Book Review; Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie

Summary:
When River auditions for a part in an interschool performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself smitten by Flynn, the boy playing Romeo. But Flynn comes from a damaged family—is he even capable of giving River what she wants? The path of true love never did run smooth . . .

This is real life, not a rehearsal…

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When You’re

I really had no idea what to expect when I went into this book. I had heard that some people liked it but aside from that, I had no expectations. I did, however, know that many really love the author, so I was a little disappointed in this book and how little I ended up enjoying it. While I only had few expectations, I did hope to enjoy it more than I did but instead found it to be a fairly irritating read containing characters I really struggled to sympathise with. While I liked the book enough to finish it and be fairly intrigued about the next book in the series, it isn’t one I’d be quick to recommend.

Searching For

Probably the largest problem I had with this book was how naive it really was. I worry that as an older reader that I may be putting too high a standard on this book but I personally do not feel that this book is good for teenagers. It sends off some bad messages about life, friendships and love – or it did in my opinion anyway! For me, it had a very twilight-esque feel to the book in that it gives out bad reading vibes through really annoying characters. While there was a little clarification at the end, I just don’t feel like it was enough. I can see how these kinds of books should be good, but this one just didn’t really work in the way I would have liked it to. However, how it ends has definitely left me curious enough to want to continue and see where the story will go from here.

True Love

River was a character I both liked and disliked. There were times when I could understand where she was coming from, and then there were times when I really just couldn’t stand her or the actions she was taking. This is mostly down to the naievity of her personality. She wanted a Romeo and Juliet kind of love and that infuriated me because just… why? Romeo and Juliet died because they were both naive and acted on stupid impulses. Then she was quick to fall in love and she just struggled to show me that she had any redeeming qualities at all. Then you have Flynn who was someone I really disliked. Not once did I stop and change my mind about him. I can understand why he is the way he is but he also doesn’t ever try and change and I really needed him to. I don’t think these two characters really fit together well and I just wish their relationship was explored more. In want of seeing this happen is the only reason I am wanting to read the next book in the series.

Be Careful With

There was something addictive about this book. Despite all of the previous problems with it that I’ve mentioned, I still couldn’t put the book down. It was intense, intriguing and I did really want to know how it was going to end. It is because of this that I have decided to give this book three stars instead of two, as, although I had issues I did still find this book interesting. It is easy to see why Sophie is a well-loved author and I am definitely going to read more of her work in the future. I just hope she manages to use this talent of hers to create books with compelling plots and characters as well as words. I also feel my judgement of this book stems from personal issues and feel that I would have thoroughly enjoyed this book if I had been able to put these aside, simply because the style was really easy to get used to and has a way of really drawing the reader in.

What You Find

This book was not the right book for me. I found it lacking in many places and I just failed at truly enjoying it. However, it did have a lot of potential and I can see that it may be really liked by other people. The main characters were hard to appreciate and the plot felt a little simple but because the style is so addictive, it is possible to look past these things. If you’re looking for an easy read that won’t take you long but will keep you entertained for a short while then you should consider trying this book. It may not have been perfect for me but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right book for you. And who knows, maybe you’ll end up completely loving everything I disliked about it. But you’ll only discover that if you read it yourself!