Review: The Way We Fall

Goodreads Summary: 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.

Alright, let me start off by saying that I'm not a fan of epistolary fiction AKA novels that are told through letters or diary entries. I absolutely LOVED them, even tried to write a few of my own, when I was younger but it was one of those literary trends that I kind of grew out of as I got older. By the time that I was a young adult myself up until now I've pretty much avoided them unless its been for class. [And yes, epistolary is kind of a literary term. You caught me. xD] But I've had this book sitting on my shelf for well over a year now and it has been recommended to me so many times that I finally decided to pick it up. After all, with so many friends having enjoyed it I wanted nothing less than to love it myself.

The style grew on me after awhile. It felt realistic. It felt like the story almost had to be told this way, it wouldn't have worked any other way. The writing felt natural, the voice was right, and I liked how sometimes it would just cut off because sometimes you just don't finish those entries you are writing. Sometimes things are just that bad. I guess what I'm trying to say, in a really long-winded sort of way, was that it was real. It felt like this could really be happening on an island just off the coast.

Kaelyn was someone who could have been sitting in the back of your classroom all of these years and you might never have noticed. To me she was that one person that we always know by name but don't really know beyond that. I think it added to her character that she came across this way to me. She was a real person. And it, meaning the novel, makes you think about all of the people around you that you think you know but probably don't really know. It makes you look at that person next to you and wonder, if all hell was to break loose where would they stand?

[And the character progression! Ohemgee it was just so good! Things didn't feel like they developed all crazy-like, nothing was instantaneous or unbelievable.]

That is why I'm addicted to movies about epidemics and why I picked this one up, well that and I have had it recommend to me time and time again. They make you think and they make you wonder where you would stand when everything goes wrong. Because it could, so very easily. The Way We Fall, in my opinion, is a crazy realistic portrayal of what would go down if an epidemic [like the one in the novel] was to come out of left field. Reading it you could almost believe it was a real girl's journal that someone found after the fact.  Highly recommend giving this one a go if you're interested in the portrayal of epidemics and major disasters in the young adult spectrum. Crazy fascinating!