Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Fall by May Archer

1 review

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  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

READ: Feb 2023
FORMAT: Audio 

BRIEF SUMMARY: 
In this contemporary romance set in fictional O’Leary, New York, Everett has to begrudgingly pick up from his life in Boston to help take care of his ornery grandfather as he heals from a broken leg. Recovering from the loss of his husband, the last thing Everett expects to find in the small town where everyone knows what everyone else ate for dinner is a reason to actually want to stay – but the night he arrives, he is assisted by Silas, an attractive cop doing his best to keep the small town from panicking in the face of some suspicious disappearances. 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 3.5 / 5⭐ 
This book is largely about grief and loss and how different people cope in different ways. While it certainly does highlight multiple aspects of the hurt and the healing that can come after the loss of a loved one, I’m not sure I ever felt impacted by any character’s particular arc. 

Everett lost his husband the year before the events of this book, and has since led a risk-averse life. He’s never so much as felt interest in another man until meeting Silas, and he’s having doubts and guilt over what it might mean to move on from the late Adrian. 

Silas has experienced loss of his own in the death of his brother many years prior. He lives these days among the ever-watchful eyes of O’Leary’s population, coasting on easy, commitment-free hookups from out of town in order to keep his personal life safe from the gossip mill. Living in a town that manufactures happily-ever-afters as a pastime can be exhausting when you’ve never wanted (or had) a relationship before. 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3 / 5⭐ 
This book suffers from two issues that took my enjoyment down a notch. First, it introduces far too many characters to care about and keep track of. More than one time there were conversations or entire scenes focusing on side characters who I couldn’t identify, forgetting when they were first introduced, why they were important, or what relationship they had with our main characters (if any at all). I get that Archer is establishing a rich world that can be explored in the following books in the series, but there’s no reason these characters can’t be contained within their own books and allow Everett and Silas their own breathing room. 

Second, this book’s attempt at a plot involved a crime/suspense arc that had effectively no reason to exist. Truly, it could have been completely cut out and the book would not have changed at all. The culprit and their motive were shockingly easy to identify, and I can be awfully dense sometimes. I think it existed to shoehorn in an additional character’s experience with grief, but I think we had enough to learn from between Everett, his grandfather, Silas, and his mother. 

I love Iggy Toma and Alexander Cendese both, but I’m wondering if the characters would have benefited from swapping the narrators. I felt like the wrong energies were attached to the wrong personalities. Nothing that harmed the book for me in any way, just an interesting and unexpected sort of casting decision. 

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3.25 / 5⭐ 
This book was a nice enough read without accomplishing anything incredible. It’s got comfy cozy autumn vibes, while also dealing with some heavy subject matter in a fairly light way. 

This book has representation for many gay pairings. There is a non-binary side character as well. There was otherwise not much representation in the way of diversity. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail. 
This book contains: past deaths (liver cancer, car accident); mentions of alcohol use to drown the grief; anxiety; a car accident resulting in minor injury;  a pregnant drama queen; a cancer diagnosis; violence (gun, knife, assault, abduction); murder; injuries; and, death (self defense).
 
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