Thursday 10 November 2016

Review: Falling by Julie Cohen

Can you imagine keeping a secret so devastating, you couldn’t even tell the people you love?

Honor’s secret threatens to rob her of the independence she’s guarded ferociously for eighty years.

Jo’s secret could smash apart the ‘normal’ family life she’s fought so hard to build.

Lydia’s could bring her love - or the loss of everything that matters to her.

Grandmother, mother and daughter – three women whose lives are falling apart. But one summer’s day, a single dramatic moment will force their secrets into the open.

Can they save each other from falling?



Review: I have to admit that I started this book, left it for a little bit then came back to it again, but once I picked it up again, I literally couldn't put it down. We are talking, the reading lights didn't work on my plane I was using my phone to read this on my kindle kind of can't put it down!

I loved this book because it was so real, the storyline and characters were just so relatable and everything that happened could have happened to anyone of us. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters. We have Jo, a divorced mother with a teenager and 2 little ones. She is having the kind of life we would expect when she is suddenly saddled with an invalid mother in law on top of everything else. She is so very real and I found myself rooting for her the whole way through. We also have Honor who is staunchly proud and I really like the way she transitioned over the course of the book. I think out of everyone, she changes the most during this story. And finally we have Lydia, daughter of Jo. She has some secrets and is struggling with what these secrets mean to her. I really liked Lydia and the way that she managed to cope with everything that was thrown at her. She has a really lovely relationship with her grandmother, Honor and I really related to her, I wish she could be my friend!

I loved that this book was from the perspective of each of these women. There isn't really any crossover in events that happen in their individual narratives, but it is interwoven beautifully and I really liked the fact that Lydia's story is written in the first person. Each section is easy to distinguish from the last because their stories are all so different, but I think having Lydia's in the first person really helped distinguish further and also helped me relate to her as a character. 

This book is all about secrets and each of the characters have their own secrets and each of these secrets are causing these women a certain amount of emotional, ethical and physical turmoil. This book really doesn't feel like the kind of mystery book that it might seem with all these secrets hanging around though, its part family saga, part coming of age, part just really lovely story about three generations of the same family and their own take on their worlds, the bigger world and each other. 

This book really stuck with me after I finished it and I still find myself wondering what is going on with these characters and how they are going about their lives today. I love the way Julie Cohen crafts a story and whether you are already a Julie Cohen fan or not, be prepared to love this novel, it really is the perfect read for snuggling up with in these autumn and winter months!

Click here to order a copy now!
I loved it so much I made a video about it!



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