I dreamed of falling by Julie Dahl

A young mother dies in a small Hudson valley town and it sends the father of her child spinning. Roman who is a reporter for the local newspaper and starts looking into the death of his girlfriend. Interviewing people who knew her and investigating what happened in the final moments of her death.

This book was a little slow for me, it had potential for a great mystery then lost me when it droned on and on about the pandemic and her history. Too much. It was a quick read and interesting for the first half for sure.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s press for this Arc.

While ‘I Dreamed of Falling’ is a work of fiction, it addresses very real issues that could happen in any of our towns. Taking place years after the pandemic, a blended family deals with issues with finance, mental health, substance abuse and more. I like how the author addressed mental health issues caused by the pandemic and the impact those issues have on families/individuals – that was very real to me. The story is centered around the death of Ashley, a young mother with a secret life. She leaves behind her partner of many years, Roman, who is also the father of their 4-year old son Mason. Experiencing her death through Mason’s eyes was heartbreaking and tragic. The story unfolds to discover many secrets that led to her untimely death. It caused a lot of reflection within the living characters on how they could have shown up better for Ashley and their family – which was also very real to me. I definitely recommend this book – I read it in 2.5 days! Thanks St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

This domestic mystery written by Julia Dahl, is a story set in a small town with alternating POVs. It opens with the discovery of Ashley’s dead body and the story of past, present, and future unravel as the pages go by.

Ashley, long term girlfriend to Ramon, and mother to “mister” (Mason), was figuring out life on the beaches of Hawaii when her world changed. Back to the small town she grew up in, she found herself pregnant and living with Ramon’s mother and her fiancé. After a difficult labor/ delivery, made worse by COVID restrictions, it only seems to reason that she would be depressed. But how did that result in her death? The initial ruling was OD at a party, but maybe there’s more to it than that. The book follows Ramon’s search for the truth and the aches and pains he feels losing the love of his life.

I was hooked from page one. No joke. This was written in such an open way that it didn’t feel like secrets were being held onto for some big twist. Each chapter unfolded both past and present, with barely any acknowledgement of the time change. The characters were so carefully and well developed, and while you found a way to love and hate each one, there was no villain until the mystery was solved.

This work of fiction also played on some very relevant issues young couples are facing these days. Depression after COVID, drug and alcohol use, being dependent on a multi-generational household to survive, leaning on parents to bridge the gap as caretakers for their grandchildren. It highlighted the power struggle of those relationships and outside relationships as well.

I found this story to be very moving!!! It felt realistic, there was a lot of emotion, and mixed emotions, as reality changes and life keeps moving forward. It was a fantastic read that kept me wanting more. Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this ARC!

Secrets, intrigue, and murder haunt a lovely Hudson Valley town. Roman Grady’s life is turned upside down when Ashley, the mother of his four-year-old son, is murdered. As the town’s lone reporter for the local newspaper, he now finds himself looking for answers to the senseless murder of his beloved girlfriend.
Shortly after Ashley attended a party at the seaside home of an ex-girlfriend, her body was found on the grounds leading from the house. Roman questioned those who attended the party, but nobody knew what had happened to her. Or did they? Roman soon discovers the painful truth about Ashley and her hidden plans for her future. Secrets that led to her death.
An edge-of-the-seat thriller of a family in crisis with a powerful ending.

This is a great thriller that had me hooked from the beginning! Ashley and Roman live with son, Mason who is four. But after a party at Ashley's friend, Bella's house, Ashely is discovered dead in a ravine and a baggie of pills is found in her pocket. Roman is shocked as he'd never known her to use drugs, but he's even more concerned about Mason as he's become somewhat catatonic after his mother's death. The police are investigating but something feels "off" to Roman so he begins his own quiet inquiry into things and discovers some fascinating things he never knew. It's a fast-paced and riveting novel and I'll read more of Dahl in the future!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Wow! I loved this! I couldn’t put it down and read during every free second I could spare. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

My first Julia Dahl book but definitely not my last! This was an interesting take on what our post covid world has become. There were great characters that kept me flipping pages long into the night. Packed with tension, lies and oodles of secrets. All round great read.
Thank you NetGalley, Julia Dahl and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Too many characters were introduced in the beginning. I didn't connect with the characters and I kept forgetting who was who. The story was not interesting enough to keep me engaged.

When Ashley's body is found, the police assume it was an OD. However, one of the officers has his doubts and
wants to discover why Ashley was where she was, Her relationships with Roman, boyfriend and father of their four year
child, his mother Tara , on and off again friends and other acquaintances are presented both in the past and the present.
Secrets revealed and the truth of Ashley's death come to light.
Interesting characters.
#IDreamofFalling #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

Oh my goodness. I feel like I am an emotional wreck. I have laughed but cried several times reading I Dreamed of Falling.
So many plot twists and turns, but fascinating storyline.
Where does love cross the line between families and friends? Why does a mother often feel like she is in charge when her grown child's family lives with her? Sometimes with deadly results.
Julia Dahl is a phenomenal writer and it comes shining throughout I Dreamed of Falling.

#IDreamedOfFalling
#JuliaDahl
#NetGalley

Roman is a young reporter in a small town where the newspaper covers local events and strives not to offend anyone, which stifles Roman's instinct to dig into the secrets of a local power broker. He and his partner Ashley, with their young son, live with his mother and her boyfriend in a house that needs work for their AirBnB business but money is tight. Roman and Ashley have an open relationship and both have had affairs, but lately they've kept secrets from one another. When Ashley is found dead, those secrets eat away at Roman while his mother smothers their child with love that he struggles to provide.

I've enjoyed Dahl's previous work. This one is a little harder to sink into thanks to characters who need a good talking to and a pace that is a bit sluggish. After the blistering pace of her previous standalone, The Missing Hours, this was quite a different reading experience. That said, I appreciate the author's willingness to write about families in difficult financial situations realistically, when so many mysteries somehow evade the reality so many are experiencing, her focus on a part of the country that is far from glamorous, and the complexity of the emotional lives of the characters and their relationships.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Ashley Lillian, mother of four-year-old Mason, has vanished. She’s not answering text messages and her partner, Roman Grady, sole reporter for the “Adamsville Advocate,” has no idea where to find her.

When he learns that Ashley had been at a party, he heads for Bella’s house. He hadn’t known that the two women had patched up their differences. But he doesn’t have any idea what he’s about to discover . . . .

Ashley is lying on the cliffside . . . dead.

=========

Secrets abound in this tale of murder and mystery. The revelation of back-room dealings and the exposing of lies work together to put events into a different perspective, but the mystery of Ashley’s death is central to the telling of the tale. As the unfolding narrative reveals long-held secrets; grief [and the struggles to deal with it] confound the efforts of the characters to find a way to move on with their lives.

Sadly, most of the characters in this dark, tempestuous tale are thoroughly unlikeable. Sometimes the death of the young mother seems to take a back seat to the supremely dysfunctional family shenanigans, on-going substance abuse, questionable decision-making, and outright lying.

Peppered throughout the telling of this tale is an overused, particularly offensive expletive that adds nothing to the story and is likely to offend many readers; it lowers the rating for this book.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#IDreamedofFalling #NetGalley

Honestly I don’t have much to say about this book because it was just too ordinary and blah for me overall. I couldn’t get invested into any of the characters and quite frankly I found most of them to be annoying and frustrating.

Roman is the sole news reporter in his small town where not much happens… until his girlfriend Ashley is murdered and he starts the search of who and why. This is a family going through a tragedy, but I couldn’t find the sympathy for them. Secrets of family, friends, and the unknown. This book was also too slow for me and I guessed the killer early on. This was just a very typical story for me.

Thank you to the Author, Netgalley, and St. Martins Press for the ARC!

Unlike some readers, I enjoyed this book greatly. Dahl paints a beautiful picture of a not so beautiful family and town. It takes a certain talent to do that and I thought the characters were unique and interesting. I came close to guessing the conclusion, but was slightly off, so that pleased me as well. The story holds together, but it truly is grit lit and you have to appreciate that genre to immerse in this book. I felt caught up in the book, but it was the setting and characters that really shone through. The ending was spot on.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. The writer is skillful and I'd definitely read more from her.

I kept wondering what the point was, was it a mystery, a family drama in particular with lots of mental health issues and trauma, a story of grief over the unexplained death of his partner.? In this attempt to do too much, it didn't do anything justice and felt superficial and somewhat predictable. The constant talk of covid was too much.

A tearjerker! I was crying every few pages. This is a mystery, but it’s more of a family drama that happens to include a mystery! Ashley is found dead and her family has to figure out how to live forward. Great character development and a strong story that kept me turning the pages.

2 stars

I Dreamed of Falling immediately captured my interest. The blurb sounded like it would be right up my alley. But right from the start, it fell flat. Once the book started, I felt like I was reading a list of what the characters were doing. I wasn't experiencing it, I was being told what was happening. And that is one of the most frustrating things to experience when reading a book.

Roman was boring, he was the most boring character to ever exist. Ashely, I honestly did not care about her at all. The twists and secrets didn't feel like secrets. And don't get me started about Roman's mother, she was so overbearing. Not a single likable character in this book.

The constant covid/pandemic talk was unnecessary. Once or twice, sure, I can live with that. But this was constant. There is no need to remind everyone about it.

This book had so much promise and sounded so intriguing, but the execution just did not work for me. The book was confusing in what it was trying to be. It was trying to go into to many directions and I found myself lost and disconnected from the story. The ending also fell really flat for me.

This is a poorly crafted mystery about very dysfunctional characters. The murder is solved but poorly described and revealed. The characters are so unlikable; boozing, vaping, lying, popping pills and lamenting about their shortcomings. The author added a lot of extraneous people to the plot that I lost interest. I guess that’s my review.. I totally lost interest.

This was a great book. It has it all. A great story, a great plot, great characters. Pick it up on publication day.