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A review by jscarpa14
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
4.0
RECEIVED FROM: Net Galley For Review
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
An unknown virus has arrived in Kaelyn’s island town in Canada. It begins with symptoms similar to the flu then progresses to victims losing their social inhibitions. After that they begin to hallucinate often becoming violent before finally they’re dead. Medical professionals are stumped, government organizations have been brought in and the island has been quarantined. Violence erupts around her as the world she’s known falls apart. Will she survive to find the cure or will the sickness and violence kill her before hope is found?
This novel was phenomenal. The way it was written was extremely original and because of the method chosen I think it was all the more gripping. Kaelyn is writing a letter/journal to her former best friend Leo. She begins the journal as way to think of some way of apologizing and reestablishing their friendship when he returns from dance school. She ends up using it to chronicle the virus from the outbreak on. I’m not usually one for deadly virus movies or books, they’ve never been my cup of tea but I think because of the way it was written, because it’s pretty much impossible not to become emotionally involved with this character I couldn’t put this book down. It’s not so much fast paced as it is gripping. A lot happens in the novel, but we’re reading the story as almost a journal entry so it’s less the action that compels you to move from page to page and more the emotion of the character writing the journal. I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything like it before and I have to say I’m counting the days until the sequel comes out to read more. While it does offer a little in the form of teen angst it’s more of a struggle to survive and overcome a virus that they cannot fight. I think the most compelling portions of the novel are those during which Kaelyn has the virus herself and you can observe her thoughts is meant for arrives. I understand why we don’t receive the closure that I wanted so desperately, it’s because it wouldn’t make sense in the format the story was written, but that doesn’t make me as her mind is falling to pieces. The only thing I can’t say I liked was the ending. Because it’s told in a journal letter format you don’t really know what happens when the ferry and the person the letter journalwant that closure any less. In a way the story offers a full story arc even though the ending doesn’t really offer the closure I personally desired. Though I did have a couple of questions such as why Kaelyn would bother to maintain a separate residence from her love interest Gav considering the circumstances they met and now live in, in a way I understood it. And it wasn’t like there weren’t any instances in the book where I was inclined to tantrum about character stupidity. Considering the ages of the characters their behavior was courageous and intelligent through each scene. The story is less action packed and more an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end that leaves you wanting more. This is a story of friendship, love and survival that is irresistibly gripping.
The character development in this novel is hard to describe. It’s a journal so it’s not only that we’re seeing this through just one character’s point of view, we’re also only seeing the parts of the characters that Kaelyn feels are worth mentioning to Leo. Considering that I don’t believe you can expect the same sort of fully developed characters you’d find in a regular novel. Despite that the numerous secondary characters in the novel are distinctive and fairly well developed. We gain an insight into each character but at the same time a lot of the other characters remain a mystery because those characters are kind of tinted through Kaelyn’s impressions which she’s filtered for Leo. Even though Leo isn’t present in the novel because of the way she’s speaking to him in her journal and reminiscing things that came before he’s a fairly well developed character that I hope we have the opportunity to actually meet in the future. Considering the way the book was written I felt the characters were exceptionally well developed. Obviously Kaelyn is the most developed character because she’s the one telling the story. What I loved about this character is that she isn’t perfect; she’s socially inept, frightened all the time and trying to figure out how to grow up long before she should because she doesn’t have any other options. She’s a believable character that’s extremely easy to relate to and become emotionally invested in.
Overall The Way We Fall is not a book to be missed. I’d most definitely recommend it to young adult readers especially those who enjoy Dystopian novels. Honestly I think it would also appeal to most adult readers as well.
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
An unknown virus has arrived in Kaelyn’s island town in Canada. It begins with symptoms similar to the flu then progresses to victims losing their social inhibitions. After that they begin to hallucinate often becoming violent before finally they’re dead. Medical professionals are stumped, government organizations have been brought in and the island has been quarantined. Violence erupts around her as the world she’s known falls apart. Will she survive to find the cure or will the sickness and violence kill her before hope is found?
This novel was phenomenal. The way it was written was extremely original and because of the method chosen I think it was all the more gripping. Kaelyn is writing a letter/journal to her former best friend Leo. She begins the journal as way to think of some way of apologizing and reestablishing their friendship when he returns from dance school. She ends up using it to chronicle the virus from the outbreak on. I’m not usually one for deadly virus movies or books, they’ve never been my cup of tea but I think because of the way it was written, because it’s pretty much impossible not to become emotionally involved with this character I couldn’t put this book down. It’s not so much fast paced as it is gripping. A lot happens in the novel, but we’re reading the story as almost a journal entry so it’s less the action that compels you to move from page to page and more the emotion of the character writing the journal. I don’t believe I’ve ever read anything like it before and I have to say I’m counting the days until the sequel comes out to read more. While it does offer a little in the form of teen angst it’s more of a struggle to survive and overcome a virus that they cannot fight. I think the most compelling portions of the novel are those during which Kaelyn has the virus herself and you can observe her thoughts is meant for arrives. I understand why we don’t receive the closure that I wanted so desperately, it’s because it wouldn’t make sense in the format the story was written, but that doesn’t make me as her mind is falling to pieces. The only thing I can’t say I liked was the ending. Because it’s told in a journal letter format you don’t really know what happens when the ferry and the person the letter journalwant that closure any less. In a way the story offers a full story arc even though the ending doesn’t really offer the closure I personally desired. Though I did have a couple of questions such as why Kaelyn would bother to maintain a separate residence from her love interest Gav considering the circumstances they met and now live in, in a way I understood it. And it wasn’t like there weren’t any instances in the book where I was inclined to tantrum about character stupidity. Considering the ages of the characters their behavior was courageous and intelligent through each scene. The story is less action packed and more an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end that leaves you wanting more. This is a story of friendship, love and survival that is irresistibly gripping.
The character development in this novel is hard to describe. It’s a journal so it’s not only that we’re seeing this through just one character’s point of view, we’re also only seeing the parts of the characters that Kaelyn feels are worth mentioning to Leo. Considering that I don’t believe you can expect the same sort of fully developed characters you’d find in a regular novel. Despite that the numerous secondary characters in the novel are distinctive and fairly well developed. We gain an insight into each character but at the same time a lot of the other characters remain a mystery because those characters are kind of tinted through Kaelyn’s impressions which she’s filtered for Leo. Even though Leo isn’t present in the novel because of the way she’s speaking to him in her journal and reminiscing things that came before he’s a fairly well developed character that I hope we have the opportunity to actually meet in the future. Considering the way the book was written I felt the characters were exceptionally well developed. Obviously Kaelyn is the most developed character because she’s the one telling the story. What I loved about this character is that she isn’t perfect; she’s socially inept, frightened all the time and trying to figure out how to grow up long before she should because she doesn’t have any other options. She’s a believable character that’s extremely easy to relate to and become emotionally invested in.
Overall The Way We Fall is not a book to be missed. I’d most definitely recommend it to young adult readers especially those who enjoy Dystopian novels. Honestly I think it would also appeal to most adult readers as well.