The Inconvenient Process of Falling

by Katie Neipris

Seven childhood friends go camping together for the second summer in a row. Last summer they had just graduated high school and believed in their ability to remain so tightly-knit even when separated by several months and thousands of miles. Last summer they’d been so confident that nothing would change. They could not have been more wrong. Their first year of college did not go as expected. Everything that they took for granted fell apart in ways they never could have foreseen. This weekend is their last chance to put themselves back together. The Inconvenient Process of Falling describes the real struggle of growing up and accepting the unpleasant realization that life is not going to turn out exactly how you planned. It depicts the real coming-of-age experience of returning home and seeing how much you’ve changed. Ultimately, it’s a novel about realizing that friends are the family you get to choose. These seven friends undergo the same experience endured by all nineteen-year-olds. It’s a time of transition and trying to stay afloat in this strange state of quasi-adulthood. Growing up is a strange process, and this novel shows that no one is exempt from it. No matter where you live, where you go to school, or what aspirations you use to define yourself, nineteen is a hell of a year. The hardships endured at this age – the money troubles and family struggles and broken hearts that are an inevitable part of growing up – are their own brand of battle. When you emerge scarred and battered and kind of an adult, you probably still don’t know what you want to do with your life or how you’re going to become a full person, but you know who your friends really are, and that’s all you can ask for.

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2015

About the author

Katie Neipris has always loved writing. Born and raised in Seal Beach, California, she spent her childhood at the beach, playing softball, and reading everything she could get her hands on. Katie graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA, where she studied English and Film, Television, & Digital Media. She spent summer 2012 studying abroad at Oxford and traveling around Europe, a life-changing experience that she credits with inspiring her to fully become a writer.

Katie currently works in film and television development, and is excited to continue writing for multiple formats. The Inconvenient Process of Falling is her first novel and she looks forward to writing many more.

Katie and her college roommates are still happily cohabitating in Los Angeles. They spend their time at the beach, watching movies, cheering on the Bruins, and getting into as many shenanigans as possible.

Reviews

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Inconvenient Process of Falling by Katie Neipris is a great coming of age story about that vaguely gray, transitional time when all young teens-turned-twenty-somethings find themselves facing questions of identity, life choices, and friendship. Bright-eyed college kids will relate to the inner struggles this group of misfit, life-long friends face as they enjoy one short weekend together. Neipris takes a snapshot of that time between becoming an adult and letting your childhood go. Neipris takes an interesting approach with her story formatting: the book is divided into first-person POV that rotates between each character, allowing the reader to get a sense of the physical action of the story while also getting to know the inner thoughts of each character. While not a traditional format, this makes for an interesting change of pace that I really enjoyed. It also allows the story to dig deeper into the heart of what is really driving each character emotionally. The Inconvenient Process of Falling is a great read, especially for those young adult readers experiencing the transition from life at home with your family to life on your own. If you want a story with characters you can relate to and a storytelling format that is both intriguing and out of the ordinary, check out The Inconvenient Process of Falling!

[Brandi Woo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katie Neipris' first novel, The Inconvenient Process of Falling, is a wonderfully written book that is relatable and honest. This coming of age story is about the exciting, yet scary transition all teens go through when turning into a new decade of their lives- their 20's. This is a great read where the characters face the real life struggles of changing friendships, life choices, and of self-identity.

[Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The inconvenient process of falling is a truly astounding debut novel by Katie Neipris, who was able to create and humanize seven unique characters. The general plot of the novel is fairly basic at its core: Seven childhood friends go on a camping trip after their first year after high school and they get to see and explore the differences that makes. Where the book truly shines is in its portrayal of relatable, humanizing characters who go beyond the initial stereotypes they appear to portray that everyone should be able to relate to in one manner or another. Neipris allows for the reveals of what has caused many of the changes to come slowly, slowly peeling back the layers of her characters to show their numerous vulnerabilities and how no one has the perfect, problem less life they may portray on the surface. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who has faced the changing flows of life in the awkward transition into adulthood.

[La'Tonya Miles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like it because the author is a Bruin, but I really didn't. Read more like amateurish fan fiction.