How We Fall ARC Review, by Kate Brauning

How We Fall, by Kate Brauning
Published On: November 3, 2014, by Merit Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery
Pages: 303
Format: ARC
Source: Author
Rating:    ½

Ever since Jackie moved to her uncle's sleepy farming town, she's been flirting way too much--and with her own cousin, Marcus.
Her friendship with him has turned into something she can't control, and he's the reason Jackie lost track of her best friend, Ellie, who left for...no one knows where. Now Ellie has been missing for months, and the police, fearing the worst, are searching for her body. Swamped with guilt and the knowledge that acting on her love for Marcus would tear their families apart, Jackie pushes her cousin away. The plan is to fall out of love, and, just as she hoped he would, Marcus falls for the new girl in town. But something isn't right about this stranger, and Jackie's suspicions about the new girl's secrets only drive the wedge deeper between Jackie and Marcus--and deepens Jackie's despair.
Then Marcus is forced to pay the price for someone else's lies as the mystery around Ellie's disappearance starts to become horribly clear. Jackie has to face terrible choices. Can she leave her first love behind, and can she go on living with the fact that she failed her best friend?

    *A review copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!*

    How We Fall was one of those books that you see everywhere but you end up feeling like you don't have the right guts to pick it up at any moment of the day—but in the end, it was extremely satisfying, interesting, and special, more than any naked eye can see. Kate Brauning will certainly become the new Lauren Kate, or Suzanne Collins, in that matter.

   

       At first, I saw this book as complete and utter incest. I have to admit that I got a little too grossed out—Jackie and Marcus were COUSINS for goodness sake. That was a little too far, but I do now understand why Brauning did it. And now, at this moment, I do have to say that their romance was heart-pounding and wondrous. So where does that take us in that matter? Into a world of mystery, thrill, and reality, in most circumstances.

        I guess you can say that incest forms when people aren't able to see anyone else in their lives except the members of their family, all the time, 24/7. Take for example, V.C. Andrews. THE CHARACTERS WERE BROTHER AND SISTER. Now that was far worse—but they were stuck in an attic for practically all of their lives.

            Jackie and Marcus live in the same house, with their brothers and sisters and parents. For more than a year, they've been keeping their cousinly romance a secret, but inside, Jackie knows that they're risking too much and their love is being too strong at the moment to handle even further. At the same time, Jackie's best friend Ellie goes missing. What happens when your first love moves on with someone who is unspeakable to think about, and when all you have to deal with is loss and falling?

             A lot of the feelings in this book were despair, guilt, and loss. Those three elements together can seriously produce tears. When I saw this book for the first time, I expected a mermaid story, to be honest. Or at least, something girly and cutesy with no action whatsoever. What I got, especially towards the end, was something totally kickass and pretty great, if you ask me. This book was honestly everything I was looking for, and more.

            

             The funny thing is—I felt like I had deja-vu while reading this book. I witnessed something like this before. Haha, I think that it was so good and unique that I felt like I'm somehow connected to it? Something like that, hopefully. I hope it's not something superstitious or whatever. But hey, that's another good side, isn't it? The concept was perfectly there and it was like biting into your favourite sweet-then-sour dish. Funny, there's not too many of those, either.

              For the first few chapters I saw this as something bland and chill. The author did a great job introducing us to the characters, and I fell in love with them instantly. Jackie was kickass and stubborn for what she wanted, in a good way. She fought for what made her happy and didn't get whiny or depressed as many other protagonists would in a contemporary-romance. But remember, there were dark events prior to the ending, as you read on with the book.

               

               *feels* I blushed, and blushed, and blushed. I JUST WANT MORE, OKAY? It was all powerful and special and it totally made sense with this whole story. I ship them so hard, even though I was such a hater in the beginning of the book. You see, I even feel some guilt.

             MARCUS MARCUS MARCUS YOU'RE CUTE. AS IS WILL. ALL OF THE MEN WERE CUTE. IT MADE ME WANT TO PINCH THEIR CHEEKS EVEN HARDER.

             I felt like this whole story and plot was like a puzzle. At first, everything was messed up and unfitting, but as you continued to solve it, you got into some mishaps, but eventually, it all turned out perfect and smooth. The beginning of the end was a little confusing, but it all turned out awesome by the end. 

 The great thing is that I finished reading this in one sitting and I still didn't have enough. All in all, this was a pretty quick read, but at the same time, you feel like you're stuck in a majestic world where reality is bound to happen, if you get what I'm saying. This wasn't your average novel. It shows the struggles of being a teenager with boundaries that you've totally overtaken, and it shows how your first love can absolutely be your true love. I WANT MORE!