Book Review: Feel Me Fall

Who can survive the mighty Amazon jungle – The strongest or the smartest?
What determines your survival – teamwork or the survival of the fittest?
How far would you go to survive and where would you stop and let go?

About the book

Book Name: Feel Me Fall

Author:  James Morris

Genre: Fiction – YA, Thriller

Characters: Emily Durant, Vivian, Derek, Molly, Nico, Ryan

Setting: The USA, South America

Disclaimer: Thanks to the Author for the Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The plot

Six American teenagers are pushed to answer these questions when their flight crashes over the Amazon forest. The lone survivor Emily has PTSD, and her therapist asks her to write about her fateful journey. How the trip, her survival and her truth affects her life forms the rest of the story.

Emily Duran forges her mother’s signature to take the trip of her lifetime to South America with her high schoolmates. The school trip didn’t go as well as it was supposed to and their plane crashes over the Amazon. Now you see why I was hooked? – there are deaths, lots of it.

Emily and five of her classmates are the only survivors of the crash. Fortunately (or was it?) Emily had her best friend Vivian and her boyfriend Nico to fall back on. The teenagers decide to walk away from the wreckage in search of some village. (Why? Who does that?)

Where there are high schoolers, there drama usually ensues, doesn’t it? That is true. The status quo of the survivors changes all of a sudden, thanks to the new environment. The popular ones do not have much to rely on anymore, do they? Lies, deceits and secrets catch up and pit them against each other.

How does the average, crowd-pleasing Emily become the only one who stays alive? Read Feel Me Fall to know more.

My initial thoughts

The story travels between the pages of Emily’s diary and the thrilling past from the tropical forest, making it a fast-paced compulsive read that will impress readers of all ages. I have had the opportunity to beta-read some of the other works of the author, and it took all of me (and failed) not to have a ‘fangirl flail moment‘ when I got the request to review his books. And he did not fail to impress me, despite my expectation being high.

I loved how every character was different from the other and how the author handled the dynamics between them very well. Be it the failing mom-daughter relationship or the more scandalous student-teacher relationship, they made sense and fit into the grand scheme of things (you know, not thrust in, just for the heck of it) and had depth in them.

Things that worked for me

• The author’s writing style is crisp and to the point, without having too many descriptions, yet I could visualize everything that happens in the story.
• The story has its share of unexpected twists, and an unreliable narrator makes it all the better.

Things that didn’t work for me

• The book’s premise might remind you of other survival books but I can assure Feel Me Fall is better, even if you vehemently hate high school drama.
• Spoiler: The story contains a teacher-student relationship, and it is vital to the story and dealt in detail, so if you are not comfortable with this or they turn you off from the book, you might have to skip Feel Me Fall

Bottom-line

If you are on the lookout for a thriller with twists and unexpected turns which would never let you put the book down. Feel Me Fall is the book for you. Be prepared to be shocked and surprised pleasantly with this tight knitted YA.

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Let us chat

Have you read any books by the author? What are your favorite genres? Do you like books with open ends? Let us talk.