Forbidden Love Amidst Hasidic Rules

I read Like No Other by Una LaMarche. In this text, Devorah and Jaxon get trapped in an elevator on the night of a hurricane. Devorah, a Hasidic girl, has never questioned the rules of yichud. In the elevator, Devorah started to question the strict Hasidic laws she has to follow. When Devorah and Jaxon head their separate ways they were not expecting to see each other ever again. However, both of them couldn’t stop thinking about each other. One day Devorah even visited Jaxon at his job and arranged to go on a train together where no one will know who they are. Their relationship keeps on getting riskier as time passes by. It’s only when Devorah and Jaxon are about to sneak to Long Island together when Jacob, Devorah’s older sister’s husband, was on Shomrim patrol and spotted them together getting in a car on their way to Long Island.

Not believing Jaxon, the Shomrim patrols beat him up until he was almost dead. As Devorah can only stand and watch, she screamed at Jacob to stop hurting Jaxon. Devorah told Jaxon to run, and reluctantly, he ran back to his house, leaving Devorah defenseless and having to deal with the rest of her family. This book is often compared to Romeo and Juliet because it is about forbidden love. The theme of this book is simply love. Devorah and Jaxon sacrificed so much to be together, knowing it was nearly impossible. However, when her family decides to ship her off to a Chabad residential center, she wonders if she will ever see Jaxon again, as she first