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sarahmreads's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I received a copy of this book as an e-ARC from NetGalley and Penguin Teen. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Shade and Jadis have been as close as sisters for as long as they can remember. They've never really separated from each other, that is until Shade chooses to join the school's cheerleading team and befriending the hierarchy that is the Chloes. Will Shade and Jadis's friendship survive in this near feminist retelling of Heathers?
I should have expected this book to have as much drama as it did. You couldn't go a page without there being some kind of argument or internal debate from Shade about said arguments. And some of it felt really petty, like the ones that girls from high school hold on to for years afterwards. Which leads me to one of the disappointments about this book, that being the dialogue. There are so many moments that build up to be this big, memorable argument or discussion that could really help turn the tides of the novel, but they get cut off halfway through the dialogue like that was the end of it. There could have been so much more development if that were extended longer.
Speaking of longer, this book needed at least 50 or more pages. This story was only 320 pages, and as a result felt like it missed out on a lot of good opportunities to either make commentary about the modern cheerleading world or to develop the characters. In the author's note, Krischer discusses the blatant racism in the sport and how there is also a lot of sexual harassment towards cheerleaders because of what they do. But is any of this featured in the novel? Nope. It's cast aside to make room for, you guessed it, more drama. If the author had more pages, it would have helped make this a more well-rounded novel.
In terms of characters, I was REALLY hoping for two characters to get together and it never happened. There was a LOT of queer-coded language in the first half of this novel that I really wished it would have played through but got severely disappointed when it didn't. Yeah, Jadis is gay herself, but you can't read this and tell me that some of the other characters aren't gay. Otherwise, it was hard to connect myself to them, mostly because of the amount of drama as well as the fact that I have never been a cheerleader.
However, I will add that I think the toxic relationship aspect of this story was done in a decent manner. Wanting to stay with the "friend" even though they hurt you in the most ways possible, still wanting to cling on to what you have, even though it's a thread at this point. I've been in a few of these and it was nice to see it play out this way.
The mystery aspect of this story did need more development and nuance to it, in my personal opinion. The main mystery doesn't occur until 50% through the book, and it nagged at me how simply solving the mystery just ended. It could have had more build-up, and I for sure guessed who the killer was. It was very obvious.
If you like Heathers or just love drama, The Falling Girls is for you. However for me, The Falling Girls ended up falling short.
Shade and Jadis have been as close as sisters for as long as they can remember. They've never really separated from each other, that is until Shade chooses to join the school's cheerleading team and befriending the hierarchy that is the Chloes. Will Shade and Jadis's friendship survive in this near feminist retelling of Heathers?
I should have expected this book to have as much drama as it did. You couldn't go a page without there being some kind of argument or internal debate from Shade about said arguments. And some of it felt really petty, like the ones that girls from high school hold on to for years afterwards. Which leads me to one of the disappointments about this book, that being the dialogue. There are so many moments that build up to be this big, memorable argument or discussion that could really help turn the tides of the novel, but they get cut off halfway through the dialogue like that was the end of it. There could have been so much more development if that were extended longer.
Speaking of longer, this book needed at least 50 or more pages. This story was only 320 pages, and as a result felt like it missed out on a lot of good opportunities to either make commentary about the modern cheerleading world or to develop the characters. In the author's note, Krischer discusses the blatant racism in the sport and how there is also a lot of sexual harassment towards cheerleaders because of what they do. But is any of this featured in the novel? Nope. It's cast aside to make room for, you guessed it, more drama. If the author had more pages, it would have helped make this a more well-rounded novel.
In terms of characters, I was REALLY hoping for two characters to get together and it never happened. There was a LOT of queer-coded language in the first half of this novel that I really wished it would have played through but got severely disappointed when it didn't. Yeah, Jadis is gay herself, but you can't read this and tell me that some of the other characters aren't gay. Otherwise, it was hard to connect myself to them, mostly because of the amount of drama as well as the fact that I have never been a cheerleader.
However, I will add that I think the toxic relationship aspect of this story was done in a decent manner. Wanting to stay with the "friend" even though they hurt you in the most ways possible, still wanting to cling on to what you have, even though it's a thread at this point. I've been in a few of these and it was nice to see it play out this way.
The mystery aspect of this story did need more development and nuance to it, in my personal opinion. The main mystery doesn't occur until 50% through the book, and it nagged at me how simply solving the mystery just ended. It could have had more build-up, and I for sure guessed who the killer was. It was very obvious.
If you like Heathers or just love drama, The Falling Girls is for you. However for me, The Falling Girls ended up falling short.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Drug use
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