High School Unmasked

Falling into Place by Amy Zhang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just WOW.

I have never read a book that so thorough in drawing back the curtain on all the glitz and glamour of being one of the popular kids in high school. If you think this is just another Gossip Girl you are very, VERY, mistaken.

For a girl who seems to have it all, the hot boyfriend, the right friends, the right clothes and the assertive attitude, Liz Emerson realizes she is a cataclysm of bad luck to everyone she meets, friends and foes alike. Sick of the lies, the depression, the loneliness and the affect she has on others, Liz is determined to end it all and stop the vicious cycle.

An interesting, engrossing read that begins at its climax, it swings between flashbacks and present time to explain how it all came to a head. As much as the story is about Liz, it is also about her friends, family and the people whose lives she changed for better or worse, sometimes both. I had come to know all of the main and supporting characters so well they became unmasked before my very eyes.

As much as I really, REALLY, wanted to hate Liz for all the nasty things she did and the lives she ruined, surprisingly, I could not bring myself to I was able to connect with Zhangs characters in way I wasn't able to in other young adult books; their secrets, heartbreaks and tragedies are so real and relatable to youth today as they were when I was in high school.

Amy Zhang strips the high school caste system bare, until all we see is the bare bones and hidden secrets of those we thought we knew well and those we didn't. Falling into Place really makes you re-evaluate what it means to be a friend, a parent or how you treat people you barely know or just met.

A beautiful and powerfully emotive book. Buy it, read it and realize that in your deepest despair you are not alone.

Please Note: I received this copy from Bookworld (now Angus & Robertson Bookworld) in exchange for an honest review.


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