Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers is a teen novel about a 17 year old girl, Eddie Reeves, who loses her father to suicide. He was a semi-famous photographer, he was loved, and had a wonderful family, or so it seems. She is constantly enveloped in the question 'why?' She goes on a wild hunt searching for answers, anything that will help her understand why her dad chose to leave this world. With the help of a former student of her father, Culler Evans, she goes on a journey to discover who her father was, and why he made this decision. Along the way though, she finds love and understanding in many forms.

I was initially very intrigued by this novel. I was curious about a story of a young girl working through the suicide of her father. Soon though, I realized the book hit slightly less than my expectations. I was looking for an emotional and powerful novel of discovery and hope. Instead it focused more on Eddie's best friend Milo and his girlfriend, and how much Eddie hated her mom's best friend, and her father's only student and her small crush on him. I was disappointed that this novel was more of a high school - somewhat unrealistic - drama. It had far less depth and contemplation that usually comes with a story line focused on suicide. I was hurt at how the author seemed to almost completely overlook the suicide. Frankly, I was upset the way the suicide of Eddie's father was casually approached. If you enjoy a slightly clicheteen novel, this book is for you, but don't read it if you expect to find anything much deeper than that.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Minnetonka, Minnesota United States