Book: How To Fall: A Novel by Jane Casey

Expected Publication is August 26, 2014 by St. Martin’s Press|Expected Number Of Pages: 225

Where I Got It: From netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Jess Tennant #1

Genre: YA Mystery

You can find How To Fall on goodreads & Jane Casey on Twitter & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Sixteen-year-old Jess Tennant has never met any of her relatives, until her mother suddenly takes her to spend the summer in the tiny English town where she grew up. Her mom’s decision is surprising, but even more surprising is the town’s reaction to Jess. Everywhere she goes, people look at her like they’ve seen a ghost. In a way, they have—she looks just like her cousin Freya, who died shortly before Jess came to town.

Jess immediately feels a strange connection to Freya, whom she never got to meet alive. But the more she learns about Freya’s life, the more suspicious the circumstances of her death start to look. One thing is for sure: this will be anything but the safe, boring summer in the country Jess was expecting.

Beloved author Jane Casey breaks new ground with How to Fall, a cleverly plotted and remarkably written young adult mystery.

What I Thought:

I liked How To Fall!  I wasn’t sure what to expect with How To Fall, but…I didn’t like it as much as I was hoping but I also liked it more than I was expecting.  I know that sounds weird, but it really describes how I feel about How To Fall.

How To Fall is definitely a mystery, as Jess tries to figure out what happened to her cousin Freya after Freya’s very mysterious death.  What really happened was not what I expected AT ALL, and given everyone has a different idea of what happened to Freya and what was going through her mind when she died and what could have resulted in her death.  It just goes to show that some people are just so terribly cruel, and I hate that people are like that.

I like that Jess and her mom go back to where her mom grew up, and that Jess gets to see that part of her mom’s life.  I know the story is more about Jess trying to figure out what happened to her cousin, but there’s still part of me that wishes we knew more about why her mom didn’t talk to anyone in her family until recently, and what got her mom to change her mind.  And part of me still feels like there’s more to the story.

Speaking of Jess and her mom…I felt like Dan, who her mom was interested in as a teenager and reconnects with was really odd, and for a while, I thought maybe he was the one behind Freya’s mysterious death.  I feel like he’s up to something and while I don’t know why I feel this way about him, I just get this vibe that Jess and her mom need to stay far, far away from him.

I don’t really have strong feelings about the characters either way, and I thought Jess’ fixation on Freya’s death to be a little weird, considering she didn’t know Freya at all.  I wish we got to know Freya a little bit better, but I also understand why we don’t.  We do learn a little bit about Freya throughout the book, but it was still hard for me to get into the mystery of her death…especially when we learn what really happened the night she died.

Still, I liked Jess, who’s pretty sarcastic.  I’m definitely interested in reading more of her story, and I’m glad there’s another book in this series, because her story is far from over.  I’m also really curious about what other mysteries she comes across and solves, because Port Sentinel seems like a place full of secrets!

Let’s Rate It:

I liked How To Fall, and while there are some things I’m curious about because they seem a little strange to me, I’m still interested enough to keep reading this series.  How To Fall gets 3 stars.