Review: Soulmates by Holly Bourne

Published by: Usbourne
Release date: 1st September 2013
Series: n/a
I got it from: ARC from publisher via GR giveaway
Goodreads summary:
Every so often, two people are born who are the perfect matches for each other. Soulmates. But while the odds of this happening are about as likely as being struck by lightning, when these people do meet and fall in love…thunderstorms, lightning strikes and lashings of rain are only the beginning of their problems.

Enter Poppy, the 17-year-old cynic with a serious addiction to banana milk, and Noah, the heart-throb guitarist; residents of mediocre Middletown, sometime students, and…soulmates.

After a chance meeting at a local band night, Poppy and Noah find themselves swept up in a whirlwind romance unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before. But with a secret international agency preparing to separate them, a trail of destruction rumbling in their wake, (and a looming psychology coursework deadline), they are left with an impossible choice between the end of the world, or a life without love…

My review:
I don't do spoilers. But I've never wanted to so much! I feel like this book should come with some kind of warning. At some point, you will cry. That's all I'll say.  

Bourne is the writer I've been waiting for. Finally I get to read an amazing YA story and it's British! I read so much US YA that I forget how nice it is to have Brit references that I actually recognise and relate to. Please publish more stuff like this! Poppy and Noah are the perfect couple. Reading about their love blossoming was so sweet, but not in a sickly saccharine way. They're both wonderful characters, and you want them to have everything. 

The paranormal element turns a sappy love story into something else entirely. Anita and Rain are like baddies trying to save the world, and they're brilliant. Poppy is so strong, so much her own person, even when falling in love, she makes a perfect female protagonist. Noah is so flipping gorgeous and wonderful. Best boyfriend ever.

This has to be the world's vaguest review - there's so much I want to say, but can't! Bourne's writing is so good. You feel everything Poppy feels. Her friends are brilliant supporting characters. It's all so real, so true and then there's an injection of the paranormal that takes your breath away. This can't be happening, but it is... 

If you've read my reviews before, you'll know I have a thing about endings. Very few live up to my requirements. I can't decide if I love the end of Soulmates, or hate it. I think it has to be a bit of both. It's very very brave. 

I've just re-read what I've written and it's oh-so disjointed. That's how I feel after reading the book though. If I'd started writing this half-way through reading it, you would have had a paragraph (at least) about the power of true love and stuff like that, but I don't think I can do that now. Poppy and Noah's romance is incredible, wonderful and beautiful to read. But. There is a But. I just can't say what it is. Sorry. Read it if you're feeling brave, and love it for its beauty. I'll definitely read whatever Bourne has to offer next, but if it's too much like Soulmates I will probably want to pour a banana milkshake over her head. Also, banana? bleugh.