Fall for Anything

FALL FOR ANYTHING
By Courtney Summers
St. Martin's Griffin

This book puts the whys? of death into your face like a punch for an answer. With each book Courtney Summers offers up to her readers characters who with every mouthful of air are part of what we all are as human beings. These are not cookie cutter characters for a writer’s goal but characters of living life through a story.
I love the harshness, the reality, the drinking of tears she shows with bravery in all of her books; which have been better with each one. Starting with CRACKED UP TO BE. Then SOME GIRLS ARE. And now FALL FOR ANYTHING.

Fall For Anything explores suicide, death, selfish grief, artistic shortsightedness, and the road of answering what truth can be found in the show more thoughts of someone after they have lost someone important from their life? These are not things which are made up of one superior answer or one way of thinking.

This writer can write pain as if she was holding you down and holding a scalpel to script the words into memories of events from your own life. Like with Some Girls Are, Fall For Anything connected with me not through pages of things that are similar to things that happen in my life but from little moments, scenes even that existed within the book as a sum total.

I believe it sometimes can be more powerful within a book when you are reading and a sentence or a scene rips you back to you life for a little while. You pause. You remember. You may even cry but then you continue with the story now invested in a way that maybe even the writer did not expect.

Even though I had a friend who committed suicide who was family to me it was the character of Milo who I identified with in larger ways in this book for reasons I will not get into for this review but that is the power of books. A great writer creates great characters who live their lives within a story that can make us smile, talk to a friend, tear, or need to take a break in proceedings to go watch something really stupid like Two And A Half Men. But you have to love books for that because they create that connect that makes you want to rush back to them as soon as you can.

The short cast list gives us time to really get into the lives of each character as time unfolds. Eddie stands in the after time of her father’s suicide with a mother who seems to have almost died in her own way, a pushy friend of her mother’s always getting into her face, a best friend who have information she wants, and a stranger linked to parts of her father’s life she didn’t know about.

I think in the end Eddie just wants to scream to her father, “Why did you have to do this now!? I’m not ready for something like this now!” But that is how life strips us of our days sometimes, by giving us things that we are not ready for but nonetheless faced with.

4 out of 5 Stars show less

This book falls somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for me.

Eddie Reeves is lost since her father's suicide. A once-famous photographer, her father leaves basically no clues behind to indicate his motivations. Her mother is basically nonfunctioning after his death so her mother's best friend moves in to attempt to keep things in order. Eddie's own best friend, Milo, won't tell her some of the details about the night her father died. When she meets a mysterious former student of her father's who is similarly aggrieved by his death, they attempt to shed some light on the matter.

I had never read anything by [a:Courtney Summers|1487748|Courtney Summers|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1266992933p2/1487748.jpg] before and I appreciated her show more voice. At times, when I am reading [a:Sarah Dessen|2987|Sarah Dessen|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1208460253p2/2987.jpg] books, I just wish she would be realistic about teenage thoughts and what goes on in high school. (Not that I don't enjoy Dessen's books, I definitely do) I think what I am getting at is that the conversations in this book felt real. So often in books, people say exactly what they want to say at the moment they want to say it. Sometimes we say things to people solely to be mean or to hit them where it hurts, especially when we're in a bad mood, and I'm glad these moments were left in the book. At one point, one of the characters tells another, "You make me feel alone," and I thought that was one of the harshest things someone could ever say to another person. The times after we lose someone we love are some of the hardest times we go through in life and Summers did a great job of capturing that feeling. (Especially the thought that everyone has--that no one can understand their grief)

There is a sort of love triangle going on in this book, but unlike basically every other YA book out there, there was absolutely no moment where I was cheering for one of the guys. One of them was a total creepshow and the other was (for the most part) really endearing. No contest.

I liked Courtney Summers' writing style and will definitely check out more of her work. She painted some beautiful imagery at times and I enjoyed the characters in the book. (even when I wasn't particularly enjoying their actions) Anyway, I don't want this book to sound earth-shattering because it wasn't. But I did enjoy it, read it rather quickly, and thought it was well done. show less

Eddie’s father committed suicide and she’s become consumed with wanting to know why. I can see how that would could easily become an obsession. It’s difficult enough when people die without throwing in the fact that they committed suicide. It’s also easy for kids to absorb some of the blame for things. They feel that surely they played some part in things. I felt for Eddie trying to grapple with everything and only having her best friend Milo to count on.

Her mother is too deeply mired in grief to even realize the pain that Eddie is in. She’s checked out, emotionally anyway. She can’t see to her own emotional needs, let alone be there for Eddie.

Eddie meets Culler Evans, a student of her father’s. They begin exploring clues show more left behind by Eddie’s father as Eddie grows closer to Culler. She clings to each message in hope that it will give her the answer she’s been longing for. How will this triangle between Eddie, Milo and Culler work out?

This book was as lovely as a book about a girl’s agonizing trip through grief can be. There’s hope in Eddie’s and Milo’s relationship. The writing was wonderful, evocative, and thought provoking. In the end you realize that sometimes there are no answers. I’m giving this one 4 kisses! show less

“Sometimes I feel hunted by my grief. It circles me, stalks me. It's always in my periphery. Sometimes I can fake it out. Sometimes I make myself go so still, it can't sense that I'm there anymore and it goes away. I do that right now.”


Ugh. Before I go into the book review I must say that I had some other quotes and I returned the book before I can write them down! Woe is me.... So I settled for a quote I got off of Goodreads... Still good but I'm sad because my quotes were awesome... Pity party over. Now to get to the book.


Eddie's Reeves father left a hole in her family when he killed himself. He was a photographer that walked away from it all because he wanted to share his art. He didn't want his art to be seen as something so show more trivial as to be bought and sold. It's two months later and his death still lingers as much as it did when it was discovered that he did kill himself.

Her mother never takes off his coat. She walks aimlessly through the house like a ghost. She doesn't get to show her grief because it might upset her. Beth, a friend who refuses to let age happen to her, is controlling everything while her mother is... incapacitated. She is also controlling her. She has to be this perfect daughter while her mother tries to get back on her feet which I'm really pissed that Beth does that. Excuse you. She lost her father too. What do you think because she is a teenager and she's not acting like her mother that she doesn't feel his loss too? Check yourself.

That's a part I found strange actually. She even says her father is like a stranger to her now. She never really described him as he used to be. She did it maybe once but I couldn't see the father daughter connection that you should see. It was all morbid. Well not all. Just the feel. She did have Milo is her best friend. There's something he won't tell her. It's pretty shady until it is of course actually revealed. The reveal was more...eye opening? than I thought. It was just crazy... in a good way.

Apparently she was this much more carefree person but that is all lost now. She is really awkward with Milo now. She's jealous (even if she says she isn't) of his one time girlfriend who comes back during the summer. Worse possible timing. He is a love interest. There are actually two love interests which you know what that means. Love triangle! It's done well so don't worry.

Culler Evans is the other love interest. He was one of the only students or the only student of her father's. He might know things. He seems to be in as much grief as she is with her father's suicide and she gets closer to him because of it which I honestly think is kind of creepy. Getting close because of your dad. See? Creepy. But he provides more than a love interest. You start wondering about him. She's absolutely insane to go near him. I would have said back off because there is something wrong with you. It's all really dark but it's beautiful as well. It's an amazing story. Death has to be in like top three types of stories made. Suicide on the other hand has its own different league because it's a choice and in this book there's always the question of why?

You can find an excerpt link of the 5 chapters on my blog!
http://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot.com/ show less

Have you ever had a delayed reaction to something? You don’t react when it actually happens, but later, the enormity of what has happened and the emotions you have because of it sort creep up behind you and hit you in the back. Not to your head, because you’re always conscious, but right to your spine, so you feel the hit.

That was my experience with Fall for Anything. When I finished it, I was like, “Yeah, good book: steady plot, interesting characters, good writing, some shocking moments at the exact right times. Yeah, solid read.” But I wasn’t emotionally attached. I just wasn’t – something didn’t click.

And then I started writing my review, and I was really surprised at the emotions that sneaked their hands around my show more waist from behind. And then I realized precisely how much I liked Eddie. And how much I wanted to absolutely punch almost everyone around her, including her catatonic mother. And then I would find her dad’s grave, dig him up, and punch him, too (hey, he left her in horrendous situation – completely pro-Eddie, here). We won’t talk about what I wanted to do to her mom’s best friend.

Wow, does that sound angry? Yeah, I was angry. What Eddie went through was bullshit, pure and simple. Unfortunately, it happens. In short, dad checked out permanently, mom was present but um, vacant, you could say, and mom’s unwelcome best friend (Beth) checked-in, but not for Eddie, the 17 year-old in this story. Oh no, she checked in for mummy WHO SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER!

Basically, everyone (save one person) abandoned Eddie in the book. And then Eddie’s grief high jacked her own better judgment and sense of clarity (thanks, daddy-o).

Excuse me why I go take friggin’ deep cleansing breath (I hate you, Beth).

Okay, good now – let’s get back to the basics then, shall we?

Right from the start, Eddie simply wasn’t a character I could pity. I actually think she’d be pretty pissed at me if I did. It got me thinking, “When did pity become a bad thing?” After all, it’s akin to sympathy, and feeling a heartfelt, emotional connection with someone isn’t usually a bad thing. I think pity is different because the word has developed this connotation of being a face value emotion. It’s like saying, “Oh, that’s such a shame. Well, call me next week – I have to fix dinner now.” Feeling pity for a character like Eddie would’ve been like leaving a casserole on her doorstep, but never actually being there for her. It’s thinking someone won’t be able to claw back to hope, and you're already looking at them like they’re washed up. Pity is too defeatist and shallow an emotion to offer up to someone who has been through a personal hell and just wants answers.

Eddie’s father has left her in a severe state of mental anguish with absolutely jack to hold onto. When we first meet Eddie, I don’t think she even knows how deep the pain runs – it’s literally to the point where she's numb, and she’s experiencing psychosomatic symptoms. If her mom was with it, maybe she could've have gotten Eddie into grief counseling, but that was a no-go. To make matters just peachy, her best friend has moved in to ***motivate*** her mom back to life – think a female version of Richard Simmons with a more militant attitude and less compassion, but she would completely whip out some jazz hands if she thought it would help Eddie’s mom. I could appreciate it, if she wasn’t so harsh towards Eddie.

Cherry that sundae of sadness with Culler. Yes, please do say that name with an italicized emphasis and disgusted sneer – out of the people who used Eddie and/or her mother’s loss for personal gain (although they lied to themselves and called it something else), this guy was the worse. He could’ve been a great, big brother type for her in a perfect world, or picked the road of aloof kindness, but life’s about decisions, no? And Mr. Artsy Photographer made his. He was the variable in this book, the what-if monkey wrench who turned into a. . . well, I won’t tell you what he did, obviously. Drop me a line when you find out and we’ll have a character roast.

And, oh Milo, bless that guy for being Eddie’s personal lighthouse. She needed a rock Unfortunately, both she and Milo were both dealing with grief, and that clouded both their decisions. The choices that Eddie made from her grief, from her father’s selfish, selfish decision. . . he would’ve died twice had seen the circumstances his daughter put herself in. Grief can make you do crazy things, but you are searching for peace so hard that the decisions seem rational and needed. Eddie felt she needed to do something because the actual truth of why her father took his own life had no rationale to it - it wasn't something she could face, especially since he had rational reasons for staying (like being there for her). Eddie wanted steady ground to stand on. The things she did were stupid and naive, but no, I can’t bring myself to blame her. After all, would I have done any different, being 17, physically abandoned by one parent and emotionally by another? That’s the real trick about this book – most of the characters were authentic. So believable. Even when Eddie was doing something crazy, it still felt real. If you had to switch shoes with her, you might find yourself doing the same. That’s the sad part: I still don’t know if she’s going to be okay. I don’t think we’re meant to.

I didn’t cry while reading this book. Like I said, there was a detachment there that kept me from really sinking in. But, if Eddie were real, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from checking on her at night, just like Milo did. I didn’t completely connect with her, but I sure did care about what happened to her.

Okay, now I’m tearing up a bit.

Yeah, I recommend this book. show less

Eddie’s once famous photographer father committed suicide two months ago. Her mother ignores her and just sits in her dad’s chair wearing his old housecoat. Beth, her mother’s best friends, and a woman Eddie hates has decided to move in. According to Beth everything must be done to get her mother out of her depression. No one seems to understand that Eddie is hurting too. The thing that gets to her is why did her dad do it? She thought he was happy, thought he had a good life, thought he loved her. Why would he kill himself and leave them wondering. Eddie is consumed by this question and nothing her best friend Milo does can get her out of this funk. Eddie is constantly sneaking out and going to the place where her dad committed show more suicide. One day she notices she isn’t alone. A guy is there and he says that he was a student of her father’s. He seems to be just as lost as she is. They find her father’s initials engraved in a building and sequential numbers on the back of her father’s photos, the only thing that he left behind. They will go on a journey, looking for clues as why her father killed himself. Eddie has to make the choice of moving on or giving up like her father did.

This was my first Courtney Summers book and after reading it, I’m going to buy all of them tomorrow. Not even going to read what they are about, just going to buy them. Eddie’s voice in this book was so heartbreaking and so alone. I felt for her, I found myself wanting to comfort her, knock some sense into those around her. I wanted her to be better, be happy, and find all of her answers. She was just so stark and solitary. I connected to her. As for Beth and Eddie’s mother I wanted to punch one and tell her to leave Eddie the hell alone and wanted to shake the other and tell her to remember she had a daughter. I liked the contrast between Milo and Culler and how they related to Eddie in their own unique way. I can’t express how much I loved this book. I connected to the characters and found myself invested in how her life would be after her questions were answered. I couldn’t get enough. I devoured this book. What more could a reader ask for? I give this book a 5 STAR rating. READ IT! show less

When someone dies – no matter the circumstances surrounding their death – it is the people left behind that have to pick up the pieces of their broken hearts and try to live. But when that person ended their own life, those pieces are shattered into pieces so miniscule that they can’t even be found. Eddie’s questions are painful because, not only is the one person who could answer them gone forever, the people left behind are so absorbed in their own grief that they don’t even realize how lost Eddie is – until Culler. He not only misses her father, he wants answers of his own, so when he finds something at the site of his death, both he and Eddie hold on to that as the last thread of hope for closure, or something close to show more it.
The journey they go on in their attempt to find answers is emotional. Eddie’s pain is so fresh that everything they find is like someone prodding at a wound. She pushes aside everything else in her life to follow this obsession, and as I read I ached for her as it seemed apparent that, no matter what she found, it wouldn’t help. And even though I had a pretty good idea of what was at the end of the road, I kept hoping that Eddie would miraculously find all the answers she needed and be perfectly whole again, even though I knew that wouldn’t happen. (Not a spoiler, I swear. I mean, is anyone ever really perfectly whole again after the death of a parent? No. This is my point.) That’s the wonderfully brilliant thing about Courtney Summers – she writes things that are so painful yet so compelling at the same time that I can’t look away.
Also, a bonus: this book addresses the hard questions in life, like, Why in the world do people send you lame sympathy cards when someone you love dies? They don’t help, and you’ve killed innocent trees in the process. I think sympathy cards should be outlawed. For real. show less