Book Review: The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

Title: The Way We Fall 
Author: Megan Crewe 
Publisher: Murdoch Books Australia/Disney-Hyperion 
Release Date: January 24th 2012/December 2011 (Aus)
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher for review (Thank you!)

It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.


And then you're dead.

When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.

Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.

Because how will she go on if there isn't?

Megan Crewe crafts a powerful and gripping exploration of self-preservation, first love, and hope. Poignant and dizzying, this heart-wrenching story of one girl’s bravery and unbeatable spirit will leave readers fervently awaiting the next book in this standout new series.

The Way We Fall follows Kaelyn’s life once a deadly virus starts spreading through her island. No one knows anything about this virus, and there is no cure. Everyday, more and more people are getting infected by this unknown virus, and even more people are dying. The government has quarantined the island, preventing anyone from neither arriving nor leaving. It’s pretty much a death sentence for everyone on the island.

Megan has delivered a heartbreaking story of love, loss and one’s need for survival. I was constantly asking myself, ‘ What if this happened to everyone around me? How do I endure watching everyone around me, everyone I love change from a perfectly normal person one day, to an insane person the next, and then, just.. die?’Needless to say, I really did not want to answer those questions. Yet that’s exactly what 16 year old Kaelyn is experiencing. She has to watch her family,friends, neighbours, , people she’s known her whole life just suddenly disappear in the blink of an eye. I really enjoyed Kaelyn’s voice- she’s level-headed and brave, and always thinking of others before herself. Her feelings of fear, hopelessness, and desperation were contagious; every feeling she felt, I felt it too. This is definitely a raw, gripping and realistic read.

is written in the form of a series of diary entries/ letters to Kaelyn’s best friend, L eo who left the island two years earlier after a dispute between the two. While I found this style interesting and refreshing, I have to admit, it didn’t work too well at times. It was only the beginning and ending of each entry and the occasional second-person narration that indicated it was written in a diary/letter form, but the rest of book felt more like a first-narration prose. The writing seemed too formal and there was too much re-telling for a letter addressed to one’s best friend. But I was able to overlook this, once Kaelyn’s story drew me in.

I also wished that Leo had played a more prominent role in this book; he’s mentioned throughout, yet he never made an appearance. There was also an unexpected romance but unfortunately, I wasn’t entirely moved by it. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed The Way We Fall!

I’ve been debating whether to give this 4 or 5 star, so I’ll settle on 4.5 stars. I feel like my rating contradicts my review but my since my rating system’s an indication of my overall enjoyment of the book, and this was definitely one of those‘unputdownable’ books for me, despite its flaws, I think I'll just settle on 4.5 stars :)

Watch the trailer below!