Falling For You by Lisa Schroeder
4.5/5 stars
Simon Pulse, 2013
355 pages
YA Contemporary Issues
Source: Library
So because I'm bad at reading reviews, I thought this book was solely focused on an abusive relationship since that is what the blurb was teasing. Actually it has a wider perspective, looking in on the dark private drama of a family (flashback to Eleanor and Park for me). I found this to be an intensely emotional read and I had to put it down and gasp for breath several times before the halfway mark.
Rae lives with her mother and jerky stepfather whose bad decisions and selfishness at first seem almost manageable but that facade quickly disappears as he dogs her steps and demands her paychecks to cover his debts. At school, romance with new kid Nathan seems like it could be a dream come true but his real self is soon revealed.
This is a hard review for me to write, just because my experience with this book was more about feeling. Usually I can point out what I really liked and what bothered me pretty easily but here everything is tangled up in a ball of emotions and it is hard to separate all that out. There are two points I would like to mention though.
I guess I could say that I liked that this was not "just" an abusive relationship book because Rae figures out pretty quickly that Nathan is bad news and spends more time ducking her stepfather. Still I wonder some things about Nathan. It seems like he left a bad situation at his previous school and I wondered if he had hurt a girl there. Also was he telling the truth about his bad family life or was he making up a story in order to get attention and sympathy from Rae? As a reader who likes getting answers, I would have appreciated knowing.
Something else I liked was that Rae's school had a poetry column in their newspaper that originally allows for anonymous content but Rae ends up questioning this decision. Does keeping the writer's identity secret mean we are encouraging everyone to look perfect and never admit the bad things that are going on in their life? This is something I've thought about a lot in terms of social media, especially facebook. Some days it seems like everyone has the best life ever while you're the only one struggling, which is just not true.
Overall: This is a story with so much depth and emotion-be prepared for an intense journey that thankfully ends on an optimistic note.
Cover: Doesn't this cover look like it belongs on an intensely romantic story?
Other Opinions:
A Reader of Fictions
Addicted 2 Novels
Good Books and Good Wine
Pure Imagination
I agree, gives you an emotional ball that is hard to untangle. I really liked the poetry column as well, and what she learns from it.
ReplyDeleteIt was so good! I was not expecting so much and was all tangled up with my emotions.
DeleteSounds good - but I agree, that looks like the cover to a straight-up romance.
ReplyDeleteRight? I actually really love this cover; I just don't think it's quite right for this story.
DeleteThis is one of the books that I'm SUPER EXCITED to read for my Contemporary Month coming up. I have a copy of this one thanks to another blogging friend sharing their copy, but it is hard for me to wait for the right time to read it. I am a big fan of Lisa Schroeder (and her verse novels) so I'm very excited to see what she has cooked up for us this time. I've heard it is tough, but I think that since I'm expecting that, I'll be okay.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the cover looks like an intensely romantic book.
I hope you enjoy it immensely as well-it has a lot of issues that can be discussed for the contemporary focus.
DeleteI am not a huge contemporary fan and like you when I read the summary I wasn't sure whether or not it was for me, I am an overly emotional person and I cry super easily so I usually try to stay away from super emotional reads but, I might check this one out. Awesome review!
ReplyDeleteKristin @ Young Adult Book Haven
This might be a book to read only at certain times then; I'm glad I helped prepare you and I hope you like it if you decide to check it out.
DeleteThis is on my wishlist and I really want to get it. It sounds really good. Great review.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
I hope you like it when you pick it up-I was pretty blown away as you can tell :)
DeleteI thought this book was in verse, and while I am very happy to read poetry, I am just not into fiction-in-verse. I think maybe this author wrote another YA that was in verse.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I had decided to skip this, but maybe I will give it a try!
This is her first YA novel not in verse (something I gleaned from other posts) and while I like verse novels (especially because I can usually breeze through them), I definitely prefer straight prose. Hope you like it if you decide to give it a try!
DeleteI loved this book so I'm glad you enjoyed it as well! Its weird that I hadn't thought of it before, but the cover does make it look more straight up romance. The romance was actually more subtle but I liked the hints of it here and there and as they start to find each other. I love all of Lisa's books but I really loved the different things she made me think about with this one.
ReplyDeleteI liked that romance wasn't really the focus here-I've read a lot of contemporary where it is so it made for a nice change. And I loved all the things there are to think about and discuss.
DeleteI also thought that it was just a book about an abusive relationship so I'm happy to hear it was much more than that. Also, happy to hear it ends with on a positive note!
ReplyDeleteI would not have been able to handle this book if it was as unrelentingly bleak as it was in some parts. So glad there was optimism and I'm happy to share that news with others.
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