Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Falling
AUTHOR: Suki Fleet
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 Pages
BLURB:
Josh’s idea of a romance is curling up alone and reading a novel with a happily ever after. He’s made his flat a safe haven where the walls are covered with beautiful words and his living room ceiling is a map of the universe.
Angus may be shy and inexperienced, but he’s incapable of hiding anything, especially his attraction to his older neighbor.
When Josh admits to Angus that he’s gay, he doesn’t expect Angus’s reaction. Angus’s obvious interest terrifies Josh. For years he’s managed to keep the world at arm’s length and avoid getting too close to anyone. Well, anyone except Eleanor, Angus’s mother, who helped Josh rebuild his life after he was hospitalized for depression. But Josh still thinks he’s broken. His past has left scars he thinks are too deep to heal. Despite Josh’s defenses, Angus begins to mean more to him than just the cute boy next door. If Josh can take a risk and let someone into his isolated world, he might have a chance for a real-life happy ending.
REVIEW:
Falling begins with a desperate phone call from Angus to Josh at work. Angus’s mother’s anxiety has reached dangerous and scary levels and Angus doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t have any friends he can turn to, and contacting his father is just not an option. Josh lives in the same apartment building, is a friend of Eleanor and is the only one that Angus can think of to turn to for help.
Josh wants to help Angus and Eleanor, he does help Angus and Eleanor, but at the same time, he is desperate to keep his distance, especially from Angus. Getting close to people doesn’t work out well for Josh, or for the people involved, so Josh believes it’s best if he refuses to notice the interested looks that Angus throws his way. After all, at only eighteen, Angus is too young for twenty five year old Josh anyway. Right?
So, this was my first Suki Fleet book and I definitely enjoyed it. To be honest the writing wasn’t what I expected and it did take me a little while to get use to the author’s particular writing style. As I said, this was my first book by this author so I don’t know if all of her books are written in a similar way or whether it was just the voice of the main character coming through. The story is told from Josh’s point of view, written in first person, which I find usually makes me feel more attached to that one particular character. But that didn’t really happen for me with this book. I can’t say I felt a connection with Josh. I felt for Josh, I cared about him but I don’t know if I actually connected with him. But honestly, that suited Josh perfectly. He was a very disconnected person. Even when he was out in the world he wasn’t emotionally a part of it. And I could feel that barrier he put up. I don’t know if the author did that on purpose but it was brilliantly done, nonetheless.
I saw a note from the author that this book wasn’t as angsty or sad as some of her others but that it was filled with longing. My god was it filled with longing! Not just Josh and Angus longing for each other, though there was plenty of that, but also a longing for friendship, a longing to be loved and a longing to be “normal”. It saturated the pages and was a tangible element throughout the whole story. If this is how Suki Fleet writes longing then I am terrified to delve into her angst.
Highly recommended for those who are looking for more than a light, fluffy read and I really love that cover!
RATING: 
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