A review by verlorenimbuecherregal
The Fall by May Archer

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

There are some things I need to say about this one.

First of all, the main emotional component: I loved the aspects about loving again after the love of one's life died, but more the philosophical takes and not how it was executed - I didn't get a feel for Ev's grief, and I'm a huge fan of crying because of deceased spouses and all the palpable grief, as long as the survivor gets a second HEA. But it wasn't palpable here, it just had happened and hindered Ev from being open for Silas, but this hesitation also felt constructed, because we never suffered with Everett. The whole relationship between Silas and Everett felt a bit flat, even tho there was so much potential, with both of them having their baggage, it was the perfect setup for hurt/comfort, but it wasn't emotional enough for hurt/comfort. So it kinda felt like the author thought it was enough to just give them emotional backgrounds without really immersing into the feels coming with that.

The mystery was the main thing I was looking forward to, and while it got a bit violent and (for a REALLY short time) thrilling towards the end, the mystery really was a minor plotpoint and got drowned out through most of the story, like the police (consisting out of three people if I remember correctly?) didn't really do anything about two (!) missing people, they only really started to work as personal interest was involved. It still was a very cool revelation in my eyes, but a bit more consistency in telling the mystery so it's always looming above the story and getting readers to be sucked into the thrill, would have enhanced the book. 

I loved the vibe of the small town O'Leary (I already read the first book in the Copper County series, so I knew some of the characters and institutions already) and I'm sure I will continue this series, even tho this one wasn't 100% my jam. I love intertwined bookish universes, so I usually don't mind a lot of people getting name dropped as if the reader could know them already, because they usually make me want to continue with their stories. But here the male side characters who obviously have their own book just felt like one big mash and the side characters who probably don't have their own story were more distinguishable (and some were highlights in this book, with Henry leading the way, I laughed out loud a lot because of his antics).

So all in all an okayish to solid book, that doesn't put May Archer on the "don't read" list. It's also one of her first books (I think it's the fourth to be precise), and it was published almost 7 years ago, so I'm confident some of these problems get better with the newer books.