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squirrelsohno's review against another edition
3.0
Why did I pick up No Place to Fall? Besides the fact I am massively behind on my review copies from Edelweiss (damn you, job), the fact it takes place in the area of western North Carolina where I went to college was a big selling factor. It's even on the cover. I immediately downloaded it for review and then read the synopsis and… Oh. It was a music book. Okay, okay, I can handle this, I thought, but then work intervened and eventually (read: Christmas break) I found myself picking it out among the masses of books on my Kindle and digging in.
No Place to Fall follows Amber (a name I hate, but that's a long story and nothing against girls named Amber), a young girl from a tiny mountain town who loves to sing. Except her singing is pretty much limited to friends and church because she has crippling stage fright (but question - isn't performing at church, and doing solos, a lot like being on a stage?). Her dream is to leave her tiny mountain town behind, along with a town full of girls named Amber it seems, for the big city, but for now she lets meeting hikers on the Appalachian Trail suffice. But her life goes into a tail spin as she is drawn into a web of men - two boys moving into town, her gay best friend and his brother that she is attracted to, her cheating father, and her brother-in-law, a man who drew her sister into dealing drugs, addiction, and jail.
Amber is a girl that doesn't fit in with her surroundings, but the surroundings were one of the problems I had with the book. The book tried so hard to set the place as being North Carolina, with mentions of towns and universities I am familiar with, but at the same time didn't quite catch the mountains right. Is that weird to say? The author lives in the NC mountains, but the mountains of No Place to Fall felt like an entirely different place out of a fantasy. While I admired the book for other things - its exploration of the realities of being a teen, such as sex and kissing and not knowing about the vagaries of love - there were bits I didn't connect with just as much.
I don't really fall in love with books where there are dreams mentioned, dreams pursued, and even dreams gained, only for the dream to be derailed and forgotten by the heroine because of the men in her life. In Amber's case, the men in her life add together to create massive amounts of resistance between her and her goals as she focuses on them rather than on herself. The men in her life create problems. The men - ahem, I really should be saying teenage boys mainly - are the ones that distract her from her goals, her dreams. The BOYS in her life are the ones who put their feet in the way of allowing her to truly thrive, even though ostensibly they are the ones there pushing her along.
In the end, No Place to Fall suffers because of the supporting cast, complete with requisite bad girl named Amber-o-zia, a cardboard threatening character to Amber's love interests. By the end of the book I was realizing that this book ends happy, but not for the reader. The last act just serves to throw problems in Amber's face without reason, even though all she's done and all her problems don't even do much. Nobody seems to care, giving her a pat on her back despite her extremely poor decisions. It just fell…
Flat.
Flat is the worst kind of book, but alas, No Place to Fall landed squarely like a piece of paper drifting through the wind, smacking without a sound on the ground.
No Place to Fall follows Amber (a name I hate, but that's a long story and nothing against girls named Amber), a young girl from a tiny mountain town who loves to sing. Except her singing is pretty much limited to friends and church because she has crippling stage fright (but question - isn't performing at church, and doing solos, a lot like being on a stage?). Her dream is to leave her tiny mountain town behind, along with a town full of girls named Amber it seems, for the big city, but for now she lets meeting hikers on the Appalachian Trail suffice. But her life goes into a tail spin as she is drawn into a web of men - two boys moving into town, her gay best friend and his brother that she is attracted to, her cheating father, and her brother-in-law, a man who drew her sister into dealing drugs, addiction, and jail.
Amber is a girl that doesn't fit in with her surroundings, but the surroundings were one of the problems I had with the book. The book tried so hard to set the place as being North Carolina, with mentions of towns and universities I am familiar with, but at the same time didn't quite catch the mountains right. Is that weird to say? The author lives in the NC mountains, but the mountains of No Place to Fall felt like an entirely different place out of a fantasy. While I admired the book for other things - its exploration of the realities of being a teen, such as sex and kissing and not knowing about the vagaries of love - there were bits I didn't connect with just as much.
I don't really fall in love with books where there are dreams mentioned, dreams pursued, and even dreams gained, only for the dream to be derailed and forgotten by the heroine because of the men in her life. In Amber's case, the men in her life add together to create massive amounts of resistance between her and her goals as she focuses on them rather than on herself. The men in her life create problems. The men - ahem, I really should be saying teenage boys mainly - are the ones that distract her from her goals, her dreams. The BOYS in her life are the ones who put their feet in the way of allowing her to truly thrive, even though ostensibly they are the ones there pushing her along.
In the end, No Place to Fall suffers because of the supporting cast, complete with requisite bad girl named Amber-o-zia, a cardboard threatening character to Amber's love interests. By the end of the book I was realizing that this book ends happy, but not for the reader. The last act just serves to throw problems in Amber's face without reason, even though all she's done and all her problems don't even do much. Nobody seems to care, giving her a pat on her back despite her extremely poor decisions. It just fell…
Flat.
Flat is the worst kind of book, but alas, No Place to Fall landed squarely like a piece of paper drifting through the wind, smacking without a sound on the ground.
catcervone's review against another edition
3.0
This was like a train wreck that just doesn’t stop. The writing wasn’t bad, although I am confused about the progression of our feelings for the Will character, but these characters really made horrible mistake after horrible mistake. It was painful to watch.
nklosty's review against another edition
4.0
I can't say I loved the book. I hate books with stupid characters, but I couldn't help rooting for Devon and Will and CA. Something about the idea of home and family being bigger than everything kept pulling at me. 87
gnomecat5's review against another edition
5.0
4.5--There is just something about small towns. And I spent the entire time rooting her her Momma who I thought deserved all the happiness.
lavieenrose324's review against another edition
5.0
It was a beautiful story. I felt for the characters and everything they went through. I loved it so much and would recommend to anyone.
laughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
4.0
*I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
No Place to Fall was a fairly cliché take on a rural town, but despite that it still managed to be extraordinary. Amber was a girl with flaws, who didn’t always make the best decisions, but did everything out of the goodness of her heart. It made her eminently likeable, she didn’t feel like a caricature of small town life.
Amber has always been in the shadows, with her dreams. Even in her town she is known as Amber, Plain and Small. I didn’t really think there was anything plain and small about her. She was always trying to do the right thing, and even when she made a poor decision that messed everything up, she did it because she wanted to help someone else. She also came clean about what she did, instead of letting someone else take the fall.
I also really liked the interactions with her family. They were the definition of white trash, especially her sister Whitney. The storyline including Whitney and her husband Sammy was the part that fell a little flat for me. I know the reason cliché’s exist is because it’s true, it just felt too contrived. They felt a little un-dimensional to me, and for having such an important part in the plot that didn’t work for me.
I did love how Jaye Robin Brown was able to convey the beauty of the small town. It really helped offset the ugliness that was happening in the book. It was a nice way to show the dichotomy of smally town life. I really ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars, and I really recommend it for fans of contemporary young adult.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2014/09/no-place-to-fall-by-jaye-robin-brown-review.html*
No Place to Fall was a fairly cliché take on a rural town, but despite that it still managed to be extraordinary. Amber was a girl with flaws, who didn’t always make the best decisions, but did everything out of the goodness of her heart. It made her eminently likeable, she didn’t feel like a caricature of small town life.
Amber has always been in the shadows, with her dreams. Even in her town she is known as Amber, Plain and Small. I didn’t really think there was anything plain and small about her. She was always trying to do the right thing, and even when she made a poor decision that messed everything up, she did it because she wanted to help someone else. She also came clean about what she did, instead of letting someone else take the fall.
I also really liked the interactions with her family. They were the definition of white trash, especially her sister Whitney. The storyline including Whitney and her husband Sammy was the part that fell a little flat for me. I know the reason cliché’s exist is because it’s true, it just felt too contrived. They felt a little un-dimensional to me, and for having such an important part in the plot that didn’t work for me.
I did love how Jaye Robin Brown was able to convey the beauty of the small town. It really helped offset the ugliness that was happening in the book. It was a nice way to show the dichotomy of smally town life. I really ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars, and I really recommend it for fans of contemporary young adult.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2014/09/no-place-to-fall-by-jaye-robin-brown-review.html*
allibruns's review against another edition
2.0
I have been waiting to get my hands on this for a long time so I really wanted to like this. The beginning was all over place. It took awhile to get an understanding of the MC, was she a good girl, a party girl, dying to break free of her small town, or a girl happy with her small town life. Things happened out of nowhere, I would stop and be like what just happened? The book picked up speed in the last 100 pages but some of that felt forced to me.
slanger7's review against another edition
I didn't realize this was a YA book when I purchased it, but it turned out to be a good quick read.
purrfectpages's review against another edition
3.0
It may just be me, but I've been feeling underwhelmed by what I've been reading lately. Everything is just so eh. No surprise, No Place To Fall was okay, but nothing special.
In the beginning we meet Amber Vaughn, a good girl from a small town who deserves something more. So she sets her sights on her ticket out via her talent- singing. But will life get in the way of her dream or will her dream grow into something she didn't expect it to?
No Place to Fall is the kind of novel where you sort of know where it's going even before it gets there. This is also somewhat ironic considering this is also the main character's main concern. Amber was a likable enough lead, but not a compelling one. And I almost must say, without ruining it, I was disappointed in the ending. Therefore, in my opinion, No Place To Fall ends up falling short.
In the beginning we meet Amber Vaughn, a good girl from a small town who deserves something more. So she sets her sights on her ticket out via her talent- singing. But will life get in the way of her dream or will her dream grow into something she didn't expect it to?
No Place to Fall is the kind of novel where you sort of know where it's going even before it gets there. This is also somewhat ironic considering this is also the main character's main concern. Amber was a likable enough lead, but not a compelling one. And I almost must say, without ruining it, I was disappointed in the ending. Therefore, in my opinion, No Place To Fall ends up falling short.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
I'm just not sure about this one. there were parts I definitely liked and parts I definitely didn't.
Trying to remember this is YA, I'm just not sure of the message it's trying to send. Some of the home stuff for Amber felt really stereotypical and was a little frustrating. I do love that Devon wasn't stereotyped and was a sweet and wonderful best friend.
The rest, Will, Kush, Sean, Sammy, Whitney and momma and daddy (who still calls their parents that at 17?) meh, most of them I didn't like. The ones I did, they disappeared quickly from the story.
Trying to remember this is YA, I'm just not sure of the message it's trying to send. Some of the home stuff for Amber felt really stereotypical and was a little frustrating. I do love that Devon wasn't stereotyped and was a sweet and wonderful best friend.
The rest, Will, Kush, Sean, Sammy, Whitney and momma and daddy (who still calls their parents that at 17?) meh, most of them I didn't like. The ones I did, they disappeared quickly from the story.