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justenjoy's review against another edition
4.0
"The crime isn't ours and no one, let alone our families, should punish either of us as though it were."
bernluvsbooks's review
4.0
"The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it..." - Nicholas Sparks
A book that emotionally captures you, breaks your heart and still manages to simultaneously fill you with hope. Even if I Fall was all that for me and more!
Brooke Covington's brother is in jail after confessing to his best friend Calvin's murder and as a result her once close knit, loving family is unravelling around her. Being the family of a murderer in a small town isn't easy. They become social pariah's forcing Brooke, her parents and her younger sister Laura to live as recluses in their home.
When Brooke sees Calvin's younger brother, Heath, stuck in the rain on the side of the road she is compelled to offer him help. Inexplicably, Heath accepts Brooke's offer and finds himself in a car with the sister of his brother's murderer. Soon they are meeting in secret. They are drawn to each other, finding solace and understanding in one another. Yet, they each know because of their family's shared past their relationship can't really go anywhere. Can it?
"When he reaches for me, I know that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he stays awake."
What follows is raw emotion and so much heartache. Each family is struggling to cope in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. Abigail Johnson did an outstanding job of sharing each character's grief. I was pulled in to the story and it had my heart in a vise grip.
I was fully invested in Brooke and Heath's story. I wanted them both to find a way to heal and be happy. This is a story not to be missed. It was a beautiful, emotional, heartbreaking and thought provoking story of broken people struggling to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and trying to find a way to live again.
Thank you Abigail Johnson, Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an arc of this book.
A book that emotionally captures you, breaks your heart and still manages to simultaneously fill you with hope. Even if I Fall was all that for me and more!
Brooke Covington's brother is in jail after confessing to his best friend Calvin's murder and as a result her once close knit, loving family is unravelling around her. Being the family of a murderer in a small town isn't easy. They become social pariah's forcing Brooke, her parents and her younger sister Laura to live as recluses in their home.
When Brooke sees Calvin's younger brother, Heath, stuck in the rain on the side of the road she is compelled to offer him help. Inexplicably, Heath accepts Brooke's offer and finds himself in a car with the sister of his brother's murderer. Soon they are meeting in secret. They are drawn to each other, finding solace and understanding in one another. Yet, they each know because of their family's shared past their relationship can't really go anywhere. Can it?
"When he reaches for me, I know that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he stays awake."
What follows is raw emotion and so much heartache. Each family is struggling to cope in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. Abigail Johnson did an outstanding job of sharing each character's grief. I was pulled in to the story and it had my heart in a vise grip.
I was fully invested in Brooke and Heath's story. I wanted them both to find a way to heal and be happy. This is a story not to be missed. It was a beautiful, emotional, heartbreaking and thought provoking story of broken people struggling to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and trying to find a way to live again.
Thank you Abigail Johnson, Harlequin Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an arc of this book.
anitaob30's review against another edition
4.0
Such a lovely book, and it really makes you think about the other side of a murder conviction--what the family of a convicted murderer goes through.
diamondxgirl's review against another edition
5.0
This is a one sitting, stay up late kind of book. ICYMI Abigail Johnson is my absolute favorite writer of families and Even If I Fall just completely cements it.
How do you take two completely at-odds families and find a way to bridge them? I DON’T KNOW BUT ABIGAIL MAKES IT HAPPEN.
Brooke: ice skater, daughter, best friend, sister to a brother who killed his best friend
Heath: strong, quiet, brother to a boy who’s been killed by his best friend
You know this book is going to have a certain level of angst. Brooke and her family are the town outcasts but there’s no one who shuns her more than the family of the boy her brother killed. I thought this story was going to explore the murder more but I am glad it didn’t. Abigail did not go overboard trying to make Brooke’s brother sympathetic, though you can’t leave the story without wanting to changing everyone’s decisions.
If you’re a fan of complex family situations, small town/rural dynamics, friendships, and swoon, Even If I Fall is the perfect read for you this winter!
How do you take two completely at-odds families and find a way to bridge them? I DON’T KNOW BUT ABIGAIL MAKES IT HAPPEN.
Brooke: ice skater, daughter, best friend, sister to a brother who killed his best friend
Heath: strong, quiet, brother to a boy who’s been killed by his best friend
You know this book is going to have a certain level of angst. Brooke and her family are the town outcasts but there’s no one who shuns her more than the family of the boy her brother killed. I thought this story was going to explore the murder more but I am glad it didn’t. Abigail did not go overboard trying to make Brooke’s brother sympathetic, though you can’t leave the story without wanting to changing everyone’s decisions.
If you’re a fan of complex family situations, small town/rural dynamics, friendships, and swoon, Even If I Fall is the perfect read for you this winter!
bookbitereviews's review against another edition
I technically have not finished this book yet as I am only at the halfway point so, it is hard for me to rate it just yet. I requested this book to decide if it may be a good pick for the book club that I run so, I only wanted to read to the halfway mark and finish it later. As of right now this is a big contender for my book club. The book comes out next month and I need to wait to see how many libraries in my network decide to pick it up before I can officially add it to the club list. If enough purchase a copy this will be our pick for November and I will finish and re-review it then. If enough don't buy it, then I will finish it ASAP and re-review at that point. So far this book has been really good. It does start out a little slow, but it kept my interest the entire time. I feel like where I stopped is right before things will start to get crazy and I can't wait to pick this up again to finish it. So far, really really good!
fiarra's review against another edition
5.0
This was A Lot of Emotions in one book. I mean, that's entirely predictable when you read the summary, but I wasn't expecting the level of softness that came with all the rest. The central families caught in the aftermath of the murder are so broken and reading about how Brooke and Heath go from that to finding their own new understanding is so beautiful. One thing that initially attracted me to this book was the inclusion of ice skating and those parts were full of so much joy and sense of life - as they were for the character.
Overall a satisfying and emotional read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Overall a satisfying and emotional read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
cpcabaniss's review against another edition
4.0
"It's horrible, the way words can scar."
This book has only just over one thousand ratings and less than three hundred reviews on here. Go read it. But really.
Abigail Johnson has quickly climbed the ranks of my favorite YA authors. I'm sad that I only have one book left of her published works to read. This was another solid read. It's heavy enough, dealing with real enough situations to give me a punch to the gut, but hopeful enough to let me see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I also appreciate that this book is clearly written for teens. It's not a bad thing to be enjoy reading YA, even if you're older, but it's important that YA be written for the target audience. And this was.
If you need any contemporaries to read, give this one a try.
randilong's review against another edition
4.0
This was a lot deeper than I expected it to be. Even though I knew the premise going in. Brooke's brother murders Heaths brother. And the two bond over the grief this brings. I really wanted the murder to go the opposite way then it did, and have some explanation, but it definitely caught me off guard which doesn't happen often. I loved Heath. Be was strong even when Brooke would waver. I also liked the skating thrown in there, because it seemed so random for a Texas based novel. Overall I really like it.
annahrisa's review against another edition
5.0
Such an emotional read! Cried a lot! Definitely one of the books that I will re-read in the future. Unforgettable.
howlinglibraries's review against another edition
4.0
The world has been a scary place for Brooke ever since her older brother—her hero—confessed to murdering his best friend a year ago. She’s tried so hard to stay under the radar and keep her family afloat, but how can she be strong when the murder victim’s younger brother suddenly appears in her life, and an unexpected bond forms despite the haunting past between their families?
I love a good, tragic romantic contemporary read, so when I saw the synopsis for Even if I Fall, I was like, yo, sign me up for some heartache and angst, and man, did I get what I asked for or what?
→ L I K E S :
Jason was gone. My family was shattered. And dreams no longer fit into the nightmare we lived in.
Brooke, first of all, is such an easy character to empathize with and feel totally sorry for. Even though her brother is the alleged murderer in the situation, I think writing from Brooke’s POV was bold and paid off well, because it helps put you into this mindset where you can begin to imagine just how painful life would be for a good, decent human being who’s just watched their beloved family member do something evil and unspeakable—and it also pays a helpful reminder that we can’t judge people for what their family members have done, because blood relation doesn’t make them the same person.
I’ll have to smile the whole time and convince us that we’re going to be okay, that the next thirty years of once-a-week visits will be over before we know it, that watching the guards take him away afterward isn’t like having a piece of heart ripped from my chest.
Besides how much I enjoyed Brooke, the plot itself is really fascinating to watch unfold. I can’t say much without going into spoiler territory, but I will say that I didn’t expect some of the places Abigail Johnson took the story to, and I mean that in a good way—I was taken off guard in the best way and left with my jaw dropping like, “Did that really just happen?!” at one point.
I want, for just a moment, to reach for his hand, if only to hold on to someone else’s hurt so I don’t have to feel my own.
The last major thing I want to mention here isn’t even super relevant to the review, but I have to say it: Brooke’s best friend Maggie is such a precious little ball of sunshine and I loved her SO MUCH. She’s a plus-size biracial Korean/white girl who’s obsessed with makeup and fast cars, and no lie, I would’ve loved to have Maggie as my bestie as a teen (or now, for that matter!).
→ D I S L I K E S :
We keep trying not to hurt each other. But I did and he did. We are.
The only issue I had with Even if I Fall, and the reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of a solid, raving 5, is that the narrative style was a struggle for me sometimes. Overall it was well-done and showed a lot of potential, but there were definitely moments where the dialogue felt unnatural or was hard to follow due to the writing choices.
→ F I N A L THOUGHTS :
Overall, it’s not a perfect read, but it’s a delightfully captivating read that will make your heart ache and give you warm fuzzies over and over (usually in alternating order, because this book likes to ‘giveth and taketh away’ a lot). I enjoyed it tremendously and didn’t want to put it down, and I definitely would be interested in reading more from this author!
→ RECOMMENDING TO… :
Readers who like tragic YA contemporary with a touch of romance, and can handle the tough topics discussed within.
Content warnings for descriptions of murder and violence, bullying, depression, grief
All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Inkyard Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!