A review by readingwithtrey
Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling by Elise Bryant

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Delilah has recently joined a punk rock band with a few of her friends. Though her sister, Georgia, is typically the star of the family with a huge talent for singing and acting. Delilah has never sang for real before and isn’t quite sure she’s any good.But after the band’s first gig featuring Delilah singing, they gain notoriety overnight. They begin to get more and more opportunities and gigs. While Delilah is growing to love performing, she still isn’t sure that she truly belongs in the band. She questions her talent and identity as a Black girl in the genre. Until one day she meets Reggie. He exudes confidence and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. He seems too good to be true. 
 
Reggie would prefer to play Dungeons and Dragons over going to see a band play on New Year’s Eve. But after one too many taunts and jokes from his older brother, he decides to use it as an excuse to escape. When he arrives at the venue, he sees Delilah commanding the stage and its love at first sight. He runs into her after her performance and decides he has to play it cool. He presents the Reggie that he wishes he was. They continue to have chance encounters on holidays and their relationship slowly builds over the course of the next year. But Reggie gets in over his head with pretending to be someone he’s not.
 
While the title is literally “Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling,” I still didn’t really have too much of an idea of how it would play out. But let me tell you, it was SO cute and precious. This was such a unique story line that kept me smiling. There was so much of this story that I could relate to, and I appreciated it so much. I really could have used a book like this growing up. It took me well into my adult years to truly be comfortable with just being myself. I’m a little awkward and nerdy and enjoy “nerdy” things, and that’s totally okay. Life is too short to live it trying to be someone you aren’t.
 
This was an awesome read, and I have no complaints. It tackles some current social issues extremely well, and the overall message surrounding embracing what makes us who we are was *chef’s kiss.*
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