unfortunately, once again, i don't remember the website that recommended una lamarche's like no other but the premise, an hasidic girl falling in love with a west indian boy after a chance meeting sounded interesting. just like i am racist reader in the sense that i like indian authors, i do the same thing with jewish characters, which is one of the reasons i decided to check out this ya novel. i was intrigued, because i had no idea how the orthodox girl was going to make this relationship work!
the novel switches back and forth between narratives from the star-crossed lovers, devorah, a 16-year-old, goody two-shoes, hasidic girl and jax, a nerdy yet responsible, west indian boy. they met one night when trapped in an elevator at a hospital. devorah was at the hospital to help her older sister, rose, who was in labor. jax was there because his friend was injured skateboarding. however, the trouble with their relationship started right off the bat, with their chance meeting. being trapped in an elevator with jax was a violation of devorah's religion, it was a violation of yichud. females are not allowed to be alone with another male. the law also restricts talking to males, so devorah tried to not talk to jax but being trapped in an elevator she decided to, to not be rude. they actually had a great talk, devorah explained her religion and they even flirted a bit. their meeting ended with them listening to the shirelles on jax's phone. this was also a violation because devorah's parents did not allow her to have a phone, watch tv, or listen to music. when the power came back on they went their separate ways not thinking anything more would happen between them.
however, they both can not stop thinking about each other. devorah was actually the one that saw to their meeting again. she stopped by jax's work while running an errand for her father. this meeting was the beginning of their sneaking around to see each other. devorah had to keep it a complete secret due to her religion. jax lied because in order to see her he had to miss work, thus lying to his boss and mom about where he was. it was difficult at first because they did not have any means of communication because of devorah's family's no technology rule. however, she snuck onto facebook to message him and jax later gave her phone. it was difficult but they managed as best they can.
in the end, they are caught while trying to runaway for the weekend. devorah's brother-in-law, jacob, who in my opinion was an asshole though i have to recognize that he was just following his religion so i can't hate him too much. and this is no disrespect to hasidic judasim but his behavior seemed outrageous because i am an outsider. i can't imagine my husband not being allowed to touch me after childbirth because my body has bleed, i get it for periods but not for childbirth. and his racism though inexcusable was due to his culture. however, his beating up jax and then lying about it was extremely uncalled for and i was shocked that jax's mother did not go after them.
due to their discovery, devorah's family sent her away. she believed that it was to rehabilitate her and make her more faithful but in fact, they had sent her to be matched for marriage. jax then went off to try to save her. in the end, devorah realized that though she loved jax, they could never be together due to her religions. she could not give up her faith for him.
i admired this ending, because it felt real. as much as i wanted everything to work out for devorah and jax, it was impossible. and though devorah cared for jax, she didn't want to sacrifice her religion and family for him and that is understandable. she had to do what was best for her and she made the right decision. i also admired how devorah and jax were very mature about their break up and left the relationship as better people. i think that is an important lesson for young adults to learn. not all relationships work out, but instead of being bitter and upset, one should recognize how that person helped you become a better version of you. (and if that relationship was toxic then how you are a better person for leaving it.)
from devorah, jax gained the self-confidence to be honest about his feelings and also learned how to be a good boyfriend. from jax, devorah learned that she was capable of more than what her religion alloted for her. she could be more than a wife and a mother. she could go to school and she could learn. her education could be a goal for her instead of marriage. i admired devorah for asking her family to allow her to continue to her studies. and i think this ending was better than one that would have been about true love. it's refreshing to see that the girl did not need the guy for a better life.
like no other contains wonderful lessons not only demonstrating how we should be tolerant of other cultures and religions but that also girls do not need to be restricted by cultural and religious gender roles. i hope that young adults pick up this novel, it's a wonderful story that will help them become more thoughtful adults.
