DNF Review: Tumble & Fall

Book: Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
Publication Date: September 17, 2013
Series: None
Rating: DNF

Synopsis: The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

**Be warned this review may contain some spoilers! Read at your own risk!!**

Overall Review:
This is my first DNF review so I'm just going to keep this short and sweet.

Tumble & Fall seemed to have great promise but just fell entirely flat. For one, it was so confusing to follow along. There were three separate characters with entirely different stories. Then you had the minor characters that went with the stories of each of the main characters. Normally that isn't an issue, I love multiple points of view, but the characters seemed almost exactly alike in terms of voice and personality no matter how much Coutts tried to make them opposites. I couldn't even keep the names straight for the characters, it was that bad. I still can't remember the characters' names or who went with what story. I just couldn't relate with any of the characters nor did I particularly care about any of the characters. So when you have 3 main characters, and about 8 or 9 sub characters (about 2 or 3 for each main), and you can't relate, care, and even remember them? That's bad.

Then there was the storyline itself. So the world is potentially ending and Tumble & Fall is supposed to be all about what do you do with the time you have left. You have to make amends, face all your struggles, and leave with no regrets. I thought Tumble & Fall was going to a heartwarming, uplifting, emotional read. That is not what I got. The storylines for the characters made no sense and were just plain stupid. One character's dad is going to get married and she doesn't want to deal with it. So she ignores her family and sneaks out constantly to hang out (mostly make out) with this guy she'd just met but apparently hung out with when they were like 5. She doesn't care about anyone or anything else. It's all about making out with this guy so she doesn't have to deal with her family. Another character is crazily obsessed with her boyfriend that had died awhile back. Instead of spending her last days with her friends and family, she goes out on a wild goose chase to hunt down and figure out every aspect and every secret of his life he ever had. Like what the crap chick? And finally, the third character gets kidnapped by his father who left him when he was very young. He has every opportunity to leave and be with his sister, the only family he's ever had who cares for him more than anyone else, but he doesn't. Want to know why? His father is filthy rich and he figures he may as well spend his last days being spoiled beyond belief. By the father who left him and then kidnapped him. That's it. That's what we read about.

Seeing as that storylines were stupid, the characters bland and very forgettable, and the writing pretty bland that I couldn't even get into the story if I tried, I think I went above and beyond what I felt I had to by reading the 200 pages that I did. I wanted to stop long before that but figured maybe it would get better as the story went on. It didn't and I couldn't take anymore of it, especially when I had much better books I could have been reading.

I was very disappointed reading Tumble & Fall because it sounded so good and had such promise to it. Plus, it was a gift from another blogger. However, it just fell so flat and was such a disappointment I couldn't even finish it. I obviously wouldn't recommend this to people and sadly I probably won't read any other books by Coutts in the future. Thanks for reading!


~Kayla~