The Impossible Art of Falling

Sara
Fiorenzo
Genre: 
Young Adult

Jena Grayson loses her father in an equestrian accident, after which her mother pulls a disappearing act. Aunt Meg and Uncle Rob offer her, and her horse, Gadsby, a home on their ranch in Townsend, Tennessee. When she moved from South Carolina, Jena thought it would just be herself and her aunt and uncle in the large farmhouse that she remembers visiting as a child. Luke Thomas, who lives in a room next to the stables, is an unexpected variable. She could also do without Kyle Marshall’s unwanted advances. Not only that but, though the 18-year-old previously loved to ride, she hasn’t been on the back of a horse in months. How will she regain the confidence she once had with the horses she still loves?

 

A basic knowledge of how one interacts with horses shines throughout in this classic love story written in the third person. The reader doesn’t immediately know why the boys interact the way they do, but Jena’s reasons for hers are obvious. Except for Jena’s mother, the characters’ personalities are well developed; their interactions reflect past experiences. Images developed in the mind’s eye may not elicit an emotional reaction due to the author’s tendency to “tell” the story rather than “show” the reader what is happening. Repeated explanation of the main event occurs, and the cumulative effect of small typos may irritate. However, the conflict is both organic and plausible.

 

Passion, patience and the power of love - the development of relationships is delightfully realistic.  Readers will impatiently await the next installment in this series. 

 

Heather R. Nielsen