about different communities living here in Brooklyn. And I felt like Devorah's character development and family were particularly fascinating for me!

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Sep 26, 2017 Sashi Kaufman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya

Loved it and learned from it. The ultimate combination for me! Showed beautifully how teenage love in its simplest form can be complicated by family and religion but is ultimately still teenage love -desperate and determined. Loved the smart thoughtful choices the author (and characters) made.

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Mar 06, 2019 Charlotte rated it really liked it

Shelves: popsugar-reading-challenge-2019, library-books, ya

A book told from multiple character POVs ✔

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About Una LaMarche

Una LaMarche

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Una LaMarche is a writer and amateur Melrose Place historian who lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, her son, and her hoard of vintage Sassy magazines. Una used to be a fancy magazine and newspaper editor before she had a baby and started writing from home, sometimes pantsless, for a living. Her first novel, Five Summers, is being released from Razorbill in May, and she’s currently in de ...more