ARC Book Review | No Place to Fall by Jaye Robin Brown

Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: December 9, 2014
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.

When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.

Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.

My Thoughts:  

 

No Place to Fall is a book that I was really looking forward to, it sounded amazing and I adore that cover. Going into it, I was expecting to fall in love with these characters and this story. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book but there were just a few things that I had an issue with and those ended up being enough for me to drop the rating a little bit.

 

Amber has always been the good girl, she goes to church every Sunday, sings in the choir and spends most of the time with her nephew, Cody and her best friend, Devon. That is until she gets the taste of freedom during the summer, she thought that she would leave it all behind and go back to her good girl routine once the summer was over, but the truth is, that summer changed her.

 

This one had all the promise to be an amazing story, the plot was good, the writing is beautiful, it's just those little things that keep it from going into the 'amazing' territory. Like, at one point I was expecting a love triangle, I mean it had every sign of a love triangle. But it turned out completely different, not that I'm complaining because I'm not a huge fan of love triangles. But the closeness between Amber and one certain guy just didn't make sense if she didn't like him like that.

 

I also really didn't understand Amber's mom, I don't really want to get into it, but I just don't get how she put up with what she did. But not only did she put up with it, she acted like everything was ok, that really was what got me.

 

I really liked the whole music aspect of this book, and I liked that Amber and one of the guys had that in common, I feel like he was very supportive and very encouraging when she doubted herself and I loved that.

 

Overall, No Place to Fall was a one that I was expecting great things from but unfortunately fell short. The story was interesting and I enjoyed seeing Amber grow as a character but it wasn't enough to make up for the little things that didn't work for me.