The Upside of Falling

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Author(s)

Alex Light

Publisher

Harper Teen

Genre(s)

Contemporary Romance

Age Range

14+

Release Date

February 18, 2020

ISBN

9780062918055

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It’s been years since eighteen-year-old Becca Hart believed in true love. But when her former best friend teases her for not having a boyfriend, Becca impulsively pretends she’s been secretly seeing someone. Brett Wells has it all. Being captain of the football team and one of the most popular guys in school, he should have no problem finding someone to date, but he’s always been more focused on his future than who to bring to prom. When he overhears Becca’s lie, Brett decides to step in and be her mystery guy. It’s the perfect solution: he gets people off his back for not dating and she can keep up the ruse. Acting like the perfect couple isn’t easy though, especially when you barely know the other person. But with Becca still picking up the pieces from when her world was blown apart years ago and Brett just barely holding his together now, they begin to realize they have more in common than they ever could have imagined. When the line between real and pretend begins to blur, they are forced to answer the question: is this fake romance the realest thing in either of their lives?

Editor reviews

2 reviews

The Upside of Falling

February 23, 2020

Overall rating

3.3

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THE UPSIDE OF FALLING is a YA contemporary romance by Wattpad author Alex Light. The story follows Becca Hart, an eighteen-year-old girl who has never had a boyfriend. Becca doesn’t mind being alone, but she also doesn’t enjoy being teased about it, so when Brett Wells, the captain of the football team, proposes to be her fake boyfriend, she’s inclined to take him up on the offer. Brett has his own image-related reasons for needing to be in a relationship, and a make-believe one comes with way less strings attached. At some point though, the line between pretending and reality begins to blur, and both Becca and Brett have to decide what they truly want— which may happen to be each other.

What I love about this book is the more I read and the further I get in the story, the more invested I become in the characters. It has a sneaky snowball effect and it makes me increasingly care about what will happen. Without this aspect, the book would fail. Truly, at its core, this novel is cheesy and predictable, but I am able to forgive it, because of how endearing of a tale it is. While the writing doesn’t exactly match up to Jenny Han’s TO ALL THE BOYS books, a popular series also about a fake-turned-real romance, THE UPSIDE OF FALLING is light, entertaining, and pure fun.

With that being said, it’s not entirely a fluff piece either. The author tackles some serious family problems, such as a delinquent father, divorce, and cheating. As a result, unlike most YA books, Brett and Becca’s parents are fully present in the story as fleshed-out characters. Moreover, I really enjoy that Becca’s mom is a baker as it adds some amusing scenes and talking points in the story. Truly, it’s the powdered sugar sprinkled on top of the narrative.

Overall, THE UPSIDE OF FALLING is perfect for any readers looking to escape the rough edges of the world. I swooned, and smiled, and laughed as I consumed this story. It was such a nice break from the more dramatic books I’ve been reading as of late, and weeks later, I still have all the warm feelings the novel inspired.