Today's post is a review of a book that I mentioned in my March wrap up on Saturday since it was one of the first books I read last month. I have a lot of feeling about it and so I wanted to do a more depth review of it rather than just a simple on in my wrap up. This book is Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang who is a debut author. So let's just jump straight in the review.
Title: Falling Into Place
Author: Amy Zhang
First Publication Year: 2014
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Goodreads Link:
Plot Summary: It was late one afternoon after school when Liz Emerson drives her car off the road. After such careful thought, her plan was to die instantly and make it look like an accident rather than a suicide. But there was one thing Liz never could understand that she failed to take into account, which was Newton’s laws of motion that she has been learning in physics class. So now instead of dying on impact, she lies in hospital in a deep coma with a voice telling her to "Stay Alive". Will Liz wake up? Will anyone notice that it wasn't an accident?
Full Review: I found this book in one of my local department stores a while ago when it was first released and was straight away drawn to the cover. As I read the synopsis I was intrigued and had to buy it straight away. At that point I hadn't heard much about it but over the next few months, I began to hear nothing but positive reviews for it. What really hooked me was people saying that it was perfect for fans of Jay Asher who wrote Thirteen Reasons Why which is a favourite of mine. I finally decided to pick it up in March as I saw that Scribd was providing a free audiobook for it during the month. I was really excited to finally be reading this book as I was so hyped by the reviews. Unfortunately, this book didn’t live up to the expectations or the hype that I had surrounding it.
There are a few things that I did like about this book that still encouraged me to continue to read it instead of not finishing it but there was also a lot of things that really didn’t go well with me. The story follows a mysterious narrator who appears to be really close to the main character Liz Emerson who is the girl that is planning to commit suicide. The plot moves in and out of moments from Liz’s past and present as the reader gets to view the life she had, that may have lead her to her emotional breakdown as well as also getting glimpses into the present time where she lies in a coma and the people she knew (or who knew her) are beginning to react to her “accident”. The format was a very interesting way to read the book and gave me a very “If I stay” vibe with the jumps in time and the hospital view. I did really enjoy this format as the chapters were short but also extremely detailed in each scene which made the memories very imaginable. I also enjoyed reading through the perspective of this mysterious character who seemed to know Liz the most and also loved how I, the reader didn’t fully know how the two of them were connected to each other. Once all is revealed, it really amazed me and made me like the book just a little bit more.
I also really enjoyed the writing style. This novel was Amy Zhang’s debut novel and I must say that her writing and flow was beautifully executed. I was able to really get into her writing and understand and follow the story despite the constant jumps between current events and those in the past. She was able to explain so much in such few words and at times I found myself captivated by her poetry style writing. Despite disliking the plot and feeling like I would be unable to finish the book, Zhang’s writing and ability to tell a story helped me to the end and kind of made me not want to stop reading. This was a very easy read and it was really enjoyable to read from a writing point but like I said earlier, I really didn’t like the plot or characters of the story.
The big thing that bugged me about this book was the plot and the characters. In all fictional books, the characters and plot are the crucial parts of the book that are used to tell the story and so when these two things are not enjoyable to read, the experience of reading falls flat. This is how I felt about this book. Now in saying this, I am by no means saying that the concept behind the plot was unenjoyable as I strongly support books that address deeper subjects such as suicide that are still not talked about often in society. This was one thing that I felt was great about the book and that drew me in originally. I have read a couple of really great books involving mental illness and suicide and am always on the lookout for more that address this issue as it is something I am passionate about. This book however failed to connect with me despite having the great intention of bringing forward this topic. The plot itself seemed really harsh and was like nothing I’ve read before. I felt that some of the scenes were quite cruel and they did really strike a chord with me that I found myself to be rather angry at the story.
I have thought over this plot and the scenes within it, quite a lot over the last couple weeks since reading the book and have come to a distinct conclusion that my anger for the plot came mostly because of the terrible characters. There were a few recurring characters throughout the book but the one that really effected my reading, happened to be the main character Liz. She was a terrible person before her suicide attempt as she came across as someone who seemed to not really care about anyone but herself. She was a very popular person at her school and a lot of people simply feared her from her primary school years into high school. Through her memories, it isn’t hard to see why people felt that way towards her as she did torment a lot of people. She reminded me of people that used to treat me terribly in school (not as bad as in the book) and so I found it really difficult to connect with her. Despite knowing that she was going through some deep inner turmoil and also knowing that at points she did feel guilty about her actions, she still really bugged me as she continued to affect so many people and did not stop even though she knew that what she was doing was wrong. Besides Liz, her friends also really bugged me. They seemed to accept the way Liz acted and even encouraged and supported the behavior. I could probably talk about how much these characters made me angry for ages but just as a conclusion, the fact I couldn’t connect with these characters and rather despised them, resulted in me really not liking the book in the end. I can see the angle the Zhang was possibly aiming for but for me it just did not project well as I found it hard to feel anything for such a character who was so horrible to so many people.
In conclusion; I really did not enjoy this book as personally it really wasn’t what I was looking for. I can kind of see what everyone is saying about this book and can see what Zhang was trying to do and can appreciate her attempt but unfortunately it is not one that I will be recommending or reading again. Like I have mentioned, I did enjoy Zhang’s style of writing and would be interested in reading any of her future books but I am still disappointed that this was not what I was expecting. Be sure to check out the good reads page and have a read of the synopsis. If it interests you, please be sure to let me know how you like it if you decide to read it. I would love to hear some of your thoughts.
Star Rating: 2/5 Stars!
Hope you are all having a wonderful day!
~Louise
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