The Upside of Falling Down is unfortunately not for me. I had tried this book and set it down in hopes of one day coming back to it, but now it is time to mark as DNF.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

Clementine Haas is the girl who fell to earth, the lone survivor of a plane crash. Unable to remember anything about her past life, she enlists Kieran, a young man she meets at the Irish hospital, to help her flee before her father can arrive from the US to bring her home. Because she is so disturbed by her inability to recall her past life, she gives Kieran a fake name and claims she was mugged while traveling in Ireland and needs a place to stay temporarily. Their attraction to one another is complicated by the fact that his twin sister, Siobhan ,who is also staying at the family cottage, hates her with a passion. And Siobhan is very pregnant.

I wasn't sure what to expect with "The Upside of Falling Down." Rebekah Crane is an excellent writer, someone who can take on amnesia as a main plot point and make it work without being too soap-operaesque. Her writing was, in fact, stronger than the plot. The reader knows Clementine's past will be revealed eventually, and for me, that reveal was a just a little disappointing. I was expecting more suspense and intrigue, higher stakes involved here, based on her escaping from the hospital rather than meeting her father. In fact her leaving the hospital before he arrived seems cruel to a man who has lost so much.

But I read it into the night without complaint and will buy it for my library. I'll also be on the lookout for more of Rebekah Crane;s work.

This was an okay read. I think the entire YA genre needs to look in the mirror and really take a look at what it's doing cause this book was boring. While still readable, the premise was great (how many other books can you think of where the reader has survived a plane crash?!) but everything else was boring and predictable and made me feel like a bitter old woman. oh well 😔

I was not the biggest fan of this novel and ultimately DNF'd it. I cant really think of 100 more words so
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Sweet, heartfelt and emotional with a good storyline and important messages. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to younger boys and girls.

I started off really enjoying this one, but as it progressed I started losing my love for it. My biggest problem was the MC was forever lying to everyone, but then got mad when people lied to her. She also went on and on about how she wasn’t the type of girl that needed a guy and she was independent, but then acted like she was going to die when the love interest quit talking to her. I found it all rather annoying. I did love the setting though. It made me want to pack my bag and visit Ireland immediately!

The Upside of Falling Down was a cute contemporary romance set in Ireland. I really liked the setting, and I think it was the most well-written part of the book. Most of the characters, and especially Clementine/Jane felt really flat to me for most of the story. I recognize that this is because of her amnesia, but the other characters have no excuse. They seemed really one-sided until the end, where I got twisted so much I had whiplash. I don't like it when characters build an entire relationship based on lies, so the ending made me really uncomfortable. People who don't mind this kind of storyline will probably like it though.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and the fact that the title has been archived.

I am a sucker for books where the main character has some type of amnesia, an unreliable narrator is my jam. This book did not let me down, I really liked my time reading it.

I have tried unsuccessfully to read this title and I have found it is not a good fit for me. I do not rate books I DNF...However, I was required to do so for this title. I stand by the fact...it is just not a good fit for me. I would not be willing to say it would not work for someone else.

3.5 Stars

A contemporary teen read that has great characters, an engaging plot, and good writing. I really like Clementine's and Kieran's relationship and felt the story was cute and charming.

Contemporary teen books and I are not usually friends. I still read them because when I like one it is often amazing. The Upside of Falling Down is an unusual situation as I didn't love it or hate it. It was okay. I find I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other.

Plot
Easily the best part of this book is the plot. Rebekah Crane takes us on a journey with our lead gal who has temporary amnesia. And while she has all the correct supports in place; she still runs away because in her mind she isn't the girl everyone at the hospital thinks she is. I can absolutely see myself as a teen doing exactly what our lead gal does. The twisting road the anmesia leads us on as readers is interesting. We only know what our lead girl knows; which means we have an unreliable narrator that may not be giving us all the details in the right order or even accurately. As the reader we also don't know what our lead gal is leaving out. What details is she not seeing or choosing to ignore. If you're a smart reader you'll actually focus on what she isn't telling us more than what she is.

Love Interest
Here's where The Upside of Falling Down looses me a bit. Yes there is an obvious, in your face love interest; and of course he's attractive, rich and without the 'constraints' of parents being present in his life. The perfect scenario for our lead girl to fall into. *rolls eyes*
The thing is that the actual lust/love aspects of the story are quite genuine. The first time is a bit glossed over but overall the interactions between the two feel genuine and reminded me of my own stumbling teenage years and relations with boys. So while the scenario may be convenient I'll give Crane props for making our teens act like teens.

Overall
There is a fun twist to this book that all goes back to our unreliable lead gal whose telling us the story. I liked how by the end I was ready for what happened and felt it made good sense. For some it may seem far-fetched but I didn't feel that way. With the exception of some convenient moments in the plot and characters I overall felt this was a well put together contemporary teen novel. And from this pessimistic teen literature reviewer that is actually a pretty good compliment.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Full review to follow!

Quick thoughts:
- Well, this was dreadfully boring and underwhelming.
- Hard-to-follow, hard-to-believe character motivations.
- Weakly written, cartoonish characters with angst-y backstories that made me roll my eyes.
- Lackluster writing style interspersed with generic, feel-good motivational crap (e.g. letting go, finding who you are, making changes).
- Annoying, hypocritical protagonist who hardly thought or acted logically? Jesus.
- Token diversity (i.e. a side character that likes to announce he’s Jewish and gay to literally everyone he meets).
- What’s the exact opposite of sizzling chemistry? That’s what Clementine and Kieran had.
- Poorly executed attempt at an interesting mystery. The reveals were also terribly done.
- Circular dialogues about who saved whom. Eww.
- SO. MANY. PLOT. HOLES. This wasn’t cohesive in any way.
- The resolution was really rushed, and I cringed the whole time.
- No emotions outside of cringing were felt as I read this.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Clementine Haas has no idea who she is; all she knows is that she is the lone survivor of a plane crash in Ireland. With the help of a nurse, she starts to try and access her memory by writing down all the things that in this very moment she knows about herself. The list isn't very long, but she is so hopeful things will come back to her.

After begging to get a change of scenery, Clementine convinces her nurse to let her go downstairs and visit the cafeteria where she has a chance encounter with a local named Kieran over a cup of jello. Clementine doesn't know why, but for some reason she doesn't tell him who she really is. With the local press bearing down all around her, and her father that is more a stranger, she freaks and makes a snap decision to enlist the help of Kieran and hide away in the small town of Waterville where Kieran is living.

Even though Clementine is trying to move on from the accident, and start over with a new life in Waterville, her past starts to catch up with her. Will she ever be able to remember what happened to her and if so, is she willing to leave behind her old life?

I really enjoyed this story. I'm a sucker for teen romance novels, and this one definitely fit the bill. It has characters that were interesting and complicated in their own way. It was interesting to try and figure out the mystery of Clementine along with her. Overall an easy read, recommended for libraries where romance is popular.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this.

The story was nicely written. The only reason it took so long was because of a block.

The sweet ending made all of it worth it. I'm glad everyone got their HEA.

I especially liked Clive. He was such a fun character. Siobhan was fun as well, even when she was reminding everyone of reality.

This was a sweet,short read. Perfect for summer. I loved the romance part,and mistery part was so good! I couldn't predict the end and that says a lot! This book is perfect for people who looks for swoony beach reads that will also leave you breatless,but it's also for ones who wants to be detective for a while.

*I received a free copy of this ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Maybe 3.5 stars.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The twists weren’t exactly surprises to me, but that’s okay. I enjoy piecing things together and then finding out I’m right. It’s a cute story, even with the dark parts. I appreciate that choices aren’t without consequences.

Kieran was easy to like. I love genuinely good characters. Clementine was tricky because I knew she was lying about pretty much everything; her selfishness and disregard for how her lies and actions would affect others bothered me. Siobhan, Clive, and Stephen were all good supporting characters. I like the protective sibling relationship between Kieran and Siobhan.

Note: Some swearing, including a few f words. Off-page sex.

The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane was such a cute contemporary! Might I also mention that it takes place in Ireland? I mean, how can you beat that? Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook copy.

I thought this book was such a fun read! I was surprised about what was happening, but I really thought it was a good read.