How We Fall

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Author(s)

Kate Brauning

Publisher

Merit Press

Genre(s)

Age Range

14+

Release Date

November 01, 2014

ISBN

978-1440581793

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Ever since Jackie moved to her uncle's sleepy farming town, she's been flirting way too much--and with her own cousin, Marcus. Her friendship with him has turned into something she can't control, and he's the reason Jackie lost track of her best friend, Ellie, who left for...no one knows where. Now Ellie has been missing for months, and the police, fearing the worst, are searching for her body. Swamped with guilt and the knowledge that acting on her love for Marcus would tear their families apart, Jackie pushes her cousin away. The plan is to fall out of love, and, just as she hoped he would, Marcus falls for the new girl in town. But something isn't right about this stranger, and Jackie's suspicions about the new girl's secrets only drive the wedge deeper between Jackie and Marcus--and deepens Jackie's despair. Then Marcus is forced to pay the price for someone else's lies as the mystery around Ellie's disappearance starts to become horribly clear. Jackie has to face terrible choices. Can she leave her first love behind, and can she go on living with the fact that she failed her best friend?

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Mystery was Disappointing, but the Romance Surprised Me

May 05, 2015

Overall rating

3.3

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MY THOUGHTS
Ever since Jackie's family moved in with her aunt and uncle, Jackie has been carrying on a secret relationship with Marcus, her own cousin. Feeling guilty about their relationship, and the love she feels, she decides to break things off, which only makes her and Marcus more miserable. It's even worse when Marcus begins a relationship with the new girl in town, a girl that Jackie thinks is hiding something. Jackie believes that she has something to do with Ellie, her best friend that went missing, and she intends to find out.

Oddly enough, the romance didn't bother me, but what bothers me is how it takes up most of the book and what it did to the characters. This book is supposed to be a thriller/mystery with a forbidden romance added to it, but instead it was the opposite. I felt like the mystery was hardly mentioned then came up again in the last 50 pages. While the romance that took over was all angsty and I don't like angsty characters.

Besides the angst and how much the romance took over, I actually didn't have a problem with it. It sounds odd, as they are cousins, but I actually rooted for them. A big part of it is that I can see it from their perspective and how guilty they feel, how they know this is wrong. They try to stop, but these two really do love each other, they just have the misfortune of being cousins.

As for characters, Jackie was okay, but she was a pretty average YA MC and her back-and-forth motion with Marcus was a bit annoying. Marcus, on one hand, was such a sweet guy! Will is another great guy who is in the book and his situation is a bit unusual, as he is very supportive of Jackie's relationship with her cousin and wants to help her. He's an awesome guy and a great friend!

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I felt like the romance took main stage, while the mystery aspect was a bit neglected. The romance was angsty and a bit unusual, but I oddly rooted for it! If you are okay with forbidden romances and your mysteries being a bit less, then try this out. I think I'm mainly disappointed by the mystery and expected more, but I was really surprised by my feelings towards the romance. That factor caused me to like this book and I will look into more books by this author.