Review: Falling Together

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos
Genre: Adult Fiction, Women's Fiction
Pages: 360 (paperback)
Source: TLC Book Tours
Author's Facebook
Buy it: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depo

Description:

It's been six years since Pen Calloway watched Cat and Will, her best friends from college, walk out of her life.  Through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them.  When, after years of silence, Cat--the bewitching, charismatic center of their group--urgently requests that the three meet at their college reunion, Pen can't refuse.  But instead of a happy reconciliation, what awaits is a collision of past and present that sends Pen and Will on a journey around the world, with Pen's five-year-old daughter and Cat's hostile husband in tow.  And as Pen and Will struggle to uncover the truth about Cat, they find more than they bargained for: startling truths about who they were before and who they are now.

My Rating:

My Review:

Falling Together is about friendship and love.  It explores the closest friendship and what happens when people grow up and out.  Here, love is explored with a focus on family though romantic love is present  as well.  For the Pen, the biggest betrayal is leaving, walking away.  With the dissolution of a close-knit friendship, the death of her father, and the end of a relationship, Pen feels more alone than ever.  When she receives an email from her friend Cat, asking for help, she can't help but look at the past and see a chance of regaining what she lost.

I fell in love with this story almost from the very beginning.  I loved the relationships between the characters, the witty banter, the random way that they connected, and the growth throughout the journey.  It's told from Pen's point of view and every once in a while we get a glimpse into Will's.  Most of the characters change throughout and achieve a growth of sorts, but my favorite came from Jason, Cat's husband, because he isn't really a likeable character, but he was complex and I was drawn in.  This isn't a fast read and it should be carefully read because it isn't linear.  At times it read like a conversation with a person with a short attention span who changes the subject as things pop in his head; you never really get to finish the original conversation.  It really made me reflect on some of my relationships, creating a strong connection on my part.  I completely get these characters.  As crazy and perhaps unrealistic as the friendship between Pen, Cat, and Will seemed, it felt so real.  I knew it could be real because I've had a friendship like that, but it seems unreal to other people because they are on the outside looking in.  I was pleasantly surprised at the progression of the plot.  It isn't particularly predictable and everything isn't tied up into a neat bow.

Overall, this one will stick with me for a long time and is one of my favorite reads of the year.  It's the kind of story that you love so much that you don't want to share (if that makes any sense).