Review: The Edge of Falling

Book: The Edge of Falling by Rebecca Serle
Publication Date: March 18, 2014
Series: None
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: Growing up in privileged, Manhattan social circles, Caggie’s life should be perfect, and it almost was until the day that her younger sister drowned when Caggie was supposed to be watching her. Stricken by grief, Caggie pulls away from her friends and family, only to have everyone misinterpret a crucial moment when she supposedly saves a fellow classmate from suicide. Now she’s famous for something she didn’t do and everyone lauds her as a hero. But inside she still blames herself for the death of her sister and continues to pull away from everything in her life, best friend and perfect boyfriend included. Then Caggie meets Astor, the new boy at school, about whom rumours are swirling and known facts are few. In Astor she finds someone who just might understand her pain, because he has an inner pain of his own. But the more Caggie pulls away from her former life to be with Astor, the more she realises that his pain might be darker, and deeper, than anything she’s ever felt. His pain might be enough to end his life…and Caggie’s as well.


Overall Review:
I honestly hadn't heard of this book until I ran across it on my friend blog's for an event. After I laid eyes on the cover and the synopsis I was immediately in love and wanted it right then and there! Luckily I won her giveaway for an ARC and I picked it up almost right after I got it. It was everything I hoped for and more. The Edge of Falling is a beautiful and emotional tale about loss, grief, and the struggle to move on. Everyone grieves in different ways and for different amounts of time and I truly think that Serle did a perfect job illustrating that here. Some people try to change, some try to run away, some try to ignore what happened, some are consumed by their grief, and some show their grief off for the world to see. I think the topic of grief and huge loss can be a touchy and complicated subject to write about since it's so broad yet not, so different yet the same, but Serle nailed it in a way that so few authors have been able to. The Edge of Falling was very different than I thought it was going to be but I'm very happy about that! I at first thought that Caggie was just a modest yet saddened girl who meets a boy who understands her and is able to help her fight through her sadness and grief and move on but that's not what quite happened. I spent a majority of the book thinking this but it wasn't until towards the end with shocking discoveries after shocking discoveries that I truly began to see things clearly. I'm half tempted to go through the whole book again just to see if, now that I truly know what's going on, I can discover anything new that I didn't pick up on before. The Edge of Falling isn't full of suspense or action but more trauma, heart break, and emotionally gripping. It was the kind of book I haven't read in a long while now and was quite refreshing, even if I felt terribly (for everyone in the story) while reading!

Caggie is a very troubled girl. She has a severe case of survivor's guilt after the loss of her sister and she feels like nobody could possibly understand her, not even her family--epecially not her family. She definitely struggles with her grief and feels like if she moves on, she'll be forced to admit her sister is gone and forget her all together. Now this isn't her fault at all, but she's completely isolated from everyone around her. Her grief has become like a wall between her and others, not allowing her to really get close with anyone anymore. People have tried to help her but she just doesn't want it and everyone has basically given up. Her grief, as far as I can tell, is a serious case of it and it has gotten to the point that nobody can really help her but herself. She constantly struggles with trying to move on, without actually moving on. Caggie is the type of person who thinks that as long as she doesn't talk about it, just pretends that everything is okay and nothing bad ever happened, that things will be okay and she's living again. That's obviously not the case. She's been through a lot and everyone knows it, but they don't know the whole truth about what has happened to her so they sort of just expect her to spend a day crying and then move on with life, have fun, make new friends, join clubs or after school activities. These expectations along with the guilt she harbors inside makes it really hard for her to try and be herself again. Now that being said, after she meets Astor and really gets to see someone who is almost exactly like her she begins to see that how she's been living, how she's been trying to "move on" isn't real. She begins to see she was wrong and actually begins to let go. It was a beautiful thing to read and I'm so happy with her development, even if it was a little slow.

There really isn't a whole lot of romance going on in The Edge of Falling. There's a lot of sweet memories between Caggie and Trevor that Caggie relives, and there's quite a bit of making out between Caggie and Astor, but nothing is really solid or concrete. It was really cute to read about Caggie and Trevor and quite honestly I wanted them to be together so badly through out the whole book just because of all the memories that we get to see that occurred between the two of them. That being said, The Edge of Falling mostly focuses on Caggie and her grief, her struggle to begin to learn what it means to truly move on with life. I actually think the lack of true romance makes the story better because we really get to learn more about Caggie and the weight that she carries on her shoulders. I think if there was a honest and true romance between Caggie and somebody in The Edge of Falling, we'd lose a lot of that deep emotion behind the story.

The pace isn't fast but I'm happy about that. This isn't the type of book you can really just fly right through, not if you want to get the whole feeling and message behind it. Not saying you have to read at a snail pace, but if you were to read The Edge of Falling I suggest taking your time and really absorbing everything because it'll be a whole lot better that way. While I was super excited to read this I was also nervous because focuses a story on grief and struggling to move on from a tragic loss or event can be a bit tricky to write for various reasons. That being said, as I was reading I really got what was going on. I felt what Serle was trying to write and understood Caggie's feelings of grief, guilt, and frustration at the world. Serle truly did a beautiful job when writing this story. One of the best stories of this subject matter I've read in a long time. Caggie was a very emotional and tragic character. She suffers from so much but keeps it all bottled up inside her, not only to protect others but also because she feels if she were to say anything people wouldn't understand or would just turn their backs on her. She honestly has no idea how to properly deal with her grief (not that there's a set way to deal with it but you get what I mean) and throughout the whole book she has to learn that how she's living, how she's "moving on" just isn't right or good for anyone. She begins to realize that eventually and I was so happy to see her come to these conclusions, but it's a long and painful process for her. Her struggle throughout The Edge of Falling is one of the reasons I'm glad there's not really any romance in the book. I feel like if there was it would take away a lot of the emotion and impact the story has. I love the title, it was actually the thing that originally caught my eye. It's really eye catching and pretty impactful, even without truly reading the book! And that cover is just gorgeous! I love love love it!!


Overall Rating:
I give The Edge of Falling a 4 out of 5 star rating. I truly adored reading this book and it was hard to put down! It's a beautifully written tale of traumatic loss, struggling with grief, and learning what it takes to truly live beyond all that. It's so emotional and it really got to me at times! Such an amazing book! I would totally recommend this to people who are into contemporaries or like reading books about life lessons or deep and emotional subject matter. I can't wait for people to read The Edge of Falling because it truly is a great book. I'm already dying for Serle's next book! Thanks for reading!

4/5 stars

~Kayla~