I’m so sorry to say that Falling Fast did not hold my interest. Not in the least. Did I read a different book than everybody else? I just can’t understand what warrants all these glowing reviews.
Falling Fast is a mess from start to finish.
The plot just meanders around, conveniently and constantly throwing the characters together. How have these characters, who have had such a time even mailing letters to each other, ended up in the same place so many times throughout the course of this book? They can’t even have a successful phone call, but they will accidentally meet up several times on the first day that Mia’s in town.
In addition to being absolutely ridiculous, the plot is so slow. I literally almost fell asleep while reading. Multiple times. For the first half of the book, nothing happens aside from Mia and Raleigh gazing longingly at each other while wistfully reminiscing about their teenage shenanigans. “Oh, it was so wonderful having to sneak out of the house at night to sleep with Raleigh… get yourself together, Mia, Raleigh would never be interested in you now.” “It would be so perfect to be able to touch Mia like all those years ago… but she’s probably dating someone and I already ruined her life once.” Just stop. That is literally the only thing that happens in the first half of the book.
Surprise, surprise, I also didn’t care for the characters.
Mia is supposed to be, what, about 24 in the present day? And she still lets her parents control her life. I guess this could be reality for some people, but I am also 24, and as much as I love my mother, I would not let her dictate who I hang out with, where I go, what I do in my free time, and how I handle my own money. Not at this age.
And how many bad things can happen to Mia? She spends her entire childhood going in and out of hospitals to treat her cancer, and when her cancer is finally in remission, she gets in a horrible car accident that disfigures her? Come on now. That’s a little excessive. And despite all of this, Mia is still the kindest, most perfect girl on the planet. Because what else would she be?
And Raleigh? Honestly, I couldn’t even remember his name when I started this review. I had to look it up. That’s how much he bored me. He’s so perfect. He has a past but is working to move on and better himself. He’s so unselfish. He takes care of his little brother because his dad never took care of him. I mean, really. Could this guy be any more perfect? Any more unrealistic?
I also couldn’t sympathize with Mia and Raleigh’s situation. If Mia was in the accident at 17 years old, and then spent months in rehab, she was probably 18 (or at least almost 18) by the time she was better. As a legal adult, she didn’t have to listen to her parents. They would have no say over whether she was allowed to see or speak to Raleigh. Stop using her family as an excuse. It doesn’t work.
These characters caused so much of their own drama, particularly Mia. I get that there’s not much Raleigh could have done if he was told to stop visiting her, but what about Mia? She feels guilty about hanging up the phone – how about calling him? Her parents intercepted the mail – how about going to the post office to send it yourself? I mean, seriously. Common sense? Their self-imposed separation drove me crazy. For how much they whined about not being able to see each other, you would think they would have found a way.
And it’s not just that I didn’t buy the whole situation. Even their new relationship felt off to me. They constantly fantasized about each other for seven years? That screams obsession a lot more than true love. If they were truly in love, they would have found a way around the disapproving parents. Because, like I said, they were legal adults. There’s no reason they couldn’t have picked up the phone and spoken to each other.
And the last 30%? I’m just going to pretend that didn’t happen. It’s like everything I don’t want in a romance was haphazardly woven together and shoved in my face. I’m so disappointed. I usually love Loveswept titles, but this one didn’t do it for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free copy.
Final rating: ★☆☆☆☆
The Bibliophagist 