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Freefall
Luke was not eager to accompany his best friend, Hayden, and the cocky new kid, Russell, up to the cliff that night. The plan was to watch Russell jump off the cliff into the lake--his initiation to the Briar Academy fencing team. But instead, after an angry confrontation with Hayden, Russell falls to his death. Now Hayden is in jail and the pressure is on Luke to report what he saw. But what did he see? An accident--or a murder? Luke has always followed Hayden's lead, but this is one decision he'll be forced to make on his own. And to do it, he must face the truth about his friendship with Hayden and his own painful past. This suspenseful and scandalous tale of rivalry, peer pressure, and finding the courage to take responsibility will have an impact on readers long after the last page.
250 pages, Hardcover
First published January 18, 2010
About the author
Ariela Anhalt
2 books4 followersARIELA ANHALT is a 19-year-old sophomore at Dartmouth College. Freefall is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
August 31, 2015
Interesting concept to this book. I wasn't to keen on any of the characters. Hayden is the biggest tool, douchebag, ass hole, jerk, etc. He definitely has anger issues. Luke just didn't do it for me as the main character. At times I felt sorry for him but then I was like get it together!!! He needed to get his shit together in his family life. I felt like that was never resolved. The ending was pretty abrupt and I would have liked more to what happened to Luke.
May 31, 2010
Hayden and Luke go to Briar Acadamy H.S. They both on the fencing team. As a right of passage, you have to jump off a cliff in order to get on the varsity team.
A new kid, Russell, joins the team and he is not liked by Hayden or Russell. When he goes to jump, things go terribly wrong. Things will never be the same for Luke or Hayden again. A very good book.
A new kid, Russell, joins the team and he is not liked by Hayden or Russell. When he goes to jump, things go terribly wrong. Things will never be the same for Luke or Hayden again. A very good book.
March 7, 2021
Freefall, written by Ariela Anhalt, is a teen boarding-school-scandal drama revolved around a fencing student’s death. Luke, the story’s “protagonist,” witnessed his best friend, Hayden, pushing another stupid, Russell, off a cliff. Luke must decide precisely what he is going to say in court since he is the only eyewitness.
I desperately tried to find things I enjoyed about this book throughout the read, but it was nearly impossible. One thing I can say that I thought was decent was some of the descriptive writing for scenes. There aren’t any characters to root for. There should be some redeeming or likable qualities with a protagonist, but with Luke, you get someone who is spineless or swearing and flipping out at another character. The inner dialogue is annoying and unnecessary to read, and the dialogue between characters is blander than how teenagers typically communicate with one another. The first half of the book is too drawn out, but then after the climax, scenes are short with an abrupt ending. The story also felt unfinished with some of its story plots.
I would have to rate “Freefall” a 1 out of 5 stars. It’s challenging to pull off a solid story when there is barely any mystery behind the murder. I think there were good intentions behind creating various plots in the story, but I also believe most of them could have been executed better.
I desperately tried to find things I enjoyed about this book throughout the read, but it was nearly impossible. One thing I can say that I thought was decent was some of the descriptive writing for scenes. There aren’t any characters to root for. There should be some redeeming or likable qualities with a protagonist, but with Luke, you get someone who is spineless or swearing and flipping out at another character. The inner dialogue is annoying and unnecessary to read, and the dialogue between characters is blander than how teenagers typically communicate with one another. The first half of the book is too drawn out, but then after the climax, scenes are short with an abrupt ending. The story also felt unfinished with some of its story plots.
I would have to rate “Freefall” a 1 out of 5 stars. It’s challenging to pull off a solid story when there is barely any mystery behind the murder. I think there were good intentions behind creating various plots in the story, but I also believe most of them could have been executed better.
November 4, 2019
mmmmmm not sure what to say about this one. another one of my yearly reads though now i’m thinking it might just be because i read it in conjunction with venomous the first time. it’s like...not a great book, to be honest, not much going for it. but i think it’s important to me for some reason because i remembered it and i’ve read it so many times over. there’s certainly a big moral question at the heart of it, tho i’m not really sure that we reached a conclusion. i guess reading it now all i can see is how much luke’s life is like a scary reality. that you have to make an effort, bc people aren’t just gonna magically make you better if you don’t try yourself. idk. will keep it on the list of yearly reads just for nostalgia’s sake, but didn’t get as much out of it as with venomous.
May 10, 2024
This book is almost like my all time favorite, A Separate Peace, meets an episode of Dateline. It focuses on a friendship between boarding school roommates and it even has a tragic fall. This time, neither roommate falls but they are responsible for what happened. The book had too much fowl language for me to recommend, and a bit of violence ( though one such moment was absolutely required for the plot). It also had a bit of drug use though not buy the main character, and it was a warning message about the dangers of drug abuse.Still, there are far better books about friendship.
April 8, 2019
Excellent for a first novel. The beginning was slow at times, but then it grabbed me until the very last page. It is set at a prep school, but the problems that face the main character (a young man) would give most adults the same challenges.
February 10, 2020
It was nice and all but I felt like a few things were missing but I'm not exactly sure what it was. The main character, Luke did get me frustrated at times and there weren't any characters that I could get 'attached' to.
January 27, 2010
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
I am always impressed with new authors. The idea of all the hard work involved in writing a book, and then putting it out there for public criticism for the first time, must take an amazing amount of courage. It is especially impressive when I turn to the info on the back cover and see that the author is a 19-year-old sophomore in college. That's the case with a new release called FREEFALL.
Just how tough are you? When life hits you with a father who commits suicide and a mother who can't seem to get past it, how do you handle the other tough stuff that comes along? Ask Luke Prescott.
One might think that Luke has it all. He attends a fancy boarding school and has hopes of attending a nice college. Money isn't really an issue for him or for the friends who surround him at Briar Academy. He and his best friend and roommate, Hayden, are on the fencing team, enjoy the company of the occasional attractive female, and both get excellent grades. What could go wrong?
Although Luke feels he knows Hayden pretty well, Hayden has been acting strange lately. When a new kid named Russell shows up and demonstrates his excellent fencing skills, Hayden doesn't seem able to cope. When Russell also moves in on Hayden's girlfriend, things come to a head. Unfortunately, Hayden's temper may have gotten the best of him during an initiation ritual that involves the new fencing team member and a jump from a nearby cliff.
Luke finds himself faced with testifying either for or against Hayden at a trial accusing Hayden of killing Russell. He was there, but answering the question about what exactly happened is much harder than Luke ever imagined.
Debut author Ariela Anhalt has crafted a sure winner. Readers will be drawn into the culture of Briar Academy with its cliques and rituals. Luke's family story adds depth and emotion that underline the complicated situation he faces at school. Anyone who gets involved in his story will no doubt find themselves measuring their own strength and convictions against those of Luke and several other characters. I look forward to seeing more from Ms. Anhalt in the future.
I am always impressed with new authors. The idea of all the hard work involved in writing a book, and then putting it out there for public criticism for the first time, must take an amazing amount of courage. It is especially impressive when I turn to the info on the back cover and see that the author is a 19-year-old sophomore in college. That's the case with a new release called FREEFALL.
Just how tough are you? When life hits you with a father who commits suicide and a mother who can't seem to get past it, how do you handle the other tough stuff that comes along? Ask Luke Prescott.
One might think that Luke has it all. He attends a fancy boarding school and has hopes of attending a nice college. Money isn't really an issue for him or for the friends who surround him at Briar Academy. He and his best friend and roommate, Hayden, are on the fencing team, enjoy the company of the occasional attractive female, and both get excellent grades. What could go wrong?
Although Luke feels he knows Hayden pretty well, Hayden has been acting strange lately. When a new kid named Russell shows up and demonstrates his excellent fencing skills, Hayden doesn't seem able to cope. When Russell also moves in on Hayden's girlfriend, things come to a head. Unfortunately, Hayden's temper may have gotten the best of him during an initiation ritual that involves the new fencing team member and a jump from a nearby cliff.
Luke finds himself faced with testifying either for or against Hayden at a trial accusing Hayden of killing Russell. He was there, but answering the question about what exactly happened is much harder than Luke ever imagined.
Debut author Ariela Anhalt has crafted a sure winner. Readers will be drawn into the culture of Briar Academy with its cliques and rituals. Luke's family story adds depth and emotion that underline the complicated situation he faces at school. Anyone who gets involved in his story will no doubt find themselves measuring their own strength and convictions against those of Luke and several other characters. I look forward to seeing more from Ms. Anhalt in the future.
October 7, 2013
What happens in the story "Freefall" by Ariela Anhalt, is that there is a kid named Luke, who is on the varsity fencing team, and he follows his best friend, Hayden, around. To officially be a memeber of the varisty fencing team, you have to pass an initiation. The intiation for their team was to jump off of a cliff into the water below. There is a new kid on the team, Russell, who Hayden does not get along with, who needed to pass the initiation. But on the night that he was supossed to jump, him and Hayden got in a fight. So instead of Russell jumping off the cliff for the initiation, he fell to his death and Hayden is blamed for it. And Luke, as the lone witness, has to decide in front of the court what he saw, an accident or murder.
I think that the author's purpose in writing this was that everyone has choices to make in their life, and that they can effect you for the rest of your life. Hayden had the choice to make on that night, why did he choose to fight with Russell, why couldn't they all be friends? I think that if Hayden would of been mature enough to move past it nothing would of happened on that night. But now, him and Luke both have to live with their decisions for the rest of their lives.
I think that the main theme that is used in this book is that the truth can be hard to except and acknowledge. I think that this fits "Freefall" because Luke has to decide what really happened on the night that Russell died. Was it an accident or was it murder?
The style that this book was written in is a narrative. The reason that it is a narrative is because it's the telling of a story through a series of events that describes what happened, in chronological order.
In my opinion this book is okay. I liked the descriptive way in which this story was written. I would also like to give the author props for writing this book as a sophomore in high school. What I didn't like about this book was that it took a long time to get to the action. Something that I didn't mind but I think most people would is that the language in this book is pretty bad, and because of the language used I would reccommend this book to high school students.
I think that the author's purpose in writing this was that everyone has choices to make in their life, and that they can effect you for the rest of your life. Hayden had the choice to make on that night, why did he choose to fight with Russell, why couldn't they all be friends? I think that if Hayden would of been mature enough to move past it nothing would of happened on that night. But now, him and Luke both have to live with their decisions for the rest of their lives.
I think that the main theme that is used in this book is that the truth can be hard to except and acknowledge. I think that this fits "Freefall" because Luke has to decide what really happened on the night that Russell died. Was it an accident or was it murder?
The style that this book was written in is a narrative. The reason that it is a narrative is because it's the telling of a story through a series of events that describes what happened, in chronological order.
In my opinion this book is okay. I liked the descriptive way in which this story was written. I would also like to give the author props for writing this book as a sophomore in high school. What I didn't like about this book was that it took a long time to get to the action. Something that I didn't mind but I think most people would is that the language in this book is pretty bad, and because of the language used I would reccommend this book to high school students.
July 17, 2013
This book is paired with The Chocolate War. When I saw that The Chocolate War was on the banned list, I had to find out why. It turns out that the violence and ruthlessness of children is hard for some people to stomach. This side of human nature is hard to find detailed in young adult or juvenile fiction, so I set out to see if any other authors decided to write about it, especially after all the controversy of Chocolate War. I didn’t find a lot that was suitable for our audience, but Freefall works pretty well. This book has all the intense drama that its partner title does. It has the boarding school and the hazing. The biggest difference is that this drama surrounds the fencing team. The same graphic violence is there as well. Anyone who wants drama, backstabbing, and seeing the worst of humanity in people will enjoy this book.
A 9th grade English teacher who wants to show how certain themes come up repeatedly in literature could make good use of these two books. Pairing them would give the teacher many opportunities for comparing and contrasting authors methodologies when trying to cover the same plots and settings. It would also present a great opportunity to discuss the reasons for placing The Chocolate War on the Banned Book list, especially when the modern title is just as violent and disturbing.
A retro recommendation could take place with this pairing. A student who comes across Freefall and really enjoyed it could be steered toward this notable book from decades past.
A 9th grade English teacher who wants to show how certain themes come up repeatedly in literature could make good use of these two books. Pairing them would give the teacher many opportunities for comparing and contrasting authors methodologies when trying to cover the same plots and settings. It would also present a great opportunity to discuss the reasons for placing The Chocolate War on the Banned Book list, especially when the modern title is just as violent and disturbing.
A retro recommendation could take place with this pairing. A student who comes across Freefall and really enjoyed it could be steered toward this notable book from decades past.
June 10, 2013
Ariela Anhalt began her debut novel, Freefall, when she was fourteen. Amazing enough. But equally amazing is her insight into the thought processes of young adults. Freefall, set in a private high school in California concerns the issue of responsibility and locating the bright line between being culpable and not.
As part of the broad panorama of school life at Briar Academy, three students go to a high cliff to initiate a new student into the fencing club. Before competing with the club, every student must prove his mettle by jumping off that cliff into the lake far below. On this night, the three are Luke, Hayden, his best friend and roommate, and Russell, an abrasive newcomer. Only two return alive. What follows tests not only Luke's eyewitness account but also his understanding of family events, his relationships and the meaning of friendship.
The author's ability to capture both a character's inner dialogue set against what he speaks aloud, the interplay of motivation and evaluation of others' intentions as well as one's own, and the testing of who Luke wants and hopes to be, are the strongest elements in the story.
For a short biography of Anhalt, go to http://www.dartmouth.edu/~theater/pro... and scroll down to 2011 for a bit more about the author.
I look forward to seeing more from this writer.
As part of the broad panorama of school life at Briar Academy, three students go to a high cliff to initiate a new student into the fencing club. Before competing with the club, every student must prove his mettle by jumping off that cliff into the lake far below. On this night, the three are Luke, Hayden, his best friend and roommate, and Russell, an abrasive newcomer. Only two return alive. What follows tests not only Luke's eyewitness account but also his understanding of family events, his relationships and the meaning of friendship.
The author's ability to capture both a character's inner dialogue set against what he speaks aloud, the interplay of motivation and evaluation of others' intentions as well as one's own, and the testing of who Luke wants and hopes to be, are the strongest elements in the story.
For a short biography of Anhalt, go to http://www.dartmouth.edu/~theater/pro... and scroll down to 2011 for a bit more about the author.
I look forward to seeing more from this writer.
November 28, 2009
This was a struggle. Set in a prep school, it featured a fencing team invaded by "the new guy" (Russ) who seems to be more talented than "the old guy" (Hayden). All of this is witnessed by "the protagonist guy" (Luke). Russ, a cocky sunnuva, makes the mistake of stealing Hayden's babe and then beating Big H at fencing.
Solution? An initiation rite! Invite the ingrate to a cliff
overlooking a lake with plenty of treacherous rocks at the bottom. With only the two adversaries and our faithful reporter Luke on hand, have Hayden give Russ a little shove. Follow with death, court case, and hand wringing for Luke who must decide whether to rat out his best bud or speak the truth.
Lots of B-grade teen movie dialogue and simple plot, but not much depth. What's worse is that you don't really care about any of the characters. In fact, you can't stand being around them and feel like jumping yourself, just to virtually end it all and move on to a new book.
I hate to complain like this, cause the book is written by an undergrad at Dartmouth and published by Harcourt -- no small change. Kudos to yudos, Ariela. You're published and can have better luck next time. That's miles ahead of me.....
Solution? An initiation rite! Invite the ingrate to a cliff
overlooking a lake with plenty of treacherous rocks at the bottom. With only the two adversaries and our faithful reporter Luke on hand, have Hayden give Russ a little shove. Follow with death, court case, and hand wringing for Luke who must decide whether to rat out his best bud or speak the truth.
Lots of B-grade teen movie dialogue and simple plot, but not much depth. What's worse is that you don't really care about any of the characters. In fact, you can't stand being around them and feel like jumping yourself, just to virtually end it all and move on to a new book.
I hate to complain like this, cause the book is written by an undergrad at Dartmouth and published by Harcourt -- no small change. Kudos to yudos, Ariela. You're published and can have better luck next time. That's miles ahead of me.....
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November 13, 2014 Free Fall is mainly about two boys Luke, and Hayden, they both go to Briar High. Hayden is the popular guy around the school and is known everywhere. On the other hand Luke is Just a student from California trying to fit in. Both Luke, and Hayden are apart of the fencing team. The tradition for the team is that that the new varsity players have to jump from a cliff into a pond. For the first time ever something goes wrong with the jump , and someone has to speak up.
There are alot of things that i personally like about the book. This book always has you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next. The thing that i like mostly about the book is that it isn't too fiction, and some of these events could actually happen. For example,when luke is pressured to jump off the cliff this shows and real case of pier pressure. However, something that i didn't like about the book was that it briefly described Lukes character in the book. Also i believe that the conflict could have been described better.
Minus the lack of character, and conflict description it was a good book. I would highly recommend this book to a person that likes suspense. In the future i will definitely read more books from this author.
There are alot of things that i personally like about the book. This book always has you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next. The thing that i like mostly about the book is that it isn't too fiction, and some of these events could actually happen. For example,when luke is pressured to jump off the cliff this shows and real case of pier pressure. However, something that i didn't like about the book was that it briefly described Lukes character in the book. Also i believe that the conflict could have been described better.
Minus the lack of character, and conflict description it was a good book. I would highly recommend this book to a person that likes suspense. In the future i will definitely read more books from this author.
February 4, 2013
What does a follower do once the leader has been removed? Luke has spent his entire high school career following his friend Hayden. He is friends with Hayden's friends, he takes the same classes as Hayden takes, and he agrees with Hayden's opinions. But when a tragic accident lands Hayden in jail, Luke is the only eyewitness, and he has to decide what he is going to say. Did Hayden's actions cause another student's death? Or was this tragic accident truly an accident?
I appreciated hearing this story from Luke's point of view; people from both sides of the story approached him, questioned him, attempted to influence him. Luke sunk into depression as he attempted to reconcile what he thought he knew with what was true and what was right. In the end, I was proud of Luke's decision.
Although this book presents some interesting ideas and would be great for a classroom discussion, I do not recommend it for classroom use due to the profusion of profanity from the teenage characters. For those of you who have read A Separate Peace, though, this is an interestingly similar story.
I appreciated hearing this story from Luke's point of view; people from both sides of the story approached him, questioned him, attempted to influence him. Luke sunk into depression as he attempted to reconcile what he thought he knew with what was true and what was right. In the end, I was proud of Luke's decision.
Although this book presents some interesting ideas and would be great for a classroom discussion, I do not recommend it for classroom use due to the profusion of profanity from the teenage characters. For those of you who have read A Separate Peace, though, this is an interestingly similar story.
January 1, 2011
Wow! Ariela Anhalt is 19 years old and a sophmore at Dartmouth--and this is her debut novel. Anhalt has managed to create a character with complexities remniscent of Holden Caufield (Catcher in the Rye) and Jerry Renault (The Chocolate War). Luke Prescott is a character we want to sympathize with because he lost his father, but the reader will not always agree with how he reacts to the events in his life. We understand his pain and why he would want to go out to the cliff and test his own mortality, but at the same time, he has allowed himself to become one of Hayden's minions. This book presents many ethical issues such as: is Luke justified in how he treats his mother? This is also a story about peer relationships and how the social circles work--how does Luke treat his peers? ...and finally, could Luke have prevented the tragedy that happened? This novel would allow some discussion of motives, ethics, and value judgments.
February 13, 2012
Did Luke's best friend kill that other kid on purpose? When he's forced to testify, his life becomes out of control, it seems. This book was a long drawn out "to be or not to be" sort of situation and it got monotonus after a while. While he's wrestling with himself, there is an undercurrent of a turblent family history that is never clarified until the second to last page. The story wasn't really developed all that well, as with the characters. He learns his friends are not really good friends at all, he questions everything, and refuses to seek help, constantly repeating how "No one understands". Plus the ending wasn't anywhere near satisfying. There were so many loose ends I didn't know what to think. But maybe that was the author's point. Props for (sort of) realism though. Not all stories of man-vs-self work out so neatly in the real world after all.
June 17, 2010
NOTE: Tons of the f word and a very mature subject matter makes this an almost 8th grade only book!
"Luke has lived in the shadow of his best friend Hayden -- a wealthy, popular boy at Briar Academy -- ever since Hayden took him under his wings and included him in his circle of friends. Then the new kid Russell arrives with the confidence to stand up to Hayden. Reluctantly, Luke goes with Hayden, on a cliff overlooking a lake, to initiate Russell to the Briar Academy fencing team. Something goes horribly wrong, and Russell plunges to his death. When Hayden is arrested by police, Luke is left all alone to figure out what really happened and decide what he's going to tell the authorities. "Teens will love this title because it is full of page-turning events and is difficult to put down"
"Luke has lived in the shadow of his best friend Hayden -- a wealthy, popular boy at Briar Academy -- ever since Hayden took him under his wings and included him in his circle of friends. Then the new kid Russell arrives with the confidence to stand up to Hayden. Reluctantly, Luke goes with Hayden, on a cliff overlooking a lake, to initiate Russell to the Briar Academy fencing team. Something goes horribly wrong, and Russell plunges to his death. When Hayden is arrested by police, Luke is left all alone to figure out what really happened and decide what he's going to tell the authorities. "Teens will love this title because it is full of page-turning events and is difficult to put down"
December 18, 2009
a varsity fencing team initiation- jumping from a cliff into the lake below- goes awry one night at a california prep school. now the new team member, russell, is dead, and there were only two people with him that night. hayden, who hated his guts, and luke, who isn't sure how to interpret what he saw or what to say about it in court.
this fairly intriguing drama was a bit muddied by the many tiresome fights between luke and almost all of the other characters. also, the subplot with luke's parents was underdeveloped, and luke's epiphany on the witness stand made the ending feel rushed. still, this quick read is worth recommending to high school dudes looking for some crime reading.
this fairly intriguing drama was a bit muddied by the many tiresome fights between luke and almost all of the other characters. also, the subplot with luke's parents was underdeveloped, and luke's epiphany on the witness stand made the ending feel rushed. still, this quick read is worth recommending to high school dudes looking for some crime reading.
January 26, 2010
I felt like I should have liked this book more because it was so well-written, but I couldn't stand the characters. The main character, Luke, is interesting enough and a tortured soul, but he is just so spineless that I can't like him. And most of the boys are exactly like all the guys I hated in high school--the ones who thought they ruled the world and let you know it. So, I read the first half and skimmed the rest. Teens will probably love it, but I was the teen in high school who said "You guys are idiots" every time I encountered peer pressure, so I guess even then I was a grumpy old librarian. :)
January 9, 2012
Luke and his best friend Hayden, juniors at a prestigious boarding school, are part of an elite crowd of fencers who seem to have everything going for them. For Luke, who is still struggling from his dad’s suicide, it has been easier to follow charismatic Hayden’s lead and never say ‘no’ to him. Their lives are thrown into turmoil when they take a new fencer on an initiation jump off a nearby cliff and he dies. Now everyone is questioning if it was murder or an accident. As Hayden awaits a trial, Luke must come to terms with his role in the death, and what is in store for his future. This is a great choice for lovers of suspense and boarding school drama.
September 29, 2013
I really liked this book, It pulled me in right from the start. I'd read it on my way to school, on the bus and quite frankly I zoned out of everything else going on around me, I was so engrossed with it. Throughout my classes, I couldn't wait to continue reading it, and interval and lunchtimes I'd spend my time doing exactly that. I would have rated this book 5/5. But in all honesty I was left down by the end, I felt like it left me on a cliffhanger and I wasn't completely sure what had happened. Overall it was a really good book though, I'd read it again.
June 11, 2014
While some of the parts of this book are somewhat boring, it has an interesting concept. I enjoyed the storyline, and the way the characters interacted with each other. It made me nervous when Hayden was sent to jail, since he could be found guilty of the crime he committed and be imprisoned. I liked the story of how Luke carried on with his life with the burden of knowing Hayden could be in prison for a very long time.
The book started out a little slow, to be honest, but once it got to the part where Hayden pushed Russell off the cliff, it started going faster.
The book started out a little slow, to be honest, but once it got to the part where Hayden pushed Russell off the cliff, it started going faster.
July 22, 2014
SORTA SPOILER NOT REALLY
This book was pretty good. I liked how often the character told his inner thoughts. There are, however, a couple things that made this book lose half a start-
1) The book revealed too much at the beginning to have the reader question the death of the father. The author might as well've told us right out what happened.
2) The ending was too abrupt- it could've been extended a bit.
3) Some parts, (mostlh the romance bits) were out of character. Also, the realisation at the end of the book came abruptly. That wouldn't have truly happened.
This book was pretty good. I liked how often the character told his inner thoughts. There are, however, a couple things that made this book lose half a start-
1) The book revealed too much at the beginning to have the reader question the death of the father. The author might as well've told us right out what happened.
2) The ending was too abrupt- it could've been extended a bit.
3) Some parts, (mostlh the romance bits) were out of character. Also, the realisation at the end of the book came abruptly. That wouldn't have truly happened.
March 30, 2016
Luke is best friends with Hayden. Hayden hates Russell. All three are on the fencing team. To really be considered a member of the team, one must jump off the cliff and into Briar Lake. Russell still needs to jump to be initiated. The three climb the cliff and only two come back alive. The night's events turns into a court case and now Luke has lawyers down his back pressuring him to testify in favor of their client. Luke is the only one that knows what really happened that night so now he must decide Hayden's fate. I thought this book was slow paced and the end was confusing.
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February 16, 2010After a fellow Fencing team member dies, Luke is unsure whether the death was an accident or murder. Luke’s best friend is charged with the murder and Luke is called to testify. What will he say? After much soul-searching Luke realizes what his answer must be. This novel which looks into the minds of Luke and his friends will have the reader wondering about their own reactions and responses in similar circumstances
October 1, 2010
In the interest of full disclosure, I skimmed this once I realized how much I hated all of the people in the book. Even the narrator, which makes things especially tough. So I made it about halfway through the book, when I realized what the trouble was: it doesn't feel authentic. The way people speak to each other, the weight of their disappointments. Just didn't work. I feel like I'm reading somebody's IDEA of tragedy.
June 10, 2014
By far one of the greatest books I have ever read. The story just captured me. I mean A boy getting angry at a boy and gives him a nudge another boy watching and a the off balance boy falling to his death. It's a great plot line and really relatable. I wouldn't know what to do if my best friend accidentally killed someone. The last lines were my favorite when the judge asked Luke if his friend was responsible for the death of Hayden and he says No, we both were.
October 28, 2009
this book was really good. it had a good interesting plot. this book was about the only reason i took it down one star,was because some things were a little too typical. like his relationship with hayden, he was the quiet one while haden was the big cocky fellow, all the girls fell for. it really has a good lesson behind it. MARK THIS AS A TO READ!
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March 1, 2010This is a good plot and a good start from a writer who started this book when she was just 14. The writing shows promise, but still needs some polish in places.
People who liked Shattering Glass might like this one.
I also liked that Luke really DOESN'T know the right answer, he has to interpret what he sees with what he knows. Would be a good discussion starter.
People who liked Shattering Glass might like this one.
I also liked that Luke really DOESN'T know the right answer, he has to interpret what he sees with what he knows. Would be a good discussion starter.
October 17, 2010
This is a book geared toward younger readers, but I'm reading it because it was writtem by the daughter of the friend of a friend of mine. The author is currently a student at Dartmouth College.
I was impressed. It was well written, a very mature effort, BUT the story was one better suited to a teenage reader. I wouldn't recommend it unless you were in the mood to sample some teen lit.
I was impressed. It was well written, a very mature effort, BUT the story was one better suited to a teenage reader. I wouldn't recommend it unless you were in the mood to sample some teen lit.
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