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Falling Is Like This
Tabloid-writer Harper Rostov breaks up with her boyfriend only to fall into the arms of Nick Cavallaro---certified punk-rock God who is considered a genius by fans and critics alike. Harper's newly single heart gets an overdose of chemistry from the Hitchhiker's Revenge guitarist as she falls for his intoxicating charisma.
Over the course of a single week, Harper is swept up in their sexual energy and the allure of the band. But soon she can't help wondering if what she thought she wanted---what she left her sweet, caring boyfriend for---is everything she'd hoped it would be. Plotted with precise timing and set against an incredibly vivid portrait of the ever-changing East Village, Falling Is Like This is a comedic and touching account of the whirlwind affair with a rock star every girl dreams about.
Over the course of a single week, Harper is swept up in their sexual energy and the allure of the band. But soon she can't help wondering if what she thought she wanted---what she left her sweet, caring boyfriend for---is everything she'd hoped it would be. Plotted with precise timing and set against an incredibly vivid portrait of the ever-changing East Village, Falling Is Like This is a comedic and touching account of the whirlwind affair with a rock star every girl dreams about.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 2010
About the author
Kate Rockland
2 books60 followersKate Rockland lives in NJ with her husband and two sons. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times. She weighs 150 pounds. She is the author of "Falling Is Like This," and "150 Pounds." She is currently at work on a non-fiction book about motherhood, stay tuned! She appreciates all the readers on Goodreads who take the time to review her books, good or bad!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 9, 2010
this book is just dreadful. terrible premise, terrible writing, no editing as far as i could tell, cheesy cover, completely plotless, unlikeable one-dimensional characters...this book has nothing going for it whatsoever.
the narrator is harper raskov, a 23-year-old aspiring music journalist. the book opens with her realization that moving in with her long-term boyfriend was a terrible idea. she ends the relationship & decides to move out.
the story loses me almost immediately when harper's ex leaves the apartment, & harper is in such a rush to get away from the apartment & the animosity she created that she haphazardly throw some underpants in her purse, grabs her grandmother's oriental rug, & decamps to the local coffeeshop. she claims that she can't stand to be around her ex for the moment, which is why she didn't stay to pack properly (leaving behind such crucial personal items as all her clothes, her journal, her ipod, etc--things she acknowledges she'll have to go back for eventually). but...her boyfriend wasn't at the apartment. so why the haste to leave? & if i missed something & he was at the apartment...the writer failed to make that clear.
there's also a rambling bunch of poorly-written exposition about harper's desire to be a journalist, & her history with men. she says that she got a gig covering the wrestling team at her college newspaper, & started dating one of the wrestlers. he harbored a dream to make it big as a reality TV star. harper says he was obsessed with "jersey shore". let's do the math. harper is 23 & has been with her most recent ex for two years, since her senior year of college. that means she would have been 19 when she dated the wrestler--four years before the narrative started. at one point, harper mentions that 2007 was three years ago, so the narrative is supposedly taking place in 2010. her time with the wrestler would then be in 2006...three years before "jersey shore" debuted on MTV. that's just sloppy--shitty writing & worse editing. considering that the entire book is studded with obnoxious pop culture references that will be hopeless irrelevant in three years (on top of the ones that are already irrelevant), i can only assume that this was another attempt on the part of the author to jazz up her story with real-life cultural signifiers. epic fail.
at the coffeeshop, harper sees nick, the guitarist in her favorite new jersey punk band, hitchhiker's revenge. she's never met him before, but she goes over to introduce herself anyway. they hit it off in a seemingly endless scene designed to showcase their "witty" banter. this just goes to show that harper is hopelessly immature, bratty, & obnoxious, & nick is a smug dumbass. it's also worth mentioning that nick is 36 years old. flirting with a 23-year-old. these types of romances can sometimes work, but they mostly gross me out. harper & nick make a plan to meet at the coffeeshop the next day for a "not-date".
harper goes home to her parents' house in new jersey. her mother is a sex therapist & her dad lives high off the hog on royalties he still receives for a memoir he wrote in the 70s about following the grateful dead. this is basically a scarcely fictionalized rendering of courtney love's family background. & courtney love blurbs this book on the front cover. coincidence? i think not.
there's all kinds of boring shit about how harper's sister suffers from serious depression, & how there's a crazy homeless lady who lives in town, wandering around naked & putting on make-up in people's yards. o...kay. i assume all of this is to create a kind of "quirky" background for harper, but it comes across as boorish--the kind of shit that seems really fascinating to a 23-year-old & totally inconsequential to everyone else.
the next day, harper goes back to NYC for her "not-date". it's almost too boring to desribe, so i'm just going to summarize: she & nick hit it off. they end up going back to his place & boning. in the morning, he says he'll call, but he doesn't. surprise surprise. harper is non-plussed. he calls the day after that & invites her to come see his band. she goes & what follows are endless grueling passages in which harper charms all of his bandmates, friends, & assorted hangers-on with her witty repartee & badass attitude. harper is basically the ultimate mary sue. it's really sickening. she totally bonds with the drummer's wife, rose, & i find it ridiculously unlikely that a grown woman in her late 30s with a little baby at home would take so swiftly to a bratty 23-year-old who has been banging the guitarist for all of a day & a half.
also, rivers cuomo from weezer is at the show, & harper hits it off with him too. he confides that he's going back to harvard to finish his undergrad degree, & harper gets the idea that she should interview him about it & pitch the article to the "new york times". are. you. shitting me right now? this seriously reads like the awful "rocker fiction" i used to write when i was 14 years old & living in bumfuck, ohio, without any fucking clue how the world actually worked. my plots were speckled with these kinds of deus ex machinas, in which major coups just fell into my lap. this book is just unspeakable.
& so it plods on. harper & nick continue to bone. she continues to be crazy over-the-top jealous sullen every time he mentions anything about an ex-girlfriend. she continues to worm her way into the hearts of adults that should know better. she continues to be a brat & try too hard (at one point buying a hot pink wig because she thinks it looks "punk"--serious hot topic damage here). it's just awful, & the writing...oh, the writing! i need to bleach my brain after reading this horrific prose.
twice, in describing harper's mother, the author writes, "on her feet were [insert bland shoe description here:]." why, hello, passive voice! nice of you to join us! did the author learn to write by reading babysitters club books? i love babysitters club books, but they are not exactly a master's course on fiction, you know? at one point, harper & nick are walking home to his place, & nick is wheeling his motorcycle. (which incidentally, are you fucking kidding me? my dad was a biker & i can attest that harley-davidsons are fucking HEAVY. they're not the kind of bike you just casually wheel along for blocks & blocks.) the book actually says, "glass broke in the street where his wheels rolled over shards of glass." tell me you are joking. this is hands down some of the worst writing i have ever seen. HOW DID THIS BOOK GET PUBLISHED?
other instances of ridiculousness: harper (& by proxy, the writer) seems to believe that zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance is just a particularly well-known book about motorcycle maintenance. nick is a vegetarian who won't eat "anything with four legs & dreams," but he loves corn dogs. while riding in nick's car, harper says, "wouldn't it be funny if someone put a dashboard confessional sticker on their dashboard?" um, no. this is a perfect example of the incessant bullshit pop culture references sprinkled through the book. i've heard more winning witticisms from my cat.
also, there's a lengthy self-congratulatory paragraph in which harper narrates for us how extremely open-minded she is about gay people, & how love is love & sexuality is something to be celebrated, & she totally doesn't care if people are gay. which does not at all tally with her reaction one paragraph earlier when she learns that the barista at her favorite coffeeshop is a lesbian. she is absolutely dumbfounded. & maybe twenty pages later, harper tells a vaguely homophobic joke. in a similar vein, harper yells at nick for using the word "pussy" as an insult, but also claims to not be into what she calls "angry vagina music". um...something does not compute.
there's essentially no plot. harper & nick bone for about a week, & then nick is leaving to go on tour in japan. it seems that the author may have read a couple of articles on plotting, so she attempts to craft a dramatic scene that fiction authors know as the "black moment," when everything seems poised on the precipice of disaster. nick's motorcycle is stolen & he's really upset about it. the fact that he is upset upsets harper...by making her angry with him, because he is yelling. even though he's not actually yelling AT her. even though she tries to convince us that he is. when he comes back from reporting the theft at the local police station, harper & nick have a big fight. nick says he thinks harper wants him to be her boyfriend, & he says he can't do that & that she knew that from the beginning...which is true. their very first conversation at the coffeeshop involves nick admitting he just ended a relationship & is in no mental position to get into a new one.
harper gets mad anyway & calls him an asshole, & selfish, & all kinds of ridiculous shit. typical early 20s useless histrionics for no reason. the next day, he invites her to go to japan with him. after MUCH boring agonizing, she agrees. but after she gets on the plane, she changes her mind & leaves, & that's the end of her relationship with nick.
like i said, no plot. "girl dumps boyfriend, meets rock star, bones for a week, decides not to go to japan, & interviews rivers cuomo," is not a plot. & none of the depressed sister/crazy homeless lady stuff really went anywhere or contributed anything. i honestly wish i had never read this book. i encourage anyone reading this to avoid making the awful mistake i made.
the narrator is harper raskov, a 23-year-old aspiring music journalist. the book opens with her realization that moving in with her long-term boyfriend was a terrible idea. she ends the relationship & decides to move out.
the story loses me almost immediately when harper's ex leaves the apartment, & harper is in such a rush to get away from the apartment & the animosity she created that she haphazardly throw some underpants in her purse, grabs her grandmother's oriental rug, & decamps to the local coffeeshop. she claims that she can't stand to be around her ex for the moment, which is why she didn't stay to pack properly (leaving behind such crucial personal items as all her clothes, her journal, her ipod, etc--things she acknowledges she'll have to go back for eventually). but...her boyfriend wasn't at the apartment. so why the haste to leave? & if i missed something & he was at the apartment...the writer failed to make that clear.
there's also a rambling bunch of poorly-written exposition about harper's desire to be a journalist, & her history with men. she says that she got a gig covering the wrestling team at her college newspaper, & started dating one of the wrestlers. he harbored a dream to make it big as a reality TV star. harper says he was obsessed with "jersey shore". let's do the math. harper is 23 & has been with her most recent ex for two years, since her senior year of college. that means she would have been 19 when she dated the wrestler--four years before the narrative started. at one point, harper mentions that 2007 was three years ago, so the narrative is supposedly taking place in 2010. her time with the wrestler would then be in 2006...three years before "jersey shore" debuted on MTV. that's just sloppy--shitty writing & worse editing. considering that the entire book is studded with obnoxious pop culture references that will be hopeless irrelevant in three years (on top of the ones that are already irrelevant), i can only assume that this was another attempt on the part of the author to jazz up her story with real-life cultural signifiers. epic fail.
at the coffeeshop, harper sees nick, the guitarist in her favorite new jersey punk band, hitchhiker's revenge. she's never met him before, but she goes over to introduce herself anyway. they hit it off in a seemingly endless scene designed to showcase their "witty" banter. this just goes to show that harper is hopelessly immature, bratty, & obnoxious, & nick is a smug dumbass. it's also worth mentioning that nick is 36 years old. flirting with a 23-year-old. these types of romances can sometimes work, but they mostly gross me out. harper & nick make a plan to meet at the coffeeshop the next day for a "not-date".
harper goes home to her parents' house in new jersey. her mother is a sex therapist & her dad lives high off the hog on royalties he still receives for a memoir he wrote in the 70s about following the grateful dead. this is basically a scarcely fictionalized rendering of courtney love's family background. & courtney love blurbs this book on the front cover. coincidence? i think not.
there's all kinds of boring shit about how harper's sister suffers from serious depression, & how there's a crazy homeless lady who lives in town, wandering around naked & putting on make-up in people's yards. o...kay. i assume all of this is to create a kind of "quirky" background for harper, but it comes across as boorish--the kind of shit that seems really fascinating to a 23-year-old & totally inconsequential to everyone else.
the next day, harper goes back to NYC for her "not-date". it's almost too boring to desribe, so i'm just going to summarize: she & nick hit it off. they end up going back to his place & boning. in the morning, he says he'll call, but he doesn't. surprise surprise. harper is non-plussed. he calls the day after that & invites her to come see his band. she goes & what follows are endless grueling passages in which harper charms all of his bandmates, friends, & assorted hangers-on with her witty repartee & badass attitude. harper is basically the ultimate mary sue. it's really sickening. she totally bonds with the drummer's wife, rose, & i find it ridiculously unlikely that a grown woman in her late 30s with a little baby at home would take so swiftly to a bratty 23-year-old who has been banging the guitarist for all of a day & a half.
also, rivers cuomo from weezer is at the show, & harper hits it off with him too. he confides that he's going back to harvard to finish his undergrad degree, & harper gets the idea that she should interview him about it & pitch the article to the "new york times". are. you. shitting me right now? this seriously reads like the awful "rocker fiction" i used to write when i was 14 years old & living in bumfuck, ohio, without any fucking clue how the world actually worked. my plots were speckled with these kinds of deus ex machinas, in which major coups just fell into my lap. this book is just unspeakable.
& so it plods on. harper & nick continue to bone. she continues to be crazy over-the-top jealous sullen every time he mentions anything about an ex-girlfriend. she continues to worm her way into the hearts of adults that should know better. she continues to be a brat & try too hard (at one point buying a hot pink wig because she thinks it looks "punk"--serious hot topic damage here). it's just awful, & the writing...oh, the writing! i need to bleach my brain after reading this horrific prose.
twice, in describing harper's mother, the author writes, "on her feet were [insert bland shoe description here:]." why, hello, passive voice! nice of you to join us! did the author learn to write by reading babysitters club books? i love babysitters club books, but they are not exactly a master's course on fiction, you know? at one point, harper & nick are walking home to his place, & nick is wheeling his motorcycle. (which incidentally, are you fucking kidding me? my dad was a biker & i can attest that harley-davidsons are fucking HEAVY. they're not the kind of bike you just casually wheel along for blocks & blocks.) the book actually says, "glass broke in the street where his wheels rolled over shards of glass." tell me you are joking. this is hands down some of the worst writing i have ever seen. HOW DID THIS BOOK GET PUBLISHED?
other instances of ridiculousness: harper (& by proxy, the writer) seems to believe that zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance is just a particularly well-known book about motorcycle maintenance. nick is a vegetarian who won't eat "anything with four legs & dreams," but he loves corn dogs. while riding in nick's car, harper says, "wouldn't it be funny if someone put a dashboard confessional sticker on their dashboard?" um, no. this is a perfect example of the incessant bullshit pop culture references sprinkled through the book. i've heard more winning witticisms from my cat.
also, there's a lengthy self-congratulatory paragraph in which harper narrates for us how extremely open-minded she is about gay people, & how love is love & sexuality is something to be celebrated, & she totally doesn't care if people are gay. which does not at all tally with her reaction one paragraph earlier when she learns that the barista at her favorite coffeeshop is a lesbian. she is absolutely dumbfounded. & maybe twenty pages later, harper tells a vaguely homophobic joke. in a similar vein, harper yells at nick for using the word "pussy" as an insult, but also claims to not be into what she calls "angry vagina music". um...something does not compute.
there's essentially no plot. harper & nick bone for about a week, & then nick is leaving to go on tour in japan. it seems that the author may have read a couple of articles on plotting, so she attempts to craft a dramatic scene that fiction authors know as the "black moment," when everything seems poised on the precipice of disaster. nick's motorcycle is stolen & he's really upset about it. the fact that he is upset upsets harper...by making her angry with him, because he is yelling. even though he's not actually yelling AT her. even though she tries to convince us that he is. when he comes back from reporting the theft at the local police station, harper & nick have a big fight. nick says he thinks harper wants him to be her boyfriend, & he says he can't do that & that she knew that from the beginning...which is true. their very first conversation at the coffeeshop involves nick admitting he just ended a relationship & is in no mental position to get into a new one.
harper gets mad anyway & calls him an asshole, & selfish, & all kinds of ridiculous shit. typical early 20s useless histrionics for no reason. the next day, he invites her to go to japan with him. after MUCH boring agonizing, she agrees. but after she gets on the plane, she changes her mind & leaves, & that's the end of her relationship with nick.
like i said, no plot. "girl dumps boyfriend, meets rock star, bones for a week, decides not to go to japan, & interviews rivers cuomo," is not a plot. & none of the depressed sister/crazy homeless lady stuff really went anywhere or contributed anything. i honestly wish i had never read this book. i encourage anyone reading this to avoid making the awful mistake i made.
Read
October 23, 2019I got this out of a little free library because the title is from an Ani Difranco song (“Love is like falling, and falling is like this”) and I was super jealous the author thought to use that as a title before I did. It’s not a good book, really, but I enjoyed it well enough. I see other reviewers are mad because timeline-wise, Harper seems more like she’s my age than the age she’s supposed to be, but really who cares. I don’t care. I enjoyed the references. This book was meant for people like me, people who already know about the band Dengue Fever. It’s like reading a hipster’s diary, and I’m cool with that. But I also read tons of books so I never feel like I wasted my time if something isn’t life-changing. It’s fine—spend a few days with a book, enjoy what’s good, ignore what’s bad, and move on to the next book.
September 2, 2010
The timeline here makes no sense. Given that Harper's 23 in 2010, she did not watch Eric Nies on The Grind at age 13 nor was her sophomore year of college boyfriend obsessed with Jersey Shore. Later in the book, Harper says she watched Weezer's Buddy Holly video all the time when she was a sophomore in high school. Again, doesn't fit the timeline, especially considering MTV had all but stopped playing music videos by that point. Also, New Jersey is not the only state that doesn't allow you to pump your own gas.
I got the impression that Kate Rockland is about my age (I remember The Grind and Buddy Holly was definitely a sophomore year of high school thing) and didn't make the appropriate adjustments for a younger character. My guess is the Jersey Shore reference was an attempt to make Harper young, but it would've made her too young.
The plot is pretty weak and Harper gets damn annoying as the book goes on. Maybe after Rockland has some more writing experience she can write about Rose (the wife of the drummer) who actually seemed interesting.
I got the impression that Kate Rockland is about my age (I remember The Grind and Buddy Holly was definitely a sophomore year of high school thing) and didn't make the appropriate adjustments for a younger character. My guess is the Jersey Shore reference was an attempt to make Harper young, but it would've made her too young.
The plot is pretty weak and Harper gets damn annoying as the book goes on. Maybe after Rockland has some more writing experience she can write about Rose (the wife of the drummer) who actually seemed interesting.
August 24, 2018
Quit on page 50 when I found myself painfully bored by the main character and her seemingly random tangents. Other reviews confirmed my suspicions that this was a deep dive into some shallow material, though I should really have been tipped off when Harper said the line "Reading is rad" and Nick still continued to flirt with her. I'm out.
April 11, 2011
Worst. Book. EVER! I wish I could give it zero stars, but even that would be too many! And I wish I could find out exactly where the author lives in Hoboken so I could take the PATH over there, knock on her door and ask for my money back, and maybe chastise her for the false advertising that caused me to invest several hours in this crappy book that I will never get back. I hope I can save even one person some time and money because this book SUCKED!
I expected light fare/chick lit, but thought it would be a nice break from the heavy stuff I'd been reading lately. Plus it's about a girl from Jersey, and I'm a girl from Jersey, so I figured it would at least give me a chuckle for familiarity. Not so much. There were many factual and geographic errors: her boyfriend could not have watched "Jersey Shore" 5 years earlier because the show was not on yet; running all the way from Little Italy to Penn Station after a dinner date is VERY unlikely! (Does the writer even know how far it is? It's more than 3 miles!) The writing and editing were AWFUL: a person can be "sweet as pie," because pie is sweet; but I've never known anyone to be "polite as pie." WTF does that even mean? The tone/voice of the book was incredibly immature, and the plot was ridiculous. It read like the romanticized self-indulgent diary of a 15-year-old girl who has a major case of wishful thinking. She also took great pains to constantly drop names of bands and songs she didn't expect, or want, the reader to recognize, just so she could appear "hip" or "alternative."
The more I write the more annoyed I get, and the more time I waste on this horrible book, so I'll just say, stay away. This author has a lot of growing up to do!
I expected light fare/chick lit, but thought it would be a nice break from the heavy stuff I'd been reading lately. Plus it's about a girl from Jersey, and I'm a girl from Jersey, so I figured it would at least give me a chuckle for familiarity. Not so much. There were many factual and geographic errors: her boyfriend could not have watched "Jersey Shore" 5 years earlier because the show was not on yet; running all the way from Little Italy to Penn Station after a dinner date is VERY unlikely! (Does the writer even know how far it is? It's more than 3 miles!) The writing and editing were AWFUL: a person can be "sweet as pie," because pie is sweet; but I've never known anyone to be "polite as pie." WTF does that even mean? The tone/voice of the book was incredibly immature, and the plot was ridiculous. It read like the romanticized self-indulgent diary of a 15-year-old girl who has a major case of wishful thinking. She also took great pains to constantly drop names of bands and songs she didn't expect, or want, the reader to recognize, just so she could appear "hip" or "alternative."
The more I write the more annoyed I get, and the more time I waste on this horrible book, so I'll just say, stay away. This author has a lot of growing up to do!
April 5, 2012
I thought Falling is like this was a solid story. I loved the characters in this book. I love how Harper's ADD affected the story-telling, but it might have helped to not wait until after she met Nick to bring that up, so it made more sense why her thoughts bounced around so much. If it was, and I've forgotten/missed it, my apologies. I'm not sure where the "unrealistic" comments about this book are coming from because: It's fiction. o.O
If someone has never read a Rock (Auto)Biography, I can see how maybe Nick's life seems super "unrealistic," but you need only to pick up a book like Anthony Kiedis' Scar Tissue to read about girls that have been put in Harper's situation (and much, worse)- via an Actual "Rock Star." And Nick's life is quite boring/tame compared to what I've read in Scar Tissue.
If the Unrealistic is because Harper came to her senses at the end: I think her doing anything else would defeat her as a character. I think it would have been unrealistic if she Did go through with it, seeing as this has all been in One Weeks Time. But that's just my opinion (and what I would probably do).
If someone has never read a Rock (Auto)Biography, I can see how maybe Nick's life seems super "unrealistic," but you need only to pick up a book like Anthony Kiedis' Scar Tissue to read about girls that have been put in Harper's situation (and much, worse)- via an Actual "Rock Star." And Nick's life is quite boring/tame compared to what I've read in Scar Tissue.
If the Unrealistic is because Harper came to her senses at the end: I think her doing anything else would defeat her as a character. I think it would have been unrealistic if she Did go through with it, seeing as this has all been in One Weeks Time. But that's just my opinion (and what I would probably do).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2010
I loved this book's beautiful, incredibly vivid, quirky observations about New York (specifically the avant garde East Village and dilapidated Coney Island). It made me want to sit up and pay better attention to the world around me. But, hey, who needs to when this novel does such a good job of describing it?
Rocker love interest Nick Cavallaro, alongside his posse of lovable misfits, is sexy and magnetic in the way that only a bad boy can be — and the sharp little observations that young heroine Harper Rostov makes throughout their entanglement make the novel as a whole freewheeling, edgy, and real.
Rocker love interest Nick Cavallaro, alongside his posse of lovable misfits, is sexy and magnetic in the way that only a bad boy can be — and the sharp little observations that young heroine Harper Rostov makes throughout their entanglement make the novel as a whole freewheeling, edgy, and real.
July 5, 2010
If I had read this book when I was 15, around the first time I fell for and was scorned by a band dude, I would have loved it—and I think that's the only reason why I kept reading. The analogies were expected, the music references cheaply thrown in, the dialogue was awkward, and the whole story could seems to what every Williamsburg hipster expects New York life to be like prior to moving here. Would not recommend.
September 18, 2010
This is the worst book I've ever read. It's like the "author" (& seriously, I use that term so loosely here) had a list of pop culture buzzwords & attempted to write a story around them. Just beyond stupid, it almost makes me laugh as I shake my head & roll my eyes.
June 27, 2010
biggest piece of shit book.
June 9, 2018
2/5
"Falling Is Like This" tells the story of aspiring music writer Harper Rostov, a twenty three year old living in NYC. All at once, Harper feels the need to make major changes in her life. We meet Harper just as she ends her two year relationship with her live-in boyfriend, Andy, and soon learn that she has also quit a tabloid reporter job as Us Weekly.
Immediately after leaving her boyfriend, Harper walks to a coffee shop where she meets Nick Cavallaro, a member of one of her favorite bands. The two hit it off and Nick invites her to meet up again at the coffee shop the following day. From there, the two enter a week-long romance.
For a book centred around the romance of the two main characters with little other plot, Harper and Nick had unfortunately little chemistry. We never really get to see what it is that they find so irresistible about each other, and the two have such ridiculously over the top fights that it is hard to even see them liking each other.
Overall, this book is a quick read and may be enjoyed by readers looking for a music/romance cross over; however, I would assume that there are many others in the genre that have this and would recommend looking in to something else instead.
"Falling Is Like This" tells the story of aspiring music writer Harper Rostov, a twenty three year old living in NYC. All at once, Harper feels the need to make major changes in her life. We meet Harper just as she ends her two year relationship with her live-in boyfriend, Andy, and soon learn that she has also quit a tabloid reporter job as Us Weekly.
Immediately after leaving her boyfriend, Harper walks to a coffee shop where she meets Nick Cavallaro, a member of one of her favorite bands. The two hit it off and Nick invites her to meet up again at the coffee shop the following day. From there, the two enter a week-long romance.
For a book centred around the romance of the two main characters with little other plot, Harper and Nick had unfortunately little chemistry. We never really get to see what it is that they find so irresistible about each other, and the two have such ridiculously over the top fights that it is hard to even see them liking each other.
Overall, this book is a quick read and may be enjoyed by readers looking for a music/romance cross over; however, I would assume that there are many others in the genre that have this and would recommend looking in to something else instead.
November 14, 2017
Keeps you glued because of the characters and the juicy language, but doesn't make me go to the book again. The parts with the family was superb and one would wish to read more and more about them but on the whole, though believable it fails...somehow.
January 24, 2024
This started out as interesting for me, but very quickly moved into unreadable territory for me. I really, really wanted to like this despite the reviews, but it seems like the author wanted the main character to be as quirky as possible. I only made it to page 74 before I decided to call it a day.
December 24, 2020
I'm happy she really leaves him in the end but this is just another instance of making a mediocre man out to be something spectacular. This book was very dumb and could pass for a wattpad fanfic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 3, 2023
I like the idea of the book and the opposite attracts kind of vibe but I’m not obsessed with this book or characters, it was just okay at most
December 25, 2014
Bleah. Maybe because I spent my college years in Alphabet City in the early 80's, or maybe just because I'm a different generation than these characters...I neither liked them nor thought they were interesting. You quit your job and move back in with your parents in NJ?! What kind of loser does that? I wanted a strong young rock chick character, but all I got was another whiny Lena Dunham character.
June 9, 2010
The writing style was easy to connect with, however she used the same phrases and over and over. I wish she used a wider array of vocabulary. Also it was a little "ADD" in parts, so many side stories...less is more. But Harper, Nick, and Fiona were well developed characters. Also loved the cameo of Rivers from Weezer.
August 9, 2013
While this book got off to a rough start for me the character redeemed herself in my eyes in the end. I felt proud of her, of the outcome.
Honestly, it was a little softer than I was expecting but it turned out to be a good read with some cheesy lines.
Honestly, it was a little softer than I was expecting but it turned out to be a good read with some cheesy lines.
September 1, 2013
A cute, quick read that I borrowed from my cousin. The name is taken from one of my favorite love songs. It's by Ani Difranco and, if you don't know it, you should go listen to it. The book isn't the most gripping, but it was nice and airy. It's a cute, love story with slight depth.
June 18, 2010
Read this for book club because the author lives in Hoboken. Pretty disappointed with the 2D characters and esp disappointed with the ending.
June 25, 2010
NJ girl meets punk rock god, gets seduced by the lifestyle, but rejects it in favor of finding herself. Good beach book. Namedropping like crazy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2010
Yearned for me from this ending! Not too happy with it. This is the author's first book....
April 2, 2015
Liked this book, but felt like the ending and the build to it was a bit... lackluster. Wished there was more to the characters.
August 10, 2010
This was fuzzy and hip and it kept me interested. And in the end it seemed true and honest.
September 10, 2010
A very realistic portrayal of a central jersey girl's exploits in the city with a rock star she hooks up with after breaking up with her boring boyfriend. Loved this!
June 20, 2011
A punk rock love story!!!
August 17, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in music & writing. The story was very relatable.
August 19, 2014
Courtney Love said that Falling Is Like This is "Saucy & Sexy" but it is neither. And the "punk" guy is so lame. An unrealistic, terrible read.
June 17, 2013
Punk (ha)...... and no mention of the Clash! Not the worst book I've ever read, but probably int he bottom 10.
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