Feel Me Fall by James Morris

Publication Date: May 2017

Genre: Young Adult Suspense

Rating: 

Synopsis

Emily Duran is the only survivor of a plane crash that left her stranded in the Amazon jungle. Along with five other of her classmates, she spent her days struggling against the harsh conditions and dealing with their different views on how to survive. In their unique predicament, a new way of living is discovered filled with power struggles, betrayals, secrets and lies. When Emily is rescued, she must explain to everyone why she is the last left alive.

“I have tried so hard to forget, but memory is a stubborn thing. Memories linger no matter what I do. They’re there all the time—and worse. Even my dreams aren’t safe. I have vicious nightmares, and they’re real—too real—and suddenly I’m back there. I can’t will them away, I can’t squeeze them away, and the more I try, the more they burrow in my head. I want to cut open my skull and dig my fingers into my brain and just pull them out.”

Review

I really enjoyed reading this fast-paced and gripping suspense novel. The story and events that takes place oftentimes surprised me and left me wanting to keep reading to find out more answers. The answers definitely satisfied me and even when I thought I had something figured out, I was actually wrong by my prediction.

The novel is structured with Emily talking in the present (in hospital) and the past (in the jungle and before the jungle). The setting is mainly in the jungle, which helped create a sense of creepiness. I certainly felt squeamish at various times because of what the characters had to endure. I liked how this allowed for there to be more story and backstory given to Emily and the other characters. This helped me understand her motives and why she acted the way she did, along with the other characters.

The characters were interesting. I did not really like any of them, especially as I read more and more of the story. Without giving too much away, they all go through their own struggles during their time in the jungle, which turns them all into different people. It was great to see an obvious change in pretty much all of the characters in such a short novel with six different characters.

I loved the second half of the novel. It was very exciting and moved quickly. This is when many of the secrets are revealed, even though the first half also contains quite a few shocking secrets. The events in the second-half are very fast-paced and I was constantly questioning the reliability of the protagonist. Even though I predicted one twist, there were several others that I did not see coming, and they were all equally shocking and different. I also loved the ending. I noticed a few other reviews say that it ended on a cliffhanger, but it worked really well in my opinion. I don’t mind open-ended endings because it makes the book have a defining quality about it.

The only thing I disliked about this novel was the romance. Usually I enjoy a romance, and if I was a teenager in school then I would have surely loved it, but I felt this particular romance was inappropriate. It did, however, make for a shocking and interesting addition to the plot, and continued to surprise me throughout.

I rate this novel 4 stars because it was very entertaining and was able to surprise me at various times. I would recommend this novel to fans of both suspense and young adult.

Thank you to James Morris for providing me with the advanced reader copy in exchange for a honest review. 

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