Falling

by Cat Clarke

It's the party of the year and everyone's going to be there - the perfect opportunity for Jess to set up her newly-out best friend Tilly with the only other gay girl in school.
And it'll help her keep her mind off the fact that she cheated on her perfect boyfriend Cam last night. But this party will change everything.

A powerful novel about sexuality and growing up, realistically and frankly portrayed by acclaimed YA novelist Cat Clarke. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers of 14+.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, LGBT, Contemporary

72 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2013

About the author

Cat was born in Zambia and brought up in Edinburgh and Yorkshire, which has given her an accent that tends to confuse people.

Cat has written non-fiction books about exciting things like cowboys, sharks and pirates, and now writes YA novels. She lives in Edinburgh with a couple of cats, Jem and Scout, who spend their days plotting to spit up furballs at the most inconvenient times. She likes cheese A LOT, especially baked camembert.

Reviews

[Jonna Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

how did we manage the bury the gays trope in 74 pages

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

My contact at Barrington Stoke heard about LGBTQ YA Month and emailed me specifically to recommend Falling by Cat Clarke. I jumped at the chance to review Falling as I am such a big fan of Clarke, I was sure I would love it. Unfortunately, I thought it was just ok.

To distract herself from the guilt of cheating on her boyfriend the night before, Anna decides to help her newly-out best friend Tilly by matchmaking her with the only other lesbian at school. And everything changes.

Sadly, I didn't like any of the characters in this book, and I didn't find it one where that doesn't matter. Considering at least Anna is 16, if not all the characters, I found them to seem much younger. I could understand Anna's annoyance at how her boyfriend Cam acts, because nothing bothers him. And I feel he should have reacted differently. Even with the situation as it was, I felt there should have been more from him. And earlier, from Tilly. She wasn't happy, but she let things happen anyway, without even really putting up a fight. Anna was the worst, being so pushy but thinking she can get away with it in a way that made me want to shake her and shout, "How old are you?! Grow up!"

Despite Tilly being gay, when it comes to focusing on her character specifically, not much of a big deal is made about it. She's just a girl her best mate decides to set up with someone she thinks she fancies. The focus regarding the LGBTQ elements is on what Anna thinks about homosexuality, and how she looks having a gay best friend. There's more to it, but I can't talk about it without spoiling the story. This was very realistic, and found it to be a pretty believable situation. I did end feeling begrudgingly sorry for Tilly and Anna, and I think it worked well.

However, I knew from the very beginning how the book would end. I didn't know how that ending would come about specifically, I just knew it would. Clarke writes a certain kind of novel, and to have Falling fit that style, it seemed glaringly obvious to me what the ending would be. And it really bothered me. It wasn't a surprise, I wasn't shocked, and I closed the book feeling really annoyed.

I have read books before where I predicted the outcome yet still loved them, so I don't know why Falling bothered me so much. Maybe it was this particular story, or because it was a short story, or maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this book. Either way, I didn't really enjoy it, which is such a shame, because I'm a huge fan of Clarke's. I guess this time, Falling isn't for me. Please do read more reviews of Falling before deciding whether or not to read Falling, don't decide on my review alone.

Thank you to Barrington Stoke for the review copy.

[Jay Lamerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short read, easy to follow along. I sensed the spark between Anna and Tilly from the get go. Cam being an absolute sweetheart was a nice change. But holy shi- the ending?! Didn’t expect that, confessing love just for Tilly to die?! Wtf.

[ReadingwithSassy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 : facile à lire (VO) et poignant, la plume de Cat Clarke m'avait manquée

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't really do a full review for this one because it was so short, but I have a few thoughts on it anyway.
Part of the reason my rating was so low is because of the length of the novel due to the subject matter. I don't mind reading novellas and short stories when I feel as though they wrap everything up and don't try to aim too high, but I'm afraid that was what I felt with this one. What we have is main character, Anna, who is struggling with her sexuality - she's going out with the perfect boy, but she just doesn't really feel anything for him - but she believes she's starting to feel something for her best friend, Tilly. With a subject matter such as this, you either need a really clean resolution or a lot of back story to work with the dramatic climax, and because of how short the novel was we didn't really have time to connect with the characters. It felt flat - the conclusion was shocking, but I had no emotions about it. What happened happened, and it didn't affect me at all.
This is a shame, because normally I love Cat Clarke's writing - 'Entangled' and 'Torn' both had me in tears for hours, while I couldn't even get through 'Undone' because of how emotional it was making me. However, her writing is definitely better suited to longer, more developed novels, so if this is your first experience of Cat Clarke I would say don't hold it against her and definitely give some of her other writing a try.

[Bethany Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read this book and feeling unsettled about rating it any higher than 3 stars, I read some reviews and realised why. I loved Cat Clarke's book Girlhood and it was my favourite read of 2019, but I agree with other reviewers that she should still to novels rather than short stories. In 72 pages (with blank pages so more like 60) she explores so many hard hitting, complex topics and plot, so it's inevitable these will be explored to a vague extent. This means that characters feel one dimensional and hard to relate to, which is a shame because in Girlhood I loved the characters, even the morally grey ones. It did leave me feeling a bit disappointed, hence my rating of 2.5 stars, but I did appreciate some issues raised and it was quick, easy and fast paced

**update on reread 26/07/21** I'd actually rate this 3 stars because after rereading it I can appreciate the story more and see Cat Clarke's talent shining through. That said, I really think the short story narrative impacted the story and it would have been far better if it were longer

[Sophie Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a good book for reluctant readers. It has the usual Cat Clarke stamp - foul language and a lot of sex references.

The book follows the tale of two friends during a party. I have to admit there were a lot of ups and downs which keep you intrigued. Some of the characters were typical stereotypes but I guess with such a short book it is hard to add depth.

Cam seemed too nice to be true though so not forgiving that one!

As for the ending I have to say I didn't like it. It was shocking and like woah! But it left a bad taste. I thought it was a bit too dramatic considering the driving forces of Tilly's actions that lead to the ending. Good for shock factor but as an overall message I thought it wasn't a great one.

A brill short read for Clarke fans or a reluctant reader who may need something with a bit more grit but the shocking ending didn't do it for me.

[RV · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had tears in my eye, Cat Clarke strikes again.
I wrote a review on my blog.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, now I'm looking forward to Cat Clarkes new book even more.

[Hikmah Dinillah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an easy read but it still brings out a lot from just a short story. I love it

[Billie Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not usually a fan of short stories but thought I'd give it a go because I love all of Cat Clarke's books. I'm so glad I did because this was gripping and just amazing in general! Definitely recommend!

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really appropriate for 11-14 pupils. Any comments gratefully received.

[Emelie Talledo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Irrational and shallow about love and death. The ending was just strange and the writing style made it hard to feel anything for me.

[Trish Hills · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my god! I did not expect that at all! Beautiful and tragic...

[Jenna Coyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story why it looses one star as would have liked more but enjoyed it

[Claire Gilmour · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storyline of the book made for an interesting concept but it was a bit of a whirlwind. No character development and it was all over before I knew it. 2.5 stars.

[Mina Rockwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I feel about this book. It was short though...

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was my first book by Cat Clarke and it was a nice short story however I was not happy with the ending at all. Ann finally confess her feelings and then it all ends within a few pages.

[erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

i could only think about that barbie episode with the pool party and when emo ken does the big dive and like drowns

[e l honeyman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice easy short read .
Two best friends , love , denial and tragedy

[MiloMe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I expected

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://wandering-world.skyrock.com/31...

Cat Clarke m'a, une nouvelle fois, complètement ébloui. Même avec seulement 72 pages, ma Déesse (j'en arrive à ce point) a réussi à me dévaster et à me couper le souffle. Je vous assure que je suis complètement perdu, là tout de suite. Comme avec chacun de ses romans, l'auteure est parvenue à me faire passer par toute une palette d'émotions ultra fortes et ultra intenses, qui m'ont laissé complètement pantelant et dévasté. Je crois que j'aurais adooooré voir cette nouvelle être plus développée et transformée en roman, parce que je vous assure que, à l'instar de toutes les intrigues écrites par Cat Clarke, cette histoire est juste poignante et fascinante.
Mon avis risque d'être plus court qu'habituellement étant donnée l'épaisseur du livre, mais je compte bien vous retranscrire le moindre de mes sentiments. Tout d'abord, je me dois de préciser que FALLING m'a énormément rappelé ma lecture de UNDONE/REVANCHE. En effet, Cat Clarke y explore les mêmes domaines : l'homosexualité, l'homophobie, l'acceptation de soi, le thème du monde adolescent, l'amour et la mort. Avec moi, c'est une recette qui fonctionne toujours. L'auteure m'a fait revivre tous les sentiments que j'avais ressenti en lisant UNDONE de manière accélérée. Accélérée, et donc un peu plus superficielle, mais ce n'est pas grave. Je pardonne amplement à mon auteure chouchou ce minuscule faux pas. Surtout que c'est une nouvelle, donc je suis bien obligé de mettre mon exigence de côté.
Nous suivons ici trois personnages : Anna, Tilly, et Cam. J'ai beaucoup aimé suivre ces trois protagonistes. La magnifique amitié qui lie Anna et Tilly m'a fait penser au lien qu'entretient Jem avec Kai dans UNDONE. Oui bon ok, j'en reviens toujours à ce livre, mais je vous assure que les deux histoires se ressemblent fortement. J'ai également craqué pour le côté réaliste du couple Anna/Cam, qui est juste décrit à la perfection. Comme toujours avec Cat Clarke, c'est comme si on y était. Il en va de même avec la fête qui prend place chez Cam, et qui permet à de nombreux adolescents de se retrouver. J'étais avec eux. J'écoutais la musique. Je sentais la chaleur, la transpiration, les vibrations des enceintes. J'écoutais les cris et les chansons. Même en 72 pages, l'auteure parvient à nous dépeindre un monde ultra réaliste et irrésistiblement attirant.
A l'instar de CONFUSION, CRUELLES et REVANCHE, Cat Clarke met tout en place pour nous faire angoisser et pour nous conférer un puissant sentiment d'oppression. Arrivé à une trentaine de pages de FALLING, j'avais déjà l'estomac noué. On sait pertinemment que quelque chose d'affreux va arriver, et, pourtant, on ne peut s'empêcher de foncer dans le mur tête baissée. Et, mon dieu, que les révélations m'ont dévasté !!! Une nouvelle fois - et je ne cesserai jamais de m'en étonner - Cat Clarke est arrivée à complètement pulvériser mon cœur et mes émotions. Les quatre derniers chapitres sont juste... Palpitants, saisissants, destructeurs et atrocement captivants. On souffre, on a le souffle coupé, et on se rend-compte qu'au final, cette nouvelle est porteuse d'un véritable message. C'est aussi une des spécialités de cette merveilleuse auteure, d'ailleurs. Cat Clarke n'hésite pas à nous écrire un paragraphe qui, si on y prêtait pas attention, pourrait sembler banal et exactement comme tous les autres. Sauf que ce n'est pas le cas : comme d'habitude, l'auteure utilise sa plume vive, fracassante et marquante pour nous écrire très brièvement des mots qui nous détruisent. Je vous assure que la conclusion de FALLING m'a tout simplement brisé et saccagé. Les mêmes sentiments que j'avais ressenti en terminant UNDONE, mais de manière moins intense. Et c'est aussi bon et exaltant que blessant et cruel.
En conclusion, FALLING est une nouvelle que vous recommande très, TRÈS, fortement. Que ce soit pour vous lancer dans la VO ou parce que vous êtes, comme moi (mais pas plus, c'est impossible), un(e) grand(e) adorateur(trice) de Cat Clarke, cette petite histoire va vous en faire voir de toutes les couleurs. Pour la quatrième fois d'affilée, ma Déesse est parvenue à me détruire de l'intérieur et à me subjuguer grâce à sa plume, ses personnages, et cet univers ultra riche et ultra réaliste qu'elle a créé. Pour qu'une personne me marque autant en 600 pages ou en 72, c'est vraiment qu'elle est douée et mérite ma vénération, vous ne pensez pas ? Moi qui voulais faire court, je crois que j'en suis incapable, quand j'en arrive à parler de Cat Clarke... Toujours est-il que je vous conseille chaudement la nouvelle FALLING, et que j'aimerai vous dire que je vais mourir d'ici la date de sortie du prochain roman de l'auteure. Je profite de cette chronique pour également vous rappeler que UNDONE/REVANCHE sort en octobre, et que vous avez OBLIGATION de l'acheter et de le lire (et il en va de même avec FALLING, au fait) ;) L'Effet Cat Clarke est définitivement en marche, et je peux vous assurer qu'il va tout dévaster sur son passage.

[Marine Co · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voilà qu'enfin, je découvre la plume de Cat Clarke dont j'ai tant entendu parler. J'avais déjà fait l'expérience de lire en anglais à plusieurs reprise, comme notamment pour la saga Twilight mais c'était bien différent. Je les avait déjà lu en français, je connaissais l'histoire et surtout j'étais au collège. Des subtilités me sont alors certainement passées loin au-dessus de la tête. Aujourd'hui, je retente ma chance avec ce roman qui prend beaucoup la forme d'une nouvelle ne serait-ce que par son nombre peu élevé de page. Bien.

Clairement, c'est la surprise qui reste le sentiment le plus présent en moi après avoir fermé le livre. Je suis partie dans l'idée que le fait de devoir jongler entre mon livre et mon dictionnaire allait être une histoire pénible mais pas du tout. Au contraire, je suis ravie d'avoir découvert un façon d'écrire familière et à la portée du lecteur. Il est plus que délicieux que de s'offrir les vrais mots, la vrai volonté que met l'auteure dans chacune de ses descriptions, dans chacun de ses dialogues! Je ne regrette donc pas de mettre mise à la VO bien au contraire! D'ailleurs trois autres livres de Cat Clarke, m'attende dans ma PAL et sont restés dans la langue de Shakespeare, mais vous doutez sûrement desquels: Entangled, Torn et Undone que je chroniquerai sûrement durant ces vancances-ci!

Venons-en à l'histoire à proprement parlé. L'histoire est indéniablement la plus original, quoique certes prévisible par certains aspects mais tellement touchante, tellement poignante, tellement perturbante! Comme un souffle qui vous dévaste de l'intérieur et qui vous fait penser "T'y crois là à ce que tu viens de lire?" Et bien non, je n'y crois pas.

Nous connaissons finalement peu de chose sur chacune des vies des personnages mais étrangement ici, peu m'importait. Seul ce qui leurs arrivait avait de l'importance à ce moment là. Je voulais découvrir leurs choix et non les anticiper pour une fois. La relation fusionnelle entre les deux meilleures amies que sont Tilly et Anna m'a littéralement fait sourire et d'un seul coup m'a heurté sans que je m'y attende le moins du monde. Je ne pense pas spoiler quoi que ce soit en disant que Cam, le petit ami d'Anna est un être tout bonnement parfait. Je ne connaissais pas encore de personnage sans faille qui puisse ne pas être énervant et c'est exactement ce que j'ai trouvé en découvrant Cameron. Il est romantique mais pas lourd, riche mais pas dénuée de sens. Il mène une grosse fête, certes, comme dit dans le résumé mais il garde un regard clair sur la situation et ça, j'ai adoré.

L'univers en soit, n'est pas plus développé que cela mais que voulez vous ce n'est pas un roman qui fait plus de trois cents pages. Et c'est bien, ce que je regrette quelque part. Falling rase de près le coup de coeur mais il me manque ces, disons, dix dernières pages qui me permettrait de me remettre après cette annonce finale où nous pourrions découvrir comment nos personnages s'en sont relever ou quelque chose de ce genre.

[Nicole Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

What? OMG what? What did I just read??!

I picked this book up because I loved The Pants Project so much. This book is nothing like that.

First of all, it reads very simplistically even though it's filled with sixteen year old kids. I had to double check the age group of this book, because it reads like it's written for middle graders. But then there was sex and kissing being talked about, so I was like :/

This whole book seems like the beginning of a larger novel. For that reason, I also thought of Complementary and Acute by Ella Lyons. But while that was sweet, this one ripped my heart out and ended far too suddenly.

Look, I think I'm going to look into some of Cat's other books, because I'm reading this is quite different to her normal, and so I'm willing to give that a chance.

[Sarri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oho, tämä dyslexia-friendly kirja pääsi kyllä yllättämään. Tämä on sarjassamme "vaikeita aiheita", eikä lukijaa todellakaan päästetä helpolla, vaikka sivumäärä ei päätä huimaa. Annan viisi tähteä, koska tämä helppolukuinen romaani iskee teiniangstikirjallisuuden napakymppiin.

Jess seurustelee maailman mukavimman pojan kanssa, mutta on jossain bileissä pettänyt Camia. Jess ei oikein edes tiedä, miksi hän on sellainen, vaikka Cam on niin kultainen ja ymmärtäväinen. Camin ehdotuksesta he ovat odottaneet ekaa kertaakin jo pitempään, mutta nyt Cam on pitämässä kotibileet, joissa Jess päättää hoitaa asian pois päiväjärjestyksestä.

Jessin paras ystävä Tilly on tullut juuri ulos kaapista. Jess on myös päättänyt yhyttää Tillyn bileissä koulun toisen julkilesbon kanssa, jotta Jess saisi ilahdutettua Tillyä sekä muuta ajateltavaa kuin oman petoksensa.

Mutta kaikki ei menekään aivan suunnitelmien mukaan.

[Annamarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Cat Clarke book that I have read. It wasn't a great book but this could be because the story could have been a lot more in depth, their is so much about the story that could have been explored in much more detail.

The book is only 72 pages long and it is aimed at dyslexic readers, which is why it wasn't as in depth as it could have been. I feel there could have been a lot more to the story if it was longer.

The story between all the characters were handled in a realistic way, although if I was Cam I probably wouldn't have acted so calmly as he did with Anna.

Although Anna ends up being horrible to her best friend Tilly at the party you can't help but feel sorry for her at the end of the book.

There isn't really much more I can say about Falling without giving the whole story away other than the ending is somewhat predictable and is a pretty good book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an immense fan of Cat Clarke, I was looking forward to reading this as it was the final installment of her books for me.
The thing that really surprised me was, predictably, the length. I feel like the book was excellent despite the extreme lack of pages however my attachment to the characters was sacrificed because of this.
The length in some ways works in it's favour because it is of course a classic Cat-Clarke page turner. I wouldn't change her writing style for the world particularly because for about 30 minutes I was completely enthralled.
I'm certain that I wasn't the only reader left in pieces after finishing this book which says a lot about the quality of the storyline. Fantastic, though I expected nothing less!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book from Amazon simply because it was written by my all time favourite author and it was the only book I hadn't read of hers. When it arrived I was disappointed by the size of the book, it's only 72 pages and the fonts really big and some of the pages were blank after each chapter (I know it's dyslexic friendly). I actually can't believe Cat Clarke was able to make me feel all those feelings in such a short book!

My love for her and her writing was firmly reinforced! Cat writes the best tragic, gritty and shocking YA. Despite only being a tiny book I truly cared about the characters and the ending was heartbreaking. I craved more and when I found out Cat has a new book coming out this summer, I pre-ordered it asap!! I can't wait!

[Francesca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite shocked that I am giving Clarke a two star review however, in essence the story line makes for a good book, however because of its short story nature I felt no real connection to the characters like I have in past books by Clarke. It could have easily been extended and what there is of the book be the last part of an intense build up, which is what I felt that it lacked, a build up and a relationship with the characters.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay and although I appreciate it's purpose I couldn't help thinking it sounded what one may write for English Coursework and GCSE short stories. I felt no attachments to the characters and thought the dialogue was blunt. For someone of a lower reading ability or for someone who want's something quick this would be perfect. I personally read it within an hour and a half. I appreciate the story and its honesty and still truly love Cat Clarke's writing style.