Book Review: Fall for Anything

Courtney Summers skyrocketed to the top of my favorite authors' list with Cracked Up To Be and Some Girls Are. Her nitty-gritty, realistic approach toward a teenage girl's life is engrossing and captivating. So I was pretty sure Fall for Anything was going to knock my socks off.

Sadly, no socks went flying. Though it might have rolled them down a bit.

According to the book's blurb:

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?


Seriously, it sounds great. But I think I psyched myself up for it a little too much. And when it was all said and done, I kept thinking "If I had written this book, this is what I would have done..." which is pretty dang snobby of me.

But, like Eddie, I wanted answers. And I wanted drama. Culler Evans has such potential to be a creeptastic creep, but it seems like Summers shies away from that at the very end. It's hard to elaborate without giving away the entire plot, but I fully expected Culler to be A) the answer to Eddie's questions or B) be the thing that finally breaks her. But he ended up doing neither. I wanted fireworks and  all I got was fizzle. And, of course, (SPOILER) there is never really an answer why her father killed himself. Which, granted, is the way things can be in real life, but, call me crazy, if we spend an entire novel chasing for the answer, I expect to get one at the end. Even if it's not a pretty one. I want some sort of satisfaction. This story felt circular. It ends right where it started, without any significant changes to the main character or her motivations. It was frustrating.

And yet, I still liked it. It's very frustrating, circular, soul-crushing emptiness is just so RIGHT for the subject matter. Suicide is not easily explained or excused, and Summers was true to that idea to the end, leaving the reader just as confused and lost as Eddie. Just for that, I have to recommend this read.

(But I think I should stop reading books dealing with suicide, as they always tick me off.)

Rating: 4 stars (out of five)