“Girl Falling” by Hayley Scrivenor is a captivating exploration of psychological tension that will leave readers on the edge of their seats. The narrative unfolds with intricate character development. Scrivenor masterfully weaves suspense throughout the plot, ensuring that your attention never wavers as you turn page after page in eager anticipation.

Each twist and turn draws you in, creating a compelling atmosphere that keeps you guessing. However, I must admit that the ending left me somewhat dissatisfied. The final twist, while ambitious, felt disjointed and did not align well with the narrative that preceded it. It seemed to shift the tone in a way that didn't resonate with the buildup of tension that had been so skillfully established.

Overall, “Girl Falling” is a gripping read that showcases Hayley Scrivenor's talent for storytelling, even if the conclusion doesn't fully deliver on the promise of the rest of the book. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC ebook! If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this book may still be worth your time.

Told in alternating Then and Now style, this suspenseful novel had me hooked from the start with the first line: Why would my best friend want to destroy my life? and kept me guessing all the way through as the story unwound. The story is told in the first person by Finn, a park guide and professional climber in Australia. She and Daphne are long time best friends, but when Finn’s girlfriend accidently falls to her death during a climb with the three of them, Finn begins to question what Daphne’s friendship really means to her.
Highly recommended contemporary mystery/suspense.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book to review.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book made no sense and I did not find it very thrilling at all. The plot felt all over the place and I didn't care about any of the characters.

As a rock climber myself I found the premise of this book highly interesting. I felt like I was in a murder mystery love story. I knew how the love story would end but not the murder mystery. It was pretty addicting. I enjoyed playing detective and the many moments when you think you understand only to have a curve ball thrown at you making you realize you don’t understand at all. Thank you #netgalley for this ARC copy of Girl Falling.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy!

I think the bare bones of this mystery are very interesting, but unfortunately due the nature of the mystery it's not a very fun read.

The story begins with Finn, her girlfriend Magdu, and Finn's friend Daphne going rock climbing. This is Magdu's first climb ever, but unfortunately things go very wrong and Magdu plummets to her death. Police sweep in to investigate if this was a tragic accident or if foul play was involved.

It's difficult to explain the issues with the book without spoiling it, and I don't do that with advanced copies. You'll have to forgive me if it seems like I'm trying to talk around certain topics and plot points.

We get to see the present tense, and we get chapters in the past to see the beginning and evolution of Finn and Magdu's relationship. I like them as a couple, and I buy their chemistry. They also face quiet a bit of conflict because Magdu's family wouldn't be okay with her dating a woman. This is a pretty stereotypical conflict for a lesbian couple to face, but it's not uncommon or unrealistic.

The other primary conflict they have is Daphne. She and Finn have been close for years, and Magdu often feels like she's on the outside of their relationship. Daphne is also kind of strange... She's manipulative and possessive, so it provides are really interesting tension, especially in retrospect because Daphne was the one who suggested the climbing trip.

As I said, this central mystery is really interesting, and as the story progresses we get hints as to what could've happened to Magdu, the people around them who could've had it out for them, and both Finn and Daphne's pasts. However, a TON of the page count is filled with things that are frankly completely irrelevant. Finn gets her period, and it's totally not plot relevant. Finn is constantly speaking in her internal monologue about a sore tooth she has. It opens a little lead into the mystery but is ultimately irrelevant. Finn begs to see Magdu's body for so many pages, and it leads to nothing really. Obviously, it's emotionally driven for Finn, but it's not like it leads to any clues or hints about the mystery.

There is a REASON why Finn can't really investigate or tell the audience about any clues she's found. There is a reason we don't see Finn hunting down suspects and informing the police about what she's found. There is a reason the story stagnates SO hard, but that literally relates to who is ultimately found responsible. I can't spoil the twist. I can tell you I saw it coming, and that I thought it was a little interesting and shocking. However, that doesn't mean the rest of the story was good in retrospect.

The issue is that Finn was our POV character, and seeing things through her eyes just doesn't work. I realize Scrivenor was trying to do something unique and I applaud that. I just don't think it worked.

If you look at it as more of a literary exploration of co-dependency, or a deep dive into Finn as a character, you might enjoy this book a lot more than I did. If you're looking for a mystery, I think you might end up disappointed.

Girl Falling by Hayley Scrivenor releases on March 11th, 2025

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ thank you netgalley and flatiron books for this arc!

i’m a bit annoyed that i finished this if im being honest. if you’re looking for a quick sapphic read, you might have fun with this! but i found the contents a bit boring, the characters didn’t talk or behave like real people and the plot was overall pretty unbelievable. i’m fine with suspending my disbelief but that’s not really what this book was going for so it just left me frustrated. if this wasn’t a gay i probably would have DNF’d.

This book was okay. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t necessarily great either. I kept thinking I could put it down and kind of just forget about it. I appreciated the little twist at the very end even though it doesn’t really fit the character.

3.5⭐️!

This book just goes to show you that having a narcissistic ex that controls your life isn’t strictly a heterosexual experience.

It reminded me of some of those “friendships” I had when I was in middle and high school when I was *certain* I was straight. Compulsory heterosexuality, amiright? I am a sucker for a good sapphic story that’s NOT in the YA category.

Anyways, I really enjoyed this psychological thriller and felt like it paced itself really well and kept me wanting to turn the pages- I ended up finishing it in one sitting. I loved the relationship between Finn and Magdu and theThe twist at the end was sliiightly out of left field but hey, thrillers do be like that sometimes. Overall, definitely one to add to my shelf when it publishes in March!

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Hayley Scrivenor and Flatiron Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book because it was different than any story out there right now. Love the female strength and mysterious aspects. Would recommend to readers of psychological fun, mystery, and intrigue.

Rather than a murder mystery, Girl Falling is a slow burning psychological thriller told in alternating chapters (distinguished as either "Before" or "After") about the aftermath of Finn's girlfriend Magdu falling to her death while hiking with Finn and Finn's best friend Daphne, and what led up to this event in the years prior.

Girl Falling is not so much about the actual death of Magdu, but uncovering the web of lies Finn has built up around herself and her co-dependency on Daphne. Finn and Daphne are linked via tragedy years before Magdu's death and we find out how that has shaped their relationship into far more than a supportive friendship. It's slowly revealed how drastically this has impacted the entire trajectory of Finn's life.

Through her relationship with Magdu, Finn begins to wake up to the reality of her relationship with Daphne, but as that realization is made, we learn that Finn is actually an unreliable narrator and the whole story is turned on its head. I was surprised by the turn the book took and felt like there were subtle clues I must have missed. I felt like some details that were put in as red herrings were not adequately addressed as such which made it a little confusing, but not so much that it ruined the story.

Along with being a psychological thriller, I felt that this book did well at navigating the complexities of grief as well as navigating both a multicultural lesbian relationship and women who are bisexual without relying on any tropes. The narrator Finn was sometimes hard to understand in terms of the choices she made which was irritating, however that made more sense upon the conclusion of the book.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in both mysteries and LGBTQ+ literature. Many thanks to Flatiron Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

The plot was really engaging and the characters felt well developed. This was a quick read for me because I had to see what happened next. I also really loved the plot twist!

A taut she said/she said that will leave you guessing until the last page. I truly thought I had this one all figured out and I was wrong!

Daphne and Finn have been friends since high school, bonding over the tragic deaths of their younger sisters. But now that Finn is an adult in a serious, committed relationship with her new girlfriend Madgu, she's beginning to realize her relationship with Daphne is a bit...toxic.

So when Madgu tragically dies on a hike and Daphne is the only other person at the top of the mountain with her, Finn starts to second guess a lot of things about her close friend.

This was a short but powerful read about the power of secrets and trauma bonding.

I can't explain to you how much I liked this book. So I hope the rating speaks for me. Thank you so much for the arc and this book will be on my shelf when it comes out.

In the gripping novel "Girl Falling," the protagonist Finn's world shatters when her girlfriend dies during a rock climbing adventure with her best friend, Daphne. Throughout the book, Finn struggles to make sense of the tragedy in a way that she can live with. We learn about Finn and Daphne's lifelong toxic friendship, her relationship with girlfriend Magdu, and the tension among all three through flashbacks.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't put it down. After reading it in one sitting and continuously being wrong about my assumptions, I recommend this novel to all those looking for an exhilarating read! Special thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron for the ARC.