EARLY BOOK REVIEW: TUMBLE & FALL BY ALEXANDRA COUTTS

Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts

Published: September 17, 2013

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (BYR)

Age Demographic: YA Sci-Fi Contemp

Pages: 384

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings...

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

To Purchase Tumble & Fall by

 Alexandra Coutts: Amazon

Tumble & Fall is a new post-apocalyptic young adult novel that you will either enjoy or not. More intellectual than emotional, Alexandra Coutts has created a world that will leave you with some thought provoking scenarios as the novel draws itself to a close. It's a beautiful coming of age story where love, friendship, family, and hope play an important key role at the end of the world. The characters voices shine through the pages, as their courage and bravery takes them further in life. Although, the dual point of views can leave things a bit confusing at times, I still found it to be an inspirational story of hope, faith, love, and beauty.

Coutts did a wonderful job of showcasing the journey that each of the three main characters took throughout the course of this novel. There is an emotional connection that I was able to share with each of them, however, I did feel as if the intellectual aspect was more prominent throughout. That only made the novel that more entertaining and compelling, in my opinion. This is a heart breaking and inspiring story, of finding the courage to discover who you are, love to the tips of your fingers and beyond the telling, of learning to go back home and simply say goodbye to the family that you have only discovered you love. There is so much beautiful potential wrapped up in each of the characters storylines, that you can't help but feel something for them.

Coutts has written a very thoughtful, emotional, and intellectual contemporary post-apocalyptic novel that will stay with readers in many ways, whether it's good or bad. It's incredibly realistic in the sense that these characters have known what was going to happen all along and are resigned to their fate. No one is going to be spared and they all have the same end result to look forward to. If you are a fan of contemporary novels that deal with self-discovery, love, and life altering decisions, but you're not crazy about post-apocalyptic or dystopian novels then this is the book that I would suggest to you. I actually found myself enjoying it quite a bit more than I realized I would. While it still had a few drawbacks and things that I felt held further potential, all in all I think it was a pretty good read.

I would suggest that you either pick up a copy for yourself, borrow it from a friend or the library, and find out for yourself whether or not it's going to be a book for you.

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Alexandra Bullen Coutts has been a playwright, waitress, barista, gardener, script reader, yoga instructor and personal assistant. She grew up in Massachusetts, went to college in New York City, and lives most of the year full time on Martha’s Vineyard.

BOOK REVIEW: EYES EVER TO THE SKY BY KATIE FRENCH

Eyes Ever to the Sky by Katie French

Published: April 9, 2013

Publisher: Self-Published

Age Demographic: YA Sci-Fi Fantasy

Pages: 192

When Hugh wakes up in a smoldering crater—no memory, no clothes—a single thought echoes in his head…trust no one. Frightened and alone, with no memory of who he is, he stumbles upon a grisly murder scene and is fatally shot. He wakes, only to find he can heal himself. He has superpowers, and he’s going to need them.

Desperate and bleeding, Hugh stumbles upon fifteen-year-old Cece, who’s got enough troubles of her own. Between caring for her bipolar mother and trying not to get evicted from her run-down trailer, Cece may be the only person struggling as much as Hugh. Drawn to Hugh, Cece finds a love she’s never known. But when the real killer—a man-hunting beast—chooses another victim, Hugh and Cece realize they must unlock the clues to their past if they have any chance at a future.

To Purchase Eyes Ever to the Sky by Katie French: Amazon

Eyes Ever to the Sky is a quick read with potential for an interesting plot and likable characters. Conceptually it was inspired in some ways, but in other's I tend to feel as if it kind of missed the mark a little bit. Katie French's writing style is one where the reader will either like or not, making it a bit hard to enjoy the book as one normally would. It isn't uninspired by any means necessarily, but it is or was actually harder for me to really connect with the characters on an emotional level, in the way that I normally love to while reading. They just seemed to need a bit more tweaking, a little more development, and backstory to balance things out.

Novels, such as Eyes Ever to the Sky, are ones that I typically fall for and it was a bit of a let down when this one didn't live up to my expectations. I don't know, maybe I had set them a little too high, but this book just didn't seem to pull me in as much as I hoped it would have. The characters were slightly interesting, but there wasn't enough development there for me to really easily connect with them in the way that I would have normally liked to. I found the sci-fi elements of this novel to be a bit lacking as well, or well, I don't know if that's the right word to use or not. I wanted more of an explanation regarding Hugh, more of an understanding regarding him and his people.

The whirlwind romance that seemed to form rather quickly between Cece and Hugh, was another thing that seemed to put me off as far as this novel is concerned. I can't say that I'm a big fan of insta-love, in any capacity, which is another reason that I gave this book a lower rating than I normally would have. I have a feeling that if French would have just slowed down the quick romance and focused more on developing the characters, introducing background knowledge, and building the potential even higher for the premise of this novel that it would have been a lot more enjoyable than I personally found it to be.

On the whole, the beginning of this novel, started out as a promising and intriguing read. Soon after that, though, it started to tumble down hill for me. However, with that being said, I have to point to some obvious goodness that did come out of this book, like the beautiful prose that lent itself to some pretty imagery. French definitely has a way with words and they helped to paint a chillingly dark and scary atmosphere that evoked some intense feels from me while reading certain parts of the novel. I did enjoy, that while amidst the bleak and dreary atmosphere, there was also some wonderfully beautiful and intensely poetic vivid details brought to light that may have otherwise been missed.

Eyes Ever to the Sky was an enjoyable book, it just wasn't the novel that I was expecting to blow me away, when I read the promising synopsis. Again, perhaps, I expected too much out of this novel. The thing is, I really wanted to be blown away, I wanted it to be better than it was. The dark and dreary paranormal aspect, the sci-fi elements, those were all filled with so much potential that I feel just wasn't tapped as much as it should have been. Perhaps, Katie French, will continue this story and the sophomore novel will be better, maybe Eyes Ever to the Sky will turn out to be like City of Bones or The Vampire Academy and will function as the book that sets up the premise to what could potentially be a fantastic new young adult paranormal sci-fi trilogy. In any case, this is what I am hoping, and I will definitely be sticking around for the second book in the trilogy, to see if the background and development that I was so craving in this novel shows up in the next one. I don't want to give up on what could turn out to be a really intriguing series.

For those who enjoy quick, fast paced paranormal romance, I would say to go ahead and give this book a chance, and then decide for yourself what you make of it.

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Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. Though her social life suffered, her love for literature thrived. She studied English at Eastern Michigan University, where she veered from writing and earned an education degree. She spent nine years teaching high school English. Currently she is a school counselor, doing a job that is both one of the hardest things she's ever done and the most rewarding. In her free time she writes, reads great books and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is a contributor and co-creator of Underground Book Reviews, a website dedicated to erasing the boundaries between traditional and non-traditional publishing. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two children.