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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Set in Ireland, Clementine is the sole survivor of an airplane crash, and she wakes up with amnesia. As she tries to remember who she is while creating a new life, some wisdom emerges:
“You can’t be overwhelmed by the what-ifs, or you’ll miss out on the best part.”
“I’m beginning to think it’s a waste of time trying to predict the future. Life takes too many turns.”
“Life is a collaborative effort. We can’t do it on our own.”
“You can’t be overwhelmed by the what-ifs, or you’ll miss out on the best part.”
“I’m beginning to think it’s a waste of time trying to predict the future. Life takes too many turns.”
“Life is a collaborative effort. We can’t do it on our own.”
*Light read with fun twists*
Favourite characters: Clive and Stephen
Most surprising moment, James and his link to siobhan and Kieran
Side characters were likable and relatable and I found myself wanting to know more about their story.
Favourite quote "it's not the current that will drown you, it's the exhaustion from fighting it"
Favourite characters: Clive and Stephen
Most surprising moment, James and his link to siobhan and Kieran
Side characters were likable and relatable and I found myself wanting to know more about their story.
Favourite quote "it's not the current that will drown you, it's the exhaustion from fighting it"
I just finished the book and I'm still unsure on how I feel about the ending. There was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming and I feel rage for the main character but also it was a good ending that I was hoping for!
I'm stumped on how I feel about it
I'm stumped on how I feel about it
Honestly I feel like I’m getting too old for YA like I often feel cringe when reading them. It hard to feel for the young teen who is plagued by something so dull and goes about their life in such naivety. But surprisingly I really enjoyed this book. Is it in your face mushy sometime? Yeah. Is Kieran having sex with Clem when he knows she has no memory and being like well you said yes kinda cringe yea? Is him uprooting his entire life for her and deciding fuck it at the end unrealistic yeah but fuck it its a book. Overall I really enjoyed it. I thought it was fun and had good humor. The twist at the end I honestly didn’t see coming at all. It was a quick read and each time I put it down I was excited to pick it up again.
So I saw a lot of reviews calling this book both “predictable” and “boring”. Both of these I half-disagree with, maybe I’m just still old enough to enjoy YA novels or maybe there is some other reason, I am not quite sure.
I throughly enjoyed this book but felt the characters were both slightly annoying at some points…but for the most part understandably, and more relatable rather than not.
I absolutely got annoyed with Clementine at some points where she would be overly emotion at unnecessary points but I think her character was going through a lot throughout the course of this book which justifies some of her actions and builds a bit more on her character.
I did really like Kieran and his character and while I found his like “backstory” to be a bit cringe, I still enjoyed him as a character. I think it was interesting how they tied him back to her past before the plane crash, while it was done sloppily, I enjoyed the idea of it.
The lying near the end between Kieran and Clementine was a bit blood boiling especially after you find out the truth but it makes sense. And you understand Kieran’s outbursts and coldness towards her in the end.
Overall it was a good book, it’s a nice light read if you want something short & happy, but could’ve done with some better backstory writing and more planning towards the end to make it a bit less predictable!
I throughly enjoyed this book but felt the characters were both slightly annoying at some points…but for the most part understandably, and more relatable rather than not.
I absolutely got annoyed with Clementine at some points where she would be overly emotion at unnecessary points but I think her character was going through a lot throughout the course of this book which justifies some of her actions and builds a bit more on her character.
I did really like Kieran and his character and while I found his like “backstory” to be a bit cringe, I still enjoyed him as a character. I think it was interesting how they tied him back to her past before the plane crash, while it was done sloppily, I enjoyed the idea of it.
The lying near the end between Kieran and Clementine was a bit blood boiling especially after you find out the truth but it makes sense. And you understand Kieran’s outbursts and coldness towards her in the end.
Overall it was a good book, it’s a nice light read if you want something short & happy, but could’ve done with some better backstory writing and more planning towards the end to make it a bit less predictable!
It was good but I just kept waiting for something else. At the end I was waiting for an epilogue to wrap up the story's loose ends after the flight like 6 months or few years later.
This book is great for its intended audience. Young readers who love love but haven’t really experienced much of it for themselves beyond maybe a first love. There were some unexpected bits, even within the typical YA romance novel scheme. Overall, it was a light, fun read. I enjoyed it, but I also wasn’t searching for anything deep or life changing.
This book has been on my KU TBR for a while, and I was looking for something quick and something with audible narration. I have read two amnesia books this year, and I would say that this one was my favorite of the two, but it was just okay at the end of the day. I will say that I enjoyed the premise of this look and I loved seeing Clementine getting little glimpses of her life. I loved Clive as a side character. I am from Ohio so I loved the the heroine was from Cleveland. I feel like all the things she says about Cleveland were 100% things a Clevelander would say. I am real confused on if this book is considered YA or if it is adult. Both MC are adults so I assumed it was adult, but the reviews I've read about it say its YA. So with that said I will say that as far as the romance between Clementine "June" and Kieran it was okay. It felt rushed. On Clementine's end I get it. She doesn't know who she was and who she left behind, but on Kieran's end I felt like he rushed into this thing knowing a lot more than he let on about and it seemed too much for me. I was really enjoying this story (not as a romance) up until the last 30 or so percent. Then a lot of the storylines started to drive me nuts, then there were parts of the end that I did enjoy but ultimately it felt like it was a "tied up in a nice bow" for me. This book seemed to me more like a coming of age story with a "romance" included, than an actual romance.
I mainly requested this book to review so that I could read an ‘outsider’ perspective of Ireland, which is always interesting! Paired with the hook of the concept of the book, Clementine being the sole survivor of a plane crash and then having to rediscover herself, I was looking forward to reviewing it.
Literature and pop culture is of course littered with inaccuracies relating to Ireland, not to mention an over-romanticisation of an already beautiful country, the ‘old homeland.’ I was more than happy therefore to read Rebekah Crane’s take on Ireland, as it steers away from cliche, even slyly mentioning twee Irishisms like leprechauns and the Blarney Stone.
It was refreshing to read instead the strange little quirks as observed by Rebekah Crane, the quirks that make up modern Ireland. Things like a fondness for Murphy’s stout rather than Guinness in the south of the country, and an obsession with soaps like Home and Away and Coronation Street, really tickled me.
Clementine’s story is a great jumping-off point for a story. She knows hardly anything about herself and we are of course in the same situation. It brings us gently into her new reality, where every new person she meets becomes a major character, purely because she knows nobody else. She does know, however, to act on instinct and getting away from media attention at the hospital and scarpering to Waterville with the help of Good Samaritan Kieran is a key early plot point.
This brings in some well-developed characters. Along with Kieran who has his own demons to escape from, we are introduced to his sister Siobhan and their friend Clive. All four of these characters have their own arcs within the plot and are all engaging to read about.
Summer in Waterville is portrayed really well. It’s beautiful, but it does rain incessantly, there’s a lot of Americans around and everyone is there to play golf. It really does show that the author has spent time in Ireland on several occasions and the attention to authenticity is appreciated by this Irish reader.
Clementine inevitably has to face up to her ‘old’ life at some stage as she begins to experience flashbacks of her life before the crash. The plot drives on from here and makes it an enjoyable story. To go into much further detail would spoil the plot, but it does involve a trip to other locations in Ireland and more planes!
Out January 2018
https://derekcarneyhasathingforbooks.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/the-upside-of-falling-down-by-rebekah-crane-ya/
Literature and pop culture is of course littered with inaccuracies relating to Ireland, not to mention an over-romanticisation of an already beautiful country, the ‘old homeland.’ I was more than happy therefore to read Rebekah Crane’s take on Ireland, as it steers away from cliche, even slyly mentioning twee Irishisms like leprechauns and the Blarney Stone.
It was refreshing to read instead the strange little quirks as observed by Rebekah Crane, the quirks that make up modern Ireland. Things like a fondness for Murphy’s stout rather than Guinness in the south of the country, and an obsession with soaps like Home and Away and Coronation Street, really tickled me.
Clementine’s story is a great jumping-off point for a story. She knows hardly anything about herself and we are of course in the same situation. It brings us gently into her new reality, where every new person she meets becomes a major character, purely because she knows nobody else. She does know, however, to act on instinct and getting away from media attention at the hospital and scarpering to Waterville with the help of Good Samaritan Kieran is a key early plot point.
This brings in some well-developed characters. Along with Kieran who has his own demons to escape from, we are introduced to his sister Siobhan and their friend Clive. All four of these characters have their own arcs within the plot and are all engaging to read about.
Summer in Waterville is portrayed really well. It’s beautiful, but it does rain incessantly, there’s a lot of Americans around and everyone is there to play golf. It really does show that the author has spent time in Ireland on several occasions and the attention to authenticity is appreciated by this Irish reader.
Clementine inevitably has to face up to her ‘old’ life at some stage as she begins to experience flashbacks of her life before the crash. The plot drives on from here and makes it an enjoyable story. To go into much further detail would spoil the plot, but it does involve a trip to other locations in Ireland and more planes!
Out January 2018
https://derekcarneyhasathingforbooks.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/the-upside-of-falling-down-by-rebekah-crane-ya/
I really enjoyed the storyline in The Upside of Falling Down. It does feel like the entire story was wrapped up in a nice bow at the end of the story, which I don't really love. Otherwise, I found myself engaged in the story very quickly.
My only true complaint was that it was just too short. Just as I felt it was getting really good, I realized I was 85% through the book. Would have liked a little more.
My only true complaint was that it was just too short. Just as I felt it was getting really good, I realized I was 85% through the book. Would have liked a little more.