The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
My rating: 3/5 cats
come play the the way we fall game—a constantly oscillating board game about as frustrating as chutes and ladders.
ready player one
first time reading a contemporary YA novel about the decimation of a population brought on by plague? inflate rating by one star cat.
fist time reading a novel? inflate rating by two stars cats. and welcome.
move ahead four squares for premise and setting on a small island off the coast of canada. contained environment is interesting, although somewhat reminiscent of plague 99 where an entire town is quarantined.
move back two squares for journal-conceit, which decreases potential for dramatic tension.
lose one turn for perfunctory YA romance—zzzzz
go forward three spaces for teen protagonists with specialized knowledge beyond their years: botanical grafting, animal behavior/biology, civic planning. go, positive teen role models!
lose same three spaces for far-fetchery as they succeed where adults have failed! are medical records less cryptic and impenetrable in canada? cuz i can’t make sense of mine, much less set out to solve medical mysteries with a sheaf of ’em.
10 points for authorial balls it takes to kill off characters’ loved ones. subtract 5 of those points when you realize it is 2012 and not 1995. we expect that now.
go forward until you reach the calculatingly unresolved ending, and the introduction of a potential complication which may or may not improve the second book’s dynamic. woo-hoo sequels forever! you win! for now.
advice:
—the stuffed animal will still be there in the morning
—don’t be a tease View Spoiler »
—you will not need algebra if the world ends.
