When I bought this book, I knew it would be a formulaic, fluffy college romance with an HEA. Still, I liked the idea that it featured a wheelchair-bound heroine, as I work with spinal cord injury patients and people who are primarily wheelchair-bound, and most of my patients, if they do walk, not many of them walk without assistance. So I was partially curious as to how this would play out in a novel.

First off, the characters. I liked the characters, and I always like a good friends-to-romance story. I did have a slight problem with the fact that Hartley had a girlfriend for most of the book, but hey, love comes when we least expect it, sometimes, and I understand why he stayed in a situation that wasn't necessarily the best for him (I mean, we've all done it). I liked both Corey and Hartley as characters - but I didn't feel any chemistry between them, at all, so I didn't exactly ship their romance. I actually felt more chemistry with Corey and that guy from her water polo team (the British one).

As far as the actual depiction of Corey's injury, I thought it was relatively accurate, especially if her injury was incomplete. I didn't like how she viewed her physical therapists, but it does help me to understand some of the frustrations that my own patients go through.

The story is written in first person POV in both Corey and Hartley's viewpoints. Its a relatively easy and quick read. And the revelation at the end about Hartley came too late and was resolved way too easily.

Overall, I liked it, but I don't usually gravitate toward this particular genre, so I'm unsure of whether I will continue reading this series. ( )

When I bought this book, I knew it would be a formulaic, fluffy college romance with an HEA. Still, I liked the idea that it featured a wheelchair-bound heroine, as I work with spinal cord injury patients and people who are primarily wheelchair-bound, and most of my patients, if they do walk, not many of them walk without assistance. So I was partially curious as to how this would play out in a novel.

First off, the characters. I liked the characters, and I always like a good friends-to-romance story. I did have a slight problem with the fact that Hartley had a girlfriend for most of the book, but hey, love comes when we least expect it, sometimes, and I understand why he stayed in a situation that wasn't necessarily the best for him (I mean, we've all done it). I liked both Corey and Hartley as characters - but I didn't feel any chemistry between them, at all, so I didn't exactly ship their romance. I actually felt more chemistry with Corey and that guy from her water polo team (the British one).

As far as the actual depiction of Corey's injury, I thought it was relatively accurate, especially if her injury was incomplete. I didn't like how she viewed her physical therapists, but it does help me to understand some of the frustrations that my own patients go through.

The story is written in first person POV in both Corey and Hartley's viewpoints. Its a relatively easy and quick read. And the revelation at the end about Hartley came too late and was resolved way too easily.

Overall, I liked it, but I don't usually gravitate toward this particular genre, so I'm unsure of whether I will continue reading this series. ( )

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:πŸ“”πŸ“”πŸ“”πŸ“”
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:πŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈπŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈπŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈπŸ¦ΈπŸ»β€β™€οΈ
Intimacy Level: πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯
Relationship Building: πŸ’’πŸ’’πŸ’’πŸ’’
Heart & Feels:πŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ’ž
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚
Page Turner Level:πŸ“–πŸ“–πŸ“–πŸ“–
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
The Year We Fell Down is the first book in the "Ivy Years" and this has been a series I have been wanting to read for many years now. Its probably been on my TBR for the longest time. And its about time I buckled down and read this book and I definitely had a fun time with this one. Now is it a book that is worthy of being on the top book lists, and it's debatable to be honest. While I had a fun time with this book, it didn't exactly blow me out of the water as I expected it to.

First Line
"This Looks Promising," my mother said, eyeing the dormitory's ivy-covered facade.

Summary
Corey has come for her first year at college, she is handicapped from a hockey injury that damaged her spine. Her neighbor across the hall is the dreamboat hockey player who is injured with a broken leg. Corey and Hartley find common ground in their injuries and develop a quick deep friendship with each other. They both have a quick connection to each other. The issue....Hartley is already in a relationship with someone else. Corey feels torn being attracted to a man who is not available to her, but as their friendship draws closer together, Hartley will have to make a decision on what woman truly matters most and he can see being with long term...

What I Loved
There are many elements to this book that I really loved. I was immediately drawn into this book so its definitely an easy quick read. Very quickly I became invested with Corey and Hartley. I really adored these two together. The story builds quickly with a solid friendship being the foundation to their relationship. We see their bond with hockey and both suffering injuries that have caused them being handicapped in different ways but they relate well with each other and how they are both limited in some ways to what they can do. We see how well they get along with each other. There is such a easy relationship that they have together and its quite charming to see. We also see how there is a building chemistry that is growing between them. This is definitely more of a slow burn. So keep that in mind, don't expect a super spicy read here as due to the circumstances of their relationship. There is plenty of humor, endearing characters and atmospheric college setting.

What I Struggled With
There is one aspect to this story I had an issue with and that is the cheating aspect. The hero does cheat on his girlfriend and I didn't understand why he took so long ending things with her. And we also don't see this scene, its only referred to so I would have liked to have seen the scene. So I was a bit disappointed as I wasn't expecting this author to go this route.

Overall View
The Year We Fell Down is a solid new adult romance that really delivers on many fronts. Its a story of strong friendship, connecting through adversity and finding love in the most vulnerable moments of life.

Favorite Quote(s)
"The thing is, we're all fragile. It's just that most of our friends are lucky enough not to know it yet."

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Character Types: Athlete, Disability
Themes: Slow Burn, Hockey, Cheating
Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Forbidden Love, Love Triangle

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

Song This Book Inspires
Young Hearts by Embody

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes

Steam/Spice Explanations

Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments. ( )

DNF at 8% due to a weird blend of annoyance and boredom. This is college freshman YA which I usually like just fine, but the plot is bogged down and shows no signs of improving. ( )

I really liked the pacing of the relationship, that a believable friendship is very much established between these two before the romantic feelings. At a certain point I worried that the book might devolve into Corey just wallowing in her feelings for Hartley so I really appreciated how brief that period was, that she pursued a new interest outside of romance and she didn’t let Hartley string her along..

The term gimp is thrown around fairly frequently in this book which could feel problematic for some readers but the tone of the book towards characters with mobility issues is generally respectful and empowered, showing that Corey’s life didn’t end the moment she landed in a wheelchair, she’s still an attractive and sexual being, and she’s still an athlete and ultra competitive even if she now has to go about it differently than before, it felt like a positive representation without pretending that her situation doesn’t have its challenges as well.

Having recently experienced something of a reading slump it was nice not to feel like it was a slog to get through this, it’s easy to fly through these pages, though I would have welcomed a few more descriptive details. There were also things that occurred in the final twenty percent that while valuable to the story I would have preferred to see woven throughout the book rather than almost feeling like they were sort of a tacked on novella at the end, still, overall, this was a really satisfying read. ( )