Hello, lovelies! Today I’m back with a full review for Feel Me Fall, from James Morris. I have received this book in exchange for an honest review and the moment is here.
Secrets and survival in the Amazon
Emily Duran is the sole survivor of a plane crash that left her and her teenage friends stranded and alone in the jungles of the Amazon. Lost and losing hope, they struggle against the elements, and each other. With their familiar pecking order no longer in place, a new order emerges, filled with power struggles, betrayals, secrets and lies. Emily must explain why she’s the last left alive.
But can she carry the burden of the past?
Discover the gripping new adventure novel that explores who we are when no one is watching, and how far we’ll go in order to survive.
Me after finishing this book:
Just remembering that those were my impressions and opinion as a reader =)
This book and I fell in love gently, almost by accident. Our relationship was off to a bit slow start, as I was very observant of the treatment that James would give to Amazon Forest and my country overall, but as Emily kept throwing dirty around, I found myself rotten underneath it all, needing to know what the hell was going to happen to everyone. In the end, I did fell for this book and loved every minute we had together, being caught off guard even on the edge of the final paragraph and, sadly, our ending. Well, played, James. Five stars for you.
This book is narrated in first person style by Emily, the said sole survivor of a plane crash. If you have read one or two reviews of mine in the past, you might be aware that this style of narrative can be very tricky with me – I tend to hate it, especially if the main character is a teenage girl. Feel Me Fall escaped my rules and, besides not giving me reading clichés that tend to come with first person POVs, made me really identify with Emily. She wasn’t perfect, she wasn’t the better at anything, but she had character, no pun intended.
The plot and overall narrative construction were the main points that kept me hooked on this book. The theme is not my usual go-to genre, but as I had already read and loved James’ work in the past, I decided to risk it anyway. It really helped that James was the best author ever and put up the work to send me a paperback copy – I’m really moved.
Ahem, focus. Plot.
Emily starts telling us her story backwards, from her hospital bed after being rescued from the jungle. While she is the only survivor, we also learn that there were other five teenagers that survived the plane crash itself. This piece of information is the first in a long strong that makes us wonder that the heck happened between one event and the other – how did five people die in the jungle after surviving something so much worse? Also, the plot twists near the end will totally blow your mind. I honestly didn’t see that end coming at all and I honestly want to start re-reading the book ASAP to see what did I miss!
Regarding characters, I marveled at how James simply didn’t get attached to stereotypes. You could clearly identify types of personality within Emily, Viv, Molly, Nico, Derek and Ryan, but none of them where your classic teens type. James was a king when showing that nobody is completely good and saint and nobody is completely evil and heartless, that we all have several sides of ourselves within us.
James also didn’t get attached to physical descriptions beyond biological changes, which I found both refreshing and curious, as I can clearly see Emily or Viv in my head, but I have no idea if my conception of them is accurate. Moreover, this isn’t an issue in the story! The reader doesn’t get confused! =O Seriously, I loved this book.
To illustrate my point, here are some lines to interest you in Feel Me Fall:
“I’ve loved to read ever since I was a kid. Book have given me an escape from my own forgettable life. They’ve taken me to places I’ll probably never see. They’ve introduced me to people and events and made me feel less alone. Words aren’t just words; they’re alchemy. But it’s one thing to read and another to write. Writing, I’m finding, is an exorcism. I type on my laptop and it’s torture. Remembering every detail is like ripping pieces of my skin off my body where even the weight of air feels excruciating. Yet there is an underlying sense of relief to feel I am letting go. That’s probably what my counselor wanted all along. For me to let go. I wonder if I can. I wonder if I want to.”
– Emily, chapter 2, p. 13
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And then there was this dialogue between Nico and Viv on page 130:
Nico: Hasn’t this experience made you think? Like, what are we doing, going school, doing the things we do?
Viv: Are you stoned?
Nico: Stop asking me that! Can I just have a thought without you harping on me? I’m just saying, we learn all this stuff and yet we don’t know anything. Not really. I don’t know how to survive. I couldn’t hunt if my life depended on it. I can’t read the stars. I don’t know a poisonous beetle from a ladybug. I can’t even do math without a calculator. Can’t spell without spell check.
Viv: So what are you saying? You’re gonna drop out of school? You’re on the Nation Honor Society. You get straight As without trying.
Nico: I know I’m smart. Learning things comes easy for me. I’m just wondering what I’m studying for… besides to make a living. ‘Cause that seems pretty shallow from where I’m sitting.
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This cover is quite impactful with the large title and the obscure forest behind. The lonely shoe also gives just enough creepy vibes to intrigue, but not so much that you assume that this is a horror book – which isn’t. I really liked this clean concept of this cover, it works very well in my opinion.
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Overall, if you like mystery, thriller, adventure and intrigue themed books, you will fall hard for Fell Me Fall you saw what I did there.
Thank you so much for reading this review! Also, thanks so much to James Morris for my review copy =D Check out here my other review for James Morris’ work: What Lies Within.
With love,
The Book Adventures of Annelise Lestrange 