| Title: | Before We Fall | |
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| Author: | Courtney Cole | |
| Publisher | Forever | |
| Publication Date: | December 2013 | |
| Publisher's Description | Sometimes, one dark moment is all it takes to turn your world black... For 24-year old Dominic Kinkaide, that moment took place on the night of his high school graduation. One dark incident changed him forever. He's a hardened actor now, famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured in his own. He doesn't care about much of anything, except for losing himself in the roles that he plays. 23-year old Jacey Vincent doesn't realize how much her father's indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn't one specific moment that wrecks a person, but rather it's an absence of moments. She's like a bird with a broken wing-strong yet fragile, as she tries to float through life, finding acceptance in the arms of random guys, one after the other... to fill the void that her father left in her. Until she meets Dominic. After jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, his secret and her issues create a dark and damaged energy that will soon turn their attraction to each other into an explosive storm. Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated... they've learned a priceless lesson. Sometimes, before we fall... we fly. |
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| My rating: | *** | |
I haven’t read the previous books in this series, but I enjoyed Before We Fall. I thought that Dom was an interesting character, and his particular hangup and kinks were not things that I’d run across before. I disliked that they were made out to be solely about how he coped with his previous tragedies. There are people who enjoy voyeurism and Dom’s other activities, not because they are atoning or compensating for past hurts, but simply because they like it. Jacey’s pop psychology wore on me, although I do think that Dom would benefit from some real serious attention from a mental health specialist.
Although I liked this book well enough, it didn’t pique my interest enough for me to read the previous entries in this series.
I found this book totally heartbreaking and ultimately satisfying. I feel that I connected to it in a way that I think a lot of New Adult titles try and fail to reach me, the reader. Robin’s sense of bewilderment at what her life has become and subsequent heartbreak is so palpable that it’s hard to witness, and I kept wishing that she didn’t spend so much of the book feeling alone. Likewise, Phoenix’s criminal record and jail time isolate him from the people that one would expect him to be able to lean on; I’m glad that he and Robin find each other. I like their dynamic, and the cautious but hopeful way that they get to know each other. I love that they are both artists, and are able to connect with and understand each other on that level. I really believed this relationship, and that these characters don’t just need somebody, but that they specifically each fulfill some need in the other person.