While I'm Falling (Platinum Readers Circle (Center Point))

by Laura Moriarty

What makes a family? That's what nineteen year old Veronica is wondering. Her family have always made her feel safe and protected but that's all been snatched away from her and she's beginning to wonder if she really knows her family at all . . .

With a homeless mother and a missing father Veronica has to grow up fast. Real life is a frightening wake-up call and as truths and tensions percolate and bubble to the surface there are devastating consequences. Can Veronica save those she thought she loved? Will her best intentions lead to her worst transgressions? And who will be left to catch Veronica when she falls?

• ISBN10: 0141031549
• ISBN13: 9780141031545
• Publish Date: 4 February 2010 (first published 1 January 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

What makes a family? That’s what nineteen year old Veronica is wondering. Her family have always made her feel safe and protected but that’s all been snatched away from her and she’s beginning to wonder if she really knows her family at all . . . With a homeless mother and a missing father Veronica has to grow up fast. Real life is a frightening wake-up call and as truths and tensions percolate and bubble to the surface there are devastating consequences. Can Veronica save those she thought she loved? Will her best intentions lead to her worst transgressions? And who will be left to catch Veronica when she falls?

I don’t really know why I bought While I’m Falling. I’d never read any of Laura’s books before, but when I saw While I’m Falling on BookDepository I liked the sound of it. So, armed with my brand new debit card, I bought it. I never managed to get time to read it though and it’s only now a year later that I decided to give it a read. And only then, I did it because I wanted something I’d never read before and this fit the bill perfectly.

While I’m Falling starts quite well, detailing how Veronica’s father came face-to-face with his wife’s lover, a roofer, and how that led to the divorce of the two. What follows is the aftermath of a family falling apart. Not only does Veronica have to deal with her family disintegrating, but she’s up to her eyeballs in college work as she struggles to get the required grades so she can become a med student. The only bright light in her life is boyfriend, Tim, and when Veronica’s mother comes to stay with their elderly dog, Veronica realises she can’t cope any more and after doing things completely out of character, Veronica needs to take stock of her life before it falls apart for good. I liked the plot. I thought it was a little slow at time, but I generally liked the theme of the book.

I don’t particularly know what I made of Veronica. She’s easy to sympathise with, and I did like her, but I didn’t like some of the things she did. They were meant to be out of character, what she does, but I thought they were too far out of character to be real. Apart from that, I could definitely be friends with her if she was real. I also don’t know what I made of Veronica’s parents. I liked her mother, and we get to see a lot of her as she’s in the book quite a bit but I didn’t really like Veronica’s father. We don’t see much of him and although he definitely loves his daughters, I just couldn’t take to him. Veronica’s sister Elise isn’t in the book enough for me to know whether I liked her or not, to be honest. Finally, we have Tim, Veronica’s boyfriend, and I liked him.

While I’m Falling is very well written and it was the main reason I kept reading. Because despite being slow, with barely any action, the story itself is very well written and I applaud Moriarty for that. I was even sad to reach the end of the book because I wasn’t expecting it. Thinking about it, it ended well, but I was surprised to finish the chapter to find the Epilogue. So although this isn’t a book I would read again, I did enjoy it and I’ll definitely be looking into Moriarty’s other novels and with any luck they’ll be just as enjoyable as this one was.