{release date: November 3rd at Amazon & B&N: November 11: Nationwide Retailers}
Synopsis: {courtesy of amazon.com}:
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?
{Review}:
So, for those of you who don’t know
me: I really enjoy my sleep. Being a reading specialist for k-5th
grade, takes it out of me during the day, and at night, I really just like to
sleep. I try to get in bed BY 8PM, and am usually asleep the minute my head
hits the pillows.
I started this e-book {an ARC courtesy of Edelweiss},
last Sunday night at 9:45PM. I finally put it down at 10:40… simply dying to
find out what happened next. The next day, I took it to school and read it on
my lunch break, and then Monday night, from 9:45-12:57am EXACTLY…I finished it.
Why?
Because it’s just that good.
I’m a hoarder of ARC’s. I picked this one
because I liked the charm bracelet cover, and I really liked the colors. I very
rarely read the synopsis, and in this case, I’m glad I didn’t. I went in not
knowing anything but that this “looked” like a great read.
We’re first introduced to the main
characters: Jackie and Marcus, at a roadside farm stand, in a very rural backdrop. You
can tell off the bat that there is a definite chemistry between the two of
them. It becomes BLATANT when they start making out in his pickup truck after
they close up shop for the day on a private/dirt-esqe road. You’ll find your fingers start
to burn while you’re reading it, because you can tell there is an undeniable heat
emanating from the two of them. The masterful way it’s written, you almost feel
like a voyeur, looking in on these kids, who are obviously head over heels in
love with one another, and can’t contain themselves.
And then, she hits you with it.
As in sucker-punches-you-right-in-the-gut/smacks-you-palm-open-across-the-face
with it:
They’re first cousins.
I’ll admit, I may have dropped my kindle and
had a little “What the HELL?” moment/fit.
But once I got my bearings, and read about
20% of the way in, I realized that this was way deeper than just a case of
“kissing cousins”... even though they had made it clear that they hadn't consummated their love quite yet...
And then…
you just…
Can’t.
Stop.
Reading.
When we meet Jackie, she’s incredibly
concerned about a friend, Ellie {great name, right?}, who has abruptly gone missing. She moved
away last school year, and they really lost touch {and to her defense, it was
mainly because she was so enamored and engrossed with her love affair with
Marcus that she lost touch with her friend}. She’s incredibly upset over it,
and is trying to solve this mystery, while continuing to attempt to maintain
this forbidden relationship with her cousin and best friend.
You feel guilty FOR her, because you can tell
this fear over her former best friend is so real, you feel incredibly sad when
Marcus starts fawning over a new gal in town, and begins dating her (in an
attempt to provide an air of normalcy to his life), and if you’re anything like
me, you may start to cry because when the love of your life as a teenager
starts showing interest in someone else—it breaks your heart. It’s also
incredibly sobering because in addition to all of this, you’re getting a
first-hand glimpse into the horrible guilt they’re feeling over potentially
giving into their desires, and ultimately breaking up their family in the
process.
By the end of this amazing tale… {and much to
your own surprise}
You find yourself championing for their love.
It was literally about halfway through that I
took a hot tea break, and as I’m watching the pot boil and thinking about what
I’m reading, I’m thinking to myself: “I really hope this works out for them.”
Does it?
Pick up this PHENOMENAL read, and find out.
{Where can I buy this?}:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Fall-Kate-Brauning/dp/1440581797/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414967642&sr=8-1&keywords=how+we+fall
B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-we-fall-kate-brauning/1119045650?ean=9781440581793
{What would I rate it?}:
5/5. One of the most
masterful story lines since We Were Liars {according to moi}.
{Who would I recommend this book to?}:
Grade
8 plus. The make-out sections are steamy, but not too-terrible… I’m just not
sure that any kids younger would understand the turmoil that this puts on the
shoulders of these young characters.
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