Pages

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Review: The Way We Fall (Fallen World #1), by Megan Crewe


Title: The Way We Fall (Fallen World #1)
Author: Megan Crewe
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads: "It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in. 

And then you're dead.


When sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lets her best friend leave for school without saying goodbye, she never dreams that she might not see him again. But then a strange virus begins to sweep through her small island community, infecting young and old alike. As the dead pile up, the government quarantines the island: no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for the island’s dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn't?
Poignant and dizzying, The Way We Fall is the heart-wrenching story of one girl's bravery and unbeatable spirit as she challenges not just her fears, but her sense of what makes life worth living."

My Opinion:  I wasn't sure I was going to like this book when I found out it was told in the form of journal entries, but I was very pleasantly surprised! The girl telling the story is a 16 year old named Kaelyn who is writing to her estranged best friend, Leo, telling him all about the troubles on their island.  People are getting sick and acting crazy as an unidentified virus spreads from person to person, eventually killing most of the townspeople. The islanders turn to the Canadian government for help but instead of salvation they find themselves quarantined. As supplies start to run out, Kaelyn and some of the other young adults who have survived thus far team together to help out in whatever way they can.

When the story starts, Kaelyn is a very shy girl who is more comfortable burying her head in the sand than confronting problems head on, but she decides that she doesn't want to be this way anymore, and in order to change she needs to put herself out there and risk getting hurt. Talk about character growth! We see Kaelyn evolve from a scared little girl to a more confident young woman over the course of her story.  She even manages to find romance during this awful time, with the scrumptious Gav, and enters into a tenuous friendship with Tessa, who she considers a rival for Leo's affection. 

I am so in awe of Megan Crewe's writing! Like I mentioned above, I wasn't sure how the story being told just from Kaelyn's POV in letters to Leo would come across, but in Ms. Crewe's capable hands I loved it, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series, The Lives We Lost. I'm giving this book a very enthusiastic 5 stars and recommend it to fans of post-apoc/dystopian, YA, survival stories :D

No comments:

Post a Comment