Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Between Us” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Between Us

Clare Atkins

4.30 · Rating details · 450 ratings · 98 reviews

Is it possible for two very different teenagers to fall in love despite high barbed-wire fences and a political wilderness between them?

Anahita is passionate, curious and determined. She is also an Iranian asylum seeker who is only allowed out of detention to attend school. On weekdays, during school hours, she can be a ‘regular Australian girl’.

Jono needs the distraction ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 275 pages

Published February 1st 2018 by Black Inc.

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Between Us, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

#LoveOzYA 2018

54 books — 68 voters

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Just Between You and Me

192 books — 13 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.30 ·

Rating details

· 450 ratings · 98 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Between Us

Feb 05, 2018 Kelly (Diva Booknerd) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: loveozya, bookgasm, black-inc

Jonathan Do is the biracial son of an Australian mother and Vietnamese immigrant single father, living within the parched landscape of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Jonathan disinterested in his education and preferring intoxication rather than accountability, choosing to isolate himself from his estranged mother living in Sydney. The relationship Jonathan shares with his father is distant and impersonal, preferring the company of Minh, Dzoung's sister. After the collapse of his relationship Jonathan Do is the biracial son of an Australian mother and Vietnamese immigrant single father, living within the parched landscape of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Jonathan disinterested in his education and preferring intoxication rather than accountability, choosing to isolate himself from his estranged mother living in Sydney. The relationship Jonathan shares with his father is distant and impersonal, preferring the company of Minh, Dzoung's sister. After the collapse of his relationship with girlfriend Priya, Jonathan became increasingly depressed, his father now concerned is the cause of Jonathan's destruction.

Anahita Shirdel is an Iranian asylum seeker at Wickham Point Detention Centre, previously located on Nauru and Manus Island. Wickham Point is a fortress to asylum seekers from Burma, Afghanistan, Iran, Vietnam and New Zealand, pregnant women and children have been transported to Darwin without their partners, the Australian Human Rights Commission convicting the centre as inhumane, ignored by the Australian government. Anahita's mother is pregnant to partner Abdul who remains on Manus Island, transported to the mainland after being diagnosed with preeclampsia along with Abdul's son, three year old Arash. Anahita is a beautiful young woman, gentle and compassionate. The devastating conditions experienced in Iran have left Anahita traumatised, overwhelmed by nightly terrors. Australia offered an opportunity of freedom and safety, now left behind the cyclone fence and kept in oppressive, inhumane conditions.

Dzoung Do is a guard at the regimented detention compound, his narrative often confronting and intolerant. Dzoung is a Vietnamese immigrant, sponsored by his sister Minh to journey to Australia, marrying an Australian citizen and forgoing his traditional Vietnamese heritage. Determined to integrate into western society. Dzoung initially facilitates the friendship between Jonathan and Anahita, as Anahita begins her education at the local secondary college. The guards at the Wickham Point facility are often cruel, some regarding those seeking asylum as subhuman. Dzoung is an infuriating character, judgemental and increasingly without compassion. He allowed his own moral compass to be poisoned by the racist, bigoted employees at the Wickham Point facility.

The tentative friendship between Jonathan and Anahita is gentle and compassionate. Jonathan allowed Anahita to set boundaries within their friendship concerning her personal and cultural principles. Although Jonathan continues to experience casual racism, Anahita's peers are considerate and courteous. Friend Zahra's journey to Australia is indicative of the harrowing journey made by asylum seekers. Boarding substandard transport with family members often lost to the treacherous conditions.

The plight of asylum seekers is a precarious discussion for Australians. Men, women and children journey to Australia in dangerous conditions only to be denied basic human rights. They are detained behind cyclone fences in remand compounds on Nauru or Manus Island. Those granted refugee status will never be afforded the opportunity of freedom, treated inhumanely and exposes vulnerable asylum seekers to sexual, physical and psychological abuse, withheld in indefinite detention.

Clare Atkins is one of Australia's finest young adult literature authors. Between Us is a passionate conversation of Australia's inhumane treatment of those seeking asylum, reminding us of our understanding and our compassion. Compelling and influential reading. ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Aug 27, 2019 Calzean rated it it was amazing

Shelves: culture-iran, culture-australia, woman-author, refugees, author-australia, young-adult

This is a book which packs a punch. Ana is an Iranian asylum seeker who with her mother and brother have been moved from Nauru to Darwin waiting for her mother to give birth. While in the Detention Centre she is able to attend the local high school where she meets and forms a friendship with the brooding Jono.
The book is narrated in short chapters of a page or two by either Ana, Jono or Jono's dad who has recently started work at the Detention Centre. The book sadly tells of the frustrations and ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Mar 02, 2018 Jeann (Happy Indulgence) rated it liked it

Shelves: love-oz-ya, young-adult

Check out Happy Indulgence Books for more reviews!

A thoughtful read covering two types of immigrants - one as an asylum seeker who lives in a detention centre, and another as Vietnamese immigrant who has moved to Australia. Even within these communities, will we find prejudices against the two groups, and it really opens your eyes to the basic human rights that refugees are refused when they live in detention centres. With Ana's pregnant mother estranged from her partner, to their heavily monit ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2018 K. rated it really liked it

Shelves: difficult-topics, setting-australia, australian, poc-narrator, contemporary, diverse-author, own-it-hard-copy, oh-god-my-feels, audience-young-adult, 2018

Trigger warnings: refugee story, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, physical violence towards teenage girls and pregnant women, death of a parent (in the past), racial slurs, self-harm, mental health.

I've been wanting to read this book ever since I heard about it over a year ago. I mean, the story of an Iranian teenage girl living in an Australian detention centre and the Vietnamese-Australian son of one of her guards who befriends her at school? Uh, WOW.

The story is split between Ana, Jono, and Jono's ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 13, 2018 Diem rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-oz-ya, young-adult

Reading the last few pages of Between Us has left me feeling helpless and powerless. I want everyone to read this book now.

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 16, 2019 Mrs Waring rated it it was amazing

This book works it’s way into your heart and then sinks in it’s claws and doesn’t let go. The central story of Jono (the son of a Vietnamese migrant) and Ana (an Iranian refugee awaiting news of her fate in a Darwin detention center) is raw, authentic and full of vulnerability. It’s also pleasantly unconventional. The backstory of the two families is filled with tension, trauma and triggers. Ultimately the story reveals this bittersweet kind of hope but again, not in the the way you might expect ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2018 Clare Snow rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Every Australian

Recommended to Clare by: CBCA(WA) Book group

Shelves: book-group, refugees, family, australia, read-challenge-all-aussie-2018, australian-author, loveozya, fathers, torture, incarceration

I walk to the gate,
carrying
my heart
in my hands.
Can't anyone see it,
haemorrhaging
in my palms?
Can't they see
the blood
trailing me
on the ground?

Apart from currently haemorrhaging all over the place, I have never read such a true to life ending in a book.

And I finished 2 days before Book group. Wow! I'll have more to say after book group. I'm going whether my teeth are killing me or not (off to the dentist tomorrow and I know it'll be horrific)

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2018 Lilly rated it it was amazing

EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2018 Sinitih rated it it was amazing

I love the ending of the book because it is the truth. I honestly love the meaning behind this book because it talks about topics that matter now, and it helped me understand (to some extent) what was happening in detention centres.
At first I was apprehensive about reading this book because I didn’t enjoy her other books, but this was so much better and recommend you to read it!

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 13, 2017 CC the Great is Not Okay rated it really liked it

Shelves: asian-authors, this-is-australia, bipoc, less-than-1000-ratings, reviewed, ya-contemporary, romance, asian-leads, 2018-published, racism-xenophobia

What I loved was how all three of the main characters in this book are People of Colour. It would’ve been just as easy for Atkins to write Jono and Kenny as white, but since Atkins herself is a biracial Vietnamese-Australian, I think it’s safe to assume that Jono’s cultural background and heritage were a nod to her own.

What I didn’t love so much—(view spoiler) ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 16, 2018 Anna rated it really liked it

In some ways this is like an Aussie "The Hate U Give", tackling an issue that is so relevant and sensitive in our modern society through young adult fiction. Atkins' message is abundantly clear throughout, but I appreciated the multi-layered approach she took, looking at Anahita's refugee experience alongside that of a "legal" immigrant from a different generation. However, at the same time I felt as though this was slightly problematic as it left very little opportunity to criticise the racism ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 13, 2018 Karys McEwen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-recommendations, best-books-2018

EVERYONE should read this.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 15, 2019 Emily Wrayburn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, aussie-books, loveozya

Review originally published on A Keyboard and an Open Mind March 18, 2019

Oof. What a book to start off my challenge of reading the YA and MG books on the Children's Book Council of Australia's 2019 Notables List.

This is the story of Iranian asylum seeker, Ana, who is only let out of detention to attend school. There she meets and becomes close to Jono, the son of one of the officers at her detention centre. Meanwhile Jono's father, Kenny, becomes increasinly paranoid about the relationship betwe

This book has real power, though I wonder if some people will dismiss it as being over the top. I certainly had to keep reminding myself that our country wouldn't be in the situatioin it currently is in regards to refugees if there weren't people who thought the same way as the characters in this book. It says something about the present situation when the author can't even name some of the people she spoke to when researching the novel.

These characters disgusted me, but I know they are not far from the truth. I think it might be easy for those less willing to engage to write them off as unrealistic, but I hope that isn't the case.

The scenes from Ana's perspective are heartbreaking. Watching her have to take responsibility for her family as her mother sinks further into depression while also trying to cling to some semblance of a regular teenage life through friendships and music and the occasional excursion.

I didn't warm to Jono quite as much. This is not really the fault of the character, as he is well written. It is more that he is not the type of character I can easily identify with - he smokes and drinks and lies to his dad about his whereabouts. Look, I admit it, I was a goody two-shoes growing up, but I don't see anything wrong with that. I did enjoy the scenes where Jono opened up a bit more to his dad, and their bond started to return.

Kenny was the character I struggled with the most, for the reasons I stated above about not quite believing there are people like this. I wanted to shake some sense into him.

Despite these niggles, I still gave it five stars for the way it made me feel, for the fact that I had a dream about these characters, and the fact that I was still thinking about it days later.

This review is part of my 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge. Click here for more information.

I am trying to read as many of the books as possible on the 2019 Children's Book Council of Australia Notables List. Click here to see the titles.

...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 09, 2019 Kylie Purdie rated it really liked it

This is the third book from The Children's Book Council of Australia 2019 short list for YA.

Between Us examines a very topical subject in Australia at the moment - the offshore detention of asylum seekers who have arrived by boat. It's a subject that can be quite polarising and has a lot of misinformation around it.

Ana, her mother and her little brother have been moved off Nauru Island to the Wickham Detention Centre to await the birth of her mother's baby. Ana is allowed to go to school, howeve This is the third book from The Children's Book Council of Australia 2019 short list for YA.

Between Us examines a very topical subject in Australia at the moment - the offshore detention of asylum seekers who have arrived by boat. It's a subject that can be quite polarising and has a lot of misinformation around it.

Ana, her mother and her little brother have been moved off Nauru Island to the Wickham Detention Centre to await the birth of her mother's baby. Ana is allowed to go to school, however she is transported there and back each day, with no chance to spend any time with her non detained peers outside of school hours. Despite this, Ana forms a friendship with Jono, based largely on their mutual love of music - especially "beautiful ugly" music. Jono himself is struggling with his relationship with his dad, Kenny, who is a guard at the detention centre. Kenny is struggling with solo parenting a 17 year old boy who he sees going off the track, as well as learning how to fit in at his new job.

There is so much to examine in this book. Kenny was a refugee himself after the Vietnam War. While he arrived by plane, his sister arrived before him by boat. Her stories of how they were greeted and treated when they arrived are so different from what is happening now. There is the horrific scars left by detaining people who are already fleeing terrifying situations, putting them in centres where the guards are not properly trained on how to help people suffering PTSD, nor are they encouraged to care. The fact that we feel the need to lock up and guard people who have not actually done anything wrong. The ridiculous case load placed on those who are suppose to be able to help the asylum seekers navigate a complex and difficult system. As things progress you are very unsure as to what is going to happen, what the path is for Ana and her family.

Clare Atkins manages to take all of these issues and deal with them sensitively and realistically. The ending, while heart breaking is the reality of the situation. (view spoiler)

I would love for all Australian's to read this book and actually imagine the characters are real, because while they are fictional, there are real people suffering the way Ana and her family do. It needs to change. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 12, 2019 Rosalie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: australian, justice, bigotry, aww, coming-of-age, drug-dealing, migrants, post-traumatic-stress, australian-author, concentration-camps

An excellent YA read and so topical in the current 2019 Australian political climate. Set prior to 2018, "Between Us" highlights the woeful conditions experienced by asylum seekers who have been brought to Darwin temporarily from Manus Island and Nauru because of inadequate medical facilities at those detention centres. It is a fictional account of two families. A Vietnamese single parent Kenny Do, who was sponsored to come to Australia after the Vietnamese War by his refugee aunt. Kenny married An excellent YA read and so topical in the current 2019 Australian political climate. Set prior to 2018, "Between Us" highlights the woeful conditions experienced by asylum seekers who have been brought to Darwin temporarily from Manus Island and Nauru because of inadequate medical facilities at those detention centres. It is a fictional account of two families. A Vietnamese single parent Kenny Do, who was sponsored to come to Australia after the Vietnamese War by his refugee aunt. Kenny married an Australian woman and they had two children. However, his wife left them and moved to Melbourne leaving Kenny with two teenagers. Kenny is not coping; his daughter has moved to live with her mother, his son Jonathan, is suffering from depression and he has recently obtained work as a guard at the Darwin detention centre. Ana is a teenage Iranian refugee who is who is detained in the refugee centre in Darwin with her mother and younger brother while her mother awaits the birth of her third child and the acknowledgement their refugee status.
School aged children are bussed to a local school where they attend ESL classes and if capable are mixed with the Australian mainstream classes. Ana and Jono become aware of each other in a science class after Kenny mentions to Ana that his son is at the same school. The impossible romance blossoms via clandestine rendezvous, “saving” for phone cards, Facebook messages when computer time permits, and enduring the appropriating of anything brought back to the detention centre. Nevertheless, this only serves to highlight the inhumane treatment of people who are only here because they are seeking asylum.
The story also exposes the mental attitude of the prison officers who guard the refugees and appear to treat them worse than common criminals. Also, it presents the plight of the case workers who are supposed to assist the refugees under their care but who may be very inexperienced and/or worn out by the system to feel helpless and ineffective.
A very good, quick read which introduces some of the issues facing asylum seekers who do reach Australian waters
...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2019 Rennai rated it it was amazing

Shelves: real-life-drama, refugees, free-verse-novel, families

This was a page turner for me - I really needed to see how everything would pan out for the three narrators. Anahita's story is the the most pressing as she is an Iranian refugee stuck in a detention centre in Darwin with her pregnant mother and three? year old brother. She is allowed out (under strict conditions) to go to the local school. The family is desperate to be allowed to stay in Australia but each day they are waiting for the news they will be deported to Nauru. Jono's story is also ab This was a page turner for me - I really needed to see how everything would pan out for the three narrators. Anahita's story is the the most pressing as she is an Iranian refugee stuck in a detention centre in Darwin with her pregnant mother and three? year old brother. She is allowed out (under strict conditions) to go to the local school. The family is desperate to be allowed to stay in Australia but each day they are waiting for the news they will be deported to Nauru. Jono's story is also absorbing as he is a young man trying to find his way in a complicated world. He has just come from a broken relationship which sent him into depression. He is dabbling with drugs and rebelling against his father, Kenny, who is the other narrator. Kenny was a Vietnamese refugee, who has successfully integrated into Australian life and is trying to keep Jono on the straight and narrow as a single father. He is a guard at the detention center.
I believe the young adult reader will empathise with Anahita and Jono, because although they are going through things unique to their situations they are also normal teenagers. I'm not sure how the reader will feel about Kenny but I certainly empathised with him as a parent.
Jono and Anahita form a bond while at school and Jono is enlightened about the plight of the refugees through his relationship with her. This enlightenment is a slow and at times painful process. I love the way that Atkins shows rather than tells. The story is very powerful and the characters are very real and totally believable (even the very minor ones). The author's use of free verse adds another layer to the book and blends in so well it is hardly noticeable (note the whole novel is not free verse). I'm still in two minds about the ending for Jono - don't read further if you don't want a spoiler. Part of me says that the "repair" of the relationship with his father is what holds his mental health but the other side of me thinks that given his past, the way it ends with Anahita would have most likely tipped him over the edge. This is the only possible weakness (for me) the rest is so realistic that I can imagine it being based on a true story where the characters are actually real people whom I would love to meet as I feel I know them so well. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 22, 2020 Judy Wollin rated it it was amazing

Ana lives in a refugee camp outside Darwin. She catches a bus to the local high-school. On her way out a guard suggests she say hi to Jonathan. Jonathan writes poetry. He lives at home with Mum ad Dad. Ana attends the intensive English section of the school and attends some mainstream classes. Jonathan is in Year 10.
Ana is brave, strong and curious. She seeks out Jonathan.
Jonathan notices the new girl with dark eyes and a scarf.
Life in the refugee camp is harsh – jail-like. Some guards are conf ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2019 Ghostly Writer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019-reads

I LOVED THIS!!!!!!

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2019 Pip Jennings rated it it was amazing

Fiona Wood is correct - everyone should read this book. Absolutely heart wrenching.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 30, 2019 Tara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary, loveozya, books-i-own, mental-illness, sad, gritty, cyl-year-ahead-2016

Raw, gritty, broke my heart

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 21, 2019 Luke Donehue rated it it was amazing

I was warned going Into this that it would be heavy and tackle tough themes.. I think that why I loved it, it wasn’t bashful in its approach and I loved how they display people’s mental state in the form of language.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2020 Jan Miller rated it it was amazing

Young adult fiction but also a fantastic read for every age. It explores the “illegal immigrant “ situation from so many angles but unfortunately doesn’t leave us with any positive feelings about the future of these people or Australia’s treatment of them.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 24, 2018 Library_geek rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teens

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Full review can be found at https://littlebigreads.com/2018/04/25...

Between Us by Clare Atkins had a profound effect on me, I didn’t expect to be so moved by it and a piece of me changed by the time I turned the last page. The end caught me off guard, it was unexpected and it challenged my thinking, opinions, and knowledge. The book also left me heartbroken and sad, especially for the real life refugees whose lives in their new “home” is nothing like they expect, where they loose their identity ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 04, 2019 Tina rated it really liked it

I read this one quickly - over the space of 2-3 days - because it was so absorbing. It's the kind of book that had me thinking about it when we were apart and longing to get back to it again. It's a very real, emotional, passionate story about the life of a refugee girl in a Darwin detention centre. Iranian born Anahita slowly shares details of her life in Iran and the reason why her family fled. While in detention she's allowed to attend the local high school. It's there she meets Jono, a Vietn ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2018 Natasha (jouljet) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: refugees, poc

Ohhh, this is so very real, and that's why it's a stand out. It covers the brutality of Australia's detention of refugees, and the secrecy around the policy....and the effects it has on families, teens, and children.

Clare Atkins has done serious research to put this together - I went to the book launch in Sydney and heard about some of it - but as a former visitor to Wickham Point in Darwin, her descriptors took me right back there.

Powerful teen story of love, connection, and the impact of the ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 27, 2019 June rated it really liked it

This was a good book to read after reading No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani.

The book is well researched and provides an insight into what life might be like for a teenager living in a detention centre in Darwin. The fictional teenage character, Ana, is an asylum seeker from Iran. She is living in the detention centre with her pregnant mother and toddler brother while they wait for news about their refugee status. They have been told that they will never be allowed to settle perma This was a good book to read after reading No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani.

The book is well researched and provides an insight into what life might be like for a teenager living in a detention centre in Darwin. The fictional teenage character, Ana, is an asylum seeker from Iran. She is living in the detention centre with her pregnant mother and toddler brother while they wait for news about their refugee status. They have been told that they will never be allowed to settle permanently in Australia and Ana can only leave the detention centre to attend school.

A passage in the book I found particularly poignant was when a Vietnamese character says to her teenage nephew "This is a spoon they give me when I first arrive. You remember I tell you? About the boat? This spoon is from St Vincent de Paul. Very nice people. Make me feel very welcome. Very happy and warm." The contrast between the memories this character has of arriving in Australia by boat and the way in which people are treated now is stark.

One thing that really annoyed me after reading both No Friend But the Mountains and Between Us, is that we don't even seem to feed the people who are being kept in detention centres properly. Boochani describes how he is malnourished and how the detainees on Nauru have to line up for hours before every meal, often in the hot sun. Ana in Between Us, describes how her little brother loves eggs but they are never given eggs to eat in the detention centre. Ana also describes how, on the first day of each month, all the inmates who have a birthday that month are called to the dining room and given a piece of "birthday cake". They aren't allowed to share the cake with anyone else or take the cake away from the dining room. The lunches she is given to take to school are also boring and of very poor quality. Private companies are being paid billions of dollars to run the detention centres on Nauru and in Australia. You would think the very least they could do is feed the inmates in a dignified, humane and fair way. ...more

flag Like · see review

Dec 31, 2019 Katie rated it really liked it

I actually can’t speak highly enough about this year’s winner of the CBCA award for older readers and the fearless way Atkins tackles issues of race, Australian identity, and slow erosion of the core notions of fairness and equal opportunity that underpin Australian society.
The story follows Kenny, a Vietnamese immigrant trying to make ends meet by working as a guard at a immigration detention centre in Darwin, his son Jono who is struggling with depression as well as the general anxieties that ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 30, 2019 Bec rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, rep-culture-poc

With the on-going climate of global refugee climate and the appalling nature of refugee and asylum seeker laws in Australia at the moment, this book is important.

♢ The story follows an Iranian refugee who is living in a detention center with her pregnant mother and little brother. She attends a nearby local school in Darwin, where she gets a taste of everyday life for an Australian - only to return back to detention each day.

The light that this book sheds on life inside a detention center is a c ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 16, 2018 Vivien rated it it was amazing

Shelves: poc, ya, aus

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this all in one day! The start of the story quickly places the reader in the middle of events, and it's really fast and easy to get into.

I liked reading from Ana's POV the best, she was sensitive, caring and her story was really upsetting. Her experience in Iran, from the free underground to the violence, was quite eye opening. And, her life in Wickham Point, and also comparing it with Nauru and Christmas Island... I felt like Jono, learning it all for the first time.
Jono was a little de ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 03, 2018 zara :) rated it really liked it

CW: Death, blood.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought that every character was really well thought out, and the story was interesting and full of emotion all through the book.

I really loved how much I learnt from Between Us. I've never really known much about the refugee situation here in Australia, so I'm really glad I read this book. There was a heap of information in here, but it never felt like it was just information, if that makes sense. It really fit into and helped the story progress, i ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
REVIEW	1	4	May 21, 2018 09:47PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Young Adult

38 users

Contemporary

14 users

Romance

13 users

Fiction

9 users

Family

6 users

Realistic Fiction

4 users

Cultural > Australia

4 users

Politics

3 users

Academic > School

2 users

Health > Mental Health

2 users

See top shelves…

About Clare Atkins

Clare Atkins

25 followers

Atkins is an author, scriptwriter, script editor and produce. Born and raised in Sydney, she has also lived in Bathurst (for university), on a small Spanish island called La Gomera, and in Arnhem Land. She currently lives in Darwin.

She has also written for many successful Australian television dramas, including All Saints, Home & Away, Headland, Winners & Losers and Wonderland.

She has a teaching d ...more

Books by Clare Atkins

More…

News & Interviews

Whether it’s magic schools, dystopias, paranormal love stories, or contemporary explorations of important real-life issues, young adult books a...

Trivia About Between Us

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Between Us

“And there's a good chance the only one day I'll get is here and now.” — 1 likes

“In Farsi we ask: Haal-e shomaa chetoreh? It is the same: how are you? But when I answer, when I am little, my father never let me say good or okay. Because he says he is asking about the feeling, you know... like, how is your heart?"
"My heart is happy," I say, "Happy you called.” — 1 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — Between Us by Clare Atkins

Between Us

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Clare Atkins

Books by Clare Atkins

News & Interviews

Trivia About Between Us

Quotes from Between Us

See a Problem?

Preview — Between Us by Clare Atkins

Between Us

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Clare Atkins

Books by Clare Atkins

News & Interviews

Trivia About Between Us

Quotes from Between Us

new topic
Discuss This Book