I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Published by Farrar Straus Giroux on September 17, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginningsÂ
The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.
Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLEÂ & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.
My Thoughts:
Tumble & Fall follows the lives of three teenagers as they go about their lives with one week before a large asteroid is due to hit the Earth. How would they spend their last days? Would they spend their limited time at their homes on Martha’s Vineyard with their families and friends, or would they find the courage to strike out and do the things they’d only dreamed of doing?
Sienna has just gotten out of a group home after being treated for depression after a failed suicide attempt. Her father takes her to their summer home on the island, where they’re to spend the last days with her brother and her father’s girlfriend. She’s constantly reminded of her dead mother and struggles to deal with her the new woman in her father’s life. But Sienna soon meets the boy she played with on the beach when she was four, and she finds herself in insta-love with keyboard playing Owen, who’s also very focused on helping to build a large boat to save other island residents. Sienna fears that she can’t cope with being confined with her family, so she breaks free to be with Owen at any cost.
Zan is busy mourning the loss of her free spirited boyfriend Leo, who died in a car accident several months earlier. When she discovers a receipt with a woman’s name and phone number scrawled on it in a book that he was carrying the day he died, she goes on a scavenger hunt along with Leo’s best friend Nick to find out what Leo was doing that fateful day. Zan has always done what her artsy parents have asked of her, so when she goes with Nick to Boston on their search, finding the truth becomes an obsessive hunt even as she starts to realize the truth about herself.
Caden has a hard home life with an alcoholic mother and an overachieving sister. All he wants to do is hang out with his friends and wait for the world to end. But his rich absentee father has him kidnapped and brought to him so they can spend time together before the world ends. Caden finds that his father might not be the person that he remembers as he is forced to play catch in a Major League stadium, go hunting and stay in his father’s mountain cabin, and finally meet the extended family that he hasn’t seen since he was four years old. Caden’s father is honestly one of the least likable characters that I have read in a book in a long time.
I kept waiting for the three main characters paths to converge, and they didn’t until nearly the end of the narrative. From the book’s blurb, I expected their paths to intertwine more than they did. While this didn’t make the story less enjoyable, I did spend quite a bit of the book wondering when it would all come together.
I give Tumble & Fall a 3.5 out of 5. Told in rotating chapters in third person point of view from each main character, the novel was well-written, emotional, powerful, and often beautiful. But where the story fell flat for me was in the too calm manner of the world on the brink of ending, the lack of chaos and outward fear from anyone as time ticked down. Everyone really seemed to be in denial about the end of the world being inevitable. And then you don’t really find out the fate of the world. If you go into this book not expecting science, real apocalyptic end times panic, and you want to read more deep connections and relationship developing stories, then you will enjoy this book.
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I’m so curious to read that book, it seems so interesting!
thnx for the giveaway!
Frannie Panglossa recently posted..RECENSIONE:”Alice in Zombieland” di Gena Showalter
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You’re welcome, Frannie!
Heather recently posted..Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
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I’ve heard such mixed reviews of this one. I’ve got a copy, I want to read it soon and find out what *I* think, lol! 🙂
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Definitely read it and decide for yourself. I really enjoyed it. But I was bothered that there wasn’t much concrete resolution in the end and the lack of panic. What can I say, I like chaos in my fiction 🙂
Heather recently posted..Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
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I’ve been curious about this book, but I’ve seen quite a few “falls-flat” reviews… Still might give it a try, though.
I love Susan Dennard’s books and would love my own copies. Thanks for the giveaway! ^^
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You should read it and judge for yourself. The writing is stellar, but I didn’t like the lack of a real conclusion at the end.
And you’re welcome for the giveaways!
Heather recently posted..Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
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I DNFed this one about half way through, I just wasn’t connecting with the story. Or the characters. I guess I was just expecting something different, something deeper and more harrowing, but instead all the characters seemed so detached and indifferent, I just couldn’t get past that. You are probably right, they were all in denial, and who knows how would I behave knowing that the end of the world is coming, but I still wanted to see more conflicting emotions there.
I’m glad you were able to enjoy it enough to give it 3.5 tho! Great review!
Evie recently posted..I Want To Suck Your Blood
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I finished it, Evie, but I totally expected more chaos and confusion. But everyone just went on with their lives like they had all the time in the world left. I didn’t really get it, so that’s why I gave it the rating I did. The writing was really nice, but it didn’t seem so realistic to me.
Heather recently posted..Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
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I think I would have a problem with the ending and not really knowing. That might be enough to keep me from reading it. I have read some pretty negative reviews though so it’s nice to see a more positive one. We’ll see, I might pick it up one day.
Candace recently posted..Wordstock Event Recap- photo heavy!
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You’ll hate the ending of this one then, Candace. It just kind of cuts off abruptly, which is irritating since it’s pretty well-written. Such potential…
Heather recently posted..Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
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I let my galley expire and I don’t feel badly. I have yet to read a glowing review foor this one. It just kind of flopped. I would not like the switching of third person narratives!
Heidi recently posted..Something Wicked Day #9: Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff: Guest Post, Review and Giveaway
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The switching narratives didn’t bother me so much, but it was kind of hard in the beginning to tell the difference between the two girls because their voices didn’t sound much different.
Heather recently posted..Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
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Completely agree about the too calmness of the book. I found the different storylines very depressing, despite this outward event of an asteroid. I could see it being as if it is a dark poem, but I really didn’t enjoy it. It’s good to see though that someone sort of did! 😛
Michelle recently posted..Calvert’s Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
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See I just couldn’t get into this book at all. The way it starts I think is probably what did it for me. It just didn’t grab me and thus I think I made it like 70 pages and just had to give up.
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