Harper has spent the past year making some of the biggest mistakes of her life. Can she fix–or move on from–most of them over the course of one summer? This is the essential theme of The Year We Fell Apart, the debut novel of Emily Martin. The novel starts two semesters after Harper has completely destroyed her relationship with one of her childhood best friends, Declan. He comes back from boarding school, and Harper wants to know him again. This is tough, because he wants nothing to do with her. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded the plot if the characters had been different. It feels similar to that of a lot of novels, where you just know that the romance is going to happen because that is the entire point of the story, but Martin gave it a fresh take. I could have easily given it 4 or 5 stars if I hadn't been so distracted by the characters. Possible spoilers and criticism will follow. You have been warned. The main reason I didn’t love this book, however, was the protagonist. We start out meeting Harper, who is self-absorbed, self-pitying, and a lot of other things that most people don’t want to see in a character they’re supposed to be rooting for. In the beginning, I didn’t mind seeing Harper like this, because it would have been worse if she was perfect. We need flawed characters, because they are supposed to seem human, and humans are flawed. In order to empathize with characters, we have to see ourselves in them, but they also need to grow. Starting out, I didn’t mind the flaws because I thought Harper would learn from her mistakes and make different choices. In the end, I did not feel like Harper had grown over the course of the book–she had just made the same mistakes over and over. I also disliked the fact that I predicted from the very beginning that Harper and Declan would end up together in the end. I feel like “their differences after splitting the first time were so dramatic that they couldn’t possibly reconcile, but then–ta-da–they do and everything’s perfect” is kind of predictable, but that’s what happened. Harper and Declan end up together after a series of repetitive mistakes that very possibly could have been avoided with a little more communication and a lot less brooding.
That being said, I did like her group of friends. They didn’t force her into uncomfortable situations, they supported her when she needed them, and they told her the flat truth when she needed that too. Overall, I give this book three and a half out of five stars, taking two stars for my not being able to see past Harper’s character in order to properly enjoy the book.
2 Comments
Elise
1/29/2017 07:44:41 pm
I can't like your reviews here, because I don't have a Facebook, so I have to comment on them all...
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The Baroness
1/29/2017 07:51:03 pm
Thank you! I haven't yet figured out how to remove the Facebook "Like" button, so that's no problem--I don't have an account either! Thanks for commenting, though. It means a lot. Happy reading!
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The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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