Fall For Anything Review

TITLE Fall For Anything
AUTHOR Courtney Summers
PUBLICATION December 21st 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin
READ June 08 to 09, 2013
SOURCE Purchased

From the author of Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are comes a gripping story about one girl’s search for clues into the mysterious death of her father.

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

I’m not entirely sure why I keep doing this to myself. I read a Courtney Summers novel and am then faced with the task of finding new ways to praise her awesomeness and yet still have the review feel like its fresh. Well no, I know why I do it. Because her books are fucking amazing, that’s why. Fall For Anything is no exception. Once again she has brought to light characters that are so incredibly flawed that you are stunned at how they manage to work their way into your cold little heart by the final page.

Eddie is dealing with the sudden, tragic loss of her father. He committed suicide and now she is left alive wondering why he did it. I could’t fathom living with that constant wonder niggling at the back of your mind. Living once your parents light was snuffed out in such an unfortunate way, wondering if you were a part of the reason, wondering what you could have done differently. Right off the bat a very bleak atmosphere is set up and it remains that way through the entirety of the novel. This is something that I have come to expect from Summers and I always brace myself to go into that place before picking up one of her novels.

Eddie isn’t the only one coming to terms with this loss. Her mother has become a zombie and marches around the house in her fathers old housecoat. I was so saddened at how these two could not communicate and help each other out in the ways that they really needed to. To bridge this communication gap Eddie’s mothers best friend, Beth, steps in. It took me a while to get a read on this woman. Seeing her through Eddie’s eyes alone made it hard to see her for who she really was and not who Eddie saw her as. I came to really respect her love for this family and the way she was willing to go so out of her way to help bring them back to life.

Our MC also has light in her life in the form of her best friend Milo. This guy was so incredibly sweet. The way that he cared for Eddie in all situations and was not afraid to call her on her bullshit was amazing. That’s another thing I have come to expect and admire in Courtney’s novels, brutally honest characters. It’s always so refreshing to see people laying their emotions out there and not bottling everything up inside for an entire book. Culler (such a strange name, right?) also steps into Eddie’s life in these pages. He was a student of her fathers and he takes her on an adventure to try to put the pieces together in the why of her fathers suicide. I was so torn when he came into the picture because I had high hopes for Eddie and Milo’s relationship to go to the next level, but I liked how Culler was showing her a new side to her father that she barely knew existed.

A beautiful novel about coming to grips with loss, friendship and family, Courtney Summers has once again hit it out of the park. This girl can seriously do no wrong and I have to say that I am extremely sad this one is over. See, I was holding off on reading Fall For Anything because it was the last of her released novels that I had yet to read. Now the wait for her next release gets unbearable. So umm.. Courtney.. How is the writing of All The Rage Going?