Our February mystery/thriller selection for LaLa Life Book Club is Catch Her When She Falls by Allison Buccola. I finished this one a few weeks ago and wanted to share my thoughts here with y’all.
I filmed some IG stories chatting about what I thought of this book. They are saved to a highlight reel that you can see on my profile here.
In case you forgot, here’s what the book is about:
Ten years ago, my boyfriend killed my best friend.
When Micah Wilkes was a senior in high school, her boyfriend was convicted of murdering her best friend, Emily. A decade later, Micah has finally moved on from the unforgivable betrayal and loss. Now the owner of a bustling coffee shop in her small hometown in Pennsylvania, she’s happily coupled up with another old high school friend, the two having bonded over their shared sorrow.
But when reminders of her past begin appearing at her work and home, Micah begins to doubt what she knows about Emily’s death. Questions raised on a true crime blog and in an online web sleuthing forum force her to reexamine her memories of that fateful night. She told the truth to the investigators on the case, but was there another explanation for Emily’s murder? A stranger in the woods. An obsessive former classmate. Or the internet’s favorite suspect: Joshua, Emily’s outcast younger brother who hasn’t been seen since his sister’s death.
As Micah delves deeper into the case, she feels her grip on reality loosening, her behavior growing more and more secretive and unhinged. As she races to piece together the truth about that night ten years ago, Micah grapples with how things could have gone so wrong and wonders whether she, too, might be next to disappear.
My review
Rating: 3 STAR (BUT, let me tell you, I highly recommend this one even though I only gave it 3 stars. Let me explain below)
What I liked: This was such a great story that had me speculating throughout. I had so many theories and was kept guessing until the very end. Micah was a frustrating character that I wanted to strangle at times. In the beginning, I could understand her actions and felt they were justified, but then she went off the rails a bit. I loved how we got to see present day events, but also high school flashbacks. I also loved the reveal of what happened that night.
Catch Her When She Falls has a really good mystery plot to it, but two major things had me deducting stars…
SPOILERS AHEAD!
What I Didn’t Like: Following the timeline was a little tricky and required a lot of concentration with this one. The character would be doing something in present day and then think about something that happened years before and we (the reader) would be transported to another time for 2-3 pages. It made putting down and picking up the book a little difficult. It also made it hard to stay focused, but thankfully the story was compelling enough to stick with it. I’m so glad I didn’t let this confusing back and forth storytelling derail me. It was however, big enough of an issue to take it from a 5 to a 4 star read for me.
So how did I get the 3 star rating? Well, my friends, let’s talk about the ending, shall we?
WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?!?!?! Now, I’m all for an open-ended ending, but that was not an ending. That was just a stop in the middle of the plot. I’ve never been so shocked to turn the page and discover that a book is over. I was 100% fully expecting another chapter or even an epilogue. I’m fine with not having all the answers to my questions wrapped up in a neat little bow in the end, but to just stop the book in the middle of the story?? I really didn’t love that. I felt cheated out of the rest of the story. This made me take away another star.
Even though I only gave it 3 stars, I really enjoyed this book and I’m so glad I read it. I hope you read this month’s book and loved it too. What did you think about the ending??
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