The Way We Fall, by Canadian author Megan Crewe, is a gritty and realistic read. It will keep you hanging onto every word, not wanting to put down the book until you know exactly what will happen to each and every character. There was more than one occasion where my obsession with this book almost made me miss my subway stop.

The most significant thing I have to say about this book is that is just feels so real. An unknown virus sweeps a small, but densely populated island. It's highly contagious, leaving doctors and scientists unable to keep up with the rate of infection. Megan clearly did her research for this book. All the government protocols, hospital organization and details about the virus itself were incredibly well thought out and to the best of my knowledge (and what little I read on Wikipedia) pretty accurate. This made reading this book even more terrifying. It reminded me of recent pandemic scares and totally had me believing that this was something that could really happen.

In addition to the detail that was put into this book, The Way We Fall, is led by a really strong main character. I really liked Kaelyn - I found her both strong willed, as well as compassionate. An admirable combination. She's the type of character who takes action. When news about the virus is starting to come out she immediately wanted to get involved and help others in the town. This desire to help others is a quality that continues no matter how bad things get. However, despite this bravery I did not find her character too good to be true. She is definitely flawed. Kaelyn gets scared and nervous just like anyone would in a similar situation, which sometimes leads her to make some poor decisions. These flaws only enhance the layers of her character and make her someone you can easily relate too.

Overall this was an exciting read. If it wasn't for work I probably would have read the whole thing in one sitting. Because it felt so much like something that could really happen it was a chilling book and one that will stay with me for some time to come. As this is the first in a proposed trilogy I can't wait to see what happens next and how Kaelyn deals with the next challenges to come.

This and other reviews at Hooked on Books (http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com)