Two Minute Review: Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts

Saturday, December 7, 2013
Title: Tumble & Fall
Author: Alexandra Coutts
Genre: young adult, post apocalyptic
Series: N/A
Pages: 384
Published: September 17 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 1.5/5


A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that's left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts's TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

What an utter waste of premise. What a waste of time! There was so much potential to be had in Tumble & Fall, it really is a shame to watch it disappear down the mire of overwrought romance, staid and wooden characters, and less than mediocrity. When I say the ONLY TWO redeeming aspects of Tumble & Fall are the writing and the ending, I am not lying, I am not being snarky or funny; I am being perfectly honest. This is a read made of frustration, wrapped in missed chances, and covered in cliches. 

The characters are boring. They're wooden. They act in nonsensical ways. They do and say ridiculous things to one another. They may be justified because their world is about to end, but their interactions and conversations shouldn't read like a textbook. A weird textbook with dubious parental choices, but still. There's so little life to be found in Tumble & Fall that the asteroid's impact won't be much felt.

I wanted to love this book, but it's just such a mess. A big, huge, totally-not-worth-it mess. It's easy to be hard on this because it was so hyped and it could have been amazing, but those two good things made it somewhat easier to finish. Her plotting skills and characterization may need work but Alexandra Coutts can certainly write. Even when I hated what she had written, I could see the talent for wordsmithing. Let's hope it's onward and upward to better projects for this promising author.

2 comments:

  1. I thought this was one big cliché too and ended up DNF-ing... unfortunate to hear the ending was good. lol The characters were very wooden, I agree. Definitely a big disappointment after that impressively beautiful cover.

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  2. I DNFed this one because I didn't care about any of the characters the slightest bit. I did think the writing was pretty good, which is why I made it 80 pages. But still, I'm glad I didn't finish. Maybe it's because it was packaged? Coutts can write but her heart wasn't invested in the characters/plot? Who knows.

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