Survival thriller is my absolute favorite genre. While this isn’t that, technically, I still enjoyed the premise of the book a lot. I hated all of the characters, which made this hard to want to pick up but also says a lot of positive things about the author’s ability to write insufferable characters very well. I would read more from this author! I didn’t see the twist coming and felt it ended too abruptly after that.

Girl Falling is the second book that I've read by Hayley Scrivenor. This one focuses on the relationship between three women, two of whom are in a relationship and two of whom are long-term friends. They all go rock climbing together but only two return from the trip. The book alternates between the present day and the years leading up to the day of rock climbing. This writing style works so well for leaving the reader on the edge of their seat as they wait to see how it all unfolds. Read and enjoy!

Such a well paced and suspenseful book! The twists were believable and not predictable.
It had excellent writing and a fascinating plot.
Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor is a book which kept me thoroughly engaged from beginning to end.

This thriller follows Finn, whose perfect life with her girlfriend Magdu and best friend Daphne unravels after a mysterious cliffside incident. Told in dual timelines, it builds suspense well, though some characters feel underdeveloped

Finn, at her most peaceful at having it all, girlfriend Magdu, and best friend Daphne venture into climbing, just the feeling of a perfect day. Then a scream and of curiosity- why would Daphne do that?

The characters at times were flat, mostly due to missing some background but the mystery intriguing; Finn has a sense of paranoia around Daphne and Magdu I was motivated to see explored. If the author isn’t a climber, it does seem like there was research into this, which was appreciated. Told in dual timelines, we follow Finn as she meets both Daphne and Magdu and their developing relationships. In present time, we follow the events at the cliff, what truly happened, and possible police investigations. Magdu and Finn were a little to love at first sight for me and the character description could read like a copy and paste psychology textbook, like too stiff and formulaic. This is a build up type of thriller, with the slow reveals of what happened and why certain characters may be suspicious.

Trigger warnings for homophobia; even though this was a thriller, it still was able to view the societal hardship of your ability to be married questionable, the judgments and feelings that come from being unaccepted- the grief of not being able to mourn your loved one the way you want- it was easy to feel empathetic.

I really enjoyed this, especially compared to thrillers I read recently. The ending was great, if a little rushed and kinda open.

Girl Falling is an emotionally charged thriller that follows Finn and her complicated friendship with Daphne from girlhood to adulthood. When Finn's girlfriend dies in a mysterious climbing accident, the illusion of her bond with Daphne is shattered.

I loved the story in this book and reading it felt, at times, more like your standard contemporary fiction than a thriller. However, there were several twists and turns that pulled me back into the mystery of Magdu's death and the dark history of Finn and Daphne's friendship, which made this a real page turner. While I didn't find the complex characters particularly likeable or relatable, I did want to keep reading to learn more about who they were and where the story would take them. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

I LOVE climbing and I was so excited to find a thriller on the subject of my favorite hobby. However, I couldn't help but be disappointed by this story. I really don't enjoy when women are pitted against each other for seemingly no reason, and it didn't really land as the messy queer drama (which I usually enjoy!) the author clearly intended. The events of the story became fairly predictable about halfway through, which is also around the same time the pace slowed down. Ultimately, Scrivener is a talented writer but this story didn't quite live up to its promise.

I am so thankful to the publisher, Hayley Scrivenor, and Netgalley, for granting me access to this title.
It really wasn't for me, but I am so thankful to have been allowed access.

The book was good, characters well developed and mostly likable. The ending was a bit unnecessary but anyone who likes a twist that doesn’t typically align with a story will enjoy this book. Writing was really great.

Finn goes out for a day of rock climbing with her girlfriend Magdu and her lifelong best friend Daphne. Because the blurb shares it, Magdu falls to her death. The police don’t think it was an accident and there is an investigation. While that is happening Finn reflects back on her relationship with Magdu and her long time friendship with Daphne.

I had hoped to learn more about the setting in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. But of course the focus is on Daphne and Finn. The peeling back and showing their relationship isn’t always pretty. But this is a thriller and there are family secrets and manipulation that gets explored. I found the story tension filled and suspenseful. I wasn’t surprised by the ending and I also wasn’t really satisfied. I would read more from this Australian author.

Not for me. From the description, I thought this would be more of an outdoors/adventure mystery, but that element was only a small part of the story. The main character Finn is an unlikable sad sack, and I did not like how obsessed she was with how people smelled. It was such a weird detail for the author to keep including, very distracting. Same with the constant references to Finn's period - not relevant to the story at all.

DNF @ page 63.

The focus on Finn's period and her rotten tooth have been...a lot. So far there hasn't been a likable character and I'm just not feeling this at all.

Thanks Netgalley and Flatiron Books for providing this ARC to me!

my first australian book?? very interesting…. guess you can still be fucked up and gay in the southern hemisphere. not sure if i like the overall plot but i was gripped by the writing.

thx netgalley and flatiron books.

a beautiful book, but the twist at the end felt out of place with the rest of the book in a way that impacted how I felt about it.

I’m really unsure how I feel about this thriller. It started out so strong, and I was immediately drawn into the story. My heart ached for Finn and everything she was going through. This book was beautifully written and incredibly atmospheric. I enjoyed the shifts between timelines—it kept me engaged and eager to uncover what really happened that day on the cliff.

However, the ending completely threw me. I’m still not sure what to think of it, and I wish we had gotten more of a conclusion. It felt very sudden, and I wanted more details—or at least another chapter. Three stars for me because I enjoyed the book up until the end.

Girl Falling is a character driven exploration of female friendship, queer love and sharp exploration of grief.

When the love of Finn's life, her girlfriend Magdu, dies unexpectedly in a rock climbing accident, she's forced to face the complicated relationship with her friend Daphne as she tries to figure out if someone tampered with Magdu's climbing equipment.

You don't want to know much more about this book, but if you are a fan of suspenseful stories with rich character development, you will enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor.

I absolutely loved Dirt Creek, so I was very excited to read Girl Falling. The suspense was perfect, although had more of a psychological thriller bend to it than Dirt Creek. Good twist with an unreliable narrator.

I loved this book. The feelings were raw and deep and real, and the writing had a strong voice. Thanks for sharing.

The first pages of Hayley Scrivenor’s novel, Girl Falling, show us the worst thing that has ever happened to Finn Young. Within a matter of pages, Finn’s girlfriend, Magdu—the woman Finn was hoping to marry—is dead. It will take the rest of the book for us to learn exactly what led to Magdu’s fatal fall. Who tampered with the climbing gear? Was it the man who insisted on joining the climbing trip Finn arranged with her old school friend, Daphne? Was it Daphne? Or was it all just a terrible accident?

Finn lives a marginal kind of life. She didn’t do very well in school and the only place she truly feels comfortable is clambering in the Blue Mountains, near her home. She works part-time as a trail guide and barista to make ends meet. There are no plans to go to college. Finn doesn’t really have plans of any kind until she meets Magdu, a lively woman (except around her conservative family) who might be able to get Finn out of her existential rut. Only six months pass before Finn starts carrying around an engagement ring and starts waiting for the right moment. Everything is going swimmingly until Daphne comes back to town.

There are layers of flashbacks in Girl Falling; thankfully, Scrivenor makes it easy to follow what’s happening when. Some chapters take us back to Finn and Daphne’s girlhood. Daphne’s treatment of Finn had my hackles up from the jump. Daphne is the kind of person who needs to have someone completely devoted to them, who will do anything Daphne dreams up, and who never apologizes for anything. Other chapters take us back to Finn’s appointments with a therapist to reveal the bone-deep feelings of guilt Finn has carried ever since her sister’s death, shortly before Finn met Daphne. More than once, we also see the conversations Finn and Magdu had just before they left for the climb that took Magdu’s life.

I dutifully collected what I believed were clues about what happened but I was shocked out of my socks when Scrivenor dropped the climax of Girl Falling on me. I love a good twist. I regularly marvel at authors who can surprise me with something original even after leaving hints scattered throughout the narrative. The twist in the book is jarring and, I think, not supported by the characterization or plot of what came before. I was actually a bit pissed off, to be honest. The conclusion, coupled with some overwrought writing in the book, make it hard for me to recommend this book. The only reason I didn’t pan this book entirely was because I enjoyed the sinister tension of Finn and Daphne’s relationship and nursed a hope that Finn would finally manage to get out from under Daphne’s spell.

An interesting read about female friendships, the murkiness of queer love, and the lengths you go through to protect youself and the ones you love. I thought this book was interesting in the shifting timeframes and POVs and the ending was a great twist. It was slow at first but I couldn't put it down once it picked up!