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)