Title ~ The Way We Fall
Series ~ The Way We Fall #1
Author ~ Megan Crewe
Release Date ~ January 24, 2012
Publisher ~ Disney- Hyperion
Source ~ Disney – Hyperion
It starts with an itch you just can’t shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you’ll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they’re old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick in.
And then you’re dead.
When a deadly virus begins to sweep through sixteen-year-old Kaelyn’s community, the government quarantines her island—no one can leave, and no one can come back.
Those still healthy must fight for dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.
Because how will she go on if there isn’t?
Kaelyn’s island is under the attack of a killer virus with no cure. This cruel virus is like no other. While it brings with it fever and the accompanying hallucinations, it also brings a loss of inhibitions. Once infected, people start spilling their secrets to strangers as if they were best friends. The virus causes such an intense mental breakdown, that I wonder if death is welcomed at some point by those who are infected. The descriptions are vivid and realistic and they cut deeply into the chaos that unfolds.
Life is not easy for those who were not infected either. They loot, hoard supplies, and try their best to survive amidst a terrifying situation. It reminded me of the H1N1 scare only this was way Way WAY worse. There is an intense feeling of helplessness that descends into outright madness. Everyone out for themselves. Everyone at risk.
Kaelyn tells her story through letters in a journal to her friend Leo who escaped the island to study. I loved this personal account of Kaelyn’s courageous effort to protect her family and herself. She describes what she sees first hand as the virus tears her island apart. Kaelyn teams up with Gav, as they try to help others. One of the things I really enjoyed was the way Kaelyn fought for herself, but for others too.
The Way We Fall is chilling. I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I just kept reading. And reading. And reading. And finally. WHAT? There’s a massively surprising ending! WOW! The kind of ending that leaves you turning that last page back and forth over and over wanting and hoping for more. OMG, this ending is just….WOW!