Fallen

by Fiona McCready

The two women sitting at the emergency exit are very different from one another yet they have one thing very much in common - they are about to die.

When flight AS636 falls from the sky, Tom, a successful London businessman, loses his wife Beth and has to hold his fragile family together on his own. In Spain, bohemian artist Angelo is unable to deal with the loss of his girlfriend Maria and his world topples out of control.

As the year unfolds, both men learn more about the women they loved after their deaths than they knew during their lifetimes. At the anniversary of the tragedy, Tom and Angelo's lives collide and the two strangers have an impact on each other they never could have imagined.

Genres: Contemporary

334 pages, Paperback

Published December 3, 2015

Reviews

[Steelwhisper · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5* rounded up because I managed to finish.

It rarely is a good sign when I read a novel in under two hours. This one took me barely 1.5 hours, and the reason for this is such a huge amount of meaningless waffle that I could speed-read and still understand the whole thing from start to finish.

I should have stuck with my initial reaction ("no thanks"), but when I saw this is on KU, I decided to read it against my instincts which all screamed "no". Well, I should trust those more, because no one can give me back the last 90 minutes.

Firstly, and if you open this spoiler you know the HUGE reveal of the book, I realised that Beth was Maria from the get-go. I mean, the bloody prologue telegraphed this so loud and clear that I expected it to enter the picture much sooner than it did. As it is, this gimmick has been abused to death in so many stories and movies, that it didn't elicit more than a tired shrug.

Past that, there were a few nice visual ideas, a horrible and needless mix of two tenses (past tense and present tense chapterwise), wild jumping between several characters during different times in their past and present, and waffle - waffle - waffle. Enough dialogue to distill two or three whole plays, kids and relatives being a dime a dozen and behaving like the most boring everypeople one could meet. Endless navelgazing, missed chances which get artificially heightened, yada yada. I mean, this thing tried soooo hard to elevate itself from literary chicklit to lit fic, but essentially it just bored me half to death. None of the characters were even vaguely likeable, none of their reactions were wholly believable. Sort of a "could have been if only". And even then I doubt I'd have found it more interesting.

Careful, this is very expensive as a paperback, much cheaper to blow through on KU. Else I would rec it only to hardcore chicklit fans.

Oh, and the cover is probably the worst possible for this sort of story.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received this book from a Goodreads First reads giveaway*
4.5 *
This book messed with my heart. I cried, a lot, which was unexpected because I'm a tough ass. The realness of how death affects a family is heartbreaking but it was portrayed in such a true way that I can't fault it. I loved the twists and overall it was just a beautiful book that everyone needs to give a chance.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to be honest. I couldn’t read some parts of this. The writing is so ‘there’, so intense and intimate and terrifying that there were parts I could not bring myself to read even though I love the author’s style. The scene in the cockpit was ‘awful’ simply because the writer made me feel I was there, with the pilot. And that was the same for much of the story. I won’t give anything away, but I was blown away by this book, by the writing and the characters and the climax. This is a wonderful story of loss and love and bereavement. And much more besides.

However, I am torn as to what rating to give it. Five stars for the writing, no contest, BUT I found it incredibly irritating not having decent chapter breaks, just nine rather unwieldy sections which makes it more or less impossible to skim back and find a certain ‘time’ or scene unless you have bookmarked it beforehand. With a paperback book this would have been so easy, but not on an ebook.

Once I had reached THAT moment (and those of you who have read the book will know exactly what I mean there - that OMG moment where everything falls into place and at the same time everything falls apart) I wanted to read it all again, skipping over some scenes and wallowing in others. But it’s not easy to do on a kindle when one section is 180 pages long. Chapter breaks would have been very helpful.

I would give the ‘layout’ three stars - it did spoil my enjoyment of the story a little - but to be honest, this is an amazing book and deserves five stars.

The cover, however, is another matter altogether! ;)

[Wendy Jamieson-price · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautifully written story on an emotional and heart rendering theme. i received a free copy through goodreads and was thrilled by the whole experience , the story was not predicable as often the case and the characters were very believable. a fabulous book that will be passed on through my friends who will love it too. will be alert to more fiction by Fiona a real talent.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent novel. Couldn´t put it down, always the sign of a good story. Very cleverly writen. Full of passion, mystery, laughs, tears and encouragement to be true to yourself. Loved it.

[Lucy Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hidden gem of a book in my opinion. I was hooked from the get go and it had lots of twists I didn’t see coming. Will recommend to everyone!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 1000% the most underrated book I’ve ever come across. As I write this, this book has just 38 ratings on Goodreads? I have no idea where I came across this book but I’m so glad I did!

Fallen starts with a plane crash that kills everyone onboard, including Beth and Maria, two women who’s stories we then learnt about for the rest of the book. The first half is from Beth and her husband Tom’s perspectives as it shows their last conversation before the crash, how they met and everything in between, and then the second half is exactly the same but for Maria and her boyfriend Angelo.

This book was absolutely stunning. The way the plane crash was written at the start was so heart wrenching and emotional, and then the two love stories that follow were just perfect. Both were so believable and you really understand all the characters, their motivations and why they behave how they do.

Towards the end, knowing the fates of both Beth and Maria was so heartbreaking and I felt like I was on the verge of tears for the longest time. And that ending! I was not expecting that.

One of the best books that I’ve ever read and criminally under hyped!

[Filomena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. Liked the structure, the changes between times and characters. I was curious about what the author would do with the story after killing the main characters in the begining and I was not disapointed! Good story, and the Beth character is interesting, what she does is not usually done by women... But you should read the book whithout knowing very much...Found the relationship between Tom and Steph predictable. I liked the end, not disclosing everything! Judge for yourselves! Sorry about my english, I'm portuguese...

[David Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sad book, an enjoyable but fairly heart-rending tale. It was hard to put down in a 'I need to find out more but don't want to' way. The writing was clever too, with the switching timelines revealing more and more of this sorry (in more than one way?) tale. Oh, and I want to know what the actual ending would have been... clever.

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Jennie Richmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible! From the first chapters I was absolutely hooked - not once the whole time I was reading did I suspect that Beth and Maria could be the same person! It is written so cleverly and beautifully, a magical book and I really felt an emotional connection to all of the characters in the book... And I'm quite sad it had to end!
Legitimately one of the best books I have ever read, and one of very few that I read in one sitting. Perfect!

[Simon Broad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fallen is a great read, cleverly plotted yet effortless to enjoy, with characters that stay with you long after you've put the book down. And what a great twist!