by Sarah (link)
Genre drama/angst
Pairings none
Length prologue, 20 chapters and epilogue
Status Completed (first in a trilogy)
I have a serious thing for stories in which the boys grow up poor. It probably ties into the fact that I fell in love with the book The Outsiders just a few months before falling in love with Hanson. Whatever the reason, it’s one of my favorite plotlines, but I am quite critical of it. It’s too easy to fall back on stereotypes about poverty and Lifetime movie style melodrama.
Despite not knowing how stereotypical or melodramatic the story might get, Sarah had me hooked from the short prologue. Her writing is exceptional. She struggles a little, I think, with getting the perspective right for the boys, who sometimes come across a little too precocious for their ages, but otherwise, the writing is solid. Each boy — each character, in fact, — has a very distinct personality that shows when they get a turn narrating. I was especially taken by Zac’s hyperness.
One thing that had me a little hesitant about Falling was the idea of the boys with a neglectful, abusive mother. I was relieved to see that it wasn’t Diana; instead, Sarah created an original character to “play” their mother in the story. I thought this was a good way of handling it.
This is the sort of story where you really have to suspend your disbelief. A lot about the boys, from their situation to their personalities, has been changed to fit the story. While I enjoy it, it might be too much for some to swallow. It does verge on Lifetime territory from time to time, but at times also reminds me a bit of Law and Order: SVU, which is one of my guilty pleasures. Again, it’s not really everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s the sort of plot that when done right — as it is here — really works for me.
Falling isn’t a perfect story; I don’t mean to imply that. There are times when the writing skips awkwardly from one scene to the next and the point of view changes are anything but seamless. The plot, as I’ve said, is a bit trite as well. But the characters are wonderful and so easy to fall in love with. Dan, in particular, really strikes a chord with me, and I almost come to sympathize a bit with Kathleen.
Since it has a sequel, the story ends up on a bit of a cliffhanger. That makes it a little hard to sum up my thoughts on it. All I can say for certain is that I will be rushing to read Farther In so I can find out what the future holds for the boys.
Review by Bethany (website)