Steven Cross

*I received a PDF ARC version of this from a giveaway on LibraryThing.
**This will also be posted on Booklikes and LibraryThing.

In Fall of Knight we follow Dean and his troubles with life and his mental illness. Our eyes open up and as we hear his voice we hear the voice of a broken boy, of a troubled teen, of someone who has monsters that live in his mind and his writing and his life. We learn how one might think and see the world when diagnosed with a mental illness, how they never really show more know what to do with themselves.

I'm being honest when I say that the content of this book really got to me. Because sometimes, maybe a lot of the time, I feel like Dean does, or like his sister does, and never have I gone through anything like either of them have and so while it makes me feel guilty it also makes me love this book all the more. And so to connect with them was both slightly triggering and a whole lot fascinating.

I also realized though, that sometimes we never really fully realize what’s happening to the people around us when we’re still young, even in teenage years, because we are too absorbed in ourselves and being what society thinks we should be and our own problems that we face. I think maybe we just make ourselves believe nothing is wrong because we don’t want to know that others are hurting and that our world is as dark as it is light. And I think this because in the book, Dean knows his sister is hurting -heck she was crying!- but he was pissed at her and his bipolar nature allowed him to walk away and let her cry because he had his own problems to deal with and although he was able to sleep when she got home and he knew she was safe, he still didn't go up to her and ask why she was crying, and what could have possibly happened. And you can't really blame him either. I don't think you'd really understand why unless you read Fall of Knight yourself. And I suggest you do.

Or maybe not, because not everyone is okay with reading about drugs [they're prescribed to help him but still], and alcohol, and death and suicide and how mental illnesses might affect how one views the world. But even so, maybe you might be okay with this one. I myself loved it, I adore it actually, because of how real and raw it is, but honestly if it's not for you, then it's not for you.

But aside from that, the writing was brilliant, and even while some might find Dean's creativity sometimes weird or creepy or disturbing, I loved it all. His character, all the characters, were real enough and all had their own personalities and their own feelings and not once did I feel forced to read and I never felt like the story was dragging or that maybe it was going too fast. I rather enjoy that even by the end, Dean isn't cured, because honestly, there isn't a cure for a mental illness, there's just pill that dulls your insanity. At least,t hat's what I took from reading this. And it makes a lot of sense too.

I love the twists too, and how what is revealed at the end is a shocking discovery that actually leaves you wondering how you never saw it coming. There were so many hints, about it and it never clicked, but that's great because in no way was this story predictable and I love that. It was just brilliant, and although this book is officially being published tomorrow, I already can't wait for more.

And I know I can't force you to read this, but I seriously recommend it. show less

After finishing this book, I was tempted to give it a scathing review based on what I felt was such a disappointing ending but then decided to give myself a day or two to think it over because I had been really hooked on the book right up until the very end. The day I received this book I was just going to read a few pages to get a feel for it and had to force myself to put it away at page 60 and go to sleep...it was just such an engaging read. I believe it is a YA book based on the show more characters, but maybe because the author is about my age I found it a very easy read. However, because the book is supposed to be from the point of view of a teenager, I found the sexual references very offputting, and I am normally a very open minded and not easily offended person, and I have 2 teenagers myself, and I just didnt think they would use that language. My teenage daughter and I both suffer from (much milder than the characters in the book) forms of mental illness, depression and anxiety, and I thought that part of the book was handled very very well and seemed well researched. I thought the time in the mental institution was a neat peek into what I believed was a very believable description of what a stay in such a place would be like. What this book does well it does very well, but what it does bad it does very bad. Ill try to be spoiler free, but I had the "twist" figured out from the time "the pretty lady" was first mentioned. And there are just SO many loose ends left in this book....so many things that were introduced and then never rectified that they never really served a purpose. And the ending...I found myself actually scrolling around and checking my download file in case I was missing some pages. It was terrible. It feels like you get half a book. I know it can be a trope to leave some unanswered or unsatisfying answers at the end of the book, but this goes way past that. Not a single idea introduced in the book is concluded in any way and at the end, other than the people who die (which there seemed to be an inordinate amount of) you have no idea what happens to any of the characters, which leaves you wondering why you invested those hours of your life in reading this because there is no pay off. And that is really too bad because the first two-thirds of the book were great, the last third feels like someone who had a homework assignment to write a story, got it two-thirds of the way done, and realized it was due tomorrow so just typed anything to have something to hand in. I am giving this a 3 because that's exactly between a 5, which the first two-thirds of the book are, and a 1, which the last third of the book is. The book needed at least another 50-100 pages of an actual finish to the story and it probably would have gotten a 4 or 5 from me. show less

Thanking Booktrope Publishing for sending me this ARC, giving me the opportunity to read and review Fall of Knight.

In Fall of Knight, we meet the twins Dean and Dee Knight. Struggling with mental illness and bullying, while their mother – since the death of their father, lays passed out on the couch. Or simply doesn’t bother to get out of bed. Then there’s the secrets. For about a decade, buried… and yet to be revealed. After all what has happened, it would be the drop, the final show more nail to my coffin as well…

I found myself struggling: It’s dark and sometimes upsetting, yet I couldn’t put it down! Cross had clearly a good insight which he brilliantly shared with the reader and digs deeper than anybody has done before in a Young Adult book. You don’t just read it, you FEEL it! Forget John Green (no offence!), Cross is “the next new thing”! show less

I have to be honest, when I started reading this book, I was not expecting to like it. The setup seemed implausible: two sets of boy/girl twins who were the same age, each of whom had lost their father. As I continued reading, I found myself hooked into the story and by the middle, I was excited about the unraveling mystery of what would happen next.

I think that Fall of Knight is a very important work. It shows many facets of mental illness that sometimes are hard to understand in other show more people. I think that the writing could have been cleaned up a little bit more, but all in all I look forward to seeing what else Steven Cross has to offer. show less