Review: No Place to Fall by Jaye Robin Brown

No Place to Fall

Author: Jaye Robin Brown
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Harper Teen
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: ebook
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Source: egalley received from publisher via Edelweiss
Rating: 3.5 Stars
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***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way changed my opinion of the book. The review below is my open and honest opinion.***

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.

When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.

Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.

My Review:

No Place to Fall hit so close to home for me. And that meant that at times, I quite enjoyed it, but at other times, it was difficult to read. In this book, the main character, Amber, lives in a tiny town in the middle of the country. There’s not much to do. Her mom is overprotective, her dad isn’t a saint, and her sister has completely fallen off the wagon. Although our experiences weren’t the same, there was so much I could relate to here.

This book broke my heart at times because Amber was clearly lost, feeling neglected and trying to find somebody who cared. She did that by making dumb decisions and throwing things away that she could never get back. I was her. I get it. I know exactly what she was feeling. And I think because of that, I unconsciously removed myself from the story. So I didn’t quite connect on the emotional level that I could have.

Something I really loved about this book was the music and how passionate Amber is about singing. She doesn’t just sing to make noise. She sings to live, to escape her life, to find peace in her world. Every time the author described Amber singing, I just let out a deep breath. It was almost as if Amber’s singing was also an escape for me. I could really feel the emotion behind it.

I was really excited about the friendship between Amber and Devon, but then it kind of just disintegrated. I wish that we could have seen them together more because they seemed like such amazing friends, but I think that it was necessary so that Amber could find her own way.

Amber’s story is extremely realistic, painfully so at times. I really enjoyed reading about her journey to discovering who she is and what she wants out of life. The sister relationship captured me. Her relationship with her mom. And even the romance (although I do have one pretty big complaint about it, but won’t get into it because spoilers). None of Amber’s relationships were perfect, but that was what was so great about them. There was a transparency there that allowed us to see the ugly scars and bruises within these relationships. But because of that, we also got to see the beauty of them being healed. A great contemporary, not super emotional, but also not exactly light and fluffy. A poignant coming-of-age tale.

Have you read this one yet? What did you think of Amber and her decisions? The family dynamic? What about the romance?