Reviews

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

elizaelinor's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

lettucechamp's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kdhmhmm's review against another edition

4.0

This was excellent. I liked this story a lot. I generally do not enjoy the NA genre much at all. It's too fraught with angst and problems of the character's own making and I end up losing patience. This is not that kind of story and I'll definitely be picking up number two in the series.

theseaiscalm's review against another edition

5.0

It was really enjoyable to read a story about someone dealing with disability; everything about that was so well done (from my personal point of view), from Corey's (the protagonist who's partially paralyzed) thoughts and feelings to her experience navigating the world. I spent several years bedbound/in a wheelchair after becoming severely ill with a chronic, incurable illness, and it was emotional reading about someone else's experience with that type of transition even though it was a different situation. (I have recently recovered quite a bit, but when I was that sick I had no reason to believe that I would ever get better and I had to try and adjust to a "new normal.") So I can't speak to how accurate Corey's experience is dealing with spinal cord injury, but in a larger context of becoming disabled as a young adult and being in a wheelchair, it resonated.
The "freshman year at college" setting really took me back to my own time in college, too, it was so detailed and relatable. And the story was so enjoyable and well-written. I'm just so impressed to see a story where a unusual protagonist was done so well which is also just a great romance read.

watermelon_pepperoni's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

This book was very cute. The romance was a friends to lovers plot, with a lot of cute scenes between the pair. There was on screen discussion of what it means to suffer a life altering injury and how to move on. I loved Corey and her development.

So why did I dock .5 stars? Well, because there is a cheating plot line. It's not a spoiler, because when we meet Hartley we know instantly that he has a girlfriend already, AND that he's the love interest. He is otherwise so sweet and kind...but it's never really discussed

Spoiler

how shitty it is of him to cheat. Like, it's discussed at length how awful him "fooling around with her" made Corey feel, but after he dumps said girl it's almost as if he's instantly forgiven. I would not. Cheating is a no-no for me.

However, I knew that from the start, so I put it aside and tried to just enjoy the contemporary. I wonder how others who are disabled feel about the disability rep here. Personally, I felt it veered a bit too on the negative self talk (including frequent use of "gimp"), but it felt like the author was leading through he self talk to acceptance and loving her body even after the accident. I'm on the fence, but I will say I feel like I learned a lot of facts that I hadn't considered. I know a few people in similar situations, but I must say I didn't know how much I didn't know. (The conversation on access to buildings, I am familiar with. To this day, I still hate buildings that my father can't easily enter, because they don't have that magic "handicap" sign.)

I will enjoy reading the series though. This New Adult college scene seems to be close to my jam.

rileys417's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I think if I read this 10 years ago I would have felt different, but I did not enjoy either MC’s. 

I appreciate and love the disability representation, but as a whole I did not vibe with the story. 

I liked the authors voice but unfortunately not much else. 

abookedandbusybabe's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.25

hunnykurls's review against another edition

2.75

I’m honestly quite surprised but I’ve never read the

cheating trope

before, at least I don’t think I have. I started this series after reading Sarina Bowen’s collab with Elle Kennedy (whom I love) so I went in with pretty high expectations. I don’t want to say this book was a disappointment but I liked Hartley until I didn’t. I feel like if he wanted to make a move like he said, he should have.

It shouldn’t have taken Stacia to ditch him for him to realize he didn’t want her. BUT, I do kind of understand why he was with her 🙄. He could’ve gone about it differently

abookandacup's review against another edition

4.0

loved it!! All the hockey part but also the fact that we had disabled characters!

cynthia_ep's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Loved the progression in Callahan and Hartley's relationship (bonding over injuries/disabilities). Pace was relatively fast so they become quick friends but over half the book was spent on their friendship which I appreciated. Plot was mostly them getting together. Also liked Callahan's personal development with her disability.