Author: Megan Crewe
Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 304
Edition: Hardcover
Goodreads: Link
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?
The Way We Fall is about an island in Canada that becomes infected by a deadly virus and a girl trying to survive in the midst of it. Now, if you know, you know i'm a med student at my school. And although I don't exactly want to be a doctor; i'm fascinated by diseases and outbreaks. I love watching movies like Contagion and such, plus, my sister is a microbiologist like Kae's father. The story is written in the form of a sort of diary to Kae's best friend Leo, who she fought with a few months back and she wants to keep close to her.
Kae was a determined heroine. She was smart and brave and had a survival instinct that wasn't enough to drive her to madness, like some other people on the island. She always stayed true to herself and protected the ones she loved. And I like that we got to see a more emotional side of her through the letters to Leo, since he was her former best friend. At the same time; I never connected with her character. We were told a lot of things about her and how she was selfish and her fight with Leo was awful and things like that; but we never saw that side of her. She wasn't as dimensional as I would've wanted her to be.
This would make a great movie; if they ever decided to make another plague movie using a teen heroine. Even though it's written in diary format, it never seems slow or boring. There are people dying, people going crazy, and people trying to survive. Everyone has something to lose and it seemed like every minute, people were dropping like flies. The story has that desperation for a cure and the confusion when the government turns it's back on you when you need them the most.
The book has a sweet romance that doesn't overpower the main focus of the story but definitely contributes to it. Kae and her man were excellent partners that divulged into a friendship that turned into something more. I like that it's a subtle chemistry and not super steamy. It's more that they're there for each other than anything else, and you can really tell they care about each other.
Happy Reading!
