Multiple Generations, major family drama, time travel, historical fiction, all wrapped up into a very insightful well written story. I was hooked immediately.

The Fallen Fruit is a story of one family with the ability to time travel. There are exceptions to the family rules but mostly men do the time traveling not the women. I liked the concept of this book especially the time travel parts. The book is highly entertaining and interesting. I look forward to more from this author in the future.

I would like to thank HarperCollins for this ARC via Netgalley.

This book was a prefect historical novel that shows the impacts of generational trauma and the impacts one decision can have on a family. It flips between multiple different POVs and times, following this family and what is happening to them. It is a BIPOC book written by a woman of color, and the knowledge and experience the author has is clear. This book is NOT a feel good book, but I do really recommend you add it to your TBR.

My first piece of advice is to read a physical copy of this book (not a digital version) because you're going to need to bookmark and flip back to the family tree diagram at the beginning of the book a LOT. There are a lot of characters, family members, years, and details to keep track of. Had I known this upfront, I would have taken notes along the way. I guarantee I would have liked this book better with a more solid understanding of the timeline.

I give The Fallen Fruit a solid 3 stars. I didn't love it and didn't hate it. It was a very fun book and the concept of time travel in this way is very interesting. What I absolutely love the most is that the author used actual family members as inspiration for the characters and setting. I love the development of how this story came to be. I just wish I followed along better. It was really hard to me to wrap my head around who everyone was (and in what time period), especially without the ease of accessing that family tree at the beginning (because I was reading digitally).

Despite the 3 stars, it is very well-written and filled with wonderful remnants of the past. I would recommend this book to a friend and I think there would be a great group discussion about it!

This is both a story of time travel and historical fiction, and I can’t imagine how difficult it was to keep straight while writing. Really impressive. There were a lot of characters to remember and this was made a little more difficult but then having nicknames as well. But it you get down the main ones, the others you don’t really need to remember. There is also a very helpful family tree. I will agree that at time the story was drawn out some but I didn’t mind that so much, it was more of the historical fiction part of this story. Everything seemed well researched and I appreciate the authors family history being tied into the narrative.

I enjoyed the premise and thought the story was overall well-written. The opening scenes did a wonderful job setting the scene and explaining the Bridges' situation. The organization of the book made sense for the most part, but I wish some of Cecily's chapters had been more chronological. I also found it a little confusing to have some of her chapters in first person and some in third.

The emotional aspects and family setting are the two biggest highlights in the book. The tension, awful anticipation, and uncertainty that accompany the Bridge family curse were painfully described and emphasized, particularly during the early generations. The discussion of how, whether, and why history repeats itself was briefly mentioned, but I would have liked more. I would also have liked for the origin of the curse and several aspects to be more explained, and I also wanted to know what effects there were on Cecily's life. The ending chapter was okay, but I wish the last chapter had been Cecily's to show whether there was any effect, and if so, how much and what kind. The last 30% dragged for me, and I was missing the answers and explanations for some of the intricacies introduced earlier that I was hoping would become clearer in Cecily or Emily's chapters.

Overall, this book was an emotional, thought-provoking read. Time travel creates many complications, and I would have liked for them to be more present in this story. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a multi-generational family saga featuring compelling characters and time travel.

What I Didn’t Like:
-The prologue feels a bit out of place. It didn’t necessarily get me interested in the book. In fact, starting with the first chapter may have sucked me in more.
-As is common with time travel books, there are a lot of characters and a complicated timeline to keep track of. Of course, this isn’t a negative for every reader so call it a content warning.
-There are some unanswered questions that feel like tiny plot holes, things like diabetes being mentioned once (when it’s needed for the plot) and then conveniently never an issue or a consideration again.
-The ending felt rushed. You spent a lot of time building this story and the ending was a let down. I wanted more from the love story and more from the curse.

What I Did Like:
+The opening chapters set up a compelling premise that pulls you in easily. You want to understand the rules and try to find a way to beat them for these characters. You want to know everything about their world and their curse.
+The emphasis on writing an accurate historical fiction piece comes through, even with the fantasy elements. The characters and their struggles shine here, from the challenges of schooling kids on a farm to the challenges of war and race. It’s beautifully written and well researched.
+The initial moments for each of the characters you follow through the time travel are brilliant. Those first moments when they realize what has happened and have to cope are just well written and original, even for the genre.

Who Should Read This One:
-Readers of historical fiction who want to try something a little fantastical with the time travel element are really the audience for this one. The historical fiction really shines here.

I think my biggest quibble was that the mechanics of how and why the time travel happens were not really explained much. I was really hoping to discover that, and a solution to it. I also wished for more time with Cecily as she unraveled exactly what had been happening to her family, in order to see exactly how she figured out what she did. I’m still left with that burning question of why: why time travel, why the Bridges, and why did some people do what they did (specifically the murder and kidnapping bit)? I’m just confused.

One thing that did work, however, was the prose style. It kept events flowing smoothly, even when I was confused.

An atmospheric generational drama detailing a family’s journey to end a curse that has plagued their ancestors for centuries, The Fallen Fruit is a story of love, family bonds, and sacrifice to alter a seemingly inevitable course of history.

While the premise of this story intrigued me and of course, I have to applaud the author for her obvious vast knowledge of the histories mentioned, it was very difficult to be fully immersed into the story due to excessive exposition, a muddling amount of unnecessary side characters and non-ambiguous loose ends which left me with a lot of unanswered questions throughout and when i finished.

i enjoyed the historically educational aspect of this book. discrimination, racism, and segregation are touched upon and it was very informative to read how black families were impacted in different ways throughout the different timelines in the book. i also rly loved the *very* brief romance element and would have loved to see this theme somehow be more central to help the reader feel more bought in.

if you like the time traveler’s wife, outlander, and generational family drama, i’d recommend but also advise to take your time with it (which is not what i did) to more thoroughly appreciate the writing style.

TW:
— racism
— miscarriage
— grief/loss
— death of loved ones

thanks so much to amistad and netgalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

This took a while to get into, and I think it's because the writing style is a bit different than I'm used to. It seemed to jump around in the first few chapters without a seamless transition. Once the plot began to flesh out, I really enjoyed this. I'm a bit of a sucker for time travel, and my niche historical era is American Revolution, so this was right up my alley. The characters fleshed out well throughout each story and I enjoyed following their adventures through time. It ended a little predictably but that was fine by me.

The Fallen Fruit follows the story of Cecily who has just inherited a large plot of land and is on a mission to find it. However, she finds a lot more than just 64 acres of land. She uncovers family secrets and a curse. The story is told in multiple points of view and covers a large variety of topics including slavery, family and loss. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Fallen Fruit is an interesting take on time travel but to me the execution fell a little short. As mentioned previously, this story is told in several different POVs and a lot of information is dumped on the reader at once. It makes it a bit difficult to not only keep track of the family tree but to stay present while reading. It really slowed down the momentum of the story. I wanted to love this story but I don't think this one is for me.

Madison’s new time-slip novel spotlights 200 years of the Bridge family history, from the 1760s to the 1960s. Cecily Bridge-Davis has never spoken to another Bridge family member, nor been told the fate of her father, but in 1964, she receives an unexpected inheritance—a 65-acre orchard in Virginia. This lonely, abandoned place tugs at her childhood memories, and when she discovers a worn mail carrier’s tote containing a carefully preserved bible, its unusual notations send her delving into her paternal history.

The first to fall (through time) was Luke, in 1770, his situation perhaps the beginning of the ‘curse’, but unique to the events which follow. After that, in each successive generation, one child born to each Bridge male falls to the family curse before age 27, disappearing without trace. No one knows who or when it will be, so preparedness is vital. In 1919, Isaiah is never without his heavy survival pack and rolled-up freedom papers, but his sister, Millie, is quite sure it will be her until one day, when she and Isaiah are preparing packs and ‘Bridge rules’ for future travelers, Isaiah disappears. Now Millie alone must aid travelers who arrive at the orchard from future generations.

The division of dated chapters into five parts makes it easy to follow the remarkable history of the Bridge family, living together on sheltered acreage, with the fear of never knowing which of their children will fall, or how they can protect each other and assimilate their losses. Family anecdotes are compassionately narrated with limited plot threads, too many of which could easily overwhelm a story about multiple generations. I was drawn to the Bridge family lives through Luke’s astonishing story and Rebecca Raley-Bridge’s subsequent meticulous recordings in the family bible. Millie’s legacy is the revelation which spurs Cecily into a new determination about her previously unknown family. A poignant and beautifully realised journey through time.

This book is a very interesting generational family saga with a time loop mechanic. It was very well written, and I enjoyed the characters very much. I wound up reading it very slowly and savoring it. Thank you to Netgalley for the digital eARC for review! The Fallen Fruit is a fantastic read.

Haunting and bold, The Fallen Fruit by Shawntelle Madison is a story of one family’s journey through time while fighting for freedom and love. When I first started reading this book, I thought it was either going to be brilliant or disaster…..it was brilliant! The idea of falling in time from a black person’s perspective during the most pivotal times in history was extraordinary to read. I found each of the characters likeable in so many ways, especially the women who thought not only of their current circumstances but also what the future would hold for them and their families. I did have issues with the pacing of the book, at times quick paced and other times a bit slow which made the book seem longer than usual. Despite the pace, really liked the book and would recommend it.

I thought I would truly enjoy this book, but sadly, it did not come close to meeting my expectations. The pace was extremely slow and somewhat complicated and boring. I found myself needing to reread parts. At times, there were big info dumps. I expected more time to be dedicated to unraveling the curse, but I didn't find that to be the case. I had also expected there to be more of a time travel angle then there was. The book ended with a lot of unanswered questions.

La idea me pareció muy buena e interesante: una maldición familiar + viajes en el tiempo.


Como dije la idea me gustó, pero el desarrollo no me encantó ya que lo sentí algo confuso, de repente habían demasiados Bridges al punto que olvidaba quien era quien. Recomiendo tomar notas.


Me gustó lo de tener reglas para los viajes en el tiempo para evitar desgracias: no interferir con los eventos pasados, siempre tener los freedom papers a la mano, buscar el paquete de supervivencia y no hablar con extraños a menos que sea necesario.






Gracias NetGalley, al publicista y al autor por el Arc.

The Fallen Fruit was a unique read and I found myself having to open this eARC on two different devices so I could quickly reference the family tree while reading the story. Aside from doing that the story was confusing for me. Being able to reference the tree as a guide helped bring cohesion to the story for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting "recollection" kind of story. It follows 5 different points of views, with Cecily being the driving factor as she discovers history and secrets about her family that has been "lost" to her. Each individual story is very well written some characters are more likeable than others but I've seen others mention this story is hard to follow in digital form. I had my Kindle out with the story and my phone with the story open to the family tree to keep dates in line and who the character was referencing. The history and background of each character is amazing, the magical realism is a little flat and kind of half explained. Overall it's a good story that plays out the Bridge's family history.

Thank you NetGalley and Amistad for the opportunity to read this E-ARC. This is my own opinion of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. The premise was really interesting but the execution made me drop one star. Although the book was engaging it was a bit difficult to keep track of the various characters in each time period. Also, I felt like there were some holes/unanswered questions in the plot. Whether this was intentional or maybe just facts that I missed or didn’t pick up on, I couldn’t tell. Overall I would recommend this read.

The concept for this book sounded fantastic. I was hoping I would love The Fallen Fruit. Unfortunately, the book was very slow and at times boring. I kept waiting for the time travel or really any plot movement, but it just stayed slow. It’s more about a young woman’s experience going to school to be a doctor than it is about the family curse of time traveling.